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Colonial and State Records of North Carolina
Minutes of the North Carolina Governor's Council
North Carolina. Council
April 02, 1775
Volume 09, Pages 1177-1178

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[From MS. Records in Office of Secretary of State.]
COUNCIL JOURNALS.

At a Council held at New Bern 2d April 1775.
Present
His Excellency the Governor
The Honble James Hasell Esquire
The Honble John Rutherford Esquire
The Honble Lewis H. DeRosset Esquire
The Honble Alex. McCulloch Esquire
The Honble Samuel Strudwick Esquire
The Honble Martin Howard Esquire
and
The Honble Samuel Cornell Esquire

His Excellency acquainted the Board that he had received His Majesty's commands to use his utmost endeavours to prevent the appointment of Deputies from this Colony to attend another Congress intended to be held at Philadelphia in the month of May, next, and as a Convention is appointed by Advertisement to meet tomorrow in New Bern for the choice of such delegates His Excellency desires the advice of the Council what measures were proper to be taken to prevent the meeting of such unlawful Assembly. The Board were unanimously of the opinion that His Excellency had no other means than to issue a Proclamation to forbid the holding of the proposed Convention, and to declare that such proceedings would be highly offensive to His Majesty, upon which His Excellency issued the following

Proclamation.

Whereas I have received information that in consequence of an Advertisement signed John Harvey Moderator, some time since published and dispersed through the Province, sundry persons have been elected by a small number of Freeholders in the several Counties to meet in Convention in the Town of New Berne on this day for the choice of Deputies to represent this Colony in a Congress intended to be held at the City of Philadelphia in the month of May, next; And Whereas, the meeting of such Convention and the declared purpose thereof will be highly offensive to the King and dishonourable to the General Assembly of this Province, which is appointed to sit at this time for the dispatch of public business; I have therefore thought fit, with the advice of His Majesty's Council to issue this Proclamation hereby in the King's name to forbid the

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holding of the said Convention, and I do exhort all His Majesty's subjects on their allegiance and on pain of incurring His Majesty's High displeasure, to withdraw themselves from the same, and to desist from all such illegal, unwarrantable and dangerous proceedings.

Given &c, the 3d of April 1775.

JO. MARTIN.

God save the King.