Letter of Transmission. ix

Richard Gresham in Kent, Thomas Worthington in Anne Arundel, Richard
Harrison, William Wilkinson and Robert Yeates in Charles, John Goldsborough
in Talbot, Philemon LeCompte and Jacob Hindman in Dorchester, Nicholas
Hyland in Cecil, James Martin in Somerset, and Daniel Scott in Baltimore.
Shortly after the Session began, Daniel Dulaney was called up into the Upper
House, which was presided over by Benjamin Tasker, and Benjamin Tasker,
Jr., was elected from Annapolis to succeed him. For Speaker, the Lower
House passed over two former Speakers who were members, viz., Philip Ham-
mond and Robert King, and elected Edward Sprigg of Prince George's. I can-
not find the reason for this except that Hammond was seldom present and
King may have preferred to be at the head of the important Committee on
Laws. Further, I have no explanation of the failure to reelect about a fourth
of the last House. There was an unusual duplication of family names in the
membership of the House.

In his opening speech, Bladen recommended a reenactment of the law for
the purchase of arms and ammunition, but failed to secure this, through dis-
agreement between the two Houses. The Lower House felt that its bill for
this purpose was so important that it spread it upon its journal. The manu-
script journal was not always printed, e. g., the financial papers in the Fiddinnan
case and the address proposed to the Lord Proprietary but voted down are not
in the Printed Votes. On the other hand, these votes are of value to correct
the Journal, whose copyist was more careless than usual.

Comparatively few bills failed, although the proposal to divide Prince
George's County and to establish a new one in the western part of the Province,
to be named Frederick, after the heir apparent to the throne and to the Pro-
prietorship, was not successful, largely because of a difference as to the true line
of division.

Dr. Carroll's report on page 343 shows how uncertain it is to predicate that
anything was printed, because it was so ordered. On the other hand, the votes
in regard to printing the first act of the Session show in what time Jonas Green
could print a pamphlet.

The report on the condition of the Annapolis jail shows how wretched it
was and incidentally informs us that at least six of the nine white persons (who
were imprisoned there together with two negroes) were poor debtors, for they
were freed by an act passed at this session, which act released a considerable
number of such unfortunate persons, the list comprising at least one from every
county.

The Governor brought the Indian affairs to the attention of the Assembly
which voted to appropriate money for presents to the Northern Indians and
approved of negotiations being entered into for a treaty with them. The good