own officers and court-associators; and, where the punishment directed by said rules and articles is to be whipping, and the crime not made felony by the civil law, that the delinquent shall have it in his power to evade such whipping by paying a certain fine—such as the wisdom of the honourable House shall point out, and in such time as shall be thought proper after conviction. This indulgence, your Petitioners apprehend, will not be attended with any bad consequences to the Army, as the Associators are on a different footing from the Continental Troops, and may, through inadvertency or ignorance, be guilty of an offence that would subject them to a punishment which would be a lasting stain to them and their family, more especially if they have been of any repute at home.

“Lastly. Your Petitioners pray the honourable House to consider the inequality of fines respecting Non-Associators; the grievances whereof are so great and many, that it would be giving you too much trouble to enumerate them, as we are well assured they are fully laid before the honourable House in a Petition from the Committee of Privates of the City and Suburbs of Philadelphia, and, perhaps, by other Committees.

“Your Petitioners most humbly pray the honourable House to take these matters into their most serious consideration, and grant the amendments herein proposed, or such redress of the grievances we complain of as to their wisdom shall appear right. And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will pray.

“Signed in behalf of the twelve Companies of the First Battalion of Militia in Cumberland County, by order of Delegates from each of the said Companies.

“JONATHAN HOGE,
“WILLIAM LYON,
“HENRY MAKINLY,
“JOHN CREIGH,
“WILLIAM BROWN,
“HUGH McCORMICK,
“ROBERT WHITEHILL,

“Committee of Correspondence.”

The Committee appointed to prepare and bring in a draft of Instructions for Recruiting Officers, reported an essay for that purpose; which was read by order, and referred to further consideration.

The House adjourned to ten o’clock to-morrow morning.

Tuesday, March 12, 1776.

The House met pursuant to adjournment.

Mr. Speaker laid before the House a Letter (dated the 6th instant) from the Committee of Berks County, respecting the Arms directed to be provided for the use of the said County, and some other publick matters; which was read, and ordered to lie on the table.

Upon motion, the Petition from the Privates of the First Battalion of Militia in the County of Cumberland was again read, and referred to the Committee appointed to revise the Rules and Regulations formed by the House for the better government of the Military Association.

The House resumed the consideration of the draft of Instructions for Recruiting Officers; which, being read by paragraphs, and agreed to by the House, was transcribed, and follows in these words, viz:

Instructions for recruiting Riflemen in the service of PENNSYLVANIA.

1st. You are to inlist no man who is not able-bodied, healthy, and active; nor any whose attachment to the rights and liberties of this Province, and of America in general, you have any cause to suspect.

2dly. You are to have great regard to sobriety and moral character in general.

3dly. You are to take the utmost care, as you value your office and the esteem of your country, that you inlist no man who is not provided with a good rifle-gun, perfectly fit for service, and very expert in the use of it.

4thly. You are not to inlist any indented servant, nor, without the leave of his master or mistress, any apprentice.

5thly. You will take notice that the Colonel of the Battalion, or some person to be appointed by him, is to inspect your men, and to reject such as do not answer to your instructions.

6thly. Every man is to be inlisted by his taking and subscribing, before some Justice of the Peace, an oath or affirmation in the following words, to wit: “I, A B, voluntarily inlisted a soldier until the 1st day of January, 1778, unless sooner discharged, in the Troops ordered to be raised by the Assembly of Pennsylvania, and subjecting myself to such rules and articles as are, or shall be, made or directed by the said Assembly for regulating and governing the said Troops, do solemnly—that, in this service, I will truly and faithfully obey the present and any Assembly of this Colony, and, in their recess, any Committee of Safety by them appointed, for the time being, and, in pursuance of their direction and command, such officers as shall be placed in authority over them; that I will, to the utmost of my power, defend the rights and liberties of this Province, and of America in general; and will oppose and resist any force or enemies that shall act or be employed against them. “So help me—.

7thly. You are to use all diligence in completing your company, and report to your Colonel.

8thly. You shall be allowed ten shillings per week for the subsistence of every recruit till they arrive at their stations, and ten shillings for every man you inlist who shall be approved on inspection, besides such subsistence money and your pay.

9thly. You are to furnish each of the subalterns of your company with a copy of these Instructions, who are to exert themselves in recruiting.

10thly. That each soldier, when inlisted, and having taken the foregoing qualification, shall receive a month’s pay advance.

11thly. That the men be inlisted to serve till the 1st day of January, 1778; to find themselves arms and clothing; and to be subject to be discharged at any time, upon the advance of a month’s pay to each man, over and above the sum that may be due to him.

Signed by order of the House:

JOHN MORTON, Speaker.

To . . . . . . . . ., Esq., Captain of the . . . . . Company of Riflemen, in the Province of Pennsylvania.

A Petition from divers Inhabitants of the County of Cumberland, was presented to the House, and read, setting forth that the Petitioners, last year, mortgaged their lands in the General Land Office of this Province, with a prospect of repaying the money they borrowed, agreeable to the terms stipulated; but that the distressing situation of publick affairs (which prevents selling the produce of their plantations, their stock, or other property, whereby they expected to raise money) has put it out of their power to comply with their contracts within the times limited by law; that the Petitioners, therefore, pray the House will suspend the execution of the law till a revival of trade shall enable them to dispose of their effects, when they will most cheerfully, without any compulsion, perform their respective agreements.

Ordered to lie on the table.

A Petition from divers Inhabitants in and near the Townships of Whitehall and Salisbury, in the County of Northampton, was presented to the House and read, setting forth that the Petitioners conceive the articles for regulating the Associators in this Province are very unequal, as those who do not join with them are put to no expense in providing themselves with arms and accoutrements, and have only the trifling sum of fifty shillings to pay yearly; that, for this reason, many of the inhabitants still neglect to sign the Articles of Association, by which means the publick cause suffers. That the Petitioners therefore humbly pray the honourable House to take the premises into consideration, and make such further Rules and Regulations as shall render the publick defence less burdensome to individuals.

Ordered to lie on the table.

The House adjourned to three o’clock, P. M.

Post Meridian.

The House resumed the consideration of the appointment of Officers for the new Levies in the Rifle service.

And Resolved, That Andrew Long, of Bucks County, Peter Grubb, Jun., of Lancaster County, and Lewis Farmer, of the City of Philadelphia, Esquires, be, and they are hereby appointed Captains in the said service.

The House adjourned to ten o’clock to-morrow morning.