It is therefore unanimously Resolved, That Colonel Charles Read, Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Forman, and Major Joseph Haight, do take two hundred of the Militia of Burlington County and two hundred of the Militia of Monmouth, and proceed, without delay, in order to quell the aforesaid insurrection, and to disarm and take prisoners whomsoever they shall find assembled with intent to oppose the friends of American freedom; which prisoners so taken they shall forthwith bring before this Congress, and the said officers are empowered to take such measures as they shall think necessary for this service.

Adjourned to three o’clock, afternoon.

Met according to adjournment.

On the question, Whether the draft of the Constitution be now printed, or the printing thereof be deferred for a few days, in order to reconsider, in a full House, the propriety of the last clause in the Constitution, containing the proviso respecting reconciliation; it was carried as follows:

FOR PRINTING NOW.

FOR DEFERRING.

Ordered, That one thousand copies of the draft of Charter Rights be immediately printed and dispersed among the inhabitants of this Colony.

On the application of the Provincial Congress of New-York,

Ordered, That they be empowered to apprehend and secure such of the inhabitants of that Colony who have removed into this, as they may think necessary for the publick good; and all persons within this Colony are desired to aid and assist in the execution of such orders for that purpose as they may think proper to make.

Ordered, That Stephen Crane, Lewis Ogden, and Caleb Camp, Esquires, be a Secret Committee to correspond and co-operate with the Secret Committee of the Provincial Congress of New-York; and that the said Committee be vested with power to issue warrants and apprehend and confine such person or persons as they may think necessary for the publick good.

The Petition from the Town Committee of Galloway and Great Egg-Harbour, praying that the surplus of the money arising from the sale of goods saved on board a transport belonging to the enemy, which was stranded on the Jersey coast, may be appropriated towards equipping such within their bounds, and the bounds of Little Egg-Harbour, as are unable to equip themselves; was read a second time, and ordered to lie on the table.

Adjourned till to-morrow morning, eight o’clock.

Thursday, July 4, 1776.

Met according to adjournment.

The Petition from John Reynolds and George Riche, Paper-makers in Germantown, Pennsylvania, setting forth, that they designed to carry on their trade in this Colony, and praying that this Congress would encourage the same; read a second time, and deferred for further consideration.

Resolved, That, in order to prevent a failure of justice, all Judges, Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs, Coroners, and other inferior officers of the late Government within this Colony, proceed in the execution of their several offices, under the authority of the people, until the intended Legislature, and the several officers of the new Government be settled and perfected, having respect to the present Constitution of New-Jersey, as by the Congress of late ordained, and the orders of the Continental and Provincial Congresses; and that all actions, suits, and processes, be continued, altering only the style and form thereof according to the terms by the said Constitution prescribed, in the further prosecution thereof.

Ordered, That the Committee of the County of Gloucester be continued, and they proceed to act in all cases as heretofore directed, until a new election.

Adjourned to three o’clock, afternoon.

Met according to adjournment.

Whereas this Congress has been given to understand that divers persons in the County of Monmouth have imbodied themselves in opposition to the measures of Congress; and

the end of the terms severally before limited; and that any of the said officers shall be liable to be dismissed when adjudged guilty of misbehaviour by the Council on an impeachment of the Assembly.

XIII. That the inhabitants of each County, qualified to vote as aforesaid, shall, at the time and place of electing their Representatives, annually elect one Sheriff and one or more Coroners, and that they may re-elect the same person to such offices until he shall have served three years, but no longer; after which, three years shall elapse before the same person is capable of being elected again. When the election is certified to the Governour or Vice President, under the hands of six freeholders of the County for which they were elected, they shall be immediately commissioned to serve in their respective offices.

XIV. That the Townships, at their annual town meetings for electing other officers, shall choose Constables for the Districts respectively, and also three or more judicious freeholders of good character to hear and finally determine all appeals relative to unjust assessments in cases of publick taxation, which Commissioners of appeal shall for that purpose sit at some suitable time or times to be by them appointed and made known to the people by advertisements.

XV. That the laws of this Colony shall begin in the following style, viz: Be it enacted by the Council and General Assembly of this Colony, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That all commissions granted by the Governour or Vice-President shall run thus: The Colony of NEW-JERSEY, to A. B., &c., greeting. And that all writs shall likewise run in the name of the Colony. And that all indictments shall conclude in the following manner, viz: Against the peace of this Colony, the Government, and dignity of the same.

XVI. That all criminals shall be admitted to the same privileges of witnesses and counsel as their prosecutors are or shall be entitled to.

XVII. That the estates of such persons as shall destroy their own lives shall not for that offence be forfeited, but shall descend in the same manner as they would have done had such persons died in a natural way; nor shall any article which may occasion accidentally the death of any one be henceforth deemed a deodand, or in anywise forfeited on account of such misfortune.

XVIII. That no person shall ever within this Colony be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping Almighty God in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience, nor under any pretence whatsoever compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith and judgment; nor shall any person within this Colony ever be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or any other rates, for the purpose of building or repairing any church or churches, place or places of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right, or has deliberately or voluntarily engaged himself to perform.

XIX. That there shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this Province in preference to another, and that no Protestant inhabitant of this Colony shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil right merely on account of his religious principles, but that all persons, professing a belief in the faith of any Protestant sect, who shall demean themselves peaceably under the Government as hereby established, shall be capable of being elected into any office of profit or trust, or being a member of either branch of the Legislature, and shall fully and freely enjoy every privilege and immunity enjoyed by others their fellow subjects.

XX. That the Legislative department of this Colony may as much as possible be preserved from all suspicion of corruption, none of the Judges of the Supreme or other Courts, Sheriffs, or any other person or persons possessed of any post of profit under the Government other than Justices of the Peace, shall be entitled to a seat in the Assembly, but that, on his being elected and taking his seat, his office or post shall be considered as vacant.

XXI. That all the laws of this Province, contained in the edition lately published by Mr. Allinson, shall be and remain in full force until altered by the Legislature of this Colony, (such only excepted as are incompatible with this Charter,) and shall be, according as heretofore, regarded in all respects by all civil officers and others the good people of this Province.

XXII. That the common law of England, as well as so much of the statute law as have been heretofore practised in this Colony, shall still remain in force until they shall be altered by a future law of the Legislature, such parts only excepted as are repugnant to the rights and privileges contained in this Charter, and that the inestimable right of trial by jury shall remain confirmed, as a part of the law of this Colony, without repeal, forever.

XXIII. That every person who shall be elected as aforesaid to be a member of the Legislative Council or House of Assembly shall, previous to his taking his seat in Council or Assembly, take the following oath or affirmation, viz: “I, A. B., do solemnly declare that, as a member of the Legislative Council (or Assembly, as the case may be) of the Colony of New-Jersey, I will not assent to any law, vote, or proceeding, which shall appear to me injurious to the publick welfare of said Colony, nor that shall annul or repeal that part of the third section in the Charter of this Colony which establishes that the elections of members of the Legislative Council or Assembly shall be annual, nor that part of the twenty-second section in said Charter respecting the trial by jury, nor that shall annul, repeal, or alter any part or parts of the eighteenth or nineteenth sections of the same.” And any person or persons who shall be elected as aforesaid is hereby empowered to administer to the said Members the said oath or affirmation.

Provided always, and it is the true intent and meaning of this Congress, That if a reconciliation between Great Britain and these Colonies should take place, and the latter be again taken under the protection and Government of the Crown of Great Britain, this Charter shall be null and void, otherwise to remain firm and inviolable.

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