fore he enters on the execution of his office, take, before some Justice of the Peace, the following oath, to wit: "You, A. B., do swear, that any matter or thing which shall come to your knowledge as a Member of the Council of Safety, which is ordered to be kept secret by a majority of the said Council of Safety, you will not divulge, unless to the Deputies in Congress for this Province,' with the permission of the said Council of Safety, or to a Convention of Delegates, or Member of the said Council of Safety, or with the permission of the said Council of Safety or Convention. So help you God."And that the Clerk of the said Council of Safety shall take an oath in the said form, except instead of the words, "as a Member of the Council of Safety,"inserting, "as Clerk to the Council of Safety."

That the said Council of Safety continue till the end of the next Convention, and no longer, unless otherwise ordered by the next Convention, and that they render an account of their Proceedings, and always be subject to the control of the Convention.

That the Honourable Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Esq., and Charles Carroll, Banister, John Hall, and Benjamin Rumsey, Esquires, of the Western Shore, and James Tilghman, Thomas Smyth, and Thomas Beding field Hands, Esquires, of the Eastern Shore, be the said Council of Safety.

That if any person, or persons, elected or appointed to be of the said Council of Safely, shall decline or refuse to act, or shall die before the next Convention, the other Members of the said Council of Safety, (being four at the least,) may elect and appoint one other in the room of each person who shall so decline, or refuse to act, or die, which person, or persons, so elected and appointed, shall take the same oath, and have the same powers and authorities, in conjunction with the other Members, as are given by this Convention to the said Council.

The Journal of Accounts was read and assented to.

Ordered, That the Treasurer of the Western Shore pay the several Claims allowed in the same.

Convention adjourns till to-morrow morning, half after nine o'clock.

Thursday, January 18, 1776.

Convention met. All Members present as on yesterday, except Mr. W. Ennalls, Mr. G. Dashiell, Mr. Potter, Mr. Dickinson, and Mr. Mason. The Proceedings of yesterday were read.

Ordered, That the Treasurer of the Western Shore pay to Mr. Edward Parker, of Cecil County, or his order, out of the bills of credit in his hands, three hundred Pounds, common money, to enable him to carry on his Linen and Woollen Manufactory.

Whereas, it is necessary for securing the evidences of the property of the good people of this Province, that the Records of the Land Office, Secretary's, and Commissary's Offices; and, also, the Records of Anne Arundel County Court, should be removed from the City of Annapolis 10 some place of greater security,

Resolved, That the Council of Safety send the said Records, packed in chests, by the respective Clerks, to some fit and secure place, first having prepared a proper house for the reception of the same, and that the said Council commit the said Records to the care and management of one of the Clerks of the said offices, respectively.

Resolved, That each of the said Clerks so employed by the Council of Safety, do, respectively, take the care and management of the Records of the office to which he belongs, and deliver copies of the said Records to the people of this Province, when thereunto required, upon being paid for the same.

Resolved, That any extraordinary expenses of the said Clerks, in taking care of the said Records, be paid by the Convention of this Province.

On motion, Resolved, That such young gentlemen as resort to the Regular Troops, in the quality of Volunteers, or Cadets, with the consent of the Colonel of the Battalion, for their improvement in the art of war, be furnished with one ration per day, each, at the publick expense.

On motion, Resolved, That the Committees of Observation for the several Counties may remove the Records of their respective Counties to some place of safety, if they think proper.

The Convention took into consideration the King's Speech to Parliament, on the 27th day of October last, and after some time spent therein,

Resolved, unanimously, That the following Declaration be entered on their Journals:

We, the Delegates of the Freemen of Maryland, in Convention, affected with the deepest concern by the opinion declared in the King's Speech to Parliament, on the 27th day of October last, and expressed in the Address of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal to His Majesty, in answer thereto, that the necessary preparations for defence made by these Colonies, are carried on for the purpose of establishing an independent empire, and being desirous to remove from the mind of the King an opinion which we feel to be highly injurious to the People of this Province, and to declare and manifest to His Majesty, to the Parliament, the People of Great Britain, and to the whole world, the rectitude and purity of our intentions in the present opposition to the measures of the British Ministry and Parliament, do declare,

That the People of this Province, strongly attached to the English Constitution, and truly sensible of the blessings they have derived from it, warmly impressed with sentiments of affection for, and loyalty to, the House of Hanover, connected with the British nation by the ties of blood and interest, and being thoroughly convinced, that to be free subjects of the King of Great Britain, with all its consequences, is to be the freest members of any civil society in the known world, never did, nor do entertain any views or desires of independency.

That as they consider their union with the Mother Country, upon terms that may insure to them a permanent freedom, as their highest felicity, so would they view the fatal necessity of separating from her, as a misfortune next to the greatest that can befall them.

Descended from Britons, entitled to the privileges of Englishmen, and inheriting the spirit of their ancestors, they have seen, with the most extreme anxiety, the attempts of Parliament to deprive them of those privileges, by raising a revenue upon them, and assuming a power to alter the Charters, Constitutions, and internal polity of the Colonies without their consent. The endeavours of the British Ministry to carry those attempts into execution, by military force, have been their only motive for taking up arms; and defend themselves against those endeavours, is the only use they mean to make of them. Entitled to freedom, they are determined to maintain it at the hazard of their lives and fortunes.

Ordered, That James Hollyday, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and Gustavus Scolt, Esquires, revise the Journal and Proceedings of this Convention, and direct what parts thereof shall be published.

Convention adjourns till the second Tuesday in April next, to sit at this place, but the Council of Safety may convene the Convention at any other time, or place, if they shall judge it necessary.

Signed by order of the Convention:

GABRIEL DUVALL, Clerk,

PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS TO THE COMMITTEE OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

January 18, 1776.

GENTLEMEN: The Congress have received your several letters of December 21st, January 3d, and 10th. A multiplicity of important business has retarded their answering them sooner.

Your civility to the officers who are prisoners, in giving them time to make choice of their places of residence, and permitting them to remain with you till their baggage shall arrive, is approved. Their complaint, that a separation from the soldiers is a breach of General Schuyler's solemn engagement, we apprehend not to be well-founded. All the stipulations of a capitulation ought, undoubtedly,