Upon motion, Ordered, That Mr. Boss, Mr. Potter, Mr. Hatter, and Mr. Arndt, be a Committee to examine the Muster-Rolls returned to this House, and report the number of effective Men, Officers, and Privates, in the pay of this Province.

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

Friday, May 24, 1776.

A Memorial of the Committee of Safety of this Province was presented to the House, and read, setting forth that there being only nine Members of the said Committee residing in this City who are not Members of Assembly, and several of the said Committee being frequently out of Town on publick business, it often happens that a Board cannot be got together, by which very important matters are sometimes delayed, to the injury of the publick; and representing the necessity of increasing the number of the Committee immediately, by adding more persons residing in the City.

Ordered to lie on the table.

The Committee appointed to take into consideration the Resolve of Congress of the 18th instant, and to draw up a Memorial to be presented to Congress, reported an essay for that purpose; which was read by order, and referred to further consideration.

Upon motion, Resolved, That the Commissions of the Field and other Officers of the Military Associators in this Province shall be dated at the time they were respectively chosen, but the rank to remain as settled heretofore for the several Counties; and that the Speaker make out the said Commissions accordingly.

Mr. Speaker laid before the House a Resolve of Congress; which was read by order, and is as follows, viz:

“In Congress, April 6, 1776.

“Resolved, That it be recommended to the Assemblies and Conventions in the several Colonies to appoint proper officers, at convenient places in their respective Colonies, to take bonds, in adequate penalties, for observing the regulations made by the Congress or Assemblies or Conventions concerning trade, and for securing the observation of such parts of the Association as are not inconsistent therewith; and that the obligor shall, within eighteen months after the departure of the vessel, produce to such officers a certificate, under the hands and seals of three or more respectable merchants residing at the port or place where the cargo shall be delivered, that the same was there unloaded; and take manifests upon oath of the cargoes exported and imported, and keep fair accounts and entries thereof; give bills of health when desired; grant registers, showing the property of the vessels cleared out; and sign certificates that the requisites for qualifying vessels to trade have been complied with; and that the fees of the said officers be stated by the respective Assemblies or Conventions: Provided always, That no prosecution upon any of the said bonds shall be commenced but within three years after the date thereof.

“Extract from the Minutes:

“CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary. ”

Upon motion, Resolved, That this House will keep, as publick property, the Arms and Accoutrements they have purchased and put into the hands of the Troops in the pay of this Province, and will purchase such Arms and Accoutrements for the publick use as the Troops may have of their own, and which they are willing to dispose of; and that eight pence per month be deducted out of the pay of each soldier for the use of such Arms and Accoutrements.

Resolved, That Mr. Miles be empowered to agree for and purchase such Arms, at the expense and for the use of this Province.

Resolved, That the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the pay of this Province, for the lime being, shall have and be allowed thirty Dollars per month, besides his pay, for the expenses of his table.

Ordered, That the Clerk write to the absent Members, requesting their attendance in Assembly as soon as possible.

The House adjourned to three o’clock in the afternoon.

Upon motion, Ordered, That Mr. Dickinson, Mr. Reed, Mr. Clymer, Mr. Andrew Allen, Mr. Wilcocks, Mr. Ross, and Mr. James Allen, be a Committee to prepare and draw up Resolutions for rendering naturalization, and the oaths or affirmations of allegiance, unnecessary, in all cases where they are required or have been usually taken within this Colony.

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

Saturday, May 25, 1776.

The House met pursuant to adjournment.

A Petition of John McGowan, praying to be appointed to a Lieutenancy in the Rifle service, vacant by the resignation of Jacob Young, was presented to the House, and read.

Ordered to lie on the table.

The House adjourned to Monday next, at four o’clock in the afternoon.

Monday, May 27, 1776.

Mr. Speaker, with thirty-two Members, met pursuant to adjournment; and a quorum not appearing, the House adjourned to ten o’clock to-morrow morning.

Tuesday, May 28, 1776.

The House met pursuant to adjournment.

A Petition of Luke Broadhead to be appointed to the office of a Lieutenant in one of the Companies of Riflemen, in the service of this Province, was presented to the House, and read.

Ordered to lie on the table.

A Memorial of the Committee of Inspection and Observation of the City and Liberties of Philadelphia, presented to Congress the 25th instant, was laid before the House, and read.

Ordered to lie on the table.

A Memorial of the Committee of Safety was presented to the House, and read, setting forth that, about the beginning of this month, being advised that two of the King’s ships lying near Cape Henlopen, infesting the trade of this Colony, were proceeding up the River Delaware, the Committee issued orders to the officers of the armed boats to stop their progress; and that, in the engagements that ensued, some were of opinion it was in the power of the gondolas to have taken the Roebuck, one of the said ships, which was not done. In a variety of opinions respecting the cause of this miscarriage, the commanders of the armed boats have, in a publication, attributed it to the misconduct of the Committee, in not furnishing them with sufficient quantities of ammunition. They request the House will promote such an inquiry as will satisfy the publick where the blame and misconduct is justly chargeable.

Ordered to lie on the table.

A Petition of a number of the freemen and inhabitants of the County of Cumberland, was presented to the House, and read, and is as follows, viz:

“To the Honourable the Representatives of the Province of PENNSYLVANIA, in General Assembly met :

“We, the subscribers, freemen and inhabitants of the County of Cumberland, in the said Province, beg leave to lay before you, at this very important crisis, the following representation:

“The arbitrary and unconstitutional claim of the British Parliament to bind, by its acts, the British Colonies in all cases whatsoever, and the cruel exertions of the British Administration to carry by force that claim into execution, drove America into the present unhappy, but, on her part, just and necessary war.

“To obtain the re-establishment of their rights, and to be restored to the freedom and prosperity which, until lately, they enjoyed, were the declared ends of the Colonists; of those ends we ardently wish to see the full accomplishment.

“But this cannot take place without the concurrence of those who discover no inclination to depart from the destructive system which they have so pertinaciously pursued; necessity, therefore, directs the contemplation of the publick to other objects.

“If those who rule in Britain will not permit the Colonies to be free and happy in connection with that Kingdom, it becomes their duty to secure and promote their freedom