fire-arm and bayonet if to be obtained, cartridge-box, knapsack, and blanket; and when formed, we engage to march to the Town of Boston, or such place within this Colony as the General Court of said Colony shall appoint; and do hereby oblige ourselves faithfully to observe and obey all such orders as we shall from time to time receive from our superior officers.”

In the House of Representatives: Resolved, That the following Officers and Seamen be appointed for each of the Vessels now building by this Colony, and the pay per month allowed them, agreeable to the sums affixed, viz:

All of which Officers, Seamen, and Marines, shall furnish themselves with a good effective Fire-arm, Cartouch-box, Cutlass, and Blanket.

And be it further Resolved, That the Captains be appointed as soon as may be; which Captains, when chosen, shall return a list of persons suitable for the other offices, and shall proceed to inlist the number of Seamen, Marines, and Boys, proposed.

And for further encouragement to said Officers, Seamen, and Marines,

It is further Resolved, That they shall be entitled to one-third of the proceeds of all captures that shall be by them made, and finally condemned, to be distributed in such manner as this Court shall hereafter determine; and the said Vessels shall be armed and mounted with at least twelve carriage-guns, all one size, viz: six-pounders; and with a proper number of swivels and cohorns. And the honourable Council are hereby desired to commission them to cruise against all property, agreeable to the late resolves of the honourable Continental Congress.

Resolved, That the Non-Commissioned Officers and Soldiers of the Regiment to be raised for the defence of Boston, &c., be paid one month’s advance wages.

Petition of John Ashley and others, in the County of Berkshire, setting forth: That from our known attachment to that order and subordination which is necessary for the existence and well-being of society, we are set up by a few unthinking, rash, and designing men, as the butts of popular resentment, and are (as well as your Honours) by them represented as seeking our own private emolument only at the expense of the interest of the people. And although every step by us taken to lay open and manifest the conduct of these incendiaries is, by them, blazed abroad as an evidence of our guilt and rapacity, yet we should hold ourselves inexcusable if, at the present alarming crisis, we should neglect to inform your Honours of some late transactions which have taken place in this country.

The Reverend Thomas Allen, of Pittsfield, for a long time past seems to have been restless in his endeavours to raise the prejudice of the people against the present Constitution of this Colony, and the Legislative and Executive authority of the same; in order to effect which, and prevent the Court of Sessions sitting at Pittsfield, on the last Tuesday of February last, he, with his associates, procured a meeting of divers people of this country, by the appellation of Committee of Inspection, to be called at Pittsfield, on the last Monday of said February; previous to which meeting, and in order properly to prepare the minds of the people of Richmont (who of late had almost unanimously voted to adhere to and support the present Constitution of Government) to fall in with the schemes of said Allen, he, on a Sabbath evening, in said Richmont, delivered a discourse, in the form of a Sermon, to a large number of the inhabitants of said Richmont, and, among other things, informed his auditory that the present Constitution of this Colony, as established in consequence of the advice and recommendation of the Continental Congress, is oppressive, defective, and rotten to the very core; that it ought not, by any means, to be submitted to; that your Honours and the honourable House of Representatives were a number of designing men, who sought after emolument for yourselves, your children, and friends, without any regard to the good of the people, and that you ought to be opposed; and many such like things, which will appear by the depositions herewith sent to your Honours. The people, being accustomed to pay great regard to the sacred character of a priest, and to receive for truth and sound doctrine everything delivered by a clergyman, the aforementioned harangue, together with Mr. Allen’s private exhortations and advice, had the desired effect, and the people were inflamed to the degree the preacher designed. The time of the meeting of the aforementioned Committees being come, Mr. Allen (though not a member of the same) appeared as the chief agitator and spokesman, and, after having read a pamphlet called Common Sense, as his text, and made great reflections upon the General Assembly of this Colony, as his doctrine and improvement, he produced a large number of resolves by himself previously compiled, which were put and voted by a majority of the people present; a copy of which resolves, together with the protests of the dissentients, we herewith send to your Honours. The people being inflamed, no Court was suffered to sit, and they immediately took away such commissions from the civil officers of the County on which they could lay their hands, and we are reduced to a state of anarchy and confusion. We would hope the people may soon see the folly of their proceedings, and return to a sense of their duty; but as long as such incendiaries are tolerated, it is hardly to be expected. We hope your Honours will take some wise steps for our relief.

Read, and committed, with the Papers accompanying it, to the Committee on the state of the Colony.

The Treasurer of this Colony having represented to this Court the necessity of his being furnished with one or more Iron Chests, for the better security of Colony property,

Therefore, Resolved, That Henry Gardner, Esquire, Receiver-General, be, and he hereby is, directed to take into his possession the Iron Chests, together with the Weights and Measures, Steelyards and Scales, which belong to this Colony, and were in the hands of Harrison Gray, the former Treasurer, the said Henry Gardner, Esquire, giving his Receipt for said articles to the Committee appointed by this Court to take into their possession the effects of enemies to the liberties of America in the Town of Boston, said Committee rendering an Account of the same to this Court.

Ordered, That the Committee of this Court appointed to see to the fortifying of the Harbour of Boston, be directed immediately and without fail to procure the removal from Castle-Island all the Cannon and Carriages thereon, which are capable of being made fit for use; and if the removal of the said Cannon and Carriages cannot be effected without incurring an expense to this Government, that the said Committee be, and hereby are, directed to effect the said business, whatever expense may be necessary therefor.

Ordered, That Colonel Lovell be of the Committee for fortifying the Harbour of Boston, in the room of Mr. Sullivan, excused.

Ordered, That Mr. Brown, of Boston, be on the Committee appointed to see to fortifying the Harbour of Boston, in the room of Mr. Cushing, excused.

Resolved, That for the more effectually fortifying and securing the Town and Harbour of Boston, the Committee already appointed for that purpose be, and they hereby are, directed and empowered to purchase a sufficient number of old Ships or Vessels, and cause them to be sunk in the Channel between the Middle-Ground and Castle-Rocks, so called, in said Harbour, for preventing any Vessels of above two hundred tons entering the same; and that the said Committee execute said orders without loss of time, and lay their Accounts before this Court for allowance.

Adjourned to nine o’clock, to-morrow morning.

Saturday, April 13, 1776.

Present in Council: Honourable James Otis, Benjamin Greenleaf, Walter Spooner, Caleb Cushing, John Winthrop, Joseph Gerrish, John Whetcomb, Jedediah Poster, James Prescott, Eldad Taylor, Benjamin Lincoln, Michael Farley, Joseph Palmer, Samuel Holten, Jabez Fisher, Benjamin White, Esquires.

Ordered, That Colonel Sawyer be empowered and directed to sign the Beating Orders to be given out for inlisting