in the care thereof, until these articles are removed, which we have given orders to be done as soon as possible.

We are, &c.

To Colonel Matthews, of Virginia.

MARYLAND COUNCIL OF SAFETY TO CAPTAIN NICHOLSON.

SIR; Captain Montagu, of the Fowey ship of war, has broke the truce, and we are directed by the Convention, who have information of your being on your passage from Baltimore hither, to apprize you of it, that you may take such measures as you may think prudent and necessary to guard against falling into his hands. We are, &c.

To Captain James Nicholson.

MARYLAND COUNCIL OF SAFETY TO CAPTAIN NICHOLSON.

SIR: Captain Montagu, of the Fowey ship of war. has broke the truce, and we are directed by the Convention to apprize you of it, and send you the enclosed resolve, which you will conduct yourself agreeable to.

We are, &c.

To Captain James Nicholson.

MARYLAND CONVENTION.

In Convention, June 25, 1776.

This Convention being informed that Writs of Election have been issued in the name of the Proprietary, for the election of Delegates in Assembly :

Resolved, That the said Writs be not obeyed, and that no election be made in consequence thereof.

Extract from the Minutes:

G. DUVALL, Clerk.

TO THE PEOPLE OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The Tories have at length occupied their last post. They now acknowledge that Independence is inevitable, but endeavour to persuade us that a formal declaration of it is unnecessary, and that we are already as independent as we can be of the Crown of Britain. It is in vain to urge the advantages we shall derive in forming foreign alliances from an immediate declaration of independence. The campaign, they tell us, is commenced, and France cannot receive our manifesto time enough to help us before the next year. Be not terrified, ye poor creatures, with a word, nor put off the day any longer that is to exalt you to the rank of men. Your posterity will look upon it as the birth-day of permanent liberty to this country.

Should an immediate declaration of independence take place, we shall then only have crossed the Red Sea of our difficulties. A wilderness will still be before us. We have been enslaved with European ideas, manners, and laws. Hereditary right to power, titles, excise laws, &c., must all be laid in the dust before we can expect to establish or reap the fruits of good Government in the Colonies.

You will be in danger, my dear countrymen, from men who wish and aim to unite the present contending parties in our Province. Where men agree in an object, but differ only in the means of obtaining it, there it is proper to reconcile them to each other; and whether pains are taken or not for this purpose, a coalition will always take place sooner or later between them. Many people who signed the Remonstrance, in a few years will embrace the present advocates for a free and independent Government in their arms, and execrate the men who handed it to them. These people love liberty. They have only committed a mistake in the means of establishing it on a permanent foundation. Avoid only, my countrymen, a union with Tories and Crown-officers, who have shown themselves inimical to the measures of the Congress. Some of them will probably soon begin to bellow for independence. But be not deceived. They have delayed their repentance till the orders were given to drive away the cart. It is now too late for them to hope for a reprieve. They aim only to be continued in office. Remember the conduct of Queen Anne’s Tory Ministry, who attempted to bring the Stuart family to the throne near thirty years after they were expelled from it.

I would by no means exclude men of property from the confidence of the people, provided they possess understanding, integrity, and publick spirit. But always remember that they derive no right to power from their wealth; and that a freeman worth only fifty pounds is entitled, by the laws of our Province, to all the privileges of the first nabob in the country. Remember the influence of wealth upon the morals and principles of mankind. Recollect how often you have heard the first principles of Government subverted by the calls of Cato, and other Catalines, to make way for men of fortune to declare their sentiments upon the subject of independence; as if a minority of rich men were to govern the majority of virtuous freeholders in the Province. Honour, liberty, and life, (and these are the common portions of every freeman in Pennsylvania,) are worth all the wealth in the world.

A WATCHMAN,

Philadelphia, June 24, 1776.

PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS TO CONVENTION OF NEW-JERSEY.

Philadelphia, June 24, 1776.

GENTLEMEN: Your favour respecting the proper measures to be taken with your late Governour, William Franklin, Esq., came to hand on Saturday, the 22d instant; but as the Congress did not sit on that day, I could not lay it before them till Monday.

I now do myself the honour of enclosing to you the resolves of Congress, which they have this day passed with regard to the treatment of him. You will there perceive the Congress have directed him to be sent to Connecticut under a guard. I shall write to Governour Trumhull to treat him as a prisoner, should he refuse to give his parole in writing.

I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your most obedient, and very humble servant,

JOHN HANCOCK, President.

To the Honourable Convention of New-Jersey.

P. S. The other resolves herewith sent are of such a nature that no arguments are necessary to enforce them. You will be pleased to attend to them as soon as possible.

PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS TO GOVERNOUR TRUMBULL.

Philadelphia, June 24, 1776.

HONOURABLE SIR: The Convention of New-Jersey having declared their late Governour, William Franklin, Esquire, a virulent enemy to the United Colonies, and that he be confined in such place and manner as the Continental Congress shall direct, I do myself the honour of transmitting you the enclosed resolutions with respect to him.

Should he give his parole in writing, you will in that case be pleased to send him to any part of the Colony which you shall judge most proper; but should he refuse to give his parole in writing, I am to request you will proceed against him agreeably to the resolves of Congress relative to prisoners in that predicament.

I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient and very humble servant,

JOHN HANCOCK, President.

To the Hon. Governour Trumbull, Connecticut.

To the Honourable the Board of War appointed by the Honourable Continental Congress at PHILADELPHIA:

The Memorial of Captain ELISHA PAINTER, wherein your Honours’ Memorialist begs leave humbly to state and show:

That before the important dispute between England and these Colonies arose so high as to render it necessary to take up arms in defence of American liberty, he examined the nature of the dispute, and thereby found the cause we are now fighting in defence of to be righteous and just; on which your Honours’ Memorialist, being fired with a due proportion of zeal, formed a resolution (if occasion should require) to contribute the small mite of his assistance to the utmost of his endeavour to defend the darling rights and liberties of America, rather than to have them fall a prey to the ravages of a cruel and tyrannical Ministry; being thus established, he held himself in readiness to throw by all other affairs and join the friends of America in opposition to the enemies of it; but being from home when the alarm came from Lexington, went not to their assistance. The next call for assistance