xii                 Introduction.

            1676 before the Council, and as governor on April 17, 1677 before the Court.
            Although his Proprietary commission to be governor is on record (ibid.,
            pp. 132-135), there is no separate commission for him to be chief justice, but
            he was given all the powers Wharton had had, and his taking the oath of chief
            justice was the first piece of business at the November 1676 session of the Court
            (post, p. 315). Philip Calvert continued to be chancellor and commissary gen-
            eral. William Calvert was the principal secretary of the Province. Baker
            Brooke remained surveyor general. Thomas Taylor was not only justice and
            Council member, but also sheriff of Dorchester County. He and the Chan-
            cellor were frequently called upon to receive the acknowledgments of docu-
            ments (post, pp. i8o, 182, 190-191). Major Benjamin Rozer, member of
            the Council and sheriff of Charles County, is the only new member of the
            Court. He was sworn in as councillor and justice on April 18, 1677 (post,
            p. 424), just ten days before the Count adjourned. Henry Coursey, who had
            been a justice from 1660 to 1670, appeared again in the Court on November 28,
            1676, and took his seat without ceremony (post, p. 315). Samuel Chew, though
            he was named by the Proprietary as a justice, never took the oath and never
            attended (post, p. 141).
             The Court sat, as before, every three months, except in summer, and ex-
            cept on Sunday and Monday. The session of February 9-12, 1675/6 met at
            St. John's, at the Governor's palace, but all the other sessions were held at
            St. Mary's, the regular place of meeting. The attendance of the justices was
            not good. Chancellor Philip Calvert and Secretary William Calvert were
            always present, but on one occasion, only they showed up, and the Court was
            adjourned for a day. There had to be at least four justices to constitute a
            court. Surveyor Baker Brooke was present at five out of seven meetings.
            Col. Jesse Wharton was faithful until he died, and his successor, Thomas Notley
            attended after he was appointed. Thomas Taillor attended only once, but he
            was sheriff of Dorchester County and the Count met on the western shore.
            Maj. Rozer, sworn in as justice shortly before the end of the session, appears
            in the record but once thereafter. On April 21, 1677 the new sheriff of
            St. Mary's County, Captain Gerard Slye took “the Oath of ffidelity to his
            Lordshipp the Lord Propry of this Province & the Oath of Sheriff of st Maries
            County before the Honble Wm Calvert Escp Secry & Major Benjamin Rozer jus-
            tices of this Count.” (post, p. 475). In these years there were almost no crimi-
            nal cases, and of course none of the sessions of the Count open with the formula
            used for them (For that formula see Archives, LXV, pp. i, 8, II, 16, 22, 30,
            33, 43, 58). There is one case where the defendant was acquitted by proclama-
            tion (post, p. 290), but there is no other recorded mention of the case. There
            were three or four cases where apparently a crime had been committed, but
            they figure here only as the background of a civil suit for damages, on for
            escheats of land to the Proprietary. The great majority of the cases were
            original: only two cases came up on appeal (Henry Stockett v. Thomas Bland,
            post, p. 457; and Samuel Bagbey v. Thomas Smethwick, post, p. 488), and
            two on writ of error (Robert Paca v. Henry Stockett, post, 295, 436; Execu-
            tors of Thomas Howell v. George Wells, p. 489), and these cases were not