54   Provincial Court Proceedings, 1672.




          Liber J J   ceeded agt according to the Tennor of the said Act of Assembly
                 for Accquittall or Condemnacon as it was Law full for him to doe,
                 And if any of them belonged to the said Henry Smith the informer
                 or any other person he or they owneing of them or any of them
                 may make their defence as they please
                   As to that part of the next Article wherein this Respondt is
                 Charged to say that he this Respondt should say in August Court
                 that he would sitt with them noe more for he had Provided an
                 undr officer &c. This Respondt saith that ye office of Sheriffe is an
                 office that may be pformed by Deputy, And if he doe not Provide a
                 Deputy to Attend or Attend himselfe the Court may impose a fine
                 upon him, but if he haue a Deputy there it is sufficient,
                   To the other part of that Article wherein the Respondt is Charged
                 that an Order of Court sent to him to execute as Sheriffe he did
                 in the presence of some gentl. of Virginia refuse and flung it back
                 againe to the bearer, this part is voyd for the incerteynties for the
                 Information doth not Expresse what ordr of Cuuit it was nor upon
                 wt cases or betweene what partyes, nor at what Court it was made
                 nor by whome signed whereby it may appeare that it was an ordr
                 according to Law or that it was directed to the Sheriffe to Require
                 him to Execute neyther is any pson named that brought the ordr to
                 him, ifor all which Defects incerteynties & intricacyes in the said
                 Informacon conteyned it manyfestly appears that the said In for
                 macon is by them the sayd Henry Smith & ffrancis Jenkins, brought
                 out of Mallice meerly to put this Respondt to unnesesary Charges &
                 trouble, Hee hopeth this Honble Board will casheire the said Informa
                 eon. and Dismisse this Respondt with Costs and Charges in this
                 behalf e most unjustly & wrongfully susteyned Came Vincent Lowe
             p.522    Esq Attorney Gen” who aswell On the Behalf e of Caecilius Lord
                 and Proprietary of the Province of maryland &c as on the part of
                 the Informants saith that Notwithstanding any thing alleadged by
                 the said Thomas Jones, the said Thomas Jones is Guilty of all or
                 some part of the matter Conteyned in the said Informacon, & of
                 this he putts himself e upon the Judgemt of this Honrble Court; And
                 the said Thomas Jones likewise
                   And after a ffull hearing of the businesse this day to witt the
                 Tenth day of Decembr in the 41th yeare of the Dominion of Caecilius
                 &c. before his Lordpps Justices his Excellency Charles Calvert Esp
                 Capt Gen” and cheife Governor of this Province being prsent, And
                 the said Thomas Jones Comissn from the Right Honble the Lord
                 Proprietary for the sole Indian Trade of this Province, being openly
                 Read His Lordpps Justices are all Clearly sattisfied that the said
                 Thomas Jones hath Exceeded the Limitts of his Comissn for the
                 Indian Trade as afforesd from his Lordpp to the said Jones Grannted,
                 And therefore the Court Doe order the said Comissn to be Imediately
                 Cancelled & vaccated, which was in open Court done by Tearing off