Provincial Court Proceedings, 1677/8.    357

          That the oppression of haveing the said Office imposed upon him Liber N N
        oftner then was usuall, was att his own request and seeking. And if
        itt had not, yet not contrary to the said Act or any other; for that
        (recourse being had to the Law) yot Honors will finde that by the
        same Overseers are to be appointed, & tobacco & labour to be Leavyed
        equally: so that itt is not agt the Law, if they had appointed him
        overseer seven yeares together, & had itt not bin done by his own
        seeking, all that could be said of itt was, that he had therein hard
        measure
          That the said Comrs are not bound by the said Law to enable the
        overseer to impresse assistance, for that by the expresse words of the
        Law the said Justices are to provide labourers, & if they performe not
        their duty, the said Law hath also provided for their punishmt.
          Then that the warrant by reason of the date could not be insuffi
        cient, for that the Comrs by the Act are only to consult between
        The first of Septembr & the twentieth of Octobr in every yeare, & not
        by the Law tyed upp that their warrants shall beare date then & att
        no other tyme.
          The said respondents say, that the Peticonr was due by suthons p. 589
        to shew cause why he should not be fined according to Act of As
        sembly, upon the said presentmt but if by the laches & neglects of
        the Clerke the said Suthons & returne be not entred, the said Comrs
        say itt is no fault of theirs, nor ought they to suffer for the same.
          That whereas the jury consisted of only Eleven persons was a
        misentry likewise of the Clerke, these respondents being able to
        make appeare to yot Honors by sufficient Evidence that there was
        sixteen persons sworne & impannelled upon the said Jury, & as the
        Clerke tooke notice but of Eleven; if he had taken notice of none
        of them, the said Clerke was upon his Oath, & these respondents
        humbly conceive itt was none of their busines to see to the Clerkes
        entring upp of the Record after the Court was done
          These respondents further say, that if their Judgemt was erronious
        in giveing judgemt before itt was tryed by a petty jury, the Petr was
        not by that barred from reversing the same by writt of Error, & had
        no need scandalously to complaine in his peticon of the oppressions
        he suffered by the illegal proceedings of these respondents
          That these respondents being then & still his Lopps Justices of
        the said County of Dorchister doe avow to yor Honors that the said
        judgemt they gave according to their consciences & not out of any
        spite or malice agt the Petr that if they have erred in their judgemt
        itt was for want of understanding the Law better, & they shall reckon
        itt no dishonour to them to have a judgemt of their legally reversed
        by a Writt of Error in a superiour Court And though these respond
        ents in obedience to the order of yor Honors have appeared to Answer
        the prmisses, & have sufficiently done the same, & are able to make
        this their Answer appeare to be true by the Oaths of sufficient Witt