xliv Introduction.

The Governor also called attention to the confusion in land boundaries due to
the variations of the compass, and requested the Assembly to give this matter
serious attention. The action which the assembly took about compass variations
is also more fully discussed in a later section on this subject (pp. xlix-l). He
also pointed out the defects in the road laws and the importance of keeping the
roads of the Province in better repair. He suggested that the Assembly inquire
into the criminal laws of the Province which, he said, were so confused that it
was often a question whether or not a certain law was still in force, resulting
frequently in a "tenderness towards convicted persons" that encouraged crime.
He concluded with the assurance that he would concur with the Assembly in
every measure proposed for the public good (pp. 327-328). Both houses, in
separate addresses, responded to the opening speech of the Governor and prom-
ised to give his suggestions due consideration and to cooperate with him in every
way possible (pp. 286, 287, 331, 333). To these two addresses the Governor
made polite acknowledgments (pp. 287, 337).

As other delegates dropped in later from time to time, each, accompanied
by two delegates, went to the Upper House and was sworn in. The Lower •
House next proceeded to the election of a Clerk. Turbutt Wright of Queen
Anne's County (1741-1783), a former clerk of house committees, was chosen.
The Governor was so notified by two delegates and thereupon approved the
choice. Wright, accompanied by two members then went to the Upper House,
took the usual oaths and also the oath of office; the form of the latter is en-
tered in the journal. Wright succeeded Michael Macnemara, the Clerk of the
Lower House from 1747 to 1767, who had died November 4, 1767. The house
reappointed Robert Saunders Sergeant at arms, Cornelius Howard Doorkeeper
(p. 328), and John Duckett, Edward Ford, and Henry Wilkins, clerks of its
several committees, who were sworn in (pp. 331, 322, 349). It may be added
here that just before the close of the session Henry Wilkins, who since 1763,
had acted as a committee clerk, was, for reasons not stated, "discharged", and
Basil Wheeler appointed in his place (pp. 397, 400, 401). The usual rules of
order were adopted (pp. 329, 330). The house passed the same resolves which
for many years had been adopted at the first session following the election of a
new Assembly. These have been fully discussed under the two 1766 sessions as
well as in previous volumes of the Archives, so need not be considered again
here (Arch. Md. LVI, xv-xvi; LVIII, xvii; LX, xxiv).

The hours for meeting were fixed for nine in the morning and two in the
afternoon (p. 322). The Reverend Mr. Edmiston was directed to read divine
service at a quarter to nine in the morning and at five in the afternoon (p. 332).
The Reverend William Edmiston, recently appointed Rector of St. Anne's,
Annapolis, was a native of Nottingham Township on the disputed Pennsylvania-
Maryland boundary line. He had a Presbyterian background and received his
A.M. degree at the College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania) in
1759. He went to England and was ordained a priest by the Bishop of Oxford,
March 29, 1767. Sharpe says that he was recommended for preferment to
Frederick, Lord Baltimore, by Lady Essex, and towards the close of 1767, came
to Maryland where he served for a while as curate of St. Anne's and St. James's