14 court of appeals of maryland

land and copies of Dalton's "Country Justice," ²⁹
or such other useful book of like sort as the justices
should think proper. And the clerks of their
courts were usually young lawyers. In addition,
the necessities of the situation gave the professional
lawyers a participation in the administration of
justice greater than was usual in England; it be-
came a common practice for the judges, or for
counsel, to refer questions to the bar or to one or
more members, for their opinions. This will be
considered more at length later, in reviewing the
period during which the practice was more fre-
quently resorted to.

There may have been some advantage in the
necessity that the law should be expounded and
more or less justified to non-professional men, but
even in the seventeenth century a need of profes-
sional training on the bench was felt. For there is
a skill in administering justice, even a skill in fair-
ness; and although they were generally satisfac-
tory, the justices sometimes seemed wanting. In
1696, Charles Carroll, the first of that name in the
province, and a lawyer of evident ability, added to
an opinion asked of him by the Governor and
Council,³⁰

And I am further of opinion, (though it be somewhat beside
the quaere) that in this country there ought to be a greater
latitude allowed in assigning of errors, and the merits of the
cause to be more inquired into by the judges before whom an
appeal or writ of error is brought, than in England; because

29. Archives, Proc. Assembly, 1678 to 1683, 70. Act 1715, ch. 41.
Dalton, Country Justice, first published in 1618 and republished
in new editions until 1742. It was designed to assist those es-
pecially who were obliged to act without expert advice. There
were several other books on the subject. 4 Holdsworth, 117 to 119.

30. Archives, Proc. Council, 1693 to 1697, 439.