Introduction. xix

as such during the sessions held in October-November, 1771, and also during
the June-July session of the Assembly in 1773 (pp. 305, 420).

John Duckett was Clerk of the Lower House during the meeting of the
General Assembly held in 1771 and also during the June-July, 1773, session
(pp. 4-5, 77, 305, 310-311, 336, 420). Duckett had been first chosen as Clerk
of the Lower House at the session of the Assembly which convened on Septem-
ber 25, 1770 (Arch. Md. LXII, xviii-xix).

LOWER HOUSE RULES

When the General Assembly met on October 2, 1771, the Lower House
decided that their hours of sitting for the transaction of business should be
from nine o'clock in the morning until one o'clock in the afternoon and
they so notified the members of the Upper House (pp. 6, 78, 82). At the same
session the Upper House sat from ten in the morning until one in the after-
noon (p. 6).

The members of the Lower House, which met during June and July of
1773, increased their hours for the transaction of business. They were in
session not only from nine to one, but also from three to six in the afternoon

(pp. 311, 337, 340).

The Lower House which met during October-November, 1771, and again
during June-July, 1773, adopted identical rules that should be observed while
the House was in session. These included regulations governing the conduct of
Delegates and also the number of readings required for the proper considera-
tion of a bill (pp. 79-80, 337-338).

LOWER HOUSE COMMITTEES

Committees were the means by which the Lower House was able to attend
to the various matters that came before it (Arch. Md. LXII, xix, xx). Just
as during previous sessions they were appointed for different purposes.

On October 3, 1771, the Lower House resolved that Delegates who shall be
appointed as members of the Committee of Aggrievances shall likewise have
"the Character of a Committee for Courts of Justice; and that that (sic)
Character and the Duty of such Committee be annexed to the said Committee
of Aggrievances, as a standing Part of their Duty......." The resolution
then went on to define the judicial powers of the members when acting as a
Committee for Courts of Justice (pp. 80-81, 82). The Lower House, which
met during June and July of 1773, adopted the same resolution (p. 338).

Other committees appointed by the Lower House in 1771 were those on
elections and accounts. A committee was also appointed to inspect the public
offices and report on the state and condition of them; another was to enquire
what laws would expire with the close of the session, while a third was to inspect
the office and proceedings of the commissioners for emitting bills of credit
(pp. 82-83, 85). Delegates of the Lower House, which met during June and
July of 1773, appointed the same committees (p. 339, 344).