Whereupon, Ordered, That Colonel Thompson make inquiry into this matter, and report to the House.

Ordered, That the Members from the several Counties proportion the number of men to be raised in each County on the several towns in their respective Counties, agreeable to the following Report, viz:

Six Regiments at 728 each, is 4,368.

A Petition of the Town of Templeton, expressing the uneasiness on the minds of the people there, on account of the high wages of the Officers of the Army, and of the extraordinary pay which it is therein said has been given to persons employed in the service" of the Colony, and praying the consideration of the Court.

Read, and committed to Major Hawley, Colonel Barret, and Mr. Cooper.

Resolved, That to-morrow, ten o'clock, A. M., be assigned for the choice of some person to go to Philadelphia with the Accounts of this Colony, in the room of Mr. Lo-throp, excused.

The House considered the Fee-Bill for the Admiralty Courts.

The House then adjourned till ten o'clock, to-morrow morning.

Friday, January 19, 1776.

Ordered, That Major Hawley report a Resolve to stop the collecting Blankets from the Counties of Berkshire ahd Hampshire

Ordered, That the Commissary-General be directed to inform his Excellency General Washington, that he has a number of Blankets by him, and is ready to deliver them, and such as shall come in, to his order; for which he is to take a receipt.

Resolved, That the men to be raised in the County of Barnstable, be laid on the County at large, and not proportioned on the several towns.

Joseph Palmer, Esq., brought down the following Vote of Council, viz:

In Council, January 18, 1776: Ordered, That Moses Gill, Esq., with such as the honourable House shall join, be a Committee to consider the propriety of commissionating such Captains and Subalterns as marched and joined the Continental Army from the Militia, with full Companies, in pursuance of the Resolve of the General Court on the first of December last.

Read, and concurrred, and Captain Parker and Colonel Ward are joined.

John Whetcomb, Esq., brought down the Resolve respecting the Estates of the Refugees, with the following Vote of Council thereon, viz:

In Council, January 18, 1776: Read, and concurred, as taken into a new draft.

Major Hawley, agreeable to order, reported. Read, and accepted.

Whereas, this Court is well informed that General Washington has resolved to apply to this Court that the Officers for one Regiment may be appointed by the same in the Counties of Hampshire and Berkshire, for the raising's full Regiment in them, to be employed at the north ward; and the Blankets to be collected in these Counties will be absolutely necessary for the use of those men to be so raised; and as these Blankets may be on their way,

Therefore, Ordered, That the Blankets collected, or collecting, in those Counties be stayed therein, or if on their way, that they be ordered back. Those collected in the Qounty of Hampshire, to the Towns of Northampton or Springfield; and those collected in the County of Berkshire, to the Towns of Barrington or Pittsfield, and delivered to the Selectmen of said towns, respectively, till further orders.

Ordered, That every of the members of either of those Counties have leave to endeavour that the same be effected.

Ordered, That Major Hawley, Mr. Gerry, and Colonel Porter, be a Committee to bring in a Resolve for raising the men proportioned on the several towns, and to prepare the Form of an Inlistment.

On a motion, Ordered, That Mr. Sewall, Mr. Hide, and Mr. Woodbridge, with such as the honourable Board may join, be a Committee to confer with Mr. Thomas Harling, on the subject of erecting a Powder Mill, and to determine where such Mill shall be built.

Mr. Speaker communicated to the House a Letter from General Heath, desiring to be informed whether he is to be paid as a General Officer before he received a Continental commission, or as a Colonel of a Regiment late his own, and in what capacity the General Officers belonging to this Colony, who had Regiments the last campaign, are to be made up in the Rolls.

Ordered, That Mr. Cooper get the Militia Bill (when engrossed) printed in the next Monday's Paper.

Afternoon.

Benjamin White, Esq., brought down a Letter from Mr. Samuel Jordan, dated Goldsborough, November 30, 1775, relative to the conduct of Colonel Cargill, with the following Vote of Council thereon, viz:

In Council, January 19, 1776: Read, and Ordered, That Eldad Taylor, and John Taylor, Esqs., with such as the honourable House shall join, be a Committee to take the foregoing Letter, and papers accompanying it, into consideration, and report.

Read, and concurred, and Mr. Hopkins, Colonel Thompson, and Colonel Gushing, are joined.

Benjamin White, Esq., at the same time brought down a Petition of George Henry Fisher, setting forth, that being suspected as an enemy to the rights of the people, he was, in September last, sent to the care of the Committee of the Town of Worcester, and is now suffering for want of clothes, and praying that he may be therewith supplied. Read, and committed.

The Committee appointed in the forenoon to bring in a Resolve for raising the men proportioned on the several towns, reported.

Read, and accepted, with the schedule annexed, made agreeable to the reports of the Members from the several Counties, viz:

Whereas, it is of great importance, not only to the inhabitants of this Colony, but, also, of all the United Colonies, that the lines and fortifications at Cambridge and Roxbury should, at all events, be maintained; and that the Army investing Boston should be of strength sufficient to act offensively as well as defensively: And whereas, his Excellency General Washington has applied for a temporary reinforcement from Connecticut, New-Hampshire, and this Colony, to be at the said places as soon as possible, the proportion of which to this Colony, is four thousand three hundred and sixty-eight men:

Resolved, That the commanding officer of each Company of Militia in the towns hereafter mentioned, chosen agreeable to the direction of the Provincial Congress, be, and hereby is directed to cause his Company to be mustered without delay; and that out of the Companies in such town they cause to be voluntarily inlisted, the number of effective men hereinafter affixed to such towns, respectively, to serve in the American Army, on the Continental establishment, from the day of their inlistment to the first day of April next. And that each Officer and Soldier shall be allowed and paid for their service, respectively, the same sums by the calendar month, as are allowed to such Officers and Soldiers in the Army on the said establishment: the time of service to be computed from the time of his inlisting to the time of his discharge, and allowing sufficient time for his return home; that is to say, accounting one day for every twenty miles' travel; also, one penny per mile to compensate his expenses to the camp, and at the same rate, per mile, to bear his expenses from the camp home; his travelling expenses to the camp to be paid by himself, and each man to be compensated therefor at the rate above said, upon his arrival in camp; and the allowance to defray his expenses thence to his home, to be paid before or upon his discharge. And the Selectmen and Committees of Correspondence and Safety of each town