Indeed, the required equipment, in specified form, of themselves, and their boys, and their hired help^-- their well-tried fowling-pieces having been unavailable for that purpose -- and the stated withdrawal of all of them from their farms, for drill, on frequent, specified days, no matter how necessary their presence, at home, might have been, were unduly burdensome on all those farmers, to say nothing of the opportunity which was thereby afforded, very soon afterwards, for still greater acts of lawless oppression, in the seizure of those very equipments,

c As an illustration of the effect of the Rebellion on the great body of the lowly working-men, in this particular feature, as early as in the Autumn of 1775, and as an evidence of the uneasiness of those working-men, because of this oppressive enactment, the following homely Petition has been copied from the original manuscript, in the Historical Manuscripts, etc.: Petitions, xxxi., 52 :

" New York, Sept. y 9, 1775. " To the Gentlemen of the Congress in New Yobk.

" We your humble Pertisners Gentlemen are now warned To bear "arms In Defence of our Country truly It is the Native place of some of "us wich Now Gentlemen may it please your bnners To take it in Con - "sideration we are Coutrold more by poverty than By our own will we " must Now beg of your honners To take it in Consideration were you " in our State of Poverty you wold not lay on us more than we can " Bare Some of this poor Cyty Now who you have you have Command. "To bare Arms In Defence of ours Liberty and Rites Not our Rite but 11 such gentlemen as has got lands and Estates But some of us Now has ■'Skarsely got Victuals from one Day to another Neytherfire Nor Can- " <lles our Wifes and poor Children Suffering for Bread and your honners " have pleased To lay on us or some of us such things as .we Cant supply " ourselves with gun Bagnet Belts Cartridge Box Powder and Ball as " for Powder It must Please your honners some of you To open a Store " of it for I have Tryd in this City To get a Small Quantity hut Could ' ' Not and our Officers says It will be a fine to neglect having any of "them so therefore we your humble pertisoners Earnestly Beg That It " may Please your honners To lend us such thing as you have laid out " for us poor And Destressed men to get Gentlemen we beg It may bo "taken in no afence we are willing to beare with with any thing It "may pleaso you to put on us if In our power some cant without Run- " ning in Deat for For them the Next go to gall for it will any one pay " The Det Consider it would Now for you to loose All your time wich *' you sit Now making laws for us as one of us or some of ub to by a gun " Consider our poverty and assist the poor or make some of those with " Ruffles Turn out as well as we or supply us with acutrements I Im- " magine some of those Rich wich have lands aud thousands In Estates " will not get find if neglect appearing we Beg you will think of us as " you are our hed and parliament who Ever gets This is Desired to " Covay it to the Congress In New York.