54

SAMUEL STEVENS, Jr. ESQUIRE, GOVERNOR.

Dec. Ses. 1823

nishment, by the payment of the fine to the owner or owners of
such gate, imposed by this act, upon free persons for like offences,
and provided also, that no free citizen shall be fined, or slave pu-
nished under the provisions of this act, in any case where such gates
shall be found carelessly standing open, not hung upon good iron
hinges, or otherwise in bad order and repair.

Repeal.

9. And be it enacted, That all and every law, usage or custom
heretofore existing or in use, which is repugnant to or inconsistent
•with the provisions of this act, shall be and is hereby declared to be
annulled, abrogated and repealed, so far as respects the county
herein mentioned.

Present-
ments dis-
missed.

10. And be it enacted, That the county court of said county be
and they are hereby directed to dismiss all presentments heretofore
made against the owners of gates in said county, upon the parties
paying the cost thereon.

Passed Feb.
7, 1824.
Preamble.

CHAPTER 108.

An act for the benefit of George W. Neale, of Charles county, and for other
purposes.
Whereas, it is represented to this general assembly, that a pe-
tition was filed in Charles county court, as a court of equity, by
Eleanor Neale, prochein ami of Elizabeth Neale, Henrietta Neale
and James Neale, minor children of Charles H. Neale, late of the
county aforesaid, deceased, for the sale of one undivided fifth part
of a tract of land situated in said county, called "Gill's Land," and
whereas, the said court did accordingly pass a decree for the sale of
said land, and appointed John H. Lancaster, trustee to sell the same;
that in pursuance of said decree the land was sold, and that a certain
George W. Neale became the purchaser thereof, and has since paid
the purchase money and received a deed for the same, from the said
trustee, that the trustee now holds the money subject to the order of
the said court; and whereas the whole of the papers in this case have
been lost out of the clerks office of said county, and that there re-
mains among the records of said court no further evidence of these
proceedings than the deed aforesaid, and the said court cannot pro-
ceed to make final disposition of the case in consequence of the loss
of all the papers, now to confirm to the said George W. Neale his
title to the said land, and to authorise final proceedings in the pre-
mises—Therefore,

County court
directed.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the
county court of Charles county acting as a court of equity, be, and
they are hereby authorised and required to make such order and
decree in the case of the petition filed in said court as a court of
equity by Eleanor Neale, prochein ami of Elizabeth Neale, Henrietta
Neale and James Neale, minor children of Charles H. Neale of
said county, deceased, as they might or could have done if said pe-
tition and papers connected with it had not been lost, provided they
are satisfied that the said petition and papers are lost; and that the
sale and other proceeding thereon, have been conducted in every
other respect fairly and without prejudice or injury to the minor
children of the said Charles H. Neale, and any order or decree so
made, shall have the same effect and validity as any order or decree
of said court would have had if the proceedings in said case had
been entirely regular.