But, as some of the friends to the American " cause have been influenced, by this objection, to "' refuse signing the said Association, and, in conse- " quence thereof, been disarmed, it hath become expedient that the said Association should be so ex- " plained as to render it free from specious as well as "solid objections; and, therefore,

" Resolved, unanimously, That nothing in the " said Association contained, shall extend or be construed to extend to deprive those who have sub- " scribed it of any Bights reserved to them, in and by " the said Militia Regulations ; and to the end that all " the Freemen of this Colony may associate for the "preservation of American liberty, in a form entirely " unexceptionable ;

"Eesolved, unanimously, That the following " form of an Association be and it is hereby recom- " mended to them, viz. :

" ' We, the subscribers, inhabitants of .... , " 'in the County of .... , and Colony of New " ' York, do most solemnly declare that the claims of " ' the British Parliament to bind, at their discretion, " ' the people of the United Colonies in America, in " ' all cases whatsoever, are, in our opinions, absurd, " ' unjust, and tyrannical ; and that the hostile at- " ' tempts of their Fleets and Armies to enforce sub- " ' mission to those wicked and ridiculous claims " ' ought to be resisted by arms.