xii Letter of Transmission.

The usual six committees were appointed: Four consisting of five members
and two of seven. Seven members served on two committees and some were
appointed on no committee at all.

The Resolutions of 1725 were spread upon the Journal, which had not been
done in the two previous Assemblies. Question was immediately raised as to
whether the meeting of 1738 had been a Session or not. As soon as the Gov-
ernor's address was delivered, the answer proposed to be made aroused discus-
sion and led to three divisions—the first ever recorded upon such a subject.
In all of these, the anti-Proprietary Party won by votes of 31 to 9, 31 to I o, and

32 to 9. The consistent Proprietarians were Harris and Hynson of Kent,
Dulany and Gordon of Annapolis, Colville and George of Cecil. To these
Calder of Kent, Thomas of Talbot, Henry and Gale of Somerset added them-
selves in two divisions and Goldsborough of Talbot and Aisquith of St. Mary's
in one division. All but the Annapolis delegates and Aisquith came from the
Eastern Shore and no full County delegation voted against the country party.
The answer was truculent in tone, turgid in rhetoric, full of sound and fury,
and careless in statement—for example, speaking of the Lower House as if
it were a continuous body, Ogle answered it with force and dignity, calling
attention to the extravagance of statements.

When it was decided to bring in a fee bill, the anti-Proprietary Party, by a
vote of 29 to 9, carried the payment of the fees in tobacco instead of in money.
Those who voted for payment in money were Wilson, Harris, Calder and
Hynson of Kent, Gassaway of Anne Arundel, Thomas of Talbot, George of
Cecil, and Dulany and Gordon of Annapolis. Curiously, all but the Annapolis
men and Gassaway were from the Eastern Shore and the Kent County dele-
gation stood unanimously for money payment.

The next division occurred upon the question of bringing in a new Assize
Bill, upon which the vote was 28 for and 15 against. In general, the Pro-
prietary Party voted in the negative, but there were some exceptions.

The Lower House was eager to seize upon instances of malfeasance in
office. They had discovered in 1738, what appeared to be a genuine grievance
in Dorchester County, but their additional muck-raking, at this time, revealed
only one additional instance of alleged misconduct—an extortion of two pence
halfpenny in Prince George's County! On May 16, two divisions took place,
in which amendments made by the Upper House to bills were approved by votes

33 to ii and 32 to 12, respectively. The two negative votes included the whole
Prince George's delegation. I can find no particular significance to many of
the votes, though of course, the Proprietary Party voted in the affirmative.

On May 18. the House, by vote of 18 to 21, decided not to allow the Sheriff
of Talbot County anything for expenses in hiring a guard to prevent William