The Upper House. 511

ported will be more Capable of Judging what further may be wanting
for the Safety of the Province and so to make suitable Provision for
the same
We cannot help observing that the Militia Laws now in being give
very large Powers to many of the Officers and therefore We should
be unwilling to consent to any thing that might in any manner
enlarge that Power, unless the Safety of the Country at any particu-

U. H. J.
Calvert
Paper

No. 735

lar Juncture required it, Nevertheless We assure your Excellency
we shall deliberately consider any Proposition you shall make for
the better distribution and Security of the Provincial Arms and
Ammunition, and give any Advice and Assistance in that Affair as
We shall think agreable to your Excellency and Conducive to the
Welfare of the Province.
Signed by Order and on Behalf of the House
Philip Hammond, Speaker

p. 103

Gentlemen of the Lower House of Assembly
I have considered your Address in Answer to my Message of the
13^th of last month, relating to our Arms and Ammunition, and
could have wished to have had your Advice and Assistance in the
Points I proposed to you, the security of the Arms and Ammunition
at present in the Province being as necessary to be thought of as
the disposal of any farther Supply that may be expected
However since you assure me you will deliberately consider of
any Proposition I shall make for the Distribution of the Provincial
Arms and Ammunition, and give such Advice and Assistance in the
Affair as you think conducive to the Welfare of the Province, I
shall make no Scruple of telling you my opinion very candidly and
freely; which is that the Safety of the Country can never be suffi-
ciently provided for without one good Magazine at least, of such
Strength as may effectually secure Our Arms and Ammunition from
whence they may be distributed from time to time as our occasions
require, and this opinion I believe you will find Conformable to In-
structions heretofore sent from the Crown to former Governors of
this Province
There is another thing Gentlemen, which I must recommend to
your serious Consideration, and that is the State of Our Militia ;
upon the most carefull Perusall of our Laws for the Regulation of
it I cannot find any sufficient Obligation upon either Officers or
private men to take the Field, and behave as they ought to do in
defence of their Country against an Invading Enemy.
I need not say anything of the Power of Our Enemies; it being
but too common to hear that Subject enlarged upon, even by such
Gentlemen as are the most averse to our making any manner of
Preparation for our defence against them, but I hope all hearty

June 2