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suitable quantity of Powder and Shot, not Jess than fifty rounds for each piece of Ordnance; and that the above said men be inlisled by the 1st day of April next, and to continue in the service until the last day of December following, if the service should require, and to be upon the same establishment as other men on the Sea-Coast service; and that three hundred Pounds be deposited in the hands of the Honourable Walter Spooner, Esq., who is directed to lay out the same in the best manner he can to procure Ordnance and Stores as above directed, and that be be accountable to this Court for the same.
Afternoon.
Michael Farley, Esq., brought down the new draft of a Bill for numbering the People, with the following Vote of Council thereon, viz:
la Council, February 15, 1776: Read, and concurred, with the amendments at A and B, viz: At A insert "on the 20th day of March aforesaid;" at B insert "last;" also, insert the Christian names of the Committee-men, where they are not already inserted.
Read, and concurred, with the amendment at A and B, and non-concurred with the proposed amendment of inserting the Christian names, &c., and the House proposed the following amendment in the Bill at C, viz: insert "at their Annual Meeting in March."
Eldad Taylor, Esq., brought down a Letter from his Excellency General Washington, enclosing the following extract of a Letter from Governour Trumbull, viz: "Three thousand weight of Powder we conclude to order to Major Thompson, Agent for the Massachusetts Colony, on account of money he supplied to Mr. Shaw, the importer for that end, and you will consult him, or them, concerning the use of it;" and requesting that it may be procured and sent to Head-Quarters for the use of the United Colonies, &c., Read, and thereupon the House passed the following Resolve, viz:
On consideration of an application of his Excellency General Washington, that three thousand weight of Powder, the property of this Colony, lately imported by Mr. Shaw, of Connecticut, may be lent, or sold to him for the use of the United Colonies, on its arrival in this Colony, which application was made this day by a Letter addressed to the Honourable Walter Spooner, Esq., the President of the Council:
It is Resolved, That the honourable Council of this Colony be, and hereby are empowered, in case (the said Powder shall arrive in this Colony during the next recess of this Court, on consideration of the engagements of this Colony to particular towns for Powder lent to the Colony, as, also, the pressing exigencies of this Colony for that article, to determine in behalf of this Court, whether General Washington shall be supplied with the said Powder, or any part thereof, or not, and to act thereon as they shall judge most expedient, and conducive to the general safety.
A List of the Members of this House, with their travel and attendance, was read, and allowed by the House.
Ordered, That Colonel Barret, Major Eli, and Captain Brown, of Boston, be a Committee to bring in a Resolve directing the Commissary-General to dispose of the Fire-Arms in his custody to his Excellency General Washington, who reported as follows: Read, and accepted.
Resolved, That the Commissary-General be, and he is hereby empowered and directed, to deliver to his Excellency General Washington, or his order, such Colony Fire-Arms as are in his keeping that are fit for service, he paying the price they shall be set at, by a Committee to be appointed by this Court to appraise the same; and that Captain Brown, of Watertown, Colonel Thatcher, and Major Fuller, be a Committee for that purpose, who are directed to keep an account of the number of the Guns so appraised, and the amount thereof, and to report the same to this Court.
John Taylor, Esq., brought down a Letter from James Lyon, Chairman of the Committee of Machias, praying directions with respect to some goods taken in the Schooner Diligent, with the following Vote of Council thereon, viz:
In Council, February 15, 1776: Read, and committed to Benjamin Lincoln, Esq., with such as the honourable House shall join.
Read, and concurred, and Colonel Lovcll and Colonel Bliss are joined.
John Taylor, Esq., brought down the Report of the Committee of both Houses on the Petition of Abijah Moore, read the 13th current, viz: That the facts set forth in said Petition are true, and that the prayer of the Petitioner be granted. Read, and accepted.
The Committee on the Petition of Nathan Jones, reported. Read, and recommitted.
The House then adjourned till nine o'clock, to-morrow morning.
Friday, February 16, 1776.
Whereas, the Committee for erecting a Powder-Mill at Sloughton, has informed this House that they meet with difficulty in procuring lodging for the workmen employed, in building said Mill; and that there are several Beds now in the custody of the Selectmen and Committee of Correspondence of the Town of Milton, belonging to the late infamous Governour Hutchinson, which lay useless:
Therefore, Resolved, That the Selectmen and Committee of Correspondence of Milton be, and hereby are directed to deliver three of said Beds to the Committee of this Court for erecting said Powder-Mill, to accommodate the workmen they have, or shall employ in said business, for the space of two months from the date above; said Committee to return the Beds, and to account with the Selectmen and Committee of Correspondence of Milton, for the use of the same.
Ordered, That Mr. Perry get the Resolve, appointing Committees to purchase Guns, printed in handbills, viz: fifty of them; also, the Resolve empowering unincorporated places to choose Committees of Correspondence, printed, viz; eighty of them.
The House taking into consideration the disbursements, expenses, and time of service of the Honourable Thomas Cushing, Esq., a late member of the Continental Congress on the part of this Colony:
Thereupon, Resolved, That the sum of one hundred and forty-six Pounds eight Shillings, be allowed, and paid to Thomas Cushing, Esq., for the two hundred and forty-four days' attendance on the business of the Colony at the Continental Congress last year—his account of disbursements and expenses, for the Colony, to be considered as acted upon the next session of the General Assembly.
A Letter from Mr. William Cutter * of North-Yarmouth, informing the House that he has, agreeable to the directions of the Court, raised a Company of ninety men to join the Army before Boston; and that said Company have made choice of their Officers named in said Letter.; Read, and sent up.
Resolved, That no matters of a private nature be taken up by the House the present Session.
It was Moved, That the Committee appointed by the Court to build ten Armed Sloops, be directed to suspend the setting up more than half that number, if, in their judgment, they think there is no prospect of procuring Rigging, Iron, or other materials. And the question being put, it passed in the affirmative.
And Mr. Batchelder was directed to bring in a Resolve, accordingly.
Jedediah Foster, Esq., brought down a Letter from the Council of Safety in Charlesloivn, South-Carolina, informing the Board that they have sent Captain Robert Cochran to procure Seamen in this Colony for the defence of that, and desiring the assistance of the Board, with the following Vote of Council thereon, viz:
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