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Monday, December 5, 1774, A˙ M.
Ordered, That Doctor Winthrop, Mr˙ Sullivan, Mr˙ Pickering, Mr˙ Bridge, and Mr˙ Cheever, be a Committee to prepare an Address to the Clergy of this Province, desiring them to exhort their people to carry into execution the Resolves of the Continental Congress.
Adjourned to three o' clock this afternoon.
Afternoon.
The Congress resumed the consideration of the Report of the Committee appointed to take into consideration the state of Rights, state of Grievances, and the Association, as stated by the Continental Congress, and it was accepted, and is as followeth:
Resolved, That the Proceedings of the American Continental Congress, held at Philadelphia on the fifth of September last, and reported by the Honourable Delegates from this Colony, have, with the deliberation due their high importance, been considered by us; and the American Bill of Rights therein contained, appears to be formed with the
Resolved, That the most grateful acknowledgments are due to the truly Honourable and Patriotick Members of the Continental Congress, for their wise and able exertions in the cause of American Liberty; and this Congress, in their own names, and in behalf of this Colony, do hereby, with the utmost sincerity, express the same.
Resolved, That the Honourable John Hancock, and Honourable Thomas Cushing, Esqrs˙, Mr˙ Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine, Esqrs˙, or any three of them, be and they hereby are appointed and authorized to represent this Colony on the tenth of May next, or sooner, if necessary, at the American Congress to be held at Philadelphia, with full power with the Delegates from the other American Colonies, to concert, direct, and order such further measures as shall to them appear to be best calculated for the recovery and establishment of American Rights and Liberties, and for restoring harmony between Great Britain and the Colonies.
And whereas, it is of the utmost importance that the salutary Association of the Continental Congress be effectually executed, and the plans of foes to America defeated; who, aided by tyrannical power, intend to import Goods, Wares, and Merchandise prohibited by the Association, which may clandestinely be vended as Goods imported before the first of December, instant, by assistance of such Merchants and Traders as to this intent shall basely prostitute themselves; and it will be extremely difficult to distinguish between Goods imported before the said first of December, and such as after said day shall, in violation of the Association, be imported and secretly dispersed throughout the Colony. And whereas, it is expressly recommended by the Continental Congress "to the Provincial Conventions, and to the Committees in the respective Colonies, to establish such further Regulations as they may think proper, for carrying into execution the Association;"
Resolved, That from and after the tenth day of October next; it will be indispensably necessary, that all Goods, Wares, or Merchandise, directly or indirectly imported from Great Britain or Ireland; Molasses, Syrups, Paneles, Coffee, or Pimento, from the British Plantations, or from Dominica; Wines from Madeira or the Western Islands, and foreign Indigo, should cease to be sold or purchased in this Colony, notwithstanding they shall have been imported before the first of December aforesaid, unless the Acts and parts of Acts of Parliament, (particularly enumerated in a paragraph of the American Congress' Association, subsequent to the fourteenth Article,) shall be then repealed. And it is hereby strongly recommended to the inhabitants of the Towns and Districts in this Colony, that from and after the said tenth of October, they cease to sell or purchase, and prevent from being exposed to sale within their respective limits, any Goods, Wares, or Merchandise, &c˙, above enumerated, which shall at any time have been imported into America, whether before or after the first of December aforesaid, unless said Acts of Parliament shall then be repealed. And it is likewise strongly recommended to the Committee of Inspection, (which ought immediately to be chosen, agreeably to the said Association, by each Town and District in the Colony not having already appointed such Committees,) that they exert themselves in causing the Association, as thereby directed, to be fully executed; and that after the said tenth day of October, (unless the Acts of Parliament aforesaid are repealed,) they apply to all the Merchants and Traders in their respective Towns and Districts, and take a full Inventory of all Goods, Wares, and Merchandise aforesaid in their possession, whether they shall have been imported before or after the first of December aforesaid, requiring them to offer no more for sale, until said Acts of Parliament shall be repealed. And if any Merchants, Traders, or others, shall refuse to have an Inventory taken, or shall offer for sale after the said
Resolved, That John Adams, Esquire, be joined to the Committee on the State of the Province.
Resolved, That the above Report made by the Committee appointed to take into consideration the state of Rights, &c˙, as reported by the Continental Congress, be published in all the Newspapers in the Province, and that it be signed by the President and attested by the Secretary; and also, that copies thereof be sent to all the Towns and Districts in the Province.
Resolved, That the vote relating to a Brief be reconsidered, and that it be in order to be revised.
Adjourned till to-morrow morning, nine o' clock.
Committee to prepare an Address to the Clergy
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greatest ability and judgment, to be founded on the immutable laws of nature and reason, the principles of the English Constitution, and respective Charters and Constitutions of the Colonies, and to be worthy of their most vigorous support, as essentially necessary to liberty. Likewise the ruinous and iniquitous measures, which, in violation of their Rights, at present convulse and threaten destruction to America, and appear to be clearly pointed out, and judicious plans adopted for defeating them.
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tenth of October, any such Goods, Wares, or Merchandise, it is expressly recommended to the Committees aforesaid, that they take the Goods into their possession, to be stored at the risk of the proper owners, until the repeal of the Acts aforesaid, and publish the names of such refractory Merchants, Traders, or Purchasers, that they may meet with the merits of enemies to their country. And the Towns and Districts throughout the Province are also advised that they by no means fail rigorously to assist and support their Committees in discharging this as well as other duties of their offices, and to cause this Resolution to be executed by every measure which they shall think necessary.