together with a gold watch and his wearing apparel, were taken from him by the captors of the ship; part of the money has since been expended in bringing the crew of said ship to Head-Quarters, so that only two hundred and twenty-five dollars now remain in the captors’ hands; by which means your Petitioner is reduced to the most necessitous circumstances, destitute of a single farthing to subsist on, in a country where he has neither friends nor connexions, and where he has no other dependance but on the characteristick benevolence and hospitality of the Americans. He recognises with gratitude your Honours’ recommendation to the captors to return his wearing apparel, and he humbly begs that you will add to that recommendation a return of his private moneys, in order that he may be able to support himself in some degree of reputation, till he shall have an opportunity to return home.

Resolved, That it be recommended to the Selectmen of the Town of Truro, that they return to Captain James Holmes seventy-five Dollars, part of the cash he claims as his private property on board the Friendship, lately run ashore in said town, for said Captain Holmes’s necessary support, till trial of said vessel can be had, or further order of this Court.

Whereas the Courts of General Sessions of the Peace and Inferior Court of Common Pleas, for the County of Worcester, according to the time appointed by law, should be holden at Worcester, in said County, on the last Tuesday of March instant: And whereas the Courts of General Sessions for the Peace, for the last December term for said County, is adjourned to Monday, the 25th instant, March: And whereas no business of great importance can be transacted at said Courts, and sundry of the Justices and officers of said Courts are members of this Court, which is likely to continue sitting beyond the time appointed for holding said Courts; and it is probable that matters of great importance may require the attendance of all the members of this Court at that time:

Therefore, Resolved, That said Courts be, and hereby are, adjourned unto the second Tuesday in June next, being the time at which the Inferior Court of Common Pleas and Court of General Sessions of the Peace, for said County, are by law appointed to be holden at Worcester aforesaid; and that all pleas, processes, writs, actions, and suits, issued or to be issued, complaints, precepts, recognisances, and all other matters and things returnable, and having, and that should have had day in said Courts, if the same had been holden the said last Tuesday in March, or at the adjournment of December Court, shall be returnable and have day in said Courts, on the said second Tuesday in June next, and shall abide and continue unto that time, and shall then be proceeded, tried, heard, and determined, to all intents and purposes as effectually as if said Courts should have been held on the said last Tuesday of March, or at the time to which the Court held in December last was adjourned.

Resolved, That there be paid out of the publick Treasury of this Colony, to the Selectmen of the Town of Groton, the sum of twenty-six Pounds five Shillings and seven Pence, in full of their account of Provisions supplied the Colony.

Resolved, That there be paid out of the publick Treasury, to Thomas Windship, the sum of one Pound four Shillings, in full for a Gun lost in the battle of Lexington.

Resolved, That there be paid out of the publick Treasury of this Colony, to Lieutenant Nathan Wheeler, the sum of seven Pounds seventeen Shillings and six Pence, in full for his services as a subaltern officer in Colonel Doolittle’s Regiment, from the 23d of April last to the 1st day of July, 1776.

Resolved, That there be paid out of the publick Treasury of this Colony, to William Dodge and others, the sum of fifty-seven Pounds six Shillings and eight Pence, in full for Provisions supplied by them to the Eastward settlements.

The Secretary, by order of the major part of the Council, went down with the following. Message to the House, viz:

“Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

“As the manufacture of saltpetre in this Colony is, by your encouragement, arrived to a good degree of perfection, and it is probable that what has and may hereafter be done to encourage the same will soon produce a sufficiency for our own use, yet there is another article no less necessary for the making of gunpowder, viz: sulphur, in the manufacturing whereof very little or no progress has yet been made. It is very certain that there are in this Colony good minerals for that purpose. The neglect of the people to enter into that branch of business must be owing to the short time in which a premium is promised to them for the manufacturing of it, or to some other cause yet unknown.

“The importance of this matter ought to engage the most serious attention of this Colony. We therefore most earnestly recommend the same to your further consideration; and that you will take such measures as to you shall appear proper for the obtaining that necessary article.”

Signed by fifteen of the Council.

Resolved, That there be paid out of the publick Treasury of this Colony, to Catharine Alexander, the sum of five Pounds twelve Shillings and four Pence, in full discharge of her account of losses her late Husband sustained at the battle of Bunker’s Hill, on the 17th of June last.

Resolved, That there be paid out of the publick Treasury of this Colony, to John Cummings, the sum of three Pounds seven Shillings and six Pence, in full discharge of his account for the losses he sustained at the battle of Charlestown, on the 17th of June last.

Resolved, That there be paid out of the publick Treasury of this Colony, to Amos Dole, the sum of six Pounds twelve Shillings, in full discharge of the account of the losses he sustained at the battle of Charlestown, on the 17th of June last.

Resolved, That there be paid out of the publick Treasury of this Colony, to the Heirs of Joseph Hibbart, deceased, the sum of one Pound four Shillings, in full for the loss of a Gun at the battle of Charlestown, on the 17th of June last.

Resolved, That there be paid out of the publick Treasury of this Colony, to Richard Sawtell, Jonas Nagus, and Jonas Weight, the sum of six Pounds twelve Shillings, in full discharge of their accounts for losses sustained at the battle of Charlestown, on the 17th of June last.

Resolved, That there be paid out of the publick Treasury of this Colony, to Eliphclet Hastings, the sum of nineteen Shillings and six Pence, and to the Selectmen of Waltham, the sum of seventeen Shillings, in full of their accounts for losses sustained at the battle of Charlestown.

Resolved, That there be paid out of the publick Treasury of this Colony, to the Heirs of Amos Wheeler deceased, the sum of three Pounds sixteen Shillings and six Pence, in full for the losses he sustained at the battle of Charlestown, on the 17th of June last.

Resolved, That the Commissary-General for this Colony be directed to procure and deliver to Captain Jeremiah Obrien, two hundred weight of Gunpowder, for the use of the Sloop Machias Liberty and the Schooner Diligent, he being accountable to this Colony for the same.

Adjourned to Monday morning, nine o’clock.

Monday, March 18, 1776.

Present in Council: Honourable Walter Spooner, William Sever, Joseph Palmer, Michael Farley, John Winthrop, John Whetcomb, Jedediah Foster, James Prescott, Eldad Taylor, Charles Chauncy, Samuel Holten, Jabez Fisher, Moses Gill, John Taylor, Benjamin White, Esquires.

In the House of Representatives: The House made choice of the following Officers, viz:

Solomon Gorham, First Lieutenant of the Company stationed at Gloucester, under the command of Captain Daniel Warner, in the room of John Low, who declines serving.

Andrew Woodbury, Second Lieutenant of the same Company.

John Chandler, First Lieutenant of a Company in said Gloucester, under the command of Captain Bradbury Saunders, in the room of Isaac Somes, who declines serving.

William Kinsman, Second Lieutenant of said Company, in the room of said Chandler.

Ebenezer Low, First Lieutenant in Captain Giddins’s Company, in said Gloucester, in the room of Jabez Lane, who has joined the Continental Army.

Jeremiah Foster, Second Lieutenant in the Company