in government and power in the province of Maryland, which began in the year 1689, and was completed in 1692, overturned, of course, the land council. The chief management of lord Baltimore's interests fell into the hands, successively, of Mr. Darnall and Mr. Carroll, his agents, and so far as any power could continue to proceed from the depressed proprietary, of judging between parties contesting the right to land under warrants and certificates, it must have been exercised by (a) those gentlemen. It must be acknowledged that the crown, long before the restoration of the powers of government to the Baltimore family, had discountenanced the undue obstacles that had been opposed in the province to the authority of the proprietary's officers in regard to the collection of his rents and revenues, and had issued orders such as secured to them the necessary facilities in this respect; but the general power of judging and deciding in land affairs was vested in the governor and council of the crown, and the public land office was under the care and management of the secretary, who was one of that council. It was upon the restoration of the original powers of government, at the accession of George I. that the station of judge of the land office was created. The first person recognized by that denomination was Philemon Lloyd, Esq. who appears to have taken it in virtue of a commission as deputy secretary of the province, under Thomas Beake and Charles Lowe, Esq'rs, joint secretaries, in the year 1715. The office of secretary was at this time held by the before mentioned gentlemen in England, for I do not perceive that they were in the province. The land office was, before this arrangement, under the direction and care of Charles Carroll, Esq. the proprietary's chief agent, who was denominated the register of that office. Upon Mr. Lloyd's appointment as aforesaid, he took possession of the office, and commissioned Mr. Edward Griffith to " be register and keeper of the land records in the province of " Maryland," while he himself took the style of JUDGE of the land office. The next person who bore that title was Edmund Jennings, Esq. who, by a commisssion from the proprietary, was constituted " JUDGE AND REGISTER in and of " the land office," with full power to hear, judge, and determine in land affairs in the said office " ACCORDING TO " RIGHT, REASON AND GOOD CONSCIENCE," and the several instructions and orders which he should from time to time receive from the proprietary relating thereto. The title of register thus vesting in the judge, he commissioned Mr. John Lawson on the 20th of March, 1732, to be " chief     (a) Messrs. Digges and Sewall, joint secretaries, had also some concern in these matters, for there was little besides land affairs to occupy any of the proprietary's officers. The agent appears, however, to have been the efficient person in all public transactions.