WHEREAS by Proclamation dated the 20th. of June 1685. for the reasons therein expressed, We did strictly Require and Command every Captain, or in his absence, any other Officer in Chief of the Mi­litia within this Kingdom, as well of Horse as of Foot, on or before the 14th. day of July then next, to call for and gather together all the Fire-Arms appertaining to his Troop or Company, and to Lodge the same in his own Dwelling-House, or the next adjacent place where they may be best secured from any evil designs whatsoever. And we did fur­ther Require all such Captains or other Officers as aforesaid, immediately upon receipt of the said Arms, to return an account to Vs the Lords Iustices or other Chief Governor or Governors of this Kingom for the time being, and Council, or to the Clerke of the Council, what number of Arms were so delivered into their custody, with the several kinds of them, and the Names of such Persons as shall not give in their Arms before the aforesaid 14th. day of July then next, and whether the said Arms were delivered out of the Stores, bought by the County, given by the Officer, or paid for by the private men. And the said Militia Captains, or other Officers as aforesaid, were by the said Proclamation Required [Page] to keep the Arms when so lodged, clean, and in good order, that they may be fit for the Militia upon days of Exercise, or for such other uses as His Majesty may have for them. In pursuance of which Proclamation, several returns have been made by the Officers of the Militia. Whereby it appears that many of the said Arms did remain in the hands of particular persons, who in contempt of the Commands of this Board refused or delayed to return them to the said Officers as they were Required. Whereof We the Lords Iustices having taken Notice, did by Our Letters to the Collonels, or other Superior Officers of the several Regiments of Horse and Foot of His Majesties Army in this Kingdome, desire and authorize them to inform themselves what Returns the several Militia Officers of the several Towns and Counties within the Province wherein their Regiments were Quartered, have made of Arms Pursuant to the said Proclamation; and where ill Returns, or none at all have been made, they were to cause the Cap­tains, or the Officers commanding in Chief, each Militia Troop and Company that have been negligent therein, forthwith to bring in the Arms of their Troops or Companies wherein the said Officers of the Regiments of the Army were to take the Advice and Assistance of the Sheriffs and Iustices of the Peace in the said several Counties; and in case any of them should further delay to give an Account as by the said Proclamation was directed, the said Officers of the Regiment were then to cause such Arms to be Collected according to the Proclamation, and a perfect List made thereof, expressing the number and kinds, and the Persons Names to whom they did belong, and to send the same to Vs the Lords Iustices.

And We being now informed, that several of the said Officers of the Ar­my have, in pursuance of the said Letters, collected divers of the said Mi­litia Arms, which as yet remain under their Custody, or of other persons entrusted by them. We think fit hereby to require not only the said Offi­cers of the Army, but also all such particular persons, as aforesaid, who detain any of the said Militia Arms, forthwith to deliver, or cause to be delivered, all the said Arms so collected by the said Officers, or detained by the said particular persons, to the the respective Captains, or other Officers in chief of the said Troops or Companies of the Militia, who by the said former Proclamation were authorized to receive the same.

And for the better preservation of the said Arms, and to the end to have them in a readiness to answer any occasion of His Majesties Service, We do hereby in His Majesties Name require the said Captains, or other Offi­cers in Chief of the said Militia Troops, or Companies, by or before the sir­teénth day of November next, to cause all the said Arms so delivered to them, as aforesaid, to be safely conveyed to one of His Majesties Stores of Arms and Munition in this Kingdom, viz. for the Province of Leinster to the Stores at Dublin or Athloane; for the Province of Munster to the Stores of Corke, Kinsale, Lymerick, Waterford, or Duncannon; for the Province of Connaght to the Stores of Gallway, or Athloane; and for the Province of Ulster to the Stores of Londonderry, Carigfergus or Charlemont; and there to deliver all the said Arms which shall so come to their hands, together with a List containing the number and kinds of them, and of the Names [Page] of the particular persons of the Militia, to whom they do respectively be­long, unto the Clerks of the said Stores respectively, who are hereby re­quired to receive them, and to give acknowledgments under their Hands of the Receipts of the said Arms upon a Duplicate of the said List so to be received by them; and from time to time to give Vs an exact account of what Arms they shall receive, and from whom.

And we do hereby declare, that the Charge of Conveying the said Arms shall be paid by His Majesty, and to that end the said Captains and other Officers of the Militia, who are to deliver the said Arms into the Stores as aforesaid, are immediately after the Delivery thereof to send the Clerk of the Council a Note of their reasonable Charge in this matter, which We shall take care shall be paid unto them accordingly by His Majesty.