Letter of Transmittal.       xix

       The charter itself begins by reciting the provisions of a previous charter, which
     had been granted to the inhabitants of St. Mary's City under the Great Seal,
     November 3, 1667, but had become void and of no force and effect by reason
     of non-user. Under the charter of 1667, St. Mary's was to be an incorporated
     city with precincts one mile square, and the city officials were designated by
     name. Philip Calvert was to be mayor, John Morecroft recorder, and the six
     aldermen were to be William Calvert, Jerome White, Daniel Jenifer, Garrett
     Vansweringen, Mark Cordea, and Thomas Cosden, with power given them to
     select ten inhabitants of the city to serve as common councilmen. Thereafter
     the mayor was to be annually elected in November by the members of the
     corporation, from among the aldermen, and vacancies among the aldermen
     were to be filled from among the common councilmen. The recorder was to
     be a person learned in the law. The recorder, aldermen, and common council-
     men were to serve during good behavior. The mayor, recorder, and aldermen
     were given the power within the city precincts of justices of the peace, and they
     were to execute the laws and ordinances relating to the city, to appoint con-
     stables, to pass ordinances for the preservation of peace and order, to regulate
     trade within the city by reasonable rules and by-laws, to hold a weekly market,
     and an annual market-fair every February, together with a Court of Piepowder
     at fair time for the determination of all controversies and quarrels. The method
     of removal of a member of the corporation for misbehavior and of filling va-
     cancies was provided for in detail.
       The charter of 1671, after reviewing the terms of the original charter as
     just given in brief outline, and which had become void, then recites the pro-
     visions of the new charter, which revised and strengthened in certain details
     the powers conferred in the older instrument. It also names the officials who
     are to hold the various offices. Philip Calvert and John Morecroft were to be
     mayor and recorder, respectively, under the new charter as under the old, and
     the aldermen named were William Calvert, Edward Fitzherbert, Thomas
     Notley, Daniel Jenifer, Garrett Vansweringen and Mark Cordea, the names of
     Fitzherbert and Notley replacing those of Cosden and White in the charter of
     1667. The number of common councilmen, which was ten under the early
     charter, was now reduced to seven. Under the older charter these were not
     named but were to be elected by the other members of the corporation, while
     in the 1671 charter those who were to hold office for the first year were desig-
     nated as Thomas Dent, Richard Moy, William Brooke, Daniel Clocker, Thomas
     Innes, Thomas Winn and Thomas Griffin. Other differences between the two
     charters need not be elaborated here. For students who are interested in these
     details there is printed in full in the Appendix the first charter of St. Mary's