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To His Excellency GEORGE WASHINGTON, Esq., General and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces of the United American Colonies: MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY: When the liberties of America were attacked by the violent hand of oppression; when troops hostile to the rights of humanity invaded this Colony, seized our Capital, and spread havock and destruction around it; when our virtuous sons were murdered, and our houses destroyed by the troops of Britain; the inhabitants of this and the other American Colonies, impelled by self-preservation and the love of freedom, forgetting their domestick concerns, determined resolutely and unitedly to oppose the sons of tyranny. Convinced of the vast importance of having a gentleman of great military accomplishments Jo discipline, lead, and conduct the forces of the Colonies, it gave us the greatest satisfaction to hear that the honourable Congress of the United Colonies had made choice of a gentleman thus qualified; who, leaving the pleasures of domestick and rural life, was ready to undertake the arduous task. And your nobly declining to accept the pecuniary emoluments annexed to this high office, fully evidenced to us that a warm regard to the sacred rights of humanity, and sincere love to your country, solely influenced you in the acceptance of this important trust. From your acknowledged abilities as a soldier, and your virtues in publick and private life, we had the most pleasing hopes; but the fortitude and equanimity so conspicuous in your conduct, the wisdom of your counsels, the mild, yet strict government of the Army, your attention to the civil Constitution of this Colony, the regard you have at all times shown for the lives and health of those under your command, the fatigues you have with cheerfulness endured, the regard you have shown for the preservation of our Metropolis, and the great address with which our military operations have been conducted, have exceeded our most sanguine expectations, and demand the warmest returns of gratitude. The Supreme Ruler of the Universe having smiled on our arms, and crowned your labours with remarkable success, we are now, without that effusion of blood we so much wished to avoid, again in the quiet possession of our Capital. The wisdom and prudence of those movements which have obliged the enemy to abandon our Metropolis will ever be remembered by the inhabitants of this Colony. May you still go on, approved by Heaven, revered by all good men, and dreaded by those tyrants who claim their fellow-men as their property. May the United Colonies be defended from slavery by your victorious arms; may they still see their enemies flying before you; and the deliverance of your country being effected, may you, in retirement, enjoy that peace and satisfaction of mind which always attends the good and great; and may future generations, in the peaceful enjoyment of that freedom, the exercise of which your sword shall have established, raise the richest and most lasting monuments to the name of Washington. Thursday, March 28, 1776. Present in Council; Honourable William Sever, Walter Spooner, John Winthrop, Joseph Gerrish, John Whetcomb, James Prescott, Eldad Taylor, Chnrles Chauncy, Samuel Holten, Jabez Fisher, John Taylor, Benjamin White, Esquires. Petition of Walter Spooner, of Dartmouth, setting forth: That a Petition was presented from the Committee of Correspondence of the Town of Dartmouth, to this Court, set- ting forth that the harbour in said town was of great importance to the publick; and after a full inquiry into the state of said harbour, the honourable Court passed a resolve that a company of seventy-five men, including officers, should be stationed there for the defence of said harbour; and also resolved that ten pieces of iron ordnance, with a suitable quantity of ordnance stores. And it was further ordered that the sum of three hundred pounds should be deposited in the hands of your Petitioner, for the purpose of procuring the cannon and stores; but your Petitioner hath not been able to procure the cannon, though care and pains have been taken therefor. And being informed that there is a considerable number of cannon in and near Boston, some of which may not be needed for the common defence, therefore your Petitioner prays that he may be allowed to purchase, or be indulged with the loan, of a few pieces of cannon, for the immediate defence of said harbour. And your Petitioner further prays that a Captain may be appointed to raise and take the command of the seventy-five men, agreeably to the said resolve; and also to provide a Commissary to provide for said company. Read, and Ordered, That the Commissary-General be directed to deliver to the Petitioner, for the purpose mentioned in his Petition, four of the Cannon on Castle-Island, which belong to this Colony, from among those reported to be spoiled, if they can be repaired, of a size not less than those which will carry a nine-pound ball; and the Petitioner is directed to cause them to be repaired as soon as may be. In the House of Representatives: Ordered, That the Letter from Robert H. Harrison requesting liberty for Captain William Wood, of Whitehaven, to return to England, be committed to Mr. Pitts and Colonel Orne, with such as the honourable Board shall join. In Council: Read, and concurred, and Moses Gill, Esq., is joined. In the House of Representatives: Ordered, That Colonel Orne and Captain Partridge, with such as the honourable Board shall join, be a Committee to lay the account of Powder supplied the Army at Cambridge and Roxbury, since the 10th of June last, before his Excellency General Washington. In Council: Read, and concurred, and Moses Gill, Esq., is joined. In the House of Representatives: Ordered, That Colonel Orne and Major Bliss, together with such as the honourable Board shall join, be added to the Committee on the state of the Province. In Council: Read, and concurred, and Thomas Gushing and Moses Gill, Esquires, are joined. Adjourned to nine oclock, to-morrow morning. Friday, March 29, 1776. Present in Council: Honourable William Sever, Walter Spooner, Caleh Cushing, John Winthrop, Joseph Gerrish, John Whetcomb, Jedediah Foster, James Prescott, Eldad Taylor, Charles Chauncy, Samuel Holten, Jabez Fisher, Moses Gill, John Taylor, Benjamin White, Esquires. Resolved, That the Honourable Richard Derby, Junior, Esq., be, and he hereby is, permitted to fix out one large Vessel, or two small ones, for a voyage to the foreign West- Indies, and back to this Colony again, and to export in said vessel or vessels three hundred empty Molasses Hogsheads, and other Lumber, to the value of two hundred and twenty Pounds, lawful money, it being the amount of Powder and Fire-Arms lately imported by him into the Town of Salem, the said Derby giving bond with sufficient sureties to the Receiver-General of this Colony, in the sum of two thousand Pounds, conditioned that there shall not be taken on board, or exported in said vessel or vessels, any produce of the United Colonies, more than the above-mentioned sum of two hundred and twenty Pounds, in empty Molasses Hogs- heads and Lumber; and that said vessel or vessels shall not proceed to any of the British West-India Islands, but that they shall return to some port in this Colony with their effects, the Island of Nantucket excepted. In the House of Representatives: Ordered, That the Letter from Tristram Dalton, Esquire, to the Honourable Moses Gill, Esq., relative to the Brigantine Unity, Captain Corbit late master, be committed to Mr. Cushing and Major Cross. In Council: Read, and concurred, and Charles Chauncy, Esq., is joined. Resolved, That there be paid out of the publick Treasury of this Colony, to William Henshaw, the sum of eighteen Pounds eight Shillings and six Pence, in full for his wages in the service of this Colony, as an Adjutant-General. In the House of Representatives: The House made choice of the following Commission Officers of the Forces stationed at Dartmouth, viz: Benjamin Dillingham, Captain; Manasseh Kempton, First Lieutenant; Eleazer Hathaway, Second Lieutenant; William Talman, Commissary, for said forces. In Council: Read, and concurred. Resolved, That the Colonels, or commanding officers, of the Regiment of Militia of this Colony, last raised in consequence of a resolve of Court, as a temporary reinforcement
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