xii Introduction.

November 23, 1680, and, in that case, the Court opened with one justice, and
was adjourned more than once because of the lack of enough members. The
Court could not hold a session without at least three justices (Archives III,
546). Absent judges could be fined forty shillings, but there is nothing to
show that these fines were ever exacted, or that, if they were levied, the judges
really had to pay them.

Nicholas Painter continued to be clerk of the Court and also clerk of the
Secretary's office and register in Chancery. He continued in office until at least
March i, 1681/2, though his performances were no better than they had been,
and he piled up error on error. He called a man William, when he must have
meant Thomas (post, 401), or wrote Timothy instead of Lewis (post, 364).

As to the attorneys before the Court, they, too, were much as they had been.
Only one was sworn in, Richard Boughton, on October 14, 1679 (post, 74). He
had been sworn in earlier, on February 13, 1666/7 (Archives LVII, 146) and
it does not appear that he ever came to court in behalf of clients. He is de-
scribed as an Anne Arundel County gentleman, but he seems to have been
more than that. A Charles County man, he became secretary of the Province
on February 16, 1665/6, and at the same time member of the Council and
judge of the Provincial Court (Archives III, 545; XV, 7, 19). On Decem-
ber 23, 1667 he was sworn in as clerk of Charles County (Archives V, 21).
A little more than a year later, on March 30, 1668, he was elected to the Lower
House from Charles County (Archives LI, 326), and on April 13, 1669 he
took his seat (ibid. II, 156). On April 28, 1674 he was sworn in as clerk of
Anne Arundel County (Archives XV, 35), and, almost at once, May 19, 1674
he became clerk of the Upper House and of the Council (Archives II, 346).

There was at this time a case of the disbarment of an attorney duly admitted.
Justinian Gerard "having in this Cause filed his bill against the deft [Henry
Bonner] being one of the attorneys of this Court, and the said Deft refuseing
to answer thereto, Itt is Ordered that the same deft be debarred of his priviledge
as an attorney of this Court", and that defendant Bonner be subjected to a
writ of Capias (post, 401). This had not happened for eight or ten years.

As usual, a very few of the attorneys had most of the cases. The most active
were Christopher Rousby, Robert Carvile, Robert Ridgely and George Parker.
Kenelm Cheseldyne, who was his Lordship's attorney general until he was
replaced on October 4, 1781 (Archives XVII, 33) by Thomas Bur ford, had
more than forty cases in his own right, in addition to those he handled as
attorney general. George Parker and Christopher Rousby had most of the
cases involving English merchants.

The sheriff, especially the sheriff of St. Mary's County, was as important
as he had been. Since his chief function here and now was related to the
Court, he did not have to attend to his executive duties so much. He was the
custodian of persons, though that custody did not mean, generally, the close
confinement of a jail (Archives LXV, 471, 548). But a prisoner had to stay
within the bailiwick of the sheriff to whom he had been committed, and he had
to stay where the sheriff could find him. If the sheriff told the Court that he had
taken the man, and then did not produce him where and when he was supposed