The Lower House. 141

Your Honours are pleased to observe that by the Oath pro-
pos'd the Judges would be intirely Arbitrary in their Deter-
mination of what Laws and Statutes of England are most
agreeable to our Constitution; We cannot conceive the Judges
would be under Less Restraint by that oath which mentions
the Laws of England, than they were by the former oath
which was more Generall for that requires them in all Articles
of their Commission to do equall Right to the poor as well
as to the Rich to the best of their Cunning skill and knowledge
and according to the presidents & Customs of the Province
and it is one of the Articles in their Commission to Determine
according to the Laws of England &c and the presidents and
Customs of this Province have been always to try and Deter-
mine according to those Laws and therefore we think your
Honours cannot well conclude the Judges by this oath could or
wou'd be Arbitrary unless they always have been so; which
we are well assured the Hon^ble Judges in your House as well
as those in ours never took themselves to be, in the point
Debated; nor we believe any others of the Judges that have
the Honour to Execute his L^pps Commission.
Besides we beg Leave to observe the form of the oath laid
before you by M^r Attorney is to oblige the Judges to Execute
their Commission according to the Laws Statutes and reason-
able Customs of England and Acts of Assembly and usage
of the province of Maryland; So that we doubt not but the

L. H. J.

Honourable Judges would readily Construe those words, to
Oblige them to Judge no otherways according to the Laws of
England than is consistent with the Acts of Assembly Si usage
of this province for that all those words are to be taken
together, and Relate to one Rule of Duty and not to Severall
Rules of Duty, and we hope your Hon^rs will not Suppose the
Import of the words in the oath proposed to be more uncertain

now, or of other consequence than the Import of the like

words in the Commission which the Judges were Sworn to
Execute, was formerly; unless we are so unhappy as to render
the oath less intelligible, by Endeavouring to Explain it and
make it more particular. And we cannot conceive what
danger of Ruin to the people your Honours can be appre-
hensive of from Judging by any of the Laws of England
according to the usage of this province, or which is the same
thing in the manner we have been ever Judged by according to
those Laws. We have never yet heard of any Inconveniencie
ariseing from Doubts of what Statutes extended here or
what not, nor did we ever hear of different Judgments given
in this province concerning the Extent of any Statute of Eng-
land, unless in the one Case concerning the Act of Limitation

p. 164