freemen of the province, had been personally present
at such General Assemblies, and had consented to
and approved of the making and enacting such
laws "
It has here been clearly shown that in the first
attempt to establish a house of Burgesses, the
freemen at their option might vote fur a repre-
sentative, or that, if they pleased, they could re-
present themselves in person; thus proving, that
throughout the early history of this State, there
was no inequality of political rights, and that
each freeman had his equal and incontestable
right to participate equally with all the rest in
the enactment of the laws of the province.
This charter granted by Charles, whilst he
was despoiling his own people in England of their
just liberties, planted those sacred rights of free-
dom here in an age when republican govern-
ment was but little understood in Europe.
I would ask are the people entitled to less
consideration now than then? Are we less intelligent
than our ancestors were upwards of two
centuries ago? Are a republican representative
government less understood or less appreciated
now than then? He hoped not; he did not be-
lieve it to be so, although many on this floor hold
a very different belief.
Having demonstrated that those who thought
with him were not innovating upon the past
but were only trying to restore to the people their
just participation in government as it formerly
existed He would now advert to the second
branch of enquiry, and prove conclusively that
the single district plan which he now and had for
long years advocated, was not contrary too, but
in accordance with the early usage and laws of
this State.
In turning to another part of the venerable old
volume of Francis Bacon, he would show that
this system was adopted in the formation of the
first house of Burgesses long after the settlement
of the Maryland colony.
"Acts and orders, enacted, made and ordered,
by William Stone, Esqr., Governor, with the
consent of the upper and lower Houses of Assembly,
at a general session thereof, begun the
sixth and ended the twenty-ninth day of April,
1650.
"N. B. To this Assembly, Burgesses were sent
as delegates or representatives of the freemen of
the several hundreds, there being then only two
counties, viz; St. Mary's and the Isle of Kent
county; that part of the Province, then called
Providence, being erected into a county, by the
name of Anne Arundel, this present session,
chapter 8. The number of delegates were four-
teen, viz:
"Fur St. Mary's Hundred, . . . 2
St. Inigoe's, . . . . . . 1
St. Michaels, . . . . . . 2
St. George's, . . . . . . 2
Newtown, . . . . . . . 3
Kent Island, . . . . . . 1
Providence, . . . . . . 2
14 |
"The separation of this Assembly into two dis-
tinct Houses, was confirmed by an act passed the
first day of their sitting, a copy whereof is here
inserted; and the lower house chose Mr. James
Cox. one of the Burgesses of Providence, to be
their Speaker, and William Bretton for their
clerk.
CHAPTER 1.
"An act for settling of this present Assembly,
passed 6th April, 1650. Be it enacted by the
Lord Proprietary, with the advice and consent of
the Council and Burgesses of this Province now
assembled,
"That the present Assembly, during the con-
tinuance thereof, be held by way of Upper and
Lower House, to sit in two distinct Houses, apart,
for the more convenient dispatch of the business
therein to be consulted of: And that the Gover-
nor and Secretary, or any one or more of the
Council, for the Upper House; and Mr. John
Hatch, Mr. Walter Beane, Mr. John Medley,
Mr. William Broughe, Mr. Robert Robins, Mr.
Francis Posie, Mr. Philip Land, Mr. Francis
Brooke, Mr. Thomas Mathews, Mr. Thomas
Sterman, Mr. George Manners, Burgesses for
St. Mary's county; Capt Robert Vaughan, com-
mander and Burgess for the Isle of Kent county;
Mr. George Puddington, and Mr. James Cox,
Burgesses of that part of the county now called
Providence, or any five or more of them, for the
Lower House, together with the Clerk of that
House for the time being, who shall from time
to time assemble themselves at the lime and place
to be by the Governor, (or whomsoever of the
Council he shall, by writing under his hand, de-
pute for that purpose,) from time to time ap-
pointed, during this present Assembly, shall have
the full power of, and be, two Houses of Assem-
bly, to all intents and purposes.
"And all bill, which shall be passed by the said
two Houses or the major part of both of them,
and enacted or ordained by the Governor, shall
be Laws of the Province, after publication
thereof under the Hand of the Governor, and the
Great Seal of the Province, as fully, to all ef-
fects, in Law, (is if they were advised and assented
unto by all the freemen of the Province personally."
It is plainly proven here that the district plan
and the division of counties entered into the very
organization of the first house of Burgesses as
well as regard for the population of the several
hundreds. Whilst St. Mary's county was divi-
ded and represented by hundreds, some hun-
dreds sent but one member, some two, whilst
St. George's sent three.
Thus the plan which 1 have proposed and ad-
vocate has this high and ancient example to
sustain and justify it. The plan I advocate is to
divide all the counties and city of Baltimore into
single districts of contiguous territory as nearly
equal in population us may be, and each district
to send one member. The same principle with
some slight variation was proposed in the North
Carolina Convention in 1835, by Mr Gaston—
the must distinguished lawyer and statesman of
that day in his State. As it may be interesting
to this Convention to hear the views of one who |
