^Cj^*f -^Vut^ K Vv^t-.eU> •_ 
 
 7* 
 COLLECTIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 
 NEW JERSEY 
 
 HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 VOLUME III. 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE 
 
 NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 1849. 
 
>. 
 
 OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 1848. 
 
 Hgn. JOSEPH C. HORNBLOWER, LL. D., President, Newark. 
 ROBERT G. JOHNSON, Esq., 1st Vice President, Salem. 
 Hon. PETER D. VROOM, 2d " Trenton. 
 
 Hon. JAMES PARKER, 3d " Perth Amboy. 
 
 WILLIAM A. WHITEHEAD, Corresponding Secretary, Newark. 
 DAVID A. HAYES, Recording Secretary, Neioark. ■ 
 SAMUEL H. PENNINGTON, M. D., Librarian, Newark. 
 JAMES ROSS, Treasurer, Newark. 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 
 
 Rev. NICHOLAS MURRAY, D. D., Chairman, Elizabethtown 
 
 Rev. DANIEL V. McLEAN, D. D., Freehold. 
 
 WILLIAM B. KINNEY, Newark. 
 
 ARCHER GIFFORD, Newark. 
 
 STACY G. POTTS, Trenton. 
 
 Rev. JOHN MACLEAN, D. D., Princeton. 
 
 LITTLETON KIRKPATRICK, New Brunswick. 
 
 Rt. Rev. GEO. W. DOANE, D. D., LL. D., Burlington. 
 
 ELIAS B. D. OGDEN, Paterson. 
 
 committee on publication. 
 
 Hon. WILLIAM A. DUER, LL. D. 
 Rev. NICHOLAS MURRAY, D. D. 
 CHARLES KING. 
 Rev. ELI F. COOLEY. 
 WILLIAM B. KINNEY. 
 WILLIAM A. WHITEHEAD. 
 
 
 V v 
 
PROVINCIAL COURTS OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
THE 
 
 PROVINCIAL COURTS 
 
 OF 
 
 NEW JERSEY, 
 
 WITH 
 
 SKETCHES OF THE BENCH AND BAR. 
 
 A DISCOURSE 
 
 READ BEFORE THE NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 
 
 BY 
 
 RICHARD S. FIELD. 
 
 NEW- YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR THE SOCIETY. 
 
 BY BARTLETT &, WELFORD. 
 
 1849. 
 
Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1848, 
 
 By Richard S. Field, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the U. S. District Court for the District of the State 
 of New Jersey. 
 
 Leavitt, Trow & Co., Printers, 
 49 Ann-street, New- York. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following Paper was prepared at the request of 
 the Executive Committee of the New Jersey Historical 
 Society. A portion of it was read at the annual meeting 
 in Trenton, on the twentieth of January, 1848, and the 
 residue at a meeting in Newark, on the twenty-fifth of 
 May following. It was written without the slightest view 
 to its being published, at least in its present form. While 
 it was hoped, that it would not be altogether without value 
 in the eyes of my professional brethren, to whom it was 
 more particularly addressed, it was not supposed that the 
 subject was one in which the public at large could be made 
 to take much interest. The Society, however, having re- 
 quested a copy for publication, I have not felt myself at 
 liberty to withhold it. 
 
 My object has been, not so much to bring together 
 what is already known, with regard to our Courts, and the 
 character of those who have figured on the Bench and at 
 the Bar, as to rescue from the past ' such scattered memo- 
 rials of them as were in danger of perishing for ever. I 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 have confined my researches therefore entirely to our Pro- 
 vincial Courts, and Colonial judges and lawyers are the 
 only ones whose characters I have attempted to sketch. 
 To those, whose attention has been turned to the subject, 
 I need scarcely say, how slender are the materials which 
 exist for such a work, and how meagre are the accounts 
 which have come down to us, even of those who were the 
 most distinguished in the early periods of our history. We 
 know more, I suspect, of the early settlers of Massachu- 
 setts and Virginia, than we do of those who first planted 
 the Colony of New Jersey. I am sure we know more of 
 the lawyers and judges of England prior to the American 
 Revolution, than we do of those of our own State. We 
 are much more familiar with the personages who graced 
 the Court of Queen Anne, than with those who flourished 
 here at the same time under the rule of her kinsman Lord 
 Cornbury. 
 
 I have been astonished too to find, how few of the 
 names of distinguished Jerseymen are to be met with 
 in the American Biographical dictionaries. While they 
 abound with ample notices of second and third rate men 
 of other sections of the country, those who have been truly 
 eminent among us, seldom find a place in them. The truth 
 is, our Biographical dictionaries have, for the most part, 
 been written by New England men, and, as it would seem, 
 for New England. We ought to have a Biographical 
 dictionary of our own, and it may be worthy of considera- 
 tion, whether a work of this description should not be 
 undertaken under the auspices of our Historical Society. 
 
 But we have no right to complain of others, for not 
 
PREFACE. i x 
 
 cherishing the memory of our distinguished men. The 
 fault is our own. We have never been true to ourselves. 
 We have suffered the brightest names in our annals to grow 
 dim, and the memory of our most glorious deeds to become 
 almost effaced. While there is so much in our past history, 
 and in our present condition, for which we should be grate- 
 ful, and in which we have a right to exult, yet we have very 
 little State pride ; and while we have been distinguished, 
 beyond most others, for devotion to our common country, 
 and loyalty to the Union, we have never exhibited much 
 local patriotism. These, I am aware, are qualities, which 
 may easily be carried to excess. They are virtues, which 
 are perhaps nearly allied to vices; but they are virtues 
 still, and, to a certain extent, deserve to be strengthened 
 and fostered. 
 
 What we more especially need at this time, is a well 
 written history of our State. Mr. Whitehead's work is 
 invaluable, as far as it goes ; but it is confined to East 
 Jersey, and comes down only to the surrender of the gov- 
 ernment to the crown, in 1702. When shall we have an 
 equally faithful and accurate history of the whole State, 
 from its first settlement to the adoption of the Constitution 
 of 1844? Such a work remains to be written, and when 
 it is, it will be found, if I mistake not, to possess an interest, 
 which has never been thought to attach to the annals of 
 our State. Bancroft, in his History of the United States, 
 has touched upon the affairs of New Jersey just enough 
 to show, how attractive they are capable of being made in 
 the hands of a man of taste and genius. 
 
 Take, for instance, the settlement of West Jersey by 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 the Quakers. What a beautiful picture would it not pre- 
 sent, if drawn by the pen of a master ! West Jersey under 
 its Proprietary Government was, in fact, what Pennsylva- 
 nia was only in name, a pure Quaker Commonwealth. It 
 may be safely affirmed, that William Penn himself had 
 more to do in moulding the institutions of West Jersey, 
 that his spirit was more deeply infused into them, and that 
 they reflected more clearly the pure and benign features 
 of his character, than did those of the State which bore 
 his name. In Pennsylvania, his views were often sadly 
 thwarted, and his gentle sway was regarded with a jeal- 
 ousy and distrust, which it is difficult for us at this day to 
 understand. But in West Jersey, his influence was su- 
 preme, his benevolent disposition was allowed free scope, 
 and he was the object of unbounded love and confidence. 
 Her Concessions and Agreements, her fundamental laws 
 and Constitution, were nearly all the work of his hand ; 
 all bear the impress of his character. 
 
 So too the Revolutionary history of New Jersey ; how 
 full of exciting scenes, how rich in thrilling incidents 
 would it be! The sacrifices made by New Jersey, in 
 blood and treasure, during the war of Independence, were 
 greater, in proportion to her wealth and population, than 
 those of any other Colony. The fury of the storm first 
 burst upon her, and her territory was speedily overrun by 
 hordes of foreign mercenaries. Within her borders were 
 the most memorable, and the most glorious battle-grounds 
 of the Revolution. She was enveloped in the darkest 
 clouds of the contest, and the first gleams of a brighter day 
 dawned upon her. Here Washington encountered his 
 
PREFACE. x i 
 
 deepest distresses, and sustained his heaviest misfortunes ; 
 but here too he made his most brilliant movements, and 
 achieved his proudest triumphs. This is a chapter in 
 American history which has never yet been written, but 
 which we may hope soon to see from the pen of Mr. 
 Bancroft. 
 
 I cannot close these prefatory remarks, without ac- 
 knowledging the many obligations which I am under to 
 Mr. William A. Whitehead, the Corresponding Secretary of 
 the New Jersey Historical Society, for the valuable assist- 
 ance which he has rendered me in the prosecution of my 
 researches. His intimate acquaintance with the history of 
 New Jersey, has enabled him to furnish me with much 
 information that could have been obtained from no other 
 source. To Mr. Edward Armstrong, too, the Recording 
 Secretary of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, I am 
 greatly obliged. To the copious extracts from the " Logan 
 Papers," with which he has so kindly furnished me, am I 
 indebted, for most of the particulars in the life of Roger 
 Mompesson, the first Chief Justice of New Jersey. 
 
 Princeton, Neio Jersey, December 28th, 1848. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 127, line 17, for " ever" read even. 
 " 158, line 12, for " Smyth" read Smith. 
 " 178 note, for " father" read uncle, and for " son" read nephew 
 
DISCOURSE. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Historical Society : 
 
 In consenting to prepare for the use of the His- 
 torical Society a brief history of the Courts of New 
 Jersey, with notices of some of the more distin- 
 guished members of the Bench and Bar, nothing 
 was further from my expectation than to be called 
 upon to read it upon such an occasion as this. 1 
 Could I have anticipated such an audience, I might 
 have sought a more attractive theme upon which 
 to discourse — a subject the discussion of which I 
 might have hoped to make interesting to all — rather 
 than one which addresses itself in a peculiar manner 
 to the members of a single profession. And yet, in 
 attempting to glean from the history of the past 
 something worthy of the attention of this Society, 
 
 1 The annual meeting of the New popular character, than the Historical 
 
 Jersey Historical Society, at which papers usually read before the So- 
 
 it has been customary for an address ciety. 
 to be delivered of a somewhat more 
 
2 ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 
 
 I would have felt that it was much safer for me to 
 seek for it along those paths which I am accus- 
 tomed to frequent, rather than to explore fields to 
 me new and untrodden, and where I could hardly 
 hope to find any thing which had eluded the re- 
 searches of those who had gone before. 
 
 But however little there may be in the subject 
 of my discourse to interest the feelings or excite 
 the fancy, let me not be understood as meaning in 
 the slightest degree to undervalue its importance. 
 On the contrary, I am persuaded, there is no por- 
 tion of the history of our State — rich as it is in the 
 materials both for pleasant and profitable medita- 
 tion — in the study of which we can be more use- 
 fully employed, or in the contemplation of which 
 we can feel a more honest pride, than in that which 
 pertains to the administration of justice. The story 
 of our battle-fields, the recital of the martial deeds 
 of our ancestors, may be more stirring ; but the 
 feelings which such scenes awaken are transient, 
 and their influence has long since ceased to be felt. 
 Whereas, to trace to their source the growth of 
 laws and institutions under which we now live ; to 
 look at the foundations upon which have been 
 raised temples of justice still standing ; and to ga- 
 ther up what remains of the life and character of 
 those who have ministered at their altars, if it has 
 
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 3 
 
 less to excite, will yet be found to possess a pre- 
 sent and an enduring interest. In truth, the great 
 end for which all government is instituted, is neither 
 more nor less than the administration of Justice. 
 It is for this, that men consent to forego the exer- 
 cise of their natural rights, and to submit to those 
 restraints which society imposes. "He," says 
 Lord Brougham in his celebrated speech on law re- 
 form, 1 " He was guilty of no error — he was charge- 
 able with no exaggeration — he was betrayed by his 
 fancy into no metaphor, who once said, that all we 
 see about us, King, Lords, and Commons, the whole 
 machinery of the State, all the apparatus of the 
 system, and its varied workings, end in simply 
 bringing twelve good men into a box." • And if this 
 
 1 Delivered in the House of Com- Government. " We are therefore to 
 mons February 7, 1828. Lord Brough- look upon all the vast apparatus of 
 am's Speeches, II. 324. An Ameri- our government as having ultimately 
 can lawyer cannot read this admira- no other object or purpose but the 
 ble speech without being led to re- distribution of justice, or in other 
 mark, that most of the improvements words, the support of the twelve 
 which are suggested in the state of judges. Kings and parliaments, fleets 
 the law, and the method of proce- and armies, officers of the court and 
 dure in Courts of Justice, had alrea- revenue, ambassadors, ministers, and 
 dy been adopted in this country, and privy-counselors, are all subordinate 
 were then in successful operation, in their end to this part of administra- 
 And yet, while there are allusions to tion. Even the clergy, as their duty 
 the laws of so many other countries leads them to inculcate morality, may 
 scattered throughout the speech, there justly be thought, so far as regards 
 is not the slightest reference to the this world, to have no other useful ob- 
 United States. ject of their institution." — Hume's Es- 
 
 2 The same idea is expressed by says, I. 63. 
 Hume in his Essay on the Origin of 
 
4 ESTABLISHMENT OF COURTS. 
 
 be true in any sense in other countries, it must be 
 emphatically so here, where we may, in a peculiar 
 manner, be said to live under the government of 
 law. 
 
 The history of New Jersey naturally divides it- 
 self into three periods ; from the first settlement by 
 the English to the surrender of the government to 
 the crown ; from the surrender to the Revolution ; 
 and from the Revolution to the present time. Or, 
 in other words, New Jersey is to be viewed under 
 a proprietary government, as a Colony, and as a 
 State. It is to the period which preceded the sur- 
 render, and when East and West Jersey were un- 
 der distinct proprietary governments, that we are 
 first to direct our attention. 
 
 The establishment of Courts of Justice is al- 
 most coeval with the first settlement of the State. 
 While in the more populous and important Pro- 
 vince of New York, we find Governor Nichols, dur- 
 ing the whole of his administration, deciding alone, 
 and in a most summary way, all controversies that 
 arose ; l in East Jersey, on the other hand, consist- 
 
 1 K He created," says the Historian parties, and after a summary hearing, 
 
 of New York, " no courts of justice, pronounced judgment. His determi- 
 
 but took upon himself the sole deci- nations were called edicts, and exe- 
 
 sion of all controversies whatsoever, cuted by the sheriffs he had appoint- 
 
 Complaints came before him by peti- ed." — Smith's New York, 55. 
 tion, upon which he gave a day to the 
 
ESTABLISHMENT OF COURTS. 5 
 
 ing though it did of a few feeble and scattered 
 settlements, whose only security against the inroads 
 of the savage was in the respect with which his right 
 to the soil was always treated, 1 we find the most 
 ample provision made for the distribution of justice 
 between man and man, through the instrumentality 
 of Courts, and by the intervention of a jury. By 
 the concessions of Berkley and Carteret, the origi- 
 nal proprietors of New Jersey, the power of erect- 
 ing Courts and of defining their jurisdiction, was 
 conferred upon the General Assembly. This body 
 convened, for the first time in the history of New 
 
 1 It must be a source of no ordinary 
 gratification to Jerseymen to reflect, 
 that the soil of their State has never 
 been stained with the blood of the In- 
 dian, nor an acre of her territory ob- 
 tained by violence or fraud. Well 
 has she merited the distinguished ho- 
 nor paid to her by the Six Nations 
 at a Convention held at Fort Stanwix 
 in 1769, when in the most solemn 
 manner they conferred upon New 
 Jersey the title of the Great Doer of 
 Justice. 
 
 When the Legislature was applied 
 to in 1832, by a remnant of the Del- 
 aware tribe, to purchase certain rights 
 of fishing and hunting which had been 
 reserved to them by an ancient treaty, 
 Mr. Southard, in advocating the claim, 
 truly observed, " That it was a proud 
 fact in the history of New Jersey, 
 that every foot of her soil had been 
 obtained from the Indians by fair and 
 
 voluntary purchase and transfer — a 
 fact, that no other State of the Union, 
 not even the land that bears the name 
 of Penn, can boast of." And in re- 
 turning thanks to the Legislature for 
 its liberality upon that occasion, an 
 aged Indian, who represented the 
 Delawares, thus spoke : " Not a drop 
 of our blood have you spilled in bat- 
 tle — not an acre of our land have you 
 taken but by our consent. These 
 facts speak for themselves, and need 
 no comment. They place the char- 
 acter of New Jersey in bold relief 
 and bright example to those States, 
 within whose territorial limits our 
 brethren still remain. Nothing save 
 benizens can fall upon her, from the 
 lips of a Lenni Lenappi." Well 
 may we exclaim on behalf of New 
 Jersey, " The blessing of him that 
 was ready to perish came upon me." 
 
6 ESTABLISHMENT OF COURTS. 
 
 Jersey, in 1668, in Elizabethtown, fifteen years, by 
 the way, in advance of any similar Assembly in the 
 Province of New York. It held, however, only two 
 Sessions of four days each, and passed but few 
 laws ; and such was the unsettled state of the Pro- 
 vince, that seven years elapsed before another As- 
 sembly met. 1 So that it was not until 1675, that 
 we are to look for the first establishment of Courts 
 of Justice in New Jersey by legislative enactment. 
 Prior to this, however, and as early as 1668, we 
 find Courts existing both at Bergen and Wood- 
 bridge ; 2 and it was to these tribunals that Governor 
 Carteret appealed, and their protection which he in- 
 voked, during the troubles which followed that me- 
 morable day, when Quit Rents first became due. 
 But these were mere local or municipal Courts, 
 erected by the Corporations of those towns, in vir- 
 tue of the authority granted them by their charters. 
 Governor Carteret, indeed, sought to extend their 
 jurisdiction and to strengthen their arm, by author- 
 
 1 Whitehead's East Jersey, 52, 53. Shrewsbury and Middletown. But 
 
 2 Courts of Justice were also insti- the twelve Patentees of Navesink 
 tuted in Monmouth as early as 1667, were not long permitted by the Lords 
 under the patent granted by Colonel Proprietors, to exercise the powers 
 Nichols, " Governor under his royal thus conferred upon them by his 
 highness the Duke of York of all his royal highness's governor ; and the 
 territories in America." These Courts Courts thus erected soon ceased to 
 held their sessions first at Portland exist. — Proceedings of N. J. Hist. 
 Point, and afterwards alternately at Soc, vol. i. p. 167. 
 
COUNTY COURTS. 7 
 
 izing them to try all causes brought before them, 
 although the parties might come from beyond the 
 limits of their respective towns. This, however, 
 was a questionable exercise of power ; and, at all 
 events, these Courts proved themselves entirely too 
 feeble to quell the disturbances and repress the dis- 
 orders that ensued. 1 For the first, and I may add, 
 the last time in the history of New Jersey, the laws 
 were silent, and anarchy reigned supreme. 
 
 But in 1675, when the next Assembly met, one 
 of the very first acts that was passed provided for the 
 establishment and maintenance of Courts of Justice 
 throughout the Province. 2 There was to be, in the 
 first place, a monthly Court of small causes for the 
 trial of all matters under forty shillings. This 
 Court was to be held on the first Wednesday of 
 every month, in each town of the Province, by two 
 or three persons, to be chosen by the people, of 
 whom a Justice of the Peace was to be one. 3 Then, 
 there were the County Courts or Courts of Sessions, 
 to be held twice a year in every county, 4 the Judges 
 
 1 Whitehead's East Jersey, 55. no doubt, was the origin of that stay 
 
 2 Grants and Concessions, p. 96. of execution which has always been 
 
 3 The officers of the Court were a distinguishing feature in our Courts 
 to be a clerk and a messenger, and for the trial of small causes. 
 
 upon the recovery of a debt, if the 4 No formal division of the Province 
 
 defendant were a poor man, the Court into counties had yet been made, but 
 
 was empowered to give " time and it was provided in the act constituting 
 
 space for the payment thereof." This, Courts of Sessions, that Bergen and 
 
8 COURT OF ASSIZE. 
 
 of which were also to be elected out of the county 
 to which the Court belonged. In these Courts 
 were directed to be tried " all causes actionable," 
 terms certainly very comprehensive, and which 
 would seem to have conferred unlimited jurisdic- 
 tion. No appeals were to be granted from their 
 judgments under the sum of twenty pounds, " ex- 
 cept to the Bench, or to the Court of Chancery." 
 By the " Bench" was meant, undoubtedly, the Court 
 of Assize, which was a Provincial Court, directed 
 to be held once a year in the town of Woodbridge, 
 or where the Governor and Council should ap- 
 point. This was the Supreme Court of the Pro- 
 vince ; but from it appeals would lie to the Govern- 
 or and Council, and from them in the last resort to 
 the king. 
 
 Such were the first Courts established in the 
 Province by act of Assembly ; and they are inter- 
 esting from the fact, that in them we may trace the 
 germ of our present admirable judicial system. 
 The monthly Courts of small causes was the ori- 
 ginal of our Justice's Court, that most useful and 
 convenient tribunal, by which justice is literally 
 brought home to every man's door, and controver- 
 
 the adjacent plantations should be taway a third ; and the two towns of 
 one county ; Elizabethtown and New- Navesink a fourth county, 
 ark another ; Woodbridge and Pisca- 
 
COURTS OF SMALL CAUSES. g 
 
 sies of small moment adjusted, without the expense 
 and delay incident to the proceedings of our higher 
 Courts. It was, in fact, the revival, in an improved 
 form, of those ancient common law Courts of infe- 
 rior jurisdiction, which had long before fallen into 
 disuse in England, and the loss of which has been 
 felt and lamented to the present day. 1 Such were 
 the Hundred Courts, and the County Courts of the 
 Anglo Saxons, the beneficent fruits of the genius of 
 the great Alfred. Such was the Court of Piepoudre, 
 so called, as we are told, from the dusty feet of the 
 suitors; or, as Sir Edward Coke fancifully sup- 
 poses, because justice was administered in them as 
 speedily as dust falls from the feet. 2 We are so fa- 
 
 1 As early as the reign of Henry the 
 Seventh, these inferior local tribunals 
 had in a great measure gone into dis- 
 use in England. But, as Mr. Hallam 
 observes, " though the reference of 
 every legal question, however insigni- 
 ficant, to the Courts above, must have 
 been inconvenient and expensive in a 
 still greater degree than at present, it 
 had doubtless a powerful tendency to 
 knit together the different parts of 
 England, to check the influence of 
 feudality and clanship, to make the 
 inhabitants of distant counties better 
 acquainted with the capital city, and 
 more accustomed to the course of go- 
 vernment, and to impair the spirit of 
 provincial patriotism and animosity." 
 —Hallam's Constitutional Hist, of 
 England, I. 5. 
 
 Of late, however, efforts have been 
 made in England to supply the place 
 of these ancient Courts. Public atten- 
 tion was called to the subject by Lord 
 Brougham, in his speech upon Local 
 Courts delivered in the House of Com- 
 mons in 1830. And the evils which 
 he complained of have in some mea- 
 sure been remedied by the statute of 
 3 and 4 William IV, cap. 42, which, 
 in cases where the debt or demand 
 does not exceed twenty pounds, au- 
 thorizes a trial to be had before the 
 sheriff instead of a judge at Nisi Pri- 
 us. — See Lord Brougham's Speeches, 
 II. 489. 
 
 *3 Black Com., 32; 4 Co. Ins., 
 272. 
 
10 JUSTICES ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE. 
 
 miliar with these humble tribunals, they are so 
 noiseless and unobtrusive in their operations, that 
 we are apt to be insensible to their benefits ; nor 
 do we realize the extent to which they have cheap- 
 ened justice, and made law, instead of being the 
 " patrimony of the rich," " the inheritance of the 
 poor." 1 The judges of these monthly Courts, we 
 have seen, were chosen by the people. In provid- 
 ing therefore for the election of Justices of the 
 Peace, under our new Constitution, we seem to be 
 returning more nearly to this primitive model of a 
 Court for the trial of small causes. In the county 
 Courts or Courts of Sessions, exercising as they 
 did both civil and criminal jurisdiction, we see sha- 
 dowed forth our present Courts of Common Pleas 
 and Quarter Sessions. The Court of Assize cor- 
 responded with our Supreme Court, while the Go- 
 vernor and Council were at that early day, what 
 
 1 By a return made to the House of was not much out of the general 
 
 Commons in 1827, it was ascertained course. The costs of each of these 
 
 that for a period of two years and a verdicts was estimated to have been 
 
 half, there had been 93,000 affidavits not less than £80. In New Jersey 
 
 of debt filed in the King's Bench and all these cases, where the amount 
 
 Common Pleas, and of these, 29,800, or in controversy does not exceed £20, 
 
 about one-third, were for sums under or $100, would fall within the juris- 
 
 £20. Of fifty verdicts taken at one diction of our Courts for the trial of 
 
 of the assizes in England some years small causes, and to compel parties to 
 
 ago, it was found that their average resort to the higher Courts would in 
 
 amount was something less than £14; very many instances amount to a de- 
 
 and it was stated upon high authority nial of justice, 
 in the House of Commons, that this 
 
EAST JERSEY DIVIDED INTO COUNTIES. J| 
 
 they have continued to be ever since, until the 
 adoption of our new Constitution, the highest Court 
 of Appeals in the Province. The existence of a 
 Court of Chancery as a separate and distinct tribu- 
 nal was also recognized, showing plainly that it was 
 from the wells of English law that our fathers 
 drew their ideas of jurisprudence. 
 
 These Courts were somewhat modified in 1682, 
 after the transfer of East Jersey to the twenty-four 
 Proprietors. 1 In the Court for the trial of small 
 causes, either party was to be at liberty to demand 
 a jury. So sacred was that mode of trial deemed, 
 that no man was to be denied the benefit of it, even 
 in the smallest matter. East Jersey was divided 
 into four Counties, Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, and 
 Monmouth ; and the County Courts were directed 
 to be held four times a year in each County. 3 The 
 
 1 Grants and Concessions, p. 229. Townships of Middletown, Shrews- 
 
 2 It was not until 1692, that Coun- bury, and Freehold. — Grants and Con- 
 ties were first subdivided into Town- cessions, p. 328. 
 
 ships. In Bergen but one Township 3 In Essex they were to be held al- 
 was created, called Hackensack, be- temately, at Newark and Elizabeth- 
 sides which there was the " Corpora- town ; in Middlesex, at Woodbridge 
 tion Town " of Bergen. Essex was and Piscataway ; in Monmouth, at 
 divided into three Townships ; the Middletown and Shrewsbury, 
 first was called Aquackanick and JYew Middlesex, however, was soon di- 
 Barbadoes, the second Newark, and vided, the County of Somerset being 
 the third Elizabeth town. Middlesex formed out of a portion of it, in 1688. 
 was divided into the " Corporation The reason assigned for the division 
 Town " of Woodbridge, and the is a whimsical one. It was because 
 Townships of Perth Amboy and Pis- the uppermost part of Raritan River 
 cataway; and Monmouth into the was settled by persons who, in the 
 
12 COURT OF COMMON RIGHT. 
 
 Judges were to consist of the Justices of the Peace 
 in the respective Counties, or three of them at the 
 least. A High Sheriff in each County was now 
 for the first time provided for, and all process out 
 of the County Courts was to be directed to him. 
 A change, too, was made in the name of the Su- 
 preme Court. Instead of the Court of Assize, it 
 was to be called the Court of Common Right. 
 Heretofore, the titles of all the judicial tribunals in 
 the Province had been borrowed from the English 
 Courts, and were familiar to the Common Law. 
 But a Court of Common Right was something en- 
 tirely new. The name first occurs in the instruc- 
 tions of Robert Barclay and other Proprietors to 
 the Deputy Governor, Gawen Lawrie ; " We do 
 require this one thing concerning the Court of 
 Common Right, that it be always held at our Town 
 of Perth, if it be possible." 1 Now Robert Bar- 
 clay and many of the other Proprietors, as is well 
 known, were Scotchmen ; and when we add the 
 important fact, t)iat this Court, under its new or- 
 ganization, was empowered to try and determine 
 
 husbandry of their land, were forced was divided from the other inhabit- 
 
 upon quite different ways and methods ants of the said County — Grants and 
 
 from the other farmers and inhabitants Concessions, p. 305. A more obvi- 
 
 of the County of Middlesex, because ous reason would seem to have been 
 
 of the frequent floods that carried the inconvenient size of the County, 
 
 away the fences on their meadows, ' Grants and Concessions, p. 199. 
 and so by consequence their interest 
 
COURT OF COMMON RIGHT. 13 
 
 causes in Equity as well as at Common Law, we 
 shall have no difficulty in discerning the influence 
 of those who were more familiar with Scottish 
 than with English jurisprudence. For in Scotland, 
 as most of you are doubtless aware, a Court of 
 Equity, as distinct from a Court of Law, and under 
 the administration of different Judges, has never 
 formed a part of their system. This Court of 
 Common Right was to consist of " twelve mem- 
 bers, or six at the least," and was to be held four 
 times a year, and at Elizabethtown, 1 notwithstand- 
 ing the injunction contained in the instructions of 
 the Proprietors that it should be held at Perth. 
 The ancient Borough of Elizabethtown, named 
 after the "fashionable and kind-hearted" Lady 
 Carteret, and which had so long enjoyed the dis- 
 tinction of being the capital of the Province, was 
 not inclined, without a struggle, to surrender its 
 dignity in favor of the new town named in honor 
 of the Earl of Perth, and which, however glorious 
 might be its future, then existed only in imagina- 
 tion. It was not until 1686, that the Court was 
 directed to be held at Perth Amboy, the inhabitants 
 of the Province having by that time become sensi- 
 ble, as the act declared, " that Amboy was more 
 
 1 Grants and Concessions, p. 232. 
 
14 COURT OF COMMON RIGHT. 
 
 conveniently situated, near the centre of the Pro- 
 vince, the most encouraging place for trade and 
 traffic by sea and land, and which would occasion 
 great concourse of people." * It was, as we have 
 said, to be a Court of Equity as well as of Com- 
 mon Law. But it was subsequently stripped of its 
 Equity powers. For in 1695, we find the General 
 Assembly in a solemn act declaring what were 
 " the rights and privileges of His Majesty's sub- 
 jects inhabiting within the Province of East New 
 Jersey," enacting, among other things, that the 
 Judges of the Court of Common Right should not 
 be Judges of the High Court of Chancery. This, 
 we may remark, is the only instance to be found in 
 the history of our judicial system, in which the 
 powers of an Equity and a Common Law Court 
 have ever been blended in the same tribunal. And 
 the experiment does not appear to have been a suc- 
 cessful one. 
 
 So much for the Courts of East Jersey, under 
 its Proprietary government. And now, it may be 
 asked, what were the laws which these Courts were 
 called upon to administer, and in what way were 
 their proceedings regulated ? And the first thing 
 
 •Grants and Concessions, p. 293. for the object of their solicitude a des- 
 " This Town was a favorite project of tiny which has never been realized." 
 the Proprietaries, and they prefigured — Whitehead's East Jersey, 108. 
 
EARLY LAWS. 
 
 15 
 
 which strikes our attention is, how very few in 
 number, and how very simple in their provisions, 
 the early legislative enactments were. For exam- 
 ple, laws were passed for the erection of Courts of 
 Justice, designating their titles, defining their juris- 
 diction, and prescribing the number of Judges ; but 
 as to the manner in which their business was to be 
 conducted, by what rules they were to be govern- 
 ed, and how their sentences were to be enforced, 
 nothing whatever was said. An act of Assembly 
 required that there should be a High Sheriff in 
 every County, but it was silent as to his powers 
 and duties. In the same manner provision is made 
 for Grand Juries, who were to present all offences 
 against law ; but we have not a word as to the per- 
 sons of whom they are to be composed, or the 
 authority by which they are to be convened, or as 
 to their methods of procedure. These laws stand- 
 ing alone, unexplained and uninterpreted, would not 
 merely have been a dead letter, but a perfect enig- 
 ma. But by whom were they to be unfolded, and 
 as it were deciphered ? Were the Judges to do it 
 at their discretion ? Was the secret to lie in the 
 breast of the Court ? No : as well have had no laws. 
 But, be it remembered, our fathers brought with 
 them from England the common law. It was their 
 birthright, their inheritance ; and they transplant- 
 
16 COMMON LAW. 
 
 ed it along with themselves to this congenial soil, 
 where it at once took root and flourished. Its am- 
 ple folds covered all the nakedness of our primitive 
 enactments. Its abundant resources supplied all 
 their deficiencies. It furnished the key with which 
 to unlock the hidden meaning of the statute. 
 
 And they brought with them, too, the common 
 law, not as it was after the Norman Conquest, bur- 
 dened with the oppressive features of the feudal 
 system ; not as it existed under the Tudors, when 
 the prerogatives of the crown lorded it over the 
 rights of the people ; or in the reigns of James and 
 Charles the First, with its star-chamber and high 
 commission Court, its forced loans and benevolen- 
 ces, its ship-money and arbitrary imprisonment ; 
 but the common law, in the state to which it was 
 brought during the reign of the second Charles, 
 purified from the corruptions and redeemed from 
 the abuses which long ages of tyranny and misrule 
 had engrafted upon it. For it was in the reign of 
 Charles the Second, stained though it was with 
 blood and crime, and at the very period of the first 
 settlement of New Jersey, that the common law of 
 England reached its highest state of vigor and per- 
 fection. 1 It was then that the habeas corpus act, and 
 
 '3 Black. Com. The opinion ex- reign of Charles II, "wicked, san- 
 pressed by Blackstone, that in the guinary, and turbulent as it was, the 
 
COMMON LAW. 
 
 17 
 
 the act abolishing feudal tenures, were passed, acts 
 which, as it has been said, formed a second magna 
 charta, more beneficial and efficacious than that of 
 Runnymeade. That but pruned the luxuriance of 
 feudal tenures, and lopped off some of their excres- 
 cences; whereas the act of 12th Charles II laid 
 the axe at their very root. Magna charta but de- 
 clared that no man should be unlawfully imprison- 
 ed ; the habeas corpus act furnished him with the 
 means of obtaining instant relief from such impris- 
 onment. 1 The Revolution of 1688 gave no addi- 
 tional security to the private rights and personal 
 liberties of Englishmen. It was itself but one of 
 
 constitution of England had arrived to 
 its full vigor, and the true balance be- 
 tween liberty and prerogative was 
 happily established by law," may at 
 first view appear paradoxical, and I 
 am aware that its correctness has 
 been frequently called in question. 
 But it is substantially confirmed by 
 Hallam, who, upon a question of this 
 kind, must be deemed the very high- 
 est authority. After reviewing the 
 prominent events of this reign, he ob- 
 serves : " It may seem rather an ex- 
 traordinary position, after the last 
 chapters, yet is it strictly true, that 
 the fundamental privileges of the sub- 
 ject were less invaded, the preroga- 
 tive swerved into fewer excesses, du- 
 ring the reign of Charles II, than 
 perhaps in any former period of equal 
 length. Thanks to the patriot ener- 
 gies of Selden and Eliot, of Pym and 
 
 Hampden, the constitutional bounda- 
 ries of royal power had been so well 
 established that no minister was dar- 
 ing enough to attempt any flagrant 
 and general violation of them." — 
 Hallam 's Constitutional Hist, of Eng- 
 land, vol. iii. chap. 1. 
 
 It must be remembered, too, that it 
 was in the reign of Charles II, that a 
 Hale presided in the Court of King's 
 Bench, and a Nottingham sat upon 
 ,the Woolsack. 
 
 1 The " Statute of Distributions," 
 making a most equitable disposition 
 of personal property in case of intes- 
 tacy, was also passed in this reign ; 
 and that " most important and benefi- 
 cial piece of juridical legislation,". the 
 famous " Statute of Frauds," of which 
 Lord Nottinghaln used to say, " that 
 every line of it was worth a subsidy." 
 
18 CONCESSIONS OF BERKLEY AND CARTERET. 
 
 the fruits of those glorious principles, the triumph 
 of which had already been achieved, and which 
 were cheaply purchased by all the blood that had 
 been shed, and all the follies and crimes that had 
 been engendered, by the great Rebellion. 
 
 But besides the Common Law, which formed the 
 basis of our jurisprudence and regulated the pro- 
 ceedings of our Courts, there were the Concessions 
 of the first Proprietors, Berkley and Carteret. 
 These formed the first Constitution of New Jer- 
 sey. I need scarcely tell you it was a free Consti- 
 tution ; the only kind of Constitution under which 
 the people of New Jersey have ever been willing 
 to live. It proclaimed religious liberty in its fullest 
 extent. " No man shall be molested, disquieted, or 
 called in question, for any difference of opinion or 
 practice in matters of religion, throughout the Pro- 
 vince." It proclaimed freedom from taxation with- 
 out the consent of the people. " No tax, custom, 
 or duty whatsoever, upon any color or pretence, 
 shall be imposed upon the inhabitants of the said 
 Province, but by the authority of the General As- 
 sembly." In short, it guarantied complete security 
 of person and property, under laws to be enacted 
 by an Assembly composed of the Governor and 
 Council, and at least an equal number of the rep- 
 
CONCESSIONS OF BERKLEY AND CARTERET. 19 
 
 resentatives of the people. 1 Strange, that a Con- 
 stitution so free should have emanated from the 
 profligate courtiers of Charles the Second ; men 
 who were wont to scoff at the rights of the people, 
 and who loathed the very name of liberty ! It was 
 in truth, as has been well remarked, " the homage 
 paid by avarice to freedom." New Jersey was at 
 that time a mere wilderness, tenanted only by a 
 few wandering tribes of savages. To make it of 
 any value to its Proprietors, it was absolutely ne- 
 cessary that it should be peopled ; and a speedy 
 settlement could alone insure a quick return. It 
 had no mines of gold or silver to invite the cupidi- 
 ty of adventurers. Other lands more fair and fer- 
 tile, and equally accessible, were open to the 
 emigrant. Hence, settlers were to be allured by 
 tempting offers of the largest liberty. The Con- 
 cessions were published and circulated both in 
 England and throughout the Colonies. Emissaries 
 were sent to New England to proclaim, that be- 
 yond the Hudson was to be found a safer and a se- 
 curer asylum for freedom ; and Puritans were soon 
 seen flocking to the banks of the Passaic and the 
 Raritan. 
 
 Something may perhaps be expected as to the 
 
 1 Grants and Concessions, p. 12-26. 
 
20 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COURTS. 
 
 state of the legal profession under the Proprietary 
 Government, and of those who figured on the Bench 
 or at the Bar. Alas, that the materials for such a 
 work are so few, and that each successive year but 
 adds to the difficulty of rescuing from oblivion the 
 memorials of those early days ! But were the 
 means of information more ample, they would per- 
 haps prove more curious than useful, and would 
 contribute rather to our entertainment than our in- 
 struction. The proceedings of the Courts were 
 marked by the utmost simplicity, and by an almost 
 entire absence of that ceremony and parade which 
 distinguished them during the Colonial government, 
 when the judges of the higher Courts, clad in their 
 gorgeous robes, 1 affected a degree of state, which 
 would have been as repugnant to the severe tastes 
 of those who lived under the proprietary rule, as to 
 the republican notions of our own day. The pure 
 and excellent Thomas Olive, sometime Governor 
 of West Jersey, was in the habit of dispensing jus- 
 tice " sitting," says the historian, " on the stumps 
 
 1 The costume worn by the judges with black silk bags. In summer 
 
 prior to the Revolution, was probably black silk gowns were worn. The 
 
 assumed by them immediately after lawyers also wore black silk gowns, 
 
 the Surrender, when they were first and sometimes bands and bags, 
 
 appointed by royal authority. It con- These official robes were resumed to 
 
 sisted of scarlet robes with deep some extent after the Revolution, 
 
 facings, and cuffs of black velvet ; but towards the close of the last cen- 
 
 bands, and powdered wigs, adorned tury they fell into disuse. 
 
BUSINESS OF THE COURTS. 
 
 21 
 
 in his meadows." 1 What a striking and interesting 
 picture does this present of those primeval times ! 
 How emblematic, as it were, of heaven-descended 
 justice, newly alighted upon this spot, where the 
 forest had just been felled and the wilderness sub- 
 dued ! 
 
 Nor was the business of the Courts — if we may 
 judge from the few cases which have been handed 
 down to us — of much interest or importance. Pet- 
 ty disputes and frivolous controversies would seem 
 to have occupied much of their time. May I be 
 pardoned for saying, that — what shall I call it — a 
 fondness for litigation, or a love of law, or a desire 
 to be in and about courts of justice, has always 
 formed a somewhat prominent trait in the charac- 
 ter of the people of New Jersey. But in this per- 
 haps they are not peculiar. At a later period in 
 our history, Mr. Burke, speaking of the Colonies 
 generally, declared in the House of Commons, that 
 in no country in the world was the law so general 
 a study, and that every man who was able to read 
 endeavored to obtain some smattering in that sci- 
 ence. He had been told, he said, by an eminent 
 bookseller, that in no branch of his business, after 
 tracts of popular devotion, were so many books as 
 
 1 Smith's N. J., 209. 
 
22 ABSENCE OF LAWYERS. 
 
 those on the law exported to the Colonies. And it 
 was to this disposition that he ascribed the fact, 
 that while in other countries the people were in 
 the habit of judging of an ill principle only by an 
 actual grievance, here they anticipated the evil, and 
 judged of the pressure of the grievance by the bad- 
 ness of the principle, auguring misgovernment at a 
 distance, and snuffing the approach of tyranny in 
 every tainted breeze. 1 
 
 But we are not from this to suppose, that at the 
 early period of which we are now speaking, those 
 who were lawyers by profession composed a very 
 large class of the community. On the contrary, if 
 we may believe Oldmixon, there was a time when 
 New Jersey was deemed worthy the name of Para- 
 dise, because, in addition to its natural advantages, 
 it was blessed by the absence of lawyers, physi- 
 cians, and parsons. 2 And, as if for the purpose of 
 
 1 Speech on Conciliation with Ame- healthy ; long may it s» continue, 
 
 rica. Burke's Works, II. 36. " This and never have occasion for the 
 
 study," he adds, " renders men acute, tongue of the one nor the pen of the 
 
 inquisitive, dextrous, prompt in at- other, both equally destructive to 
 
 tack, ready in defence, full of re- men's estates and lives." This little 
 
 sources." work was first published in 1698, and 
 
 a 01dmixon's Brit. Empire, I. 144. is dedicated to "Friend William 
 
 Gabriel Thomas too, in his Histo- Penn." The author terms it a " plain 
 
 rical and Geographical Account of and peasant-like piece," and assures 
 
 Pennsylvania and West New Jersey, us he was prompted to write it by 
 
 thus discourses irreverently of the " no plot in his pate, or deep design," 
 
 Profession : " Of Lawyers and Phy- an assurance which no one who reads 
 
 sicians I shall say nothing, because it will be disposed to question, 
 this country is very peaceable and 
 
INCREASE OF LAWYERS. 
 
 23 
 
 perpetuating this blissful state of things, at least so 
 far as lawyers were concerned, the Fundamental 
 Constitutions of the twenty-four proprietors of East 
 Jersey provided, that in all Courts, persons of all 
 persuasions, might freely appear in their own way, 
 and there plead their own causes themselves, or if 
 unable, by their friends ; and that no person should 
 be allowed to take money for pleading or advice in 
 such cases. 1 But this happy exemption was not of 
 long continuance. Lawyers, as well as parsons 
 and physicians, soon found their way into this 
 Eden. For in 1694, we find an act of Assembly 
 for the regulation of Attornies at Law within the 
 Province, and which prohibited Justices of the 
 Peace, Sheriffs, and Clerks of the Courts, from 
 acting as Attornies under the penalty of twenty 
 pounds. 2 And in 1698, Governor Basse was in- 
 structed to procure the passage of a law, by which 
 no Attorney or other person should be suffered to 
 practice or plead for fee or hire in any Court of 
 Judicature, unless he had been regularly admitted 
 to practice by license from the Governor. 3 In fact, 
 there existed in the Province of East Jersey, at a 
 very early day, a most prolific source of strife and 
 litigation, and one that called loudly for the ser- 
 
 1 Grants and Concessions, p. 153. J Ibid, p. 223. 
 
 » Ibid, p. 343. 
 
24 COURTS OF WEST JERSEY. 
 
 vices of lawyers. I allude to the conflicting claims 
 of those who held lands under grants from the In- 
 dians, and those who deduced their titles from the 
 Proprietors. The agitation of this controversy in 
 1695, shook to their centre the Provincial Courts, 
 and fifty years later, was the subject of that famous 
 bill in Chancery, of which I shall have occasion 
 hereafter to speak, and in which is embodied so 
 much of the early history of our State. 
 
 Thus far we have spoken only of the Courts of 
 Justice in East Jersey. Those of West Jersey, 
 under its Proprietary Government, will now claim 
 our attention. They consisted, in the first place, of 
 a Court for small causes, held by a single Justice of 
 the Peace, having jurisdiction only in actions of 
 debt under forty shillings, with a right of appeal to 
 the County Court. 1 County Courts, or Courts of 
 Sessions, as they were called, were first established 
 by act of Assembly for Burlington and Salem in 
 1682, 2 and were extended in 1693 to the newly 
 erected county of Cape May. 3 They were to be 
 held four times a year by the Justices of the Peace 
 in each county. They seem to have had unlimited 
 jurisdiction in all cases civil and criminal, with this 
 single exception, that they could not try offences 
 
 1 Grants and Concessions, p. 509. 3 Ibid, p. 514. 
 
 2 Ibid, p. 448. 
 
COURTS OF WEST JERSEY. 25 
 
 of a capita] nature. They were the great Courts 
 of the Province, and for a long time there was no 
 appeal from their decisions. But in 1693, 1 a Su- 
 preme Court of Appeals was erected, consisting 
 of one or more of the Justices of each county, and 
 one or more of the Governor's Council for the time 
 being, any three of whom, one being of the Coun- 
 cil, were to constitute a quorum. This Court, as 
 originally organized, was strictly an appellate tri- 
 bunal, but in 1699, during the administration of 
 Governor Hamilton, its title and constitution un- 
 derwent an essential change. 2 It was to be called 
 the Provincial Court, and to be composed of three 
 Judges to be chosen by the House of Representa- 
 tives of the Province, and one or more of the Jus- 
 tices of each county, of whom any three of the 
 said Justices, in conjunction with two of the said 
 Judges, were to be a quorum. It was to be held 
 twice a year in each county, to have original as 
 well as appellate jurisdiction, and when the matter 
 in controversy amounted to twenty pounds, there 
 was to be an appeal from its judgments to the Ge- 
 neral Assembly. By an act passed in 1700, it was 
 made the duty of the Sheriff of each county, to 
 meet the Provincial Judges and other officers, when 
 riding the circuit, at the verge of his county, and to 
 
 1 Grants and Concessions, p. 517. * Ibid, p. 563. 
 
26 COURTS OF WEST JERSEY. 
 
 attend and conduct them safely through his Baili- 
 wick to the place of their sitting, or in case of fur- 
 ther travel, to the entrance of the next county, the 
 Sheriff of which was likewise to receive and .con- 
 duct them in manner aforesaid. 1 In 1693, a Court 
 of Oyer and Terminer was established for the trial 
 of capital crimes, to be composed of a Judge ap- 
 pointed by the Governor and Council, assisted by 
 two or more Justices of the county where the crime 
 was committed. 2 And it is an interesting fact, that 
 up to this period, there was really no tribunal in 
 West Jersey competent to try offences of a capital 
 nature. 3 How strongly does this remind us of that 
 feature in the code of the great lawgiver of Athens, 
 by which no provision was made for the punish- 
 ment of parricide, from an unwillingness to suppose 
 that a crime so abhorrent to nature would ever 
 be committed. So much for the Courts of Justice 
 in West Jersey. I cannot find any traces of a 
 
 1 Grants and Concessions, p. 572. the punishment of death was pre- 
 This practice of meeting the Judges scribed. But it was provided, that 
 when riding the Circuit, at the verge whenever a person should be found 
 of the county, and escorting them to guilty of murder or treason, the sen- 
 the place where the Courts were held, tence and way of execution were to 
 continued to prevail until many years be left to the General Assembly to 
 after the Revolution. determine as they in the wisdom 
 
 2 Ibid, p. 520. of the Lord should judge meet and 
 
 3 Properly speaking, there were no expedient. — Grants and Concessions, 
 capital offences in West Jersey, that p. 404. 
 
 is, there were no crimes for which 
 
WEST JERSEY CONCESSIONS. 27 
 
 Court of Chancery in that Province under the Pro- 
 prietary Government. In so primitive a state of so- 
 ciety there could hardly have existed any necessity 
 for such a tribunal, and it is not improbable, that 
 the Quaker settlers in their simplicity may not 
 have been aware of the distinction between Courts 
 of law and of equity. Law was probably adminis- 
 tered in all their Courts upon very equitable princi- 
 ples. Its rigor was mitigated, and its severe rules 
 relaxed, without the assistance of a Court of Chan- 
 cery. 
 
 Reference has been made to the Concessions of 
 Berkley and Carteret. But the Concessions of the 
 Proprietors of West Jersey were still more liberal. 
 A more beautiful fabric of free government was 
 never reared. It should be for ever embalmed in 
 the memory of Jerseymen. 
 
 " No man nor number of men upon earth," such 
 is its language, " have power or authority to rule 
 over men's consciences in religious matters : there- 
 fore it is agreed and ordained, that no person or 
 persons whatsoever within the said Province, shall 
 at any time hereafter, in any way or upon any pre- 
 tence whatsoever, be called in question, or in the 
 least punished or hurt, either in person, privilege, or 
 estate, for the sake of his opinion, judgment, faith, 
 or worship, in matters of religion." Never was 
 
28 WEST JERSEY CONCESSIONS. 
 
 there a more comprehensive act of religious tolera- 
 tion ; and never was it violated either in its letter 
 or its spirit. That could be said of the Quakers of 
 New Jersey, which could not be said of the Puri- 
 tans of New England, " they had suffered persecu- 
 tion and had learned mercy." 
 
 No tax, custom, subsidy, assessment, or any 
 other duty whatever, was, upon any color or pre- 
 tence, how specious soever, to be imposed upon 
 the inhabitants of the Province, without the con- 
 sent and authority of the General Assembly. It 
 would seem as if, with prophetic spirit, they had 
 foreseen the very form in which tyranny would as- 
 sail them. So dear to them was the right of trial 
 by jury, that their language in relation to it, almost 
 savors of refinement and borders upon excess. 
 The Justices were to sit with the twelve men 
 of the neighborhood, to assist them in matters 
 of law, and to pronounce such judgment as they 
 should receive from the twelve men, in whom 
 alone, it was declared, the judgment resided ; and 
 in case of the neglect or refusal of the Justices to 
 pronounce such judgment, then one of the twelve, 
 by consent of the rest, was to pronounce their own 
 judgment as the Justices should have done ; lan- 
 guage prompted, no doubt, by the bitter recollec- 
 tion of the way in which the rights of juries had 
 
WEST JERSEY CONCESSIONS. 
 
 29 
 
 so often been trampled upon in England by over- 
 bearing Judges. 1 Members of Assembly were to 
 be chosen by ballot; to receive instructions at 
 
 1 Penn himself, whose name is af- 
 fixed to these Concessions, and who 
 probably had a principal hand in fram- 
 ing them, must have had a vivid re- 
 membrance of his own trial, which 
 had taken place but a few years be- 
 fore. He and William Mead were 
 tried at the Old Bailey in 1760, upon 
 an indictment for a tumultuous as- 
 sembly. We have a full account of 
 this trial, written by themselves, in 
 Hargrave's edition of the State Tri- 
 als, and some of the incidents con- 
 nected with it may perhaps account 
 for the extreme solicitude shown in 
 the Concessions to guard against in- 
 vasion the rights of Juries. It may 
 not be amiss, therefore, to advert to a 
 few of them, although it may swell 
 this note to an inconvenient size. 
 
 When the prisoners were brought 
 to the Bar, one of the officers took 
 their hats off. " Sirrah," exclaimed 
 the Mayor, addressing the officer, 
 " who bid you put off their hats ? 
 Put them on again." Their hats 
 were accordingly put on again by the 
 officer, and then the Recorder fined 
 them forty marks apiece for contempt, 
 in wearing their hats in the King's 
 Court. When the Jury first returned 
 into Court, they had not agreed upon 
 their verdict ; eight were for convict- 
 ing and four for acquitting. The 
 Court, after threatening and abusing 
 them, sent them out again. They 
 then returned with the following ver- 
 dict: " Guilty of speaking in Grace- 
 
 church-street." Court — " Is that all 1" 
 Foreman — " That is all I have in 
 commission." Recorder — " You had 
 as good say nothing." After another 
 volley of abuse, they were again sent 
 out, and soon returned again, finding 
 Penn guilty of speaking or preaching 
 in Gracechurch-street, and Mead not 
 guilty. Thereupon the rage of the 
 Mayor and Recorder knew no bounds. 
 " You are a Foreman indeed," said 
 the Mayor, addressing him ; " I 
 thought you had understood your 
 place better." " We will have a 
 verdict," said the Recorder, " by the 
 help of God, or you shall starve for 
 it." " You are Englishmen," said 
 Penn, looking upon the Jury; " mind 
 your privilege, give not away your 
 right." The Jury were kept out all 
 night, without meat, drink, fire, or 
 any other accommodation ; but when 
 brought into Court next day, they 
 still adhered to their verdict. The 
 Mayor, addressing Bushel, one of the 
 Jury, said, " You are a factious fel- 
 low, I'll take a course with you." 
 Bushel — " I have done according to 
 my conscience." Mayor — " That con- 
 science of yours would cut my throat." 
 Bushel — " No, my Lord, it never 
 shall." Mayor — " But I will cut 
 yours as soon as I can." Penn — " I 
 desire to ask the Recorder a question. 
 Do you allow of the verdict given of 
 William Mead V Recorder — " It 
 cannot be a verdict, because you are 
 indicted for a conspiracy, and one 
 
30 
 
 WEST JERSEY CONCESSIONS. 
 
 large from those who sent them ; and to covenant 
 and oblige themselves to be faithful to their con- 
 stituents by indentures under their hand and seal. 
 They were to receive for their services a shilling a 
 day, that thereby they might be known to be the 
 servants of the people. Courts were to be public 
 and open, that all the inhabitants of the Province 
 might freely come into them, that so justice might 
 not be done in a corner. 
 
 These Concessions were declared to be their 
 common law, their great charter ; they were to be 
 
 being found guilty and not the other, 
 it cannot be a verdict." Penn — " If 
 not guilty be not a verdict, you make 
 of the Jury and magna charta a mere 
 nose of wax." The Recorder said it 
 would never be well with them till 
 they had something like the Spanish 
 Inquisition in England. At last, af- 
 ter being kept out two nights and a 
 day, the Jury returned with a verdict 
 of not guilty. Recorder, addressing 
 the Jury — " God keep my life out of 
 your hands ; but for this the Court 
 fines you forty marks a man, and im- 
 prisonment till paid." Penn then de- 
 manded his liberty. 'Mayor — " No, 
 you are in for your fines." Penn — 
 " Fine, for what 1" Mayor — " For 
 contempt of Court." Penn was pro- 
 ceeding to remonstrate against this, 
 when the Recorder said, " Take him 
 away — take him away — take him out 
 of the Court." Penn — " I can never 
 urge the Fundamental Laws of Eng- 
 land, but you cry, ' Take him away — 
 
 take him away.' But it is no won- 
 der, since the Spanish Inquisition has 
 so great a place in the Recorder's 
 heart." The Jury, as well as the Pri- 
 soners, were then sent to Newgate for 
 the non-payment of their fines. Bush- 
 el, however, one of the Jurors, sued 
 out his writ of Habeas Corpus return- 
 able to the Court of Common Pleas, 
 and was discharged ; Lord Chief Jus- 
 tice Vaughan, upon that occasion, de- 
 livering a most elaborate and master- 
 ly argument, in vindication of the 
 right of a Jury to find a general ver- 
 dict against the direction of the Court. 
 " To Edward Bushel," said Lord Ers- 
 kine, in his speech in defence of the 
 Dean of St. Asaph, " are we almost 
 as much indebted as to Mr. Hamp- 
 den, who brought the case of ship- 
 money before the Court of Exche- 
 quer." — Er shine's Speeches, II. 117. 
 See Bushel's Case, Vaughan's Hep. p. 
 135-158. 
 
WEST JERSEY CONCESSIONS. 
 
 31 
 
 read at the beginning and the dissolving of every 
 General free Assembly ; and they were also direct- 
 ed to be writ on fair tables, in every Hall of Justice 
 in the Province, and read by the Magistrates in 
 solemn manner four times every year in the pre- 
 sence of the people, — "it being intended and re- 
 solved, by the help of the Lord and these our Con- 
 cessions, that every person inhabiting the said 
 Province shall, as far as in us lies, be free from 
 oppression and slavery." 1 Precious words ! And 
 how should our hearts overflow with gratitude to 
 God that now, one hundred and seventy years 
 since this pious purpose was first announced, we 
 live to see it realized. There is not to be found, 
 in the whole history of our country, rich as it is in 
 interesting scenes, an incident so beautiful, as the 
 first settlement of West Jersey by the Quakers. 
 " West New Jersey," says Bancroft, " would have 
 been a fit home for a Fenelon." 
 
 Nor were the settlers of West Jersey satisfied 
 with the mere declaration of their rights and privi- 
 
 1 This was the first essay of Qua- after ages to understand their liberty 
 
 ker legislation, and " entitles," says as men and Christians, that they may 
 
 Grahame, " its authors to no mean not be brought in bondage, but by 
 
 share in the honor of planting civil their own consent ; for we put the 
 
 and religious liberty in America." — power in the people." — See Letter to 
 
 " There," said Penn and some of his Richard Hartshorne, Smith's N. J., 
 
 colleagues, in allusion to these Con- p. 80. 
 cessions, " we lay a foundation for 
 
32 CUSTOMS AT THE HOARKILLS. 
 
 leges. They were always ready to assert and vin- 
 dicate them whenever they were questioned or as- 
 sailed. Thus, when the agent of the Duke of York 
 at the Hoarkills persisted in exacting customs of 
 all vessels ascending the Delaware to New Jersey, 
 the Quaker settlers remonstrated against it so ear- 
 nestly, that the Duke, wearied by their importunity, 
 referred the matter to Commissioners. To the 
 Commissioners they then addressed themselves, 
 and in support of their claim to exemption, deliv- 
 ered an argument, couched in the language of in- 
 telligent freemen, and breathing the very spirit of 
 Anglo-Saxon liberty. 1 
 
 After reciting the grant of New Jersey from the 
 King to the Duke of York, and from the Duke to 
 Lord Berkley and Sir George Carteret, they pro- 
 ceed to say : 
 
 1 This argument was prepared by concurred in the presentation of the 
 William Penn, George Hutchinson, pleading is undeniable ; and hence it 
 and several other coadjutors. Gra- may be fairly presumed that he assist- 
 hame says that "like most Quaker ed in its composition. But that he 
 productions, it is extremely prolix ;" was the sole author of it, as some of 
 but I do not think it is liable to this his modern biographers have insinu- 
 objection. I have given all the ma- ated, is rendered extremely improba- 
 terial parts of it, making here and ble by its style, in which not the 
 there a slight verbal alteration ; and slightest resemblance is discoverable 
 I am much deceived with regard to to any of his acknowledged produc- 
 es merit, if it may not, both as to tions." — Grahame's Col. Hist., I. p. 
 matter and style, challenge a compari- 478, note. The document is preserved 
 son with any cotemporary production, at length in Smith's History of New 
 
 Grahame further says : " That Penn Jersey. 
 
ARGUMENT AGAINST CUSTOMS. 
 
 33 
 
 " Thus, then, we come to buy that moiety 
 which belonged to Lord Berkley for a valuable 
 consideration ; and in the conveyance he made us, 
 powers of government are expressly granted ; for 
 that only could have induced us to buy it ; and the 
 reason is plain; because to all prudent men the 
 government of any place is more inviting than the 
 soil. For what is good land without good laws ? 
 The better the worse. And if we could not assure 
 people of an easy and free and safe government, 
 both with respect to their spiritual and worldly 
 property — that is, an uninterrupted liberty of con- 
 science, and an inviolable possession of their civil 
 rights and freedoms by a just and wise government 
 — a mere wilderness would be no encouragement ; 
 for it were a madness to leave a free, good, and 
 improved country, to plant in a wilderness ; and 
 there adventure many thousands of pounds to give 
 an absolute title to another person to tax us at will 
 and pleasure. This single consideration, we hope, 
 will excuse our desire of the government ; not as- 
 serted for the sake of power but safety ; and that, 
 not only for ourselves but for others, that the plan- 
 tation might be encouraged. 
 
 " We dispose of part of our interest to several 
 hundreds of people, honest and industrious, who 
 transport themselves, and with them, such house- 
 3 
 
34 ARGUMENT AGAINST CUSTOMS. 
 
 hold stuff and tools as are requisite for planters to 
 have. They land at Delaware Bay, the bounds of 
 the country we bought ; the passage God and na- 
 ture made to it ; at their arrival they are saluted 
 with a demand of custom of five per cent, and 
 that, not as the goods may be there worth, but ac- 
 cording to the invoice as they cost before shipped 
 in England. 
 
 " This is our grievance ; and for this we made 
 our application to have speedy redress ; not as a 
 burden only with respect to the quantum, or the 
 way of levying it, or any circumstances made hard 
 by the irregularity of the officers ; but as a wrong. 
 For we complain of a wrong done us ; and ask, yet 
 with modesty, quo jure ? Tell us the title by what 
 right or law are we thus used ? That may a little 
 mitigate our pain. Your answer hitherto has been 
 that this was a conquered country, and that the 
 king being the conqueror has power to make laws, 
 raise money, &c; that this power the king has 
 vested in the duke, and by that right and sovereign- 
 ty the duke demands the customs we complain of. 
 But suppose the king were an absolute conqueror 
 in the case depending, does his power extend equal- 
 ly over his own English people as over the con- 
 quered ? Are not they some of the letters that 
 make up the word conqueror ? Did Alexander 
 
ARGUMENT AGAINST CUSTOMS. 35 
 
 conquer alone, or Csesar beat by himself ? No! 
 Shall their armies of countrymen and natives lie at 
 the same mercy as the vanquished, and be exposed 
 to the same will and power with their captive ene- 
 mies ? The Norman duke, more a conqueror of 
 England by his subjection to our laws and pretence 
 to a title by them, than of heraldry by his arms, 
 used not the companions of his victory so ill. Na- 
 tural right and human prudence oppose such doc- 
 trine all the world over ; for what is it but to say 
 that people, free by law under their prince at home, 
 are at his mercy in the plantations abroad ? We 
 could say more, but choose to let it drop. 
 
 " But our case is better yet. For the King's 
 grant to the Duke of York is plainly restrictive to 
 the laws and government of England. Now the 
 constitution and government of England, as we 
 humbly conceive, are so far from countenancing 
 any such authority, that it is made a fundamental 
 in them, that the king of England cannot justly 
 take his subjects' goods without their consent. 
 This needs no more to be proved than a principle ; 
 'tis jus i?idigine, a home-born right, declared to be 
 law by divers statutes. To give up this, is to 
 change the government, to sell, or rather resign 
 ourselves to the will of another, and that for no- 
 thing. For under favor, we buy nothing of the 
 
36 ARGUMENT AGAINST CUSTOMS. 
 
 duke, if not the right of undisturbed colonizing, and 
 that as Englishmen, with no diminution, but rather 
 expectation of some increase of those freedoms and 
 privileges enjoyed in our own country : for the soil 
 is none of his ; 'tis the natives' by the jus gentium, 
 the law of nations ; and it would be an ill argument 
 to convert to Christianity, to expel, instead of pur- 
 chasing them, out of those countries. If then the 
 country be theirs, it is not the duke's ; he cannot 
 sell it : then what have we bought ? To conclude 
 this point we humbly say, that we have not lost 
 any part of our liberty by leaving our country : for 
 we leave not our king nor our government by quit- 
 ting our soil ; but we transplant to a place given 
 by the same king, with express limitation to erect 
 no polity contrary to the same established govern- 
 ment, but as near as may be to it ; and that latitude 
 bounded by these words, for the good of the adven- 
 turer and planter ; which that exaction of custom 
 can never be. 
 
 " Custom in all governments in the world is laid 
 upon trade, but this upon planting is unprecedented. 
 The plain English of the tragedy is this ; we twice 
 buy this moiety of New Jersey; first of Lord 
 Berkley, and next of the natives ; and for what ? 
 The better to mortgage ourselves and posterity to 
 
ARGUMENT AGAINST CUSTOMS. 37 
 
 the duke's governors, and give them a title to our 
 persons and estates that never had any before. 
 
 "Besides, there is no end of this power; for 
 since we are by this precedent assessed without 
 any law, and thereby excluded our English right of 
 common assent to taxes ; what security have we of 
 any thing we possess ? We can call nothing our 
 own, but are tenants at will, not only for the soil, 
 but for all our personal estates. This is to trans- 
 plant, not from good to better, but from good to 
 bad. This sort of conduct has destroyed govern- 
 ment, but never raised one to any true greatness. 
 
 " Lastly, the duke's circumstances, and the peo- 
 ple's jealousies considered, we humbly submit, if 
 there can be in their opinion, a greater evidence of 
 a design to introduce an unlimited government, 
 than both to exact such an unterminated tax from 
 English planters, and continue it after so many re- 
 peated complaints ; and on the contrary, if there 
 can be any thing so happy to the duke's present af- 
 fairs, as the opportunity he has to free that country 
 with his own hand, and to make us all owers of our 
 liberty to his favor and justice. So will Englishmen 
 here know what to hope for, by the justice and 
 kindness he shows to Englishmen there; and all 
 men see the just model of his government in New 
 York, to be the scheme and draught in little of his 
 
38 ARGUMENT AGAINST CUSTOMS. 
 
 administration in Old England at large, if the crown 
 should ever devolve on his head. 
 
 " The conclusion is this, that for all these rea- 
 sons in law, equity, and prudence, you would please 
 to second our request to the duke, that like him- 
 self, he would void this taxation, and put the coun- 
 try in such an English and free condition, that he 
 may be as well loved and honored, as feared, by all 
 the inhabitants of his territory ; that being great in 
 their affections, he may be great by their industry ; 
 which will yield him that wealth, that parent of 
 power, that he may be as great a prince by pro- 
 perty as by title." 
 
 This argument, " worthy," as Grahame says, " of 
 the founders of a North American commonwealth," 
 was attended, as it deserved to be, with triumphant 
 success. The obnoxious custom was renounced, 
 and West Jersey became a free and independent 
 Province. 1 
 
 1 The Commissioners referred the soon after executed in favor of the re- 
 question to Sir William Jones, who presents tives of Sir George Carteret, 
 gave it as his opinion, " that as the " Thus," says Grahame, " the whole of 
 grant to Berkley and Carteret had New Jersey was promoted at once 
 reserved no profit or jurisdiction, the from the condition of a conquered 
 legality of the taxes could not be de- country to the rank of a free and in- 
 fended." The Duke of York promptly dependent province, and rendered in 
 acquiesced in the decision, and by a political theory the adjunct, instead of 
 new indenture relinquished all his the mere dependency, of the British 
 claims on West Jersey ; and as the empire. The powerful and spirited 
 argument was equally applicable to pleading by which this benefit was 
 East Jersey, a similar release was gained, derives additional interest 
 
FIRST PERIOD CONCLUDED. 39 
 
 We have dwelt longer upon this first period of 
 our history, than its importance may seem to de- 
 mand ; but there is a charm about it which it is dif- 
 ficult to resist. There is always more or less of 
 romance connected with the infancy of every State. 
 What the heroic ages were to Greece ; what the 
 period of its first kings was to France, and of its 
 Anglo-Saxon monarchs to England ; such to New 
 Jersey, is the period which preceded the surrender 
 of the government to the crown. It is the twilight 
 of our history, and the very indistinctness with 
 which objects are then revealed to us, but height- 
 ens their interest and leaves room for imagination ; 
 and time, while it deepens the shadows which rest 
 upon them, but causes them to assume more varied 
 and picturesque forms. 2 
 
 We come now to the period of the Surrender. 
 
 from recollection of the conflict then justly imposed on them without their 
 subsisting in England between the own consent and the authority of their 
 advocates of liberty and the abettors own provincial assembly. The re- 
 of arbitrary power. It would not be port of the commissioners and the re- 
 easy to point out, in any of the politi- lief that followed, were virtual con- 
 cal writings or harangues of which cessions in favor of this principle, 
 that period was abundantly prolific, which in an after age was destined to 
 a more manly and intrepid exertion obtain a more signal triumph in the 
 for the preservation of liberty, than national independence of North Ame- 
 we behold in this first successful de- rica."— Grahame's Col. Hist., 479. 
 fence of the rights of New Jersey. s For some notice of the principal 
 One of the most remarkable features laws that were enacted, both in East 
 of the plea which the colonists main- and West Jersey, under the Proprie- 
 tained, was the unqualified and deli- tary Government, see Appendix A. 
 berate assertion, that no tax could be 
 
40 SURRENDER OF THE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 The claim of the Proprietors to exercise the pow- 
 ers of Government had been for some years ques- 
 tioned ; a Quo Warranto was actually depending 
 in the Court of King's Bench, the object of which 
 was to test its validity ; and the increasing num- 
 ber, 1 and conflicting views of the Proprietors, ren- 
 dered the possession of such powers of doubtful 
 utility. 2 Under these circumstances, an absolute 
 and unconditional surrender of them was made to 
 the crown ; 3 and Lord Cornbury, the grandson of 
 the illustrious Clarendon, and the cousin of Queen 
 Anne, was appointed the first Royal Governor of 
 the united Provinces of East and West Jersey. Al- 
 though, by his Instructions, he was forbidden to 
 
 1 The shares and parts of shares must be remembered, that it was these 
 had been so divided and subdivided, very proprietors themselves by whom 
 that some of the proprietors owned the surrender was made. — Pitkins' 
 but one fortieth part of a forty-eighth U. States, I. 60. 
 
 part of a twenty-fourth share. — Pit- 3 Grants and Concessions, p. 609. 
 
 kins' U. States, I. 64. Although the surrender was in its 
 
 2 Pitkins says that while the New terms absolute and unqualified, yet 
 England colonists clung to their char- by the Instructions to Lord Cornbury 
 ters as to the ark of their political — which were shown to the proprie- 
 safety, in opposition to the claims of tors and acquiesced in by them be- 
 the king and parliament, those under fore the surrender was made — it was 
 the proprietary governments, and es- provided, that the right and property 
 pecially in Pennsylvania, New Jer- of the proprietors to the soil of the 
 sey, and Carolina, sought refuge and Province should be confirmed to them, 
 protection from the oppression of the together with all such privileges as 
 proprietors, under a royal government, were expressed in the conveyances 
 However true this may have been in made by the Duke of York, except- 
 reference to Pennsylvania and Caro- ing only the right of government. — 
 Una, in the ease of New Jersey, it Grants and Concessions, p. 628. 
 
COMMISSION OF LORD CORNBURY. 
 
 41 
 
 erect any Court or office of judicature not before 
 erected or established, without a special order, yet 
 by his Commission, full power and authority were 
 given to him, with the advice and consent of his 
 Council, to erect, constitute, and establish such 
 Courts of Judicature in the Province, as should be 
 thought fit and necessary for the hearing and de- 
 termining of all causes, as well criminal as civil, 
 according to law and equity. 1 Similar authority 
 was given to all succeeding Governors. Thus, the 
 important power of establishing Courts for the ad- 
 ministration of justice, which before the Surrender 
 had been so jealously reserved both in East and 
 West Jersey to the General Assembly, was now 
 conferred, without limitation or control, upon the 
 Governor and Council. But, as draughts of the 
 Commission as well as of the Instructions, were 
 submitted to the Proprietors before the Surrender 
 
 1 The Commission and Instructions with signal ability. I have supposed 
 
 to Lord Cornbury, as Mr. Griffith ob- therefore that I might be conferring a 
 
 serves (Law Reg. iv. 1178, note), ought favor upon my professional readers by 
 
 to be prefixed to our Laws, as showing inserting them at large in an appen- 
 
 in what manner the government was dix. It is true they are to be found 
 
 organized and administered, and how in Smith's History of New Jersey, and 
 
 our Courts were constituted prior to Learning and Spicer's Laws, usually 
 
 1776. They were in fact the Consti- called Grants and Concessions ; but 
 
 union of the Colony of New Jersey, both of these works are becoming 
 
 and are well worthy of being preserv- very scarce, and are to be found only 
 
 ed. They were evidently the result in a few libraries. — See Appendix B. 
 of much consideration, and are drawn 
 
42 ORDINANCE OF LORD CORNBURY. 
 
 was consummated, they had no right to complain. 
 And it is but fair to say that, whatever abuses of 
 authority may have been committed by the Royal 
 Governors in reference to other matters, this power 
 seems, in every instance, to have been exerted with 
 great judgment and discretion. 
 
 It is then to the Ordinances of the Governor and 
 Council that we are to look, for the frame and con- 
 stitution of our Courts after the Surrender. The 
 first Ordinance for the establishment of Courts of 
 Judicature in the Province of New Jersey, was that 
 of Lord Cornbury in 1704. 1 It is really gratifying 
 to be able to find a single redeeming feature in the 
 administration of this weak, corrupt, and tyrannical 
 man, who disgraced the sovereign whose represen- 
 tative he was, and dishonored the noble ancestry 
 from which he was sprung. But he is entitled to 
 the credit of having laid the foundation of our whole 
 judicial sytem ; and of having laid it well. True, 
 the materials for such a work were found in the 
 several Courts which existed under the Proprietary 
 Government, and of which we have already spoken : 
 but he reduced them to order, and gave them 
 shape, and beauty, and proportion. All that has 
 been done from that day to this, has been but to 
 
 1 Appendix C. 
 
ORDINANCE OF LORD CORNBURY. 43 
 
 fill up, as it were, the outline which he sketched ; 
 to add some additional apartments to the judicial 
 edifice which he constructed. 
 
 He gave to Justices of the Peace cognizance in 
 all cases of debt and trespass to the value of forty 
 shillings, with the right of appeal to the Court of 
 Sessions where the sum in controversy was over 
 twenty shillings. 
 
 He ordained that there should be a Court of 
 Common Pleas kept and holden in every County 
 of the Province, at the place where the General 
 Courts of Sessions were held, and to begin imme- 
 diately after the Sessions had ended, with power to 
 hear and determine all actions, triable at Common 
 Law, of what nature or kind soever ; subject to a 
 removal to the Supreme Court, either before or af- 
 ter judgment, where the matter in dispute exceeded 
 ten pounds, or the title to land came in question. 
 
 The General Sessions of the Peace were di- 
 rected to be held four times a year in every Coun- 
 ty, at the times and places mentioned in the Ordi- 
 nance. For the County of Middlesex they were to 
 be held at Amboy ; for Bergen at Bergen ; for Es- 
 sex at Newark; for Monmouth at Shrewsbury; for 
 Burlington at Burlington ; for Gloucester at Glou- 
 cester ; for Salem at Salem ; and for Cape May, at 
 
44 ORDINANCE OF LORD CORNBURY. 
 
 the House of Shamger Hand. 1 In Essex and Salem 
 alone have the seats of justice remained unchanged, 
 nor there, without some fierce struggles for a re- 
 moval, the memory of which remains to this day. 
 
 At Perth Amboy and Burlington, alternately, 
 was to be held a Supreme Court of Judicature, 
 which was fully empowered to have cognizance of 
 all pleas, civil, criminal, and mixed, as amply, to all 
 intents and purposes, as the Courts of Queen's 
 Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, in the king- 
 dom of England have, or ought to have. And if 
 the question were now asked, what is the jurisdic- 
 tion of the Supreme Court of the State of New 
 Jersey as at present constituted, the only answer 
 that could be given would be in the language of 
 Lord Cornbury's Ordinance : they have all the ju- 
 risdiction which the Courts of Queen's Bench, Com- 
 mon Pleas, and Exchequer in England have, or 
 ought to have. So little addicted to change have 
 we shown ourselves in reference to our Courts! 
 So truly conservative in its character has been the 
 history of our State ! Into this Court might be re- 
 moved from the Courts of Common Pleas and Ses- 
 
 1 Nothing is here said as to the Middlesex ; for by the Ordinance of 
 
 place where the Courts for the Coun- Governor Hunter in 1714, Courts for 
 
 ty of Somerset were to be held. They both Middlesex and Somerset, were 
 
 were probably held at the same place directed to be held at Perth Amboy. 
 with the Courts for the County of 
 
ORDINANCE OF LORD CORNBURY. 45 
 
 sions of the Peace, any plea, action, information, 
 or indictment, therein depending, or upon which 
 judgment had been rendered. 
 
 There were to be two Terms of the Supreme 
 Court every year, each Session not to exceed five 
 days ; and once every year, if need should so require, 
 a Circuit was to be held by one of the Justices of the 
 Court in every County. The Judges of the several 
 Courts were authorized to make rules of practice 
 for regulating their proceedings ; and finally, it was 
 ordained, that all issues of fact should be tried by 
 twelve men of the neighborhood, " as it ought to be 
 done by law." 1 
 
 Such was the constitution of our Common Law 
 Courts nearly a century and a half ago, and such 
 in all its leading features it remains to this day. 2 I 
 
 1 It will be seen that no provision at the hearing thereof and give the 
 is made in this Ordinance for a Court reasons for their judgment. And a 
 of Appeals in the last resort. The further Appeal was to be allowed 
 constitution of this Court was not left from the Governor and Council, where 
 to the Governor and Council, as was the sum in controversy exceeded two 
 that of the other Courts, but it was hundred pounds sterling, to the Queen 
 erected by the Queen in Council, and in Privy Council, 
 made part of the Instructions to Lord 2 These Courts continued without 
 Cornbury. It was there provided that any essential change to the Revolu- 
 Appeals might be made in Cases of tion. The Constitution of 1776 mere- 
 Error from the other Courts to the ly directed how the Judges were to 
 Governor and Council ; but if any of be appointed, thereby tacitly adopting 
 the members of Council were Judges them, with all the judicial power they 
 of the Court from which the Appeal had at the time. And shortly after 
 was taken, they were not to vote up- the adoption of the Constitution, the 
 on the Appeal, but might be present Legislature enacted, " that the sever- 
 
46 ORDINANCE OF LORD CORNBURY. 
 
 have dwelt the longer upon this Ordinance, because 
 it seems to have escaped entirely the notice, not 
 only of the Historians of New Jersey, but of those 
 who have professedly written upon the subject 
 of our Courts of Justice. Even William Griffith, 
 the learned compiler of the Law Register, whose 
 researches into the origin and progress of our Ju- 
 diciary System are so well known to my profes- 
 sional hearers, was evidently not aware of the ex- 
 istence of such an Ordinance. After reciting the 
 laws that were passed during the Proprietary Go- 
 vernment of East Jersey in reference to the Court 
 of Common Right, he goes on to say, that it was 
 under these laws alone, that the Supreme Court 
 acted from the Surrender in 1702 to the 29th of 
 April, 1723 ; l losing sight, not only of the Ordi- 
 nance of Lord Cornbury, but also of a similar Or- 
 dinance of Governor Hunter in 17 14. 2 The truth 
 is, that these Ordinances are not to be found in the 
 
 al Courts of Law and Equity of this lor, and that the Court of Errors and 
 
 State shall be confirmed and estab- Appeals in the last resort, instead of 
 
 lished, and continue to be held with consisting of the Governor and Coun- 
 
 the like powers under the present go- cil, was to be composed of the Chan- 
 
 vernment, as they were held at and cellor, the Justices of the Supreme 
 
 before the Declaration of Independ- Court, and six Judges to be appointed 
 
 ence." — Pat. Laws, p. 38. for that purpose. 
 
 Nor did the Constitution of 1844 ' Griffith's Law Reg., IV. 1175, 
 
 make any alteration in the character Note 1. 
 
 of our Courts, save only that the Go- a Appendix D. 
 vemor was no longer to be Chancel- 
 
ORDINANCES. 47 
 
 Book of Commissions in the office of the Secretary 
 of State, from which source Mr. Griffith seems to 
 have derived all his knowledge of the constitution 
 of our Colonial Courts. So too, in tracing the 
 history of the Court of Common Pleas, Mr. Grif- 
 fith states that the Assembly soon after the Sur- 
 render passed a law establishing Courts, which was 
 disallowed by the king ; and that " on the 29th of 
 April, 1723, George the Second, by the advice of 
 the Lords of the Privy Council at the Court of St. 
 James, established an Ordinance, which may be 
 considered as the foundation of the jurisdiction of 
 the Courts of New Jersey in civil and criminal 
 cases, at common law." l 
 
 This statement is singularly inaccurate. No 
 such act was ever passed by the Colonial Assem- 
 bly. 2 If there had been, it would unquestionably 
 have been promptly vetoed by the Governor. It 
 would never have found its way to the King in 
 Council. The Royal Governors were not slow in 
 asserting their prerogatives ; and they alone, with 
 the advice of their Council, had the power of erect- 
 ing Courts. And then, the Ordinance of George 
 
 1 Griffith's Law Reg. IV. 1169, which was disallowed by the king in 
 Note. Council, and is referred to in the Or- 
 
 2 There was an act passed entitled, dinance of April 29th, 1723 ; and it 
 " An Act for shortening lawsuits and must have been to this act that Mr. 
 regulating the practice of the law," Griffith had reference. 
 
48 ORDINANCES. 
 
 the Second, so far from being the foundation of the 
 jurisdiction of our Courts, was, with a few slight 
 alterations, but a copy of the original Ordinance of 
 Lord Cornbury. 
 
 It is this Ordinance of April 29th, 1723, which 
 is inserted in the Appendix to one of the volumes 
 of the Reports of our Supreme Court, as showing 
 the original extent of the jurisdiction of our Courts, 
 and which, the Reporter observes, remained, so 
 far as he had been able to discover, unrepealed. 1 
 Whereas, the fact is, that this Ordinance continued 
 in force but a single year. It was found to be in- 
 convenient in some respects, 2 and was superseded 
 by another Ordinance of the King in Council, which 
 bears date on the 23d of April, 1724 ; 3 and this in 
 turn was supplied by still another Ordinance of the 
 21st of August, 1725. 4 And then, in less than three 
 years afterwards, we have the Ordinance of Febru- 
 ary 10th, 1728, 5 by which two Supreme Courts 
 were established in the Province, one for the West- 
 ern division, to be held four times a year at Burling- 
 
 1 1 Halstead's Rep. Appendix, p. sioners to take bail in the several coun- 
 
 1. This Ordinance is recorded in ties; and, what was more important 
 
 Book C of Commissions, No. 2, pages still, it made no provision for Circuit 
 
 57 — 60. Courts to try issues of fact joined in 
 
 1 It was not only found inconve- the Supreme Court, 
 nient as to the times of the sitting of 3 Appendix E. 
 the Courts, but it contained no autho- 4 Appendix F. 
 rity for the appointment of Commis- * Appendix G. 
 
ORDINANCE OF LORD CORNBURY. 
 
 49 
 
 ton, and the other for the Eastern division to be 
 held four times a year at Perth Amboy. 1 With such 
 rapidity did these Ordinances follow each other. 
 They are all, however, based in a great measure 
 upon the original Ordinance of Lord Cornbury, and 
 the only points in which several of them differ from 
 each other, are as to the times of holding the re- 
 spective Courts. These Ordinances were publish- 
 ed in pamphlets at the time of their adoption, but 
 very few copies of them are now in existence ; and 
 most of them have never been transcribed in the 
 Books of Commissions in the Secretary's office. 2 
 
 In reference to the original Ordinance of Lord 
 Cornbury, I will add, that I was led from a variety 
 of circumstances to infer the existence of such a 
 document, and yet I could meet with no one who 
 had ever seen or heard of it. After a long and 
 fruitless search for it in the office of the Secretary 
 of State, and among the records of the Supreme 
 Court, I had abandoned all hope of finding it, when 
 
 1 The object of this arrangement and read, but what Its provisions 
 
 probably was to prevent causes, which were are not stated, nor have I been 
 
 originated in one division of the pro- able to find the Ordinance itself, 
 vince, from being tried in the other. 2 It is for this reason that I have 
 
 Both Courts were held by the. same deemed it advisable to insert in the 
 
 Judges. This Ordinance however did Appendix such of these Ordinances 
 
 not remain in force many years. It as I have been able to lay my hands 
 
 appears by the Minutes of the Su- upon, and which are not to be found 
 
 preme Court that on the 18th of May, in the Books of Commissions. 
 1734, a new Ordinance was produced 
 
50 ORDINANCE OF LORD CORNBURY. 
 
 I happened accidentally to light upon it, bound up 
 in an old volume of Acts of Assembly in the State 
 Library, where it had no doubt slept undisturbed for 
 many a year. The name of Cornbury, in very 
 large capitals, is subscribed to it, and it purports to 
 have been printed " by William Bradford, Printer 
 to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in the City 
 of New York, 1704." By whom this Ordinance 
 was framed, it is of course at this late day impossi- 
 ble to ascertain. That it was by one familiar with 
 the Common Law, and conversant with the Courts 
 of Westminster Hall, may fairly be inferred ; and, 
 as we shall presently see, such a man Lord Corn- 
 bury had in his Council ; a man, who probably did 
 more than all others, to mould the judicial systems 
 both of New Jersey and New York. 1 
 
 And now it would, I doubt not, relieve the te- 
 diousness of these dry and uninteresting details, 
 and illustrate somewhat the history of the times, 
 could I introduce you for a few moments into the 
 Courts thus established, and enable you to witness 
 the passing scenes. Fortunately, the materials for 
 such a purpose exist in the greatest abundance. 
 The early minutes of our Supreme Court are copi- 
 ous even to a fault, atod open a mine of curious and 
 
 1 Roger Mompesson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey 
 and also of New York. 
 
EARLY MINUTES OF SUPREME COURT. 51 
 
 valuable information, which has never yet been ex- 
 plored. 1 Time, however, will not allow us to do 
 more than to glance at them ; and, in doing so, we 
 shall find Lord Cornbury figuring in his true char- 
 acter, and laboring to make the tribunals which 
 he had erected the mere instruments of his ven- 
 geance. 
 
 The first session of the Supreme Court was held 
 at Burlington on the seventh day of November, 1704. 
 The Commissions of Roger Mompesson as Chief 
 Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature of the 
 Province of New Jersey, and of William Pinhorne 
 as second Judge, were read, and they took their 
 seats upon the bench. The Court then adjourned 
 to eight o'clock of the following day, a somewhat 
 earlier hour, it may be remarked, than that at 
 which Courts of Justice at the present day are in 
 the habit of convening. A Grand Jury was returned 
 by the Sheriff of the County of Burlington, and a 
 charge delivered to them by the Chief Justice. No 
 indictments, however, were found, and no civil 
 causes were ready for trial, and after the admission 
 of a number of Attornies, the Court adjourned to 
 
 1 These minutes contain full re- tried at bar in the Supreme Court, 
 
 ports of some of the early trials had but Grand Juries were returned by 
 
 in the Supreme Court, including the the Sheriff of the County in which 
 
 testimony of the witnesses who were the Court sat, aud the Indictments 
 
 :xamined. Not only were civil suits tried there. 
 
52 PROCEEDINGS OF SUPREME COURT. 
 
 the first Tuesday of May, at Burlington. 1 At the 
 next term of the Court Alexander Griffith appeared 
 with his commission as her Majesty's Attorney Ge- 
 neral for the Province of New Jersey, and a num- 
 ber of Indictments were sent up to the Grand Jury. 
 The Bills were first drawn, and the witnesses who 
 were to be examined by the Grand Jury were 
 sworn in open Court, according to the English 
 practice, which prevailed in New Jersey until after 
 the Revolution. 2 And what, think you, was the 
 nature of these Indictments ? They were all In- 
 dictments for uttering seditious words of, and con- 
 cerning, Lord Cornbury ; for already had his con- 
 duct begun to provoke the contempt and indigna- 
 tion of the people. 
 
 1 It ought to have adjourned to murder ever found in the county of 
 Amboy instead of Burlington, for by Gloucester, appears to have been tried 
 the Ordinance it was to be held at before Lord Cornbury in person. He 
 these two places alternately. We had a very exalted notion of his pre- 
 find, however, a good many irregula- rogative ; and as the king in England 
 rities in the early proceedings of our is always supposed to be present in 
 Courts, which cannot now be ac- his Court of King's Bench, and for- 
 counted for. Thus we find Justices merly, as it is thought, sat there in 
 of the Peace sitting upon the Bench person, so Lord Cornbury, as his re- 
 ef the Supreme Court. They formed presentative, may have considered 
 part of the Provincial Court of West himself entitled to a similar privilege. 
 Jersey before the Surrender, but un- 2 The practice now is for the wit- 
 der the new order of things, they nesses to be sworn in the Grand Jury 
 would seem to have been out of their room, the Foreman being authorized 
 place there. And yet their names to administer the oath to them ; and 
 are regularly entered on the minutes Indictments are not usually drawn 
 along with the Judges of the Supreme until the Grand Jury have resolved to 
 Court. And the first Indictment for find a bill. 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF SUPREME COURT. 53 
 
 The first Indictment was against John Hollings- 
 head, and the words, for the speaking of which he 
 was thus solemnly arraigned, were these. He was 
 charged with saying, " That the Governor had dis- 
 solved the Assembly, but that they could get ano- 
 ther just as good, and if the Governor liked them 
 not, he might go from whence he came." The 
 next Indictment was against Walter Pomphrey. 
 At an election for members of the Assembly held 
 in Burlington, he was charged with having said to 
 one of the voters, " I will give you a pot of beer to 
 vote for the old Assemblymen, because they would 
 give Lord Cornbury no more than thirty-five hun- 
 dred pounds, which his Lordship made a huff at." 
 Then there were two Indictments against Jedidiah 
 Allen ; one for saying, " that the Assembly could 
 have done their business well enough, but that the 
 Governor dissolved it, which he was satisfied was 
 because they would not give him money enough ;" 
 and the other for saying, "that Colonel Morris 
 was dismissed from being of the Council by my 
 Lord, but that it was more than my Lord had power 
 to do." 
 
 Such was Lord Cornbury's notion of sedition. 
 That the words spoken were true, was probably 
 deemed an aggravation of the offence. He no 
 doubt adopted in its fullest extent the maxim, " the 
 
54 PROCEEDINGS OF SUPREME COURT. 
 
 greater the truth the greater the libel." I hope it 
 is unnecessary to say that the Grand Jury returned 
 each of the Bills with an ignoramus. In other 
 words, they refused to find them. Here, it may be 
 supposed, this ridiculous and disgraceful matter 
 ended. But Lord Cornbury was not thus to be put 
 off. He was flushed with the victory which he had 
 just achieved at a recent election, the only one 
 during his whole administration which resulted in 
 the choice of a majority of members to his mind. 1 
 And the new Assembly had complimented him by 
 an address, in which they say, that he had gone 
 through the affairs of government " with great dili- 
 gence and exquisite management, to the admiration 
 of his friends and the envy of his enemies." He 
 was resolved to vindicate still further the justice of 
 this compliment. When therefore these Indict- 
 ments were thrown out by the Grand Jury, the At- 
 torney General was instructed to apply to the Court 
 for leave to file Informations. Leave was accord- 
 ingly granted, and informations were immediately 
 drawn up against all the Defendants, almost in the 
 very words of the Indictments. The Defendants 
 being charged, pleaded not guilty. Hollingshead 
 moved to postpone his trial until the following 
 
 1 Smith's N. J., p. 283. 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF SUPREME COURT. 55 
 
 term ; and the motion was allowed, but upon this 
 condition, that he should put in an issuable plea, 
 thereby admitting the sufficiency of the Informa- 
 tion. An order was accordingly made, that he 
 should enter into a recognizance to appear at the 
 next term, to put in an issuable plea, and to keep 
 the peace and be of good behavior in the mean 
 time. This Hollingshead positively refused to do, 
 and then the Court, instead of ordering on the trial 
 of the cause, committed him for contempt, as it 
 was termed, and, it is added, for abusing the wit- 
 nesses for her majesty. How or where he had 
 abused the Queen's witnesses, does not appear. _ 
 Pomphrey, not caring, I suppose, to have his 
 case postponed upon the same terms, consented to 
 go to trial. A Jury was at once empanneled and 
 the trial proceeded. A number of witnesses were 
 examined to prove the speaking of the words, and 
 their testimony is spread upon the minutes of the 
 Court. The Defendant had no counsel, and offered 
 no evidence ; and after a charge from the Chief 
 Justice, the Jury rendered a verdict of guilty. But 
 although the Court — to their shame be it spoken — 
 had thus far humored his Lordship, they did not 
 dare to pronounce judgment. The Defendant was 
 recognized to appear from term to term, and at last 
 forfeited his recognizance ; with an understanding, 
 
56 PROCEEDINGS OF SUPREME COURT. 
 
 probably, that no further proceedings would be had 
 against him. 
 
 At the next term of the Court, held in Burling- 
 ton, Hollingshead was tried upon his information, 
 and acquitted ; but the Court refused to discharge 
 him, until he had paid all the costs of the prosecu- 
 tion. What became of the information against 
 Jedidiah Allen, does not appear. In May Term, 
 1707, Thomas Killingworth was tried upon two 
 several Informations exhibited against him for 
 speaking contemptuously of the Church of Eng- 
 land — of which you know Lord Cornbury was a 
 most zealous defender — but the Jury found him 
 not guilty. And I ought to say, in justice to the 
 Juries of those days, that although numberless In- 
 formations for similar offences were tried in the 
 Supreme Court during the administration of Lord 
 Cornbury, I can find no other instance in which a 
 verdict of guilty was ever rendered. 
 
 Comment upon these proceedings is unneces- 
 sary. The bare recital of them proclaims more 
 strongly than any language can do, the tame sub- 
 seviency of the Court and the contemptible charac- 
 ter of Cornbury. But I must close at once this 
 old book of minutes, or I shall exhaust your pa- 
 tience long before I have finished my task. 
 
 Roger Mompesson was the first Chief Justice of 
 
ROGER MOMPESSON. 
 
 57 
 
 the Province of New Jersey. Miss Anne Seward, 
 in one of her letters, after describing a steep ro- 
 mantic dell in the high peak of Derbyshire, on the 
 brow of which stood the large and populous village 
 of Eyam, states, that it was in this rocky gallery 
 that Mr. Mompesson, the rival in virtue of the good 
 Bishop of Marseilles, preached to his parishioners 
 of the village, When it was visited by the plague in 
 1666, rationally concluding that assembling in a 
 close church would be likely to increase the infec- 
 tion. 1 From this pious and courageous Rector of 
 Eyam, 2 Roger Mompesson is supposed to have de- 
 
 1 Seward's Letters, vol. i. Miss 
 Seward to Miss Weston, Sept. 6, 
 1783. 
 
 2 William Mompesson was Rector 
 of Eyam in Derbyshire, during the 
 time of the plague in London. He 
 never caught the disorder ; and was 
 enabled during the whole period of 
 the calamity, to perform the functions 
 of the physician and the priest of his 
 afflicted parish. During these pious 
 labors, his wife was taken ill and died. 
 There are some touching passages in 
 a letter written by him upon this oc- 
 casion to Sir George Saville, the pa- 
 tron of the living of Eyam. " This 
 is the saddest news that ever my pen 
 could write ! The destroying angel 
 having taken up his quarters within 
 my habitation, my dearest wife is 
 gone to her eternal rest, and is in- 
 vested with a crown of righteousness, 
 having made a happy end." 
 
 " Indeed, had she loved herself as 
 well as me, she had fled from the pit 
 of destruction with her sweet babes, 
 and might have prolonged her days > 
 but she was resolved to die a martyr 
 to my interest. My drooping spirits 
 are much refreshed with her joys, 
 which I think are unutterable." 
 
 " Dear sir, let your dying chaplain 
 recommend this truth to you and 
 your family, that no happiness nor 
 solid comfort can be found in this vale 
 of tears, like living a pious life ; and 
 pray ever retain this rule ; • never do 
 any thing upon which you dare not 
 ask the blessing of God.' " 
 
 " With tears I beg, that when you 
 are praying for fatherless infants, you 
 would remember my two pretty 
 babes." — Kingston's Am. Biog. Die, 
 p. 209. 
 
58 ROGER MOMPESSON. 
 
 scended. His family was an ancient and respecta- 
 ble one, and he had attained to considerable emi- 
 nence in England, before he came to this country. 
 He was not only an eminent lawyer, but he had 
 been the Recorder of Southampton, and a member 
 of two several Parliaments. He arrived in Phila- 
 delphia in the summer of 1703, and was the bearer 
 of a letter from William Penn to James Logan, for 
 a copy of which, in the possession of the American 
 Philosophical Society, I am indebted to the kind- 
 ness of Edward Armstrong, Esq., the Recording 
 Secretary of the Pennsylvania Historical Society. 
 
 " The gentleman," writes Penn, " who brings 
 this, is constituted Judge of the Admiralty of 
 Pennsylvania, the Jerseys, and New York, and is 
 yet willing to be my Attorney General to rectify 
 matters in law, and to put you into better methods, 
 in which respect, he is by the judicious here thought 
 to be very able. If you were together, it were for 
 thy advantage in many respects. He is a moderate 
 Churchman, knows the world here, has been in two 
 several Parliaments, and Recorder of Southampton. 
 Only steps abroad to ease his fortune of some of 
 his father's debts he was unwarily engaged for. He 
 is a favorite of Lord Cornbury's father, the Earl of 
 Clarendon. I have granted him a commission for 
 Chief Justice, in case the people will lay hold of 
 
ROGER MOMPESSON. 59 
 
 such an opportunity as no Government in America 
 ever had of an English lawyer, and encourage him 
 by a proper salary." 
 
 Logan in reply announces the arrival of " Coun- 
 sellor Mompesson ;" and in another letter to Penn 
 some months afterwards, thus speaks of him : " He 
 is ingenious, able, honest, and might be a great 
 blessing to us could we enjoy it." He also sug- 
 gests that if he could be made Chief Justice by the 
 Queen for Jersey, as well as Pennsylvania, it would 
 be a great encouragement to him, and that he could 
 serve more Provinces than both these in that 
 station. 1 
 
 The people of Pennsylvania, however, seemed 
 very insensible to the blessing thus tendered them, 
 and were slow in laying hold of this opportunity of 
 having an English lawyer for their Chief Justice. 
 
 1 Mompesson's arrival had been or, in case of my cousin Markham's 
 
 heralded by a letter from Perm to Lo- decease or refusal, if he were Regis- 
 
 gan, in which he says, " I hope you ter General, I should like it for his 
 
 will have one out shortly, that will be deserved encouragement." 
 a safer guide and surer footing than Samuel Preston writes to a friend 
 
 ever yet was with you ; an able- in England under date of August 13 
 
 grounded lawyer, and a good-temper- 1703: " To the no small surprise of 
 
 ed, honest, sober gentleman." Col. Quarry, arrived here as soon or 
 
 Again he writes under date of before report, one Roger Mompesson, 
 
 April 3d, 1703: " If Counsellor Mom- Judge for the Admiralty, famed as a 
 
 pesson cannot have a salary from the man of great abilities, free, it is said, 
 
 people as Chief Justice of the Pro- from prejudices of party, of integrity, 
 
 vince, for which he is well fitted, then friendly to Gov. Penn, and, as it is 
 
 if he were Secretary of the govern- thought, like to be a happiness to this 
 
 ment, (if that post is a clog to thee,) place." 
 
60 ROGER MOMPESSON. 
 
 He was not sworn into office until April, 1706, and 
 there is no evidence that he ever took his seat on 
 the Bench. 1 The administration of justice was at 
 this time, and for many years afterwards, in a very 
 unsettled state in Pennsylvania, and the people, as 
 Logan says in one of his letters to Penn, had be- 
 come " so superlatively honest," that there was 
 little business for the Courts to do ; so that the 
 Chief Justice had not much hope of mending his 
 fortune in that Province. In the mean time Lord 
 Cornbury, the son of his friend and patron, had 
 been appointed Governor of New Jersey and New 
 York, and at once made him the Chief Justice of 
 both those Provinces ; which office he continued 
 
 1 The following are extracts from be reasonably hoped, since the coun- 
 
 the minutes of the Provincial Council try has now made some provision 
 
 of Pennsylvania, published by order for the support of government, they 
 
 of the Legislature, in 1838. will not fail likewise to provide for 
 
 At a Council held at Philadelphia the administration of justice in the 
 
 the 17th of April, 1706. " The Go- Courts, and especially take care to 
 
 vernor acquainted the Board that the lay hold on so good an opportunity 
 
 Proprietor had, by Judge Mompesson, offered them." 
 
 sent over his warrant directed to Col. The Governor then ordered a Com- 
 
 Hamilton, to pass a commission un- mission, appointing the said R. Mom- 
 
 der the great seal, constituting the pesson Chief Justice, to be read, 
 
 said gentleman Chief Justice of this which being done, the Chief Justice 
 
 Government ; but that Col. Hamilton took the usual oaths. — 2 Pro. Min., 
 
 being deceased before his arrival, it p. 287. 
 
 could not then be done, and it has No provision, however, seems to 
 
 been to this time deferred ; but that have been made for the administra- 
 
 at length the said Judge has been tion of justice ; and Mompesson was 
 
 pleased to accept of it, though the pre- obliged to be content with acting as 
 
 sent encouragement be but very slen- the Chief Justice of New York and 
 
 der and no way inviting, yet it may New Jersey. 
 
ROGER MOMPESSON. 61 
 
 to fill during the whole of Cornbury's administra- 
 tion. He became his principal adviser in all mat- 
 ters of law, and was no doubt the author of that 
 Ordinance to which reference has already been 
 made. All cotemporary authorities agree in repre- 
 senting him to have been a man of much ability, 
 and great learning in his profession. And when we 
 remember that he was an English lawyer, and pre- 
 sided for so many years over the Courts of New 
 York and New Jersey, we shall have less difficulty 
 in accounting for the fact, of the close resemblance, 
 which has until recently existed in the judicial sys- 
 tems of these States, and their general conformity 
 to the practice of the Courts of Westminster Hall. 
 
 Of the private life and character of the Chief 
 Justice, unfortunately,, little can now be known ; 
 but in the political transactions of the times, he 
 played a somewhat conspicuous, and not a very 
 creditable part. He was not named as one of the 
 Council in the Instructions of Lord Cornbury, but 
 he soon became a member of the Board, probably 
 in the place of Lewis Morris, who had been ex- 
 pelled by the Governor for his refractory conduct. 
 And certainly, a more pliant and submissive coun- 
 cillor than Mompesson, Lord Cornbury could not 
 have desired. 
 
 All who are at all familiar with the history of 
 
62 REMONSTRANCE OF THE ASSEMBLY. 
 
 New Jersey, will readily call to mind the sharp pas- 
 sages of words which took place between the As- 
 sembly and the Governor in 1707. A series of the 
 most wanton and flagrant acts of tyranny and ra- 
 pacity had so exhausted the patience of the House, 
 that, instead of paying the least regard to his con- 
 stant demands for money, they resolved themselves 
 into a committee of the whole to consider of their 
 grievances. After resolving to petition the Queen 
 for his removal, they drew up a long remonstrance 
 to be presented to Lord Cornbury in person, laden 
 with their complaints. This memorable produc- 
 tion was from the pen of Lewis Morris, who after 
 his expulsion from the Council, had been returned 
 as a member of Assembly ; and it was certainly 
 couched in no very courtly style, nor expressed in 
 very measured terms. Various were the counts in 
 this indictment. The Governor — for by this title 
 only did they now address him — was charged with 
 long and unnecessary absence from the Province ; 
 with refusing to pass sentence of death upon two 
 criminals — one of whom had been convicted of 
 murdering her child, and the other of poisoning her 
 husband — the blood of whose innocent victims, it 
 was said, cried aloud for vengeance, which just 
 heaven would not fail to pour down upon their de- 
 voted country if such crimes went unpunished ; 
 
REMONSTRANCE OF THE ASSEMBLY. 63 
 
 with compelling persons unjustly accused to pay 
 costs, although no bills were found against them by 
 the Grand Jury ; with unauthorized and arbitrary 
 interference with the rights of the Proprietors ; 
 and, to crown the whole, with having received 
 large sums of money raised for the purpose of pro- 
 curing by bribery and corruption a dissolution of 
 the Assembly. Liberty, they said, was too valua- 
 ble a thing to be easily parted with, and when 
 such violent endeavors were used to tear it from 
 them, they had neither heads, hearts, nor souls, 
 that would not be moved with the miseries of their 
 country, and would not be forward with their ut- 
 most power lawfully to redress them. And they 
 concluded by advising the Governor to consider 
 what it was that principally engaged the affections 
 of a people, and that he would find no other arti- 
 fices needful, than to let them be unmolested in the 
 enjoyment of what of right belonged to them ; that 
 a wise man who valued his own happiness, would 
 earnestly labor to regain their love. 1 
 
 Samuel Jenings 2 was the Speaker of the As- 
 
 1 Smith's N. J., pp. 288 — 294. the widow, the fatherless, and the un- 
 
 s Samuel Jenings is described by happy ; an ardent lover of right and 
 
 Smith as a man of great candor, pro- liberty, and abhorring oppression in 
 
 bity, and ability ; of a warm and has- every shape; and although some- 
 
 ty temper, but with a heart alive to times thought stiff and impracticable 
 
 every generous emotion ; a friend to in his opinions, yet of acknowledged 
 
64 REMONSTRANCE OF THE ASSEMBLY. 
 
 sembly, and upon him it devolved to present to 
 the Governor this bold and spirited address ; and 
 certainly it lost nothing of pungency or point in 
 the manner of its delivery. Not at all daunted by 
 the assumed air of loftiness and disdain which the 
 Governor put on in order to intimidate him, he read 
 it in a clear, firm, and deliberate tone, and when 
 interrupted, as he frequently was, by the cry of 
 stop ! wliafs that ? whenever he came to the more 
 offensive parts, instead of being disconcerted, with 
 an appearance of great humility he calmly desired 
 leave to read the passages over again, which he did, 
 says Smithy "with an additional emphasis upon 
 those the most complaining, so that on the second 
 reading they became more observable than be- 
 fore." l 
 
 When the Assembly had withdrawn, Cornbury 
 
 integrity and fortitude in all stations. Governor of West Jersey ; — he was 
 
 He had lived for some years in Penn- a suppressor of vice and an encour- 
 
 sylvania and borne several important ager of virtue ; — sharp towards evil 
 
 offices in that province. He had al- doers, but tender and loving to them 
 
 so been Governor of West Jersey un- that did well; giving good counsel 
 
 der the Proprietary Government. — and wholesome advice to friends and 
 
 Smith's N. J., 352. neighbors ; — an able minister of the 
 
 His character is thus sketched by Gospel, and labored much therein, to 
 
 one of the first settlers of New Jersey, the comfort and edification of many 
 
 " Samuel Jenings and his wife Ann, people, both in this province and other 
 
 were early comers to America, and places." — Proud's Pennsylvania r I. 
 
 of worthy memory, endued with both 158. Note, 
 
 spiritual and temporal wisdom ; — ' Smith's N. J., 295-. 
 some part of his time he was made 
 
LORD CORNBURY'S ANSWER. 65 
 
 said to those about him, " that fellow Jenings has 
 impudence enough to face the devil." After the 
 lapse of some days, the Governor sent for the 
 House, and delivered his answer. It was written 
 and delivered in a tone of insolent defiance, and 
 contained a good deal of that low humor for which 
 he was noted. 
 
 In reference to the first charge, he says : " The 
 affairs of New York have never hindered the Go- 
 vernor from attending those of New Jersey when- 
 ever it has been requisite ; and I can safely say, I 
 don't know of any grievances this Province labors 
 under, except it be the having a certain number of 
 people in it who never will be faithful to, nor live 
 quietly under any government, nor suffer their 
 neighbors to enjoy any peace, quiet, or happiness, 
 if they can help it." 
 
 As to the second charge he thus proceeds : " As 
 to what you say with relation to the apprehensions 
 you have, that just heaven will not fail to pour 
 down vengeance upon your already miserable coun- 
 try, if these criminals are not made to suffer ac- 
 cording to their demerits ; I am of opinion, that no- 
 thing has hindered the vengeance of just heaven 
 from falling upon this province long ago, but the 
 infinite mercy, goodness, long-suffering, and for- 
 bearance of Almighty God, who has been abun- 
 
 5 
 
66 LORD CORNBURY'S ANSWER. 
 
 dantly provoked by the repeated crying sins of a 
 perverse generation among us, and more especially 
 by the dangerous and abominable doctrines, and 
 the wicked lives and practices of a number of peo- 
 ple," (meaning the Quakers,) " some of whom, un- 
 der the pretended name of Christians, have dared 
 to deny the very essence and being of the Saviour 
 of the world." 
 
 With regard to persons paying fees, against 
 whom no bills had been found by the Grand Jury, 
 he intimates, that if juries were in this country 
 what they ought to be, there might possibly be some 
 ground of complaint ; " but," he adds, " we find by 
 woful experience, that there are many men who 
 have been admitted to serve upon grand and petty 
 juries, who have convinced the world, that they 
 have no regard for the oaths they take, especially 
 among a sort of people, who, under a pretence of 
 conscience, refuse to take an oath ; and yet many 
 of them, under the cloak of a very solemn affirma- 
 tion, dare to commit the greatest enormities, espe- 
 cially if it be to serve a friend, as they call him." 
 Jenings, you know, was a Quaker. 
 
 Another complaint was, that there was but one 
 office for the probate of wills, which was at Burling- 
 ton, and that it was very expensive and inconve- 
 nient for persons living in remote parts of the Pro- 
 
LORD CORNBURY'S ANSWER. 67 
 
 vince to attend it. After pronouncing this com- 
 plaint to be malicious, scandalous, and frivolous, 
 contrived only to amuse poor ignorant people with 
 notions of grievances, he says : " But of all peo- 
 ple in the world, the Quakers ought to be the last to 
 complain of the hardships of travelling a few miles 
 upon such an occasion, who never repine at the 
 trouble and charges of travelling several hundred 
 miles to a yearly meeting, where it is evidently 
 known, that nothing was ever done for the good of 
 the country, but on the contrary, continual contri- 
 vances are carried on for the undermining of the 
 Government both in Church and State." 
 
 " These, Governor, are some of the grievances," 
 was one of the expressions in the remonstrance. 
 This, he says, is certainly one of the boldest asser- 
 tions that ever was made, especially when there 
 appears no manner of proof to make it out : " And 
 although I know very well, that there are several 
 unquiet spirits in the Province, who will never be 
 content to live quiet under any government but 
 their own, and not long under that neither, as ap- 
 pears by their methods of proceeding when the 
 Government was in the hands of the Proprietors, 
 when many of these very men who are now the re- 
 monstrancers, were in authority, and used the most 
 arbitrary and illegal methods of proceeding over 
 
6 g LORD CORNBURY'S ANSWER. 
 
 their fellow-subjects that were ever heard of; yet I 
 am satisfied there are very few men in the province, 
 except Samuel Jenings and Lewis Morris — men 
 known neither to have good principles, nor good 
 morals — who have ventured to accuse a Governor 
 of such crimes, without any proof to make out 
 their accusation ; but they are capable of any thing 
 but good." 
 
 " I was going to conclude," he says, " with giv- 
 ing you some wholesome advice ; but I consider 
 that will be but labor lost, and therefore shall re- 
 serve it for persons who I hope will make a right 
 use of it." 
 
 A replication to this answer was of course pre- 
 pared by the Assembly, and a committee appointed 
 to present it to the Governor ; but he refused to 
 receive it, and the House thereupon ordered that it 
 should be entered on their journal. It was dig- 
 nified and dispassionate, but entirely too long to be 
 here inserted. There was one passage in it, how- 
 ever, too characteristic to be omitted. In refer- 
 ence to his repeated attacks upon the Quakers, 
 they remind him, that it was the General Assembly 
 of the Province of New Jersey that complained, 
 and not the Quakers, with whose persons and 
 meetings they had nothing to do ; but, it is added, 
 " those of them who are members of this House, 
 
ADDRESS OF LIEUT. GOV. AND COUNCIL. qq 
 
 have begged leave, in behalf of themselves and their 
 friends, to tell the Governor, they must answer him 
 in the words of Nehemiah to Sanballat, contained 
 in the eighth verse of the sixth chapter of Nehemiah, 
 viz. : " There are no such things done as thou sayest, 
 but thoufeignest them out of thine own heart.'''' 1 
 
 The Governor, alarmed at the effect which 
 these complaints and remonstrances might have at 
 home, prevailed upon the Lieutenant Governor 
 Ingoldsby, and some of the Council, to unite in an 
 address to the Queen, in which they fully justify 
 the whole of Lord Cornbury's conduct ; pronounce 
 the charges made against him by the Assembly 
 false and malicious ; and ascribe all the difficulties 
 which had arisen, to the " turbulent, factious, and 
 disloyal principles of two men in the Assembly, 
 Lewis Morris, and Samuel Jenings a Quaker — men 
 notoriously known to be uneasy under all govern- 
 ment — men never known to be consistent with 
 themselves — men to whom all the factions and con- 
 fusions in the Government of New Jersey and 
 Pennsylvania for many years are wholly owing." 
 The language of this address betokened but too 
 clearly the source from which it emanated. It was 
 in Lord Cornbury's own peculiar vein. 2 
 
 1 This reply will be found at large 2 This address was not an act of 
 in Smith's N. J., pp. 313—336. the Council, nor was it entered on 
 
70 ROGER MOMPESSON. 
 
 One of the Council who put his name to this 
 address was Roger Mompesson, the Chief Justice ; 
 and I have felt it to be my duty to go somewhat at 
 large into this transaction, that his conduct upon 
 the occasion might be exhibited in its true light. 
 There may have been possibly a little exaggeration 
 in some of the charges brought against the Govern- 
 or. There may have been a spirit of factious op- 
 position upon the part of some of the members of 
 the House. But after making every allowance for 
 the influence of party feeling, and a sense of per- 
 sonal obligation for numerous favors conferred by 
 Lord Cornbury, it is impossible not to pronounce 
 upon the Chief Justice a sentence of stern and un- 
 qualified condemnation. 
 
 The next year Cornbury was removed, 1 and 
 
 their minutes ; but was carried about ly accountable to her majesty for the 
 
 secretly by a messenger of Lord same. 
 
 Cornbury's, the signature of a number Those who put their names to the 
 
 of the members procured by artifice, address were Richard Ingoldsby, 
 
 and then it was transmitted privately William Pinhome, Roger Mompes- 
 
 to the Queen. The Lieutenant Go- son, Thomas Revell, Daniel Leeds, 
 
 vernor protested he signed it without Daniel Coxe, Richard Townley, Wil- 
 
 ever reading it ; the Chief Justice liam Sandford, and Robert Quarry, 
 owned he never examined into the Quarry figures in the history of se- 
 
 particulars of it. Sandford was the veral of the Colonies. Smith says he 
 
 only one who seems to have behaved was of the Council for five govern- 
 
 with any manliness in reference to it. ments at one time, viz. : New York, 
 
 When questioned by the House he New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland 
 
 admitted having signed it ; and upon and Virginia. 
 
 being asked if he would acknowledge ' " Her majesty," says the histo- 
 
 his fault, he said he signed it as one rian of New York, " graciously list- 
 
 of her majesty's Council, and was on ened to the cries of her injured sub- 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF ASSEMBLY. 71 
 
 Mompesson, apprehensive, no doubt, that a similar 
 fate awaited him, surrendered his commission. In 
 1710, during the administration of Governor Hunt- 
 er, this address of the Lieutenant Governor and 
 Council was made the subject of much discussion 
 in the Assembly. By a solemn vote, they pro- 
 nounced it to be a false and scandalous paper. 
 They expelled William Sandford, one of their 
 members, for having signed it, and in an address to 
 Governor Hunter they review it at great length, 
 and comment with much severity upon the conduct 
 of the Chief Justice and Pinhorne, charging them 
 with having made the Courts of Law in which they 
 were Judges, instead of a protection and security 
 to the liberties and properties of her majesty's sub- 
 jects, the invaders and destroyers of them both. 
 Mompesson did not attempt to justify his conduct. 
 
 jects, divested him of his power, and the qualities by which his distinguish- 
 appointed Lord Lovelace in his stead ; ed ancestor was characterized, ex- 
 declaring that she would not counte- cept an exaggeration of his zeal for 
 nance her nearest relations in op- the Church of England, and his intol- 
 pressing her people. erance of all other ecclesiastical asso- 
 
 " We never had a governor so uni- ciations. The rest of Lord Cornbury's 
 
 versally detested, nor any who so character would have disgraced more 
 
 richly deserved the public abhorrence, estimable qualities ; and seems to 
 
 In spite of his noble descent, his be- have formed a composition, no less 
 
 havior was trifling, mean, and extra- odious than despicable, of rapacity 
 
 vagant." — Smith's JV. Y., 188. and prodigality, voluptuousness and 
 
 "Edward, Lord Cornbury, grand- inhumanity, the loftiest arrogance and 
 
 son of Lord Chancellor Clarendon," the meanest chicane." — Grahame's 
 
 says Grahame, " possessed not one of Col. Hist., 454. 
 
72 TRIAL OF FRANCIS McKEMIE. 
 
 The only excuse he assigned for putting his name 
 to the paper was, that he had signed it without ex- 
 amining its contents. 
 
 As Chief Justice of New York, Mompesson's 
 conduct, in all matters in which Lord Cornbury 
 was concerned, was of a piece with his behavior in 
 New Jersey. In 1707, Francis McKemie, a Pres- 
 byterian clergyman, was arrested by order of Lord 
 Cornbury, for preaching without a license in the 
 village of Newtown, a short distance from New 
 York. He was carried in triumph a circuit of se- 
 veral miles through Jamaica to the city of New 
 York, where he was thrown into jail, and kept in 
 close confinement for upwards of six weeks be- 
 fore he was admitted to bail. Upon his trial — 
 which produced great excitement, and drew toge- 
 ther a large concourse of people — Mompesson 
 presided, and is said to have been guilty of the most 
 shameful partiality. 1 He exerted all his influence 
 to induce the jury to find a special verdict — thus 
 putting the defendant entirely in the power of the 
 Court. Failing in this, and the jury without hesi- 
 tation acquitting the defendant, the Court refused 
 to discharge him until he had paid all the fees of 
 his prosecution. 2 But we have said more than 
 
 1 Smith's N. Y., 184. lished at the time by one who styles 
 
 s A narrative of this trial was pub- himself " A learner of law and a 
 
WILLIAM PINHORNE. 
 
 73 
 
 enough, perhaps, of the first Chief Justice of New 
 Jersey. 
 
 The associate of Mompesson upon the Bench 
 of the Supreme Court was William Pinhorne, to 
 whom some allusion has already been made. But 
 as he filled for many years a high judicial station in 
 New York as well as in New Jersey, and was the 
 acting Governor of this colony after the removal of 
 Cornbury and Ingoldsby, and before the arrival of 
 Governor Hunter, he merits a fuller notice. He 
 has too a further claim upon our attention, from 
 the fact, that he is the lineal ancestor in the mater- 
 nal line of the late Chief Justice of our Supreme 
 Court, the honored President of this Society. 1 
 
 lover of liberty." It was reprinted " they might choose, whether they 
 in New York, in 1755. An exami- would or not give any reasons for 
 nation of this narrative will hardly their verdict." The foreman said, 
 justify the charge of partiality which the defendant had not 'transgressed 
 has been made against Mompesson. any law : another of the jury told the 
 True, he observes in his charge to the Court, they believed in their con- 
 jury, " Mr. Attorney says the fact is sciences they had done the defendant 
 confessed by the defendant, and I justice ; and then the verdict was re- 
 would have you bring it in specially, corded. It ought also to be stated, 
 for there are some points I am not that while the author of this narra- 
 prepared to answer :" but at the tive is severe in his denunciation of 
 same time he tells them, " If you will Cornbury, not a word of complaint is 
 take upon you to judge of the law, uttered against the Chief Justice, 
 you may, or you may bring in the ' Hon. Joseph C. Hornblower, 
 fact specially." And when the jury Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 
 returned with a verdict of " not guil- from 1832 to 1846, whose judicial 
 ty," and some of the Court began to career — distinguished alike for the 
 inquire of them reasons for their ver- exhibition of the deepest learning and 
 diet, the Chief Justice told the jury, the loftiest integrity — it will be the 
 
74 WILLIAM PINHORNE. 
 
 He was originally a merchant in the City of 
 New York, and had gained some distinction in that 
 Province before his removal to New Jersey. He 
 was a member of the Council there during the brief 
 but turbulent administration of Governor Sloughter, 
 when Leisler and Milborne were condemned and 
 executed for treason. He was one of the Judges 
 too of the Supreme Court, at the time that Joseph 
 Dudley — afterwards Governor of Massachusetts — 
 was the Chief Justice. He remained a member of 
 the Council until the arrival of Governor Fletcher 
 in 1692, when he was refused the oath of office, 
 upon the ground of his being a non-resident. 1 
 
 He had some years before this purchased a tract 
 of land in New Jersey, containing upwards of a 
 thousand acres, and lying near the Hackensack 
 river, in what is now the county of Hudson. This 
 must have been a place of some note in that early 
 day, for we find a particular description of it in 
 Scot's Model of East New Jersey. 2 It is there 
 spoken of as a " brave plantation," near unto 
 Snake Hill, on a piece of land almost an island, 
 
 grateful task of some future legal an- East New Jersey, p. 137. This work 
 
 nalist to record. Upon his retire- was originally published at Edin- 
 
 ment from the Bench, he was ap- burgh in 1685, and is reprinted in the 
 
 pointed senior Professor in the Law Appendix to Mr. Whitehead's His- 
 
 School of the College of New Jersey. tory of East Jersey under the Pro- 
 
 1 Smith's N. J., 133. prietors. 
 
 2 Model of the Government of 
 
WILLIAM PINHORNE. 75 
 
 and is said to be " well stocked and improved." 
 This became his future residence, and was honored 
 with the name of " Mount Pinhorne," certainly a 
 more euphonious appellation than Snake Hill. It 
 was the seat of simple but not inelegant hospitality, 
 and the home of a numerous family, many of the 
 descendants of which are still among us. He was 
 appointed by Lord Cornbury second Judge of the 
 Supreme Court of New Jersey, and took his seat 
 on the Bench at the first term, which was held at 
 Burlington in November, 1704. 
 
 He continued upon the Bench during the whole 
 of Cornbury's administration, and from his con- 
 nexion with Mompesson, it was scarcely possible 
 for him to escape a portion of that obloquy which 
 attached to the Chief Justice, on account of his 
 subserviency to the Governor. Not only was he 
 connected with the Chief Justice by official ties, 
 but a new and more interesting relation soon came 
 to subsist between them. Pinhorne had several 
 daughters, and the Chief Justice was fond of visit- 
 ing this " brave plantation" at Snake Hill, lying as 
 it did on the way from his Courts in New Jersey to 
 those in New York. Here he was wont to repose 
 himself after his judicial toils, and being a bachelor, 
 it followed as a very natural consequence, that Miss 
 Martha Pinhorne soon became Mrs. Mompesson. 
 
76 WILLIAM PINHORNE. 
 
 He was prompted no doubt in his choice by affec- 
 tion, but he may also have thought, that it was a 
 more effectual way of mending his fortune, than by 
 being Chief Justice with a salary of a hundred 
 pounds a year. 
 
 But whether owing to his connexion with the 
 Chief Justice, or to his own official misconduct, it 
 cannot be denied that Pinhorne was a most unpopu- 
 lar Judge, and that he- rendered himself peculiarly 
 obnoxious to the party who were in opposition to 
 Cornbury. He was one of the signers of the ad- 
 dress to the Queen from the Lieutenant Governor 
 and Council, an account of which has already been 
 given ; and when a subsequent Assembly came to 
 review that address, they were unsparing in their 
 denunciations of the Second Judge. Among other 
 matters laid to his charge, they accuse him of hav- 
 ing denied the writ of habeas corpus, the undoubted 
 right and great privilege of the subject, to Thomas 
 Gordon, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, 
 and with having detained him in custody, until he 
 had applied to a son of Pinhorne, an attorney at 
 law, for professional aid, and then, and not until 
 then, admitting him to bail. 1 It is but just, how- 
 ever, to say, that this address of the Assembly has 
 
 1 Smith's N. J., 391. 
 
WILLIAM PINHORNE. 77 
 
 the appearance of being a little colored, and that 
 its statements ought to be taken with some grains of 
 allowance. While the Assembly were animated no 
 doubt by a very patriotic spirit, and while there 
 was quite enough in the conduct of Cornbury and 
 his Council to furnish ground for complaint, yet, as 
 is usual in such cases, there was evidently a little 
 passion mingled with their patriotism. Nor ought 
 it to be forgotten, that the eloquent leader of the 
 popular party, Lewis Morris — the man who pen- 
 ned most of the addresses of the Assembly at this 
 time — when at a subsequent period he became 
 Governor himself, was denounced almost as strong- 
 ly, and handled as roughly by the representatives 
 of the people, as ever Lord Cornbury had been. If 
 colonial Governors and Judges were prone to be 
 arbitrary and oppressive, it must be confessed, that 
 colonial Assemblies were sometimes composed of 
 inveterate political scolds. 
 
 Upon the removal of Cornbury, Pinhorne con- 
 tinued to be a member of the Council, and united 
 in that congratulatory address to the good Lord 
 Lovelace, which began with these remarkable 
 words, " Your Lordship has not one virtue or more, 
 but a complete accomplishment of all perfections. 
 
 » Smith's N. J., 379. 
 
 »l 
 
78 WILLIAM PINHORNE. 
 
 This was sufficiently discreditable even when ad- 
 dressed to Lord Lovelace, but Grahame — who is 
 usually accurate — makes the matter worse, by sup- 
 posing that it was used in reference to Cornbury 
 himself. 1 
 
 Had Lord Lovelace lived however, Cornbury 's 
 Councillors — notwithstanding their sycophancy — 
 would probably have met with as little favor at his 
 hands, as they did at those of his successor, Go- 
 vernor Hunter. But his sudden and premature 
 death, 2 suspended for a time the storm of indigna- 
 tion which was ready to burst upon them. It ex- 
 tinguished too the fond hopes which had been 
 awakened by the auspicious commencement of his 
 administration, and wrapped the whole colony in 
 grief. " That good man," said the Assembly in an 
 address to Governor Hunter, " lived long enough to 
 know how much the Province had been oppressed, 
 but not long enough to remove the causes." 
 
 Upon the death of Lord Lovelace, the govern- 
 ment devolved upon Lieutenant Governor Ingolds- 
 by. He was a dull, heavy man, and almost as odious 
 to the people of New Jersey as Lord Cornbury had 
 
 ' Grahame's Col. Hist., I. 488. 1709, of a disorder contracted in 
 
 2 This nobleman, whose accession crossing the ferry at his first arrival 
 
 to the government was hailed with in the city of New York. — Smith's N. 
 
 universal joy, died on the 5th of May, Y., 191. 
 
WILLIAM PINHORNE. 
 
 79 
 
 been. The most earnest remonstrances therefore 
 were made to the Queen for his removal, to which 
 she at last yielded. But before the arrival of ano- 
 ther Governor, Pinhorne, who was the President of 
 the Council, exercised the powers of Commander in 
 Chief. He was soon superseded, however, by the 
 arrival of Governor Hunter j but still remained a 
 member of Council, together with most of his old 
 associates. 
 
 Governor Hunter made every effort in his pow- 
 er to allay the unhappy divisions which existed in 
 the colony. In his first address to the House of 
 Assembly, he thus expressed himself: — 
 
 " I am little used to make speeches, so you shall 
 not be troubled with a long one ; if honesty is the 
 best policy, plainness must be the best oratory ; so 
 to deal plainly with you, so long as these unchris- 
 tian divisions, which her majesty has thought to 
 deserve her repeated notice, reign amongst you, I 
 shall have small hopes of a happy issue to our 
 meeting. 
 
 " This is an evil which every body complains 
 of, but few take the right method to remedy it ; let 
 every man begin at home, and weed the rancor out 
 of his own mind, and the work is done at once. 
 
 " Leave disputes of property to the laws, and 
 injuries to the avenger of them ; and like good sub- 
 
80 WILLIAM PINHORNE. 
 
 jects, and good Christians, join hearts and hands 
 for the common good." 
 
 But the spirit of party was not so easily laid. 
 He soon found that it was absolutely necessary, in 
 order to propitiate the Assembly, that Pinhorne 
 and his associates should be removed from the 
 Council. The House went so far as to declare, 
 that so long as these individuals remained in places 
 of trust, they could not think their persons or pro- 
 perty safe, and that if continued, they would be 
 compelled with their families to desert the Pro- 
 vince, and seek some safer place of abode. 1 This 
 savors much of extravagance, and must be regard- 
 ed as a mere ebullition of party feeling. 
 
 The truth is, there existed in the colony at this 
 time two distinctly formed parties, and it is impos- 
 sible to do justice to the character of those of 
 whom we are speaking, without bearing this fact 
 in mind. We are accustomed to deplore the exist- 
 ence of party spirit at the present day, and the 
 sway which it exercises over the best men ; and to 
 think, and speak, as if it were an evil peculiar in 
 
 1 The Assembly, in their Address, and Jeremiah Basse. Governor Hun- 
 mention the names of the individuals ter at once dismissed most of them 
 whom they were desirous of having from office, and when he next met 
 removed from places of trust in the the Assembly, he told them he be- 
 Province. They were William Pin- lieved they would not be sorry to meet 
 home, Roger Mompesson, Daniel him in such good company. — Smith' t 
 Coxe, Richard Townley, Peter Son- N. J., 402. 
 mans, Hugh Huddy, William Hall, 
 
EARLY FORMATION OF PARTIES. 
 
 81 
 
 some measure to our own times. It may be some 
 consolation to find, that nearly a century and a half 
 ago, while the colony was almost in its infancy, 
 and with a population composed in great part of 
 quiet Quakers and peaceful Puritans, this spirit was 
 as rife and as rampant as it has ever been since ; 
 that offices — which one would have thought were 
 scarce worth the having — -were sought after with 
 quite as much avidity as they are now ; and that 
 political parties pursued each other with a ferocity, 
 to which we are absolutely strangers. 1 The domi- 
 nant party, it is true, did not, as in the mother 
 country, pass bills of attainder, confiscate the es- 
 tates, and cut off the heads of their opponents ; but 
 they expelled them from the Assembly, declared 
 them incapable of sitting, and thundered against 
 them with all the artillery of informations and in- 
 dictments. 
 
 After his removal from the Council, Pinhorne 
 retired into private life, and does not appear to 
 
 1 The violence with which party with the wits of the Augustan age of 
 contests were at this time waged in English literature, when engaged in 
 the mother country, seems to have political controversy. Private char- 
 communicated itself to the colonies, acter, which is now almost invariably 
 " Complaints," says Lord Campbell respected, was then attacked with un- 
 in his Life of Lord Somers, " are still feeling exaggerations of what was 
 made, and sometimes with justice, of true, and with unmixed inventions of 
 the licentiousness of our periodical malignant falsehood." — Lives of the 
 writers ; but modern libellers are Lord Chancellors, IV. 189. Am. ed. 
 mild, candid, and cautious, compared 
 
82 TRIAL OF THOMAS TURNBULL. 
 
 have taken any further part in the public affairs 
 of the Colony. He lived, however, for some years 
 afterwards. His will bears date on the 10th of May, 
 1719, and was proved on the 12th of April, 1720. 
 Between these two periods he must of course have 
 died. He left behind him one son, John, who was 
 an attorney at law, and for some years Clerk of the 
 House of Assembly ; but he did not long survive 
 his father. 
 
 Pinhorne and Mompesson were the only Judges 
 of the Supreme Court during the administration of 
 Lord Cornbury. A faithful report of the decisions 
 of that tribunal, during this period, would form a 
 curious and an interesting volume. I am afraid, 
 however, it would not be deemed of very high au- 
 thority. Some of the earlier proceedings of the 
 Court have already been adverted to. One of the 
 last cases before it while Pinhorne was on the 
 Bench, was that of Thomas Turnbull, against whom 
 an Information had been exhibited for speaking 
 scandalous words of Lord Cornbury. He com- 
 plained to the Court that he could get no attorney 
 to defend him, although he had offered to pay them 
 their fees. This may seem strange ; for attorneys 
 by this time abounded, and fees were not very plen- 
 tiful. But perhaps the lawyers themselves stood in 
 fear of an Information, if they ventured to appear 
 
JEREMIAH BASSE. 83 
 
 against Cornbury. The Court however assigned 
 the perilous task of defending Turnbull, to one of 
 the attorneys who was in attendance. The course 
 which he pursued, was a safe one for himself, if not 
 for his client. He advised Turnbull to plead guil- 
 ty, and throw himself upon the mercy of the Court. 
 He did so, and then the Court pronounced upon 
 him the following sentence : " That you, Thomas 
 Turnbull, do go to his Excellency and beg his par- 
 don for your offence, and then be imprisoned for 
 three months." 1 But before the term of his impri- 
 sonment had expired, Lord Cornbury himself was 
 the tenant of a jail, into which he had been thrown 
 by his exasperated creditors upon his degradation 
 from office, and from which he was never released, 
 until by the death of his father, the Earl of Claren- 
 don, he was elevated to the peerage, and invested 
 with the dignity of an hereditary legislator of Great 
 Britain. 2 
 
 The removal of Cornbury, was the signal for a 
 series of prosecutions againt those who had held 
 office under him. Jeremiah Basse, who had been 
 Clerk of Council, Secretary of the Province, and 
 Prothonotary of the Supreme Court, was select- 
 ed as the first victim. He was indicted for per- 
 
 1 Minutes of Supreme Court. Biographia Britannica. Lord Corn- 
 
 * Grahame's Col. Hist., I. 457. bury died in 1723. 
 
84 PETER SONMANS. 
 
 jury, for altering the rules of the Supreme Court, 
 and for taking some unwarrantable liberties with 
 the book of Freeholders. Peter Sonmans too, was 
 indicted for perjury, and other alleged offences. 
 Fortunately — at least for them, if not for the cause 
 of justice — these indictments did not come on to be 
 tried, until Mompesson was again upon the Bench 
 of the Supreme Court. They were both acquitted; 
 but the House of Assembly, nevertheless, did not 
 hesitate to express their belief in the truth of the 
 charges, and in reference to Sonmans, they scrupled 
 not to declare, that he owed his escape to a packed 
 jury. They presented an address to Governor 
 Hunter, praying him to remove Sonmans from the 
 Council, and arraying against him a long list of ac- 
 cusations. 
 
 But Sonmans was not a man to sit down quietly 
 under these attacks. He was a native of Holland, 
 had been educated at Leyden, and held considera- 
 ble offices under the Prince of Orange, after he be- 
 came William the Third. He was a son of Arent 
 Sonmans, one of the twenty-four Proprietors, who 
 was shot by a highwayman, on his journey from 
 Scotland to London in company with Robert Bar- 
 clay. Peter succeeded to his father's estates, and 
 thus became a large Proprietor of East Jersey. 
 He was Surveyor General for some years, a mem- 
 
PETER SONMANS. 85 
 
 ber of Council, a Judge of the Court of Common 
 Pleas, and a Representative from the county of Ber- 
 gen in the House of Assembly. From the charges 
 thus preferred against him, he published an elabo- 
 rate vindication of himself, which has come down 
 to us. It is a production of some vigor and ability, 
 and not without its value, as letting us into the his- 
 tory of the times. Of the merits of the contro- 
 versy, it is impossible for us, at this late day, 
 to form a correct judgment; but we may gather 
 something of the spirit and tone of the perform- 
 ance by what he says of Lord Cornbury. He af- 
 fects to be utterly ignorant of any arbitrary mea- 
 sures that Cornbury ever made use of; speaks of 
 not having had much of his Lordship's conversa- 
 tion, as if that had been a deprivation ; and de- 
 scribes him as a nobleman of " extraordinary quali- 
 fications, and great sagacity." It was some proof of 
 his intrepidity at least, thus to stand up as the apol- 
 ogist for Lord Cornbury. It shows too, that odious 
 and despicable as was the character of that noble- 
 man, he was not without his friends and admirers. 
 
 In reference to Jeremiah Basse, we shall find 
 him, some years afterwards, turning the tables upon 
 his adversaries, and letting them see, that this plan 
 of getting up indictments against political oppo- 
 nents, was a game at which two parties could play. 
 
86 THOMAS GORDON— SCOTCH EMIGRANTS. 
 
 The successor of Roger Mompesson, as Chief 
 Justice of the Supreme Court, was Thomas Gor- 
 don. His judicial career was so brief, that I ought 
 not, perhaps, to say much of him in this connexion. 
 And yet, he filled so large a place in the early an- 
 nals of our State, and his memory is on so many 
 accounts entitled to be held in respect, that I am 
 sure I shall be pardoned for throwing together a 
 few particulars relating to him. 
 
 There is no portion of our ancestors, of whom 
 we may feel more justly proud, than of those who 
 came hither from Scotland. They were for the 
 most part of a class superior both to the Dutch 
 and English emigrants. Grahame, himself a Scotch- 
 man — and the author of by far the best colonial 
 history of the United States that has yet been pub- 
 lished — observes, that " a great many inhabitants 
 of Scotland emigrated to East Jersey, and enriched 
 American society with a valuable accession of vir- 
 tue refined by adversity, and of piety invigorated 
 by patriotism." Many of them were men of pro- 
 perty, of family, and of education. The more 
 wealthy were usually accompanied by a numerous 
 retinue of servants and dependants. 
 
 One of the most respectable of these Scottish 
 emigrants, was Thomas Gordon. He was a native 
 of Pitlochie — a place linked by many associations 
 
THOMAS GORDON. 
 
 87 
 
 with our early history — and is supposed to have 
 been not remotely connected with the Duke of 
 Gordon. Involved in some of the political troubles 
 of his own country, and influenced by the flattering 
 representations of Robert Barclay, and the other 
 Scottish Proprietors, he came here with his family, 
 some time in the year 1684. Soon after his arri- 
 val, he purchased a plantation in the neighborhood 
 of what is now called the Scotch Plains, and thither 
 he removed with his wife, children, and servants. 
 He became a large Proprietor of East Jersey, and 
 filled various offices of honor and trust under the 
 Proprietary Government — such as Deputy Secre- 
 tary for the Proprietors, Clerk of the Court of 
 Common Right, Register of the Court of Chance- 
 ry, Judge of Probate, and an officer of Customs at 
 Amboy. In 1698, he was Attorney General of the 
 Province of East Jersey, and in 1702, was appoint- 
 ed by the Proprietors their Chief Secretary and 
 Register. He was a representative from the city 
 of Perth Amboy in the first Assembly that was held 
 after the Surrender, and he continued to represent 
 it until the year 1710. Upon the death of Samuel 
 Jenings, he was chosen Speaker of the House. He 
 was decided in his opposition to the administration 
 of Lord Cornbury, but he does not appear to have 
 been betrayed into any intemperance of language 
 
88 THOMAS GORDON. 
 
 or conduct. Upon the resignation of Mompesson, 
 he was appointed by Lord Lovelace Chief Justice 
 of the Supreme Court. His commission bears date 
 on the 28th of April, 1709, and at the May Term 
 following, he took his seat upon the Bench. This 
 office, however, he retained but a few months. He 
 had probably not been bred to the bar, although 
 he had no doubt acquired some legal knowledge in 
 the various judicial stations which he had held, and 
 was regularly licensed as an Attorney in 1704. It 
 is not to be wondered at then, that we find him so 
 soon relinquishing his seat upon the Bench of the 
 Supreme Court, and accepting the appointment of 
 Receiver General and Treasurer of the Province — 
 the duties of which, he no doubt felt, that he was 
 much more adequate to perform. This office he 
 held for nearly ten years. In 1713, he was also ap- 
 pointed Commissioner, as it was termed, for exe- 
 cuting the office of Attorney General, in place of 
 Alexander Griffith, who was suspended for " sundry 
 misdemeanors, neglects, and contempts of duty." 
 When we remember that Alexander Griffith was 
 Lord Cornbury's Attorney General, and that he 
 filed all his Informations for him, we shall not won- 
 der at his having run up a long account of official 
 delinquencies. Thomas Gordon died in 1722, and 
 was buried in the Episcopal church-yard at Amboy. 
 
MOMPESSON AGAIN CHIEF JUSTICE. 89 
 
 There is a Latin inscription on the stone, which 
 marks the spot of his last resting-place on earth, 
 and which commemorates, in touching and grace- 
 ful terms, his virtues and his worth. 1 
 
 Upon the retirement of Thomas Gordon from 
 the Bench of the Supreme Court, we find Roger 
 Mompesson again acting as Chief Justice. This 
 may surprise us. But we have seen, that upon the 
 death of Lord Lovelace, the administration devolv- 
 ed for a time upon Lieutenant Governor Ingoldsby. 
 He at once embraced the opportunity, which his 
 transient return to power conferred upon him, of re- 
 storing to office his old friend and fellow-councillor 
 Mompesson. But the Chief Justice did not long 
 enjoy his new honors; for upon the arrival of 
 Governor Hunter, in 1710, he again surrendered 
 his commission, and David Jamison was appointed 
 in his stead. 
 
 Governor Hunter, 2 although described by Ban- 
 
 1 A copy of this inscription will be his wit recommended him to the 
 found in New Jersey Historical Col- friendship of Addison and Swift. In 
 lections by Barber and Howe, p. 309. 1707 he was appointed Lieutenant 
 
 2 Governor Hunter was a native of Governor of Virginia, under the Earl 
 Scotland, and when a boy was put ap- of Orkney, but being taken by the 
 prentice to an apothecary ; but he French, on his voyage to that colony, 
 ran away from his master, and en- he was carried into France, where he 
 listed in the British army as a com- remained a prisoner for some time, 
 mon soldier. His personal beauty Swift corresponded with him during 
 and accomplishments won for him his captivity. In one of his letters 
 the affection of a peeress, Lady Hay, to him he thus writes : " Our good 
 whom he afterwards married; while friend Mr. Addison has been made 
 
90 
 
 MOMPESSON AGAIN CHIEF JUSTICE. 
 
 croft as " an adventurer, who came to his govern- 
 ment in quest of good cheer," was certainly the 
 most popular of all our colonial Governors. In- 
 stead of involving himself, as most of his successors 
 did, in interminable disputes with refractory As- 
 semblies, he studied their humors, accommodated 
 himself to their prejudices, and knew how to yield 
 
 Secretary of Ireland ; and unless you 
 make haste over, and get my Vir- 
 ginian Bishoprick, he will persuade 
 me to go with him." And again: 
 " Sometimes Mr. Addison and I steal 
 to a pint of bad wine, and wish for no 
 third person but you." In another 
 letter he says, " I am now with Mr. 
 Addison, with whom I have fifty times 
 drank your health since you left us :" 
 and he makes another allusion to the 
 bishoprick of Virginia. These allu- 
 sions are explained by the fact, that 
 while Swift was a whig, and a friend 
 of Lord Somers, it was seriously pro- 
 posed that he should be made Bishop 
 of Virginia, and accompany Governor 
 Hunter to the colony. Had this pro- 
 ject been carried out, our Colonial 
 Governors might have exclaimed, as 
 that profligate Peer, the Earl of 
 Wharton, when appointed Lord Lieu- 
 nant of Ireland, is said to have done, 
 upon Swift's being recommended to 
 him by Lord Somers as a fit person 
 to be his chaplain ; " We cannot af- 
 ford to countenance such fellows ; 
 we ourselves have no character to 
 spare." 
 
 Although Governor Hunter became 
 ultimately popular in New York, yet 
 
 for some years, he had much difficul- 
 ty with the Assembly in that Pro- 
 vince. Thus he writes to Swift : 
 " Here is the finest air to live upon in 
 the universe ; and if our trees and 
 birds could speak, and our Assembly- 
 men be silent, the finest conversa- 
 tion too." He complains of being 
 used like a dog, avers that Sancho 
 Panza was but a type of him, and 
 says, " I have spent three years of 
 life in such torment and vexation, that 
 nothing in life can ever make amends 
 for it." 
 
 In 1728, he was appointed Gover- 
 nor of Jamaica, in the room of the 
 Duke of Portland, and died there in 
 1734. " He had a ready art of pro- 
 curing money," says Smith ; " few 
 loved it more." This led him into 
 gambling speculations, which proving 
 unsuccessful, he was often reduced to 
 straits. He had some literary preten- 
 sions. He was the author of the fa- 
 mous " Letter on Enthusiasm," as- 
 cribed by some to Swift, by others to 
 Shaftesbury. He is also said to have 
 written a farce, called Androboros. — 
 Swift's Works. Smith's IV. Y. 
 Smith's IV. /. Lives of the Lord 
 Chancellors, IV. 189. Am. ed. 
 
DAVID JAMISON CHIEF JUSTICE. 91 
 
 with a good grace where he could not control. 
 " Your administration," said the Assembly of New 
 Jersey, in one of their last addresses to him, " has 
 been a continued series of justice and moderation." 
 " You have governed," said the Assembly of New 
 York, " well and wisely, like a prudent magistrate, 
 like an affectionate parent. We have seen many 
 Governors, and may see more, and as none of 
 those, who had the honor to serve in your station, 
 were ever so justly fixed in the affections of the 
 governed, so those to come will acquire no mean 
 reputation, when it can be said of them, their con- 
 duct has been like yours." 
 
 He drew around him as his friends and advisers, 
 men of the highest character and influence in both 
 Provinces. His appointments to office were for the 
 most part made, from among those who had distin- 
 guished themselves by their opposition to Lord Corn- 
 bury. Lewis Morris, who had been the leader of the 
 opposition in New Jersey, was made Chief Justice in 
 New York ; and David Jamison, a popular lawyer in 
 New York, was made Chief Justice of the Supreme 
 Court of New Jersey. Jamison had distinguished 
 himself by his able and intrepid defence of McKemie, 
 the Presbyterian clergyman, whose case has already 
 been referred to. He filled the office of Chief Jus- 
 tice during the whole of Governor Hunter's admin- 
 
92 CHIEF JUSTICE JAMISON INDICTED. 
 
 istration, and appears to have discharged its duties 
 with credit to himself, and satisfaction to the pub- 
 lic. His associate upon the Bench was Thomas 
 Farmar, of whom, as he subsequently became Chief 
 Justice, we may have occasion hereafter to speak. 
 
 The administration of Governor Hunter was a 
 period of almost unbroken tranquillity. Upon one 
 occasion only, was this harmony seriously inter- 
 rupted. On the fourth day of April, 1716, a new 
 Assembly was convened at Amboy ; and the party, 
 who had been driven from power for their adhesion 
 to Cornbury, seemed about to regain their ascend- 
 ency. While their opponents had been slumbering 
 in fancied security, they had evidently rallied, and 
 had succeeded in throwing into the House a large 
 number of their friends. Daniel Coxe, who had 
 been one of the most obnoxious members of Corn- 
 bury's Council, was chosen Speaker. The conse- 
 quence was, that the House became at once em- 
 broiled in a controversy with the Governor, and 
 the business of the session was obstructed and de- 
 layed. Nor was this all. Flushed with their vic- 
 tory, and emboldened by success, prosecutions were 
 at once set on foot against the principal officers of 
 the Province. 
 
 Amongst the rest, an Indictment was found 
 against Jamison, the Chief Justice. The occasion 
 
CHIEF JUSTICE JAMISON INDICTED. 
 
 93 
 
 of it was this. At the November Term of the Su- 
 preme Court, held at Burlington in 1715, a grand- 
 juror was challenged for his refusal to take the 
 oath. He alleged that he was a Quaker, and 
 claimed the benefit of an act of Assembly, which 
 had been passed a few years before, and which 
 provided, that the solemn affirmation of the people 
 called Quakers, should be accepted in lieu of an 
 oath. But on the other hand it was contended, 
 that this act of Assembly had been virtually repeal- 
 ed by an act of Parliament, passed in the first year 
 of the reign of George the First, by which, it was 
 insisted, Quakers refusing to be sworn, were ex- 
 cluded from serving as jurors. This position was 
 maintained with much zeal by many of the lawyers, 
 more especially by those who had been the friends 
 of Lord Cornbury, and who shared with him in his 
 aversion to the Quakers. The Chief Justice how- 
 ever decided, that this was an entire perversion of 
 the statute of George the First, and that it never 
 could have been designed to repeal or invalidate 
 the act of Assembly. He therefore overruled the 
 exception, and directed the Clerk to take the affir- 
 mation of the grand-juror. But this the Clerk, pre- 
 suming to be wiser than the Court, positively re- 
 fused to do. The consequence was, that there was 
 no Grand Jury sworn or affirmed during that Term. 
 
94 SPEECH OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE. 
 
 The Chief Justice of course pronounced the Clerk 
 guilty of a contempt of Court, and imposed a fine 
 upon him. He could do no less ; he might have 
 done much more. And yet for this, he was actu- 
 ally indicted, at the next Court of Quarter Ses- 
 sions, and that too in the Quaker county of Bur- 
 lington. At the next Term of the Supreme Court, 
 held in May 1716, before the Grand Jury were 
 sworn, the Chief Justice in open Court delivered a 
 speech, in which he calmly reviewed the whole pro- 
 ceeding, and with much dignity vindicated the 
 course which he had pursued. A copy of this 
 speech has been preserved, and it reflects no little 
 credit upon the temper, as well as the talents of the 
 Chief Justice. 
 
 Governor Hunter, who, if he had some of the 
 bluntness, had much of the spirit of the soldier 
 about him, felt himself called upon to come to the 
 aid of his Chief Justice. He put forth, therefore, 
 an address to the public, which he called an answer 
 to an argument against the validity and force of a 
 certain act of Assembly, but which looks very 
 much like a Proclamation, declaratory of what the 
 law was, according to his understanding of it. 
 
 " Whereas," he says, " there has been of late 
 an objection, without any foundation in law or rea- 
 son, started against the people called Quakers be- 
 
GOVERNOR HUNTER'S ADDRESS. 95 
 
 ing employed in any places or posts of profit or 
 trust in this Province ; which objection, in my opin- 
 ion, has a tendency of no less consequence than 
 the rendering the municipal laws thereof of no 
 force or effect for the future, and subverting the 
 civil government; I have judged it necessary for 
 the satisfaction of the minds of the scrupulous, and 
 stopping the mouths of the clamorous and sedi- 
 tious, until a more effectual method may be pur- 
 sued, if necessity so require, to set that affair in so 
 clear a light, that the half-sighted may see, and the 
 half-witted be convinced of the unreasonableness 
 and absurdity of that objection. The rest can see 
 and understand without my help." He speaks of 
 the woful condition into which the plantations 
 would be plunged, if such laws as a Legislature, 
 lawfully constituted, might enact for the good gov- 
 ernment and ease of the subject, should by impli- 
 cation or construction be deemed to be repealed, 
 upon the bare suggestion of any petty attorney, 
 who may excuse himself by affirming that he has a 
 right to say what he thinks fit for the benefit of his 
 client. He concludes in this wise : " To sum up 
 the whole I do affirm, that an Act of Assembly, en- 
 titled, ' An Act that the solemn affirmation and de- 
 claration of the people called Quakers, shall be ac- 
 cepted instead of an oath in the usual form,' &c, 
 
96 GOVERNOR HUNTER'S ADDRESS. 
 
 passed in the last Assembly of this Province, stands 
 in full force and vigor, being passed by the Sove- 
 reign's especial command, not having been disal- 
 lowed or disapproved by the Sovereign, nor repealed 
 or made void by any subsequent act of Parliament or 
 Assembly ; and that by virtue of that act, Quakers, 
 or reputed Quakers, when duly qualified as that act 
 directs, are capable of offices of profit and trust in 
 this Province ; and that the asserting or affirming 
 the contrary, serves only to open a gap to pretend- 
 ers to law, to plead against the validity of any or 
 all your municipal laws, when either their selfish 
 views, or perverse purposes, may suggest to them 
 so very ridiculous and absurd a notion, and to 
 weaken (as I verily believe it is intended) the ad- 
 ministration, and unhinge or dissolve the Govern- 
 ment." Even if his Excellency had not been in the 
 right, it would have been somewhat difficult to an- 
 swer such arguments. 1 
 
 1 This address of Governor Hunter, Governor Gooken. He held that their 
 together with the speech of the Chief act of Assembly was absolutely re- 
 Justice, and his charge to the Grand pealed by the statute of George the 
 Jury at Burlington, were published at First ; and refused to permit Quakers 
 the time in a pamphlet, a copy of to serve as jurors, to give evidence in 
 which is to be found in the State Li- criminal cases, or to hold any office 
 brary. of profit or trust in the Province. 
 
 The same difficulty, with regard to This led to a very long representation 
 
 the affirmations of Quakers, arose in from the General Assembly, distin- 
 
 Pennsylvania, but was much more guished by that " ready flow of grave 
 
 serious and embarrassing there, in yet fretful rhetoric and indefatiga- 
 
 consequence of the course pursued by ble reiteration/' of which Grahame 
 
JEREMIAH BASSE. 97 
 
 The Indictment against the Chief Justice was 
 removed into the Supreme Court, and at the Term 
 of May, 1716, Judge Farmar presiding, it was on 
 motion of the Attorney General ordered, that the 
 Indictment be quashed, it being found against the 
 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, for doing his 
 duty in the execution of his office ; and it was fur- 
 ther ordered, that process do issue against all such 
 persons as were in any way instrumental in procur- 
 ing the same. 1 
 
 The individual who seems to have been chiefly 
 instrumental in stirring up these prosecutions, was 
 Mr. Jeremiah Basse, Lord Cornbury's Secretary* 
 A double motive probably animated him ; for while 
 he was paying off some old political scores, he was 
 at the same time indulging his zeal for the Church, 
 which he thought, or affected to believe, was in 
 danger, from the concessions made to the Quakers. 
 Basse, however, was an attorney of the Supreme 
 Court, and liable therefore to be dealt with in a very 
 summary way, for his behavior upon this occasion. 
 Nor was the Court reluctant to exercise the power 
 
 speaks. In the course of it, they 1725 that the difficulty was finally 
 
 refer, with marked approbation, to the settled in Pennsylvania. - Proud's 
 
 address of Governor Hunter and the Fa., II. pp. 74-93. Grahame's Col 
 
 " speech" of the Chief Justice of New Hist-, II. 50. 
 Jersey, and quote largely from both » Minutes of Supreme Court, 
 those documents. It was not until 
 
98 BASSE SUSPENDED BY SUPREME COURT. 
 
 to which he was thus amenable. For no sooner 
 was the Indictment against the Chief Justice quash- 
 ed, than the following order was made : " That 
 Jeremiah Basse, one of the attorneys of this Court, 
 for being instrumental in sowing discord and sedi- 
 tion among divers of his Majesty's subjects within 
 the Province, and also in aiding and procuring cer- 
 tain Indictments to be found against the Chief Jus- 
 tice of this Court, and the principal officers of this 
 Province, by a Grand Jury of an inferior jurisdic- 
 tion, for doing their duty in their respective offices, 
 be suspended from practising in this Court, and all 
 other Courts in this Province ; and that the Attor- 
 ney General do issue process against him for a mis- 
 demeanor." 1 
 
 Basse would not probably have ventured upon 
 these proceedings, if he had not been countenanced 
 and encouraged by the party, now in the majority 
 in the Assembly. T* heir power, however, was not 
 destined to be of long duration. Governor Hunter, 
 iinding that the House was not disposed to dis- 
 patch any business, prorogued it. When summon- 
 ed to meet again, nine only of the members made 
 their appearance. The Speaker and most of his 
 political friends absented themselves. This was 
 
 1 Minutes of Supreme Court. 
 
HARMONY RESTORED. 
 
 done to embarrass the administration, by prevent- 
 ing any supplies from being voted for the support 
 of Government. After waiting some days, the 
 Governor was requested to issue his warrant com- 
 manding the attendance of the absent members. 
 Four of them presently appeared, and then, a quo- 
 rum being formed, they proceeded to choose a new 
 Speaker,°John Kinsey, 1 expelled the absent mem- 
 bers, and ordered writs for new elections to supply 
 their places. Some of them were returned a se- 
 cond time, but they were declared incapable of sit- 
 ting. Harmony was thus restored, and every thing 
 went on smoothly again. 2 The Governor told them 
 he heartily approved of the worthy choice they had 
 made of a Speaker; and that the conduct of the 
 gentleman who had last filled the chair, must have 
 convinced them, that there was a combination be- 
 tween him and his associates to defeat all the pur- 
 poses of their meeting. The Assembly in reply 
 echoed back the same sentiment. "Our late 
 Speaker," say they, "has added this one instance 
 of folly to his past demeanor, to convince us 
 and the world, that in all stations, whether of a 
 councillor, a private man, or a representative, his 
 
 . He was the father of John Kin- and the grandfather of James Kinsey, 
 sey, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, Chief Justice of New Jersey. 
 2 Smith's New Jersey, 406. 
 
100 BASSE RETURNED TO THE ASSEMBLY. 
 
 study has been to disturb the quiet and tranquillity 
 of this Province, and act in contempt of laws and 
 government. Our expulsion of him, we hope, 
 evinces that we are not the partisans of his heat 
 and disaffection to the present government." 
 
 Basse was returned to the House of Assembly, 
 in place of one of the expelled members. He came 
 as representative from Cape May, to which county 
 he seems to have taken refuge, upon that dispersion 
 of his party, which followed the removal of Corn- 
 bury. Whether ashamed of his late conduct, or 
 sensible that he was in a minority, he appears to 
 have demeaned himself creditably ; and on the fif- 
 teenth of January, 1716, made a speech in the 
 House which, from its having been entered at large 
 on the journal, must have been deemed quite an 
 effort in the way of parliamentary eloquence. As 
 it is the only speech of that day which has been 
 handed down to us, it is a matter of some curiosity. 1 
 The theme of his discourse is the financial condi- 
 tion of the Province, which at that time was (de- 
 plorable enough. This he ascribes to four causes ; 
 the fruitless expeditions to Canada, intestine dis- 
 cords and dissensions, negligence of public officers, 
 
 1 This speech will be found in a of pamphlets, some of which are of 
 
 volume in the State Library, in which much interest. It is lettered on the 
 
 are bound up, with the votes of the back, Votes and State Papers. Vol. I. 
 Assembly, a miscellaneous collection 
 
SPEECH OF BASSE IN THE ASSEMBLY. JQ1 
 
 and scarcity of money. What he says about dis- 
 cords and divisions may amuse us, after the speci- 
 mens we have had of his own behavior. "Hinc 
 illce lacrymaz" says he, " here is the source and 
 rise of all our misfortunes, our divisions, heats, dis- 
 cords, and animosities. We are using one another 
 as the heathen did the primitive Christians, dress- 
 ing each other up in the skins of wolves and bears, 
 and then beating them as such." " Would to God, 
 Mr. Speaker," he exclaims, " we could each of us 
 learn to look upon another to be better than him- 
 self; to let that charity, which is the golden bond 
 that connects heaven and earth together, (and 
 without which the most splendid gifts, natural or 
 acquired endowments, are but as the sounding brass 
 and tinkling cymbal,) govern both our lives and 
 actions. We complain, Mr. Speake'r, of bad crops, 
 blasts, mildews, and sometimes of epidemical dis- 
 tempers raging amongst us. It is no wonder if our 
 common Parent sends these scourges, that by these 
 means he might teach us to love one another. Let 
 us then take that advice, which his Excellency 
 once gave the representative body of this Pro- 
 vince ; let us leave disputes to the laws, and injuries 
 to the avenger of them ; let each one weed the rancor 
 out of his own heart. Let each of us look upon par- 
 ties and divisions as a common enemy, a common 
 
102 BASSE MADE ATTORNEY GENERAL. 
 
 evil, and use our utmost endeavors to quench that 
 fire that has hitherto so raged in this Province, 
 that it has more or less affected all persons, all re- 
 lations, our bodies, our reputations, and our es- 
 tates. Let us unite in love, and then, how inex- 
 pressibly beautiful would such a union be? How 
 would it strengthen our interests, advance our es- 
 tates, restore our decayed credit, and make us a 
 truly happy Province." 
 
 All this is very fine ; and yet this is the man 
 who, but a few months before, had been thrown 
 over the bar for sowing discord and sedition in the 
 Province ; and was for turning every thing upside 
 down, because Quakers were permitted to serve as 
 jurors, and exercise offices of profit and trust. So 
 much easier was it then, as it is now, to teach by 
 precept than example. Basse seems by his course 
 in the Assembly to have acquired the confidence of 
 Governor Hunter, by whom he was appointed At- 
 torney General in 1719. His commission was re- 
 newed by Governor Burnet in 1721. He died in 
 1725. His will, which was dated in January, 1724, 
 breathes a spirit of ardent devotion to the Church 
 of England, which he denominates " the best of 
 churches," of which he calls himself an unworthy 
 member, and in whose communion he expresses a 
 desire to die, and to be buried according to its rites 
 and ceremonies. 
 
JAMISON'S CHARGE TO THE GRAND JURY. 103 
 
 No other events of importance occurred while 
 Jamison was Chief Justice, nor have any of his 
 judicial opinions been preserved. We have how- 
 ever a copy of his charge to the Grand Jury at 
 Burlington, in May Term, 1716, from which it 
 might be inferred, that he was quite as much of a 
 theologian as a lawyer. All his authorities are 
 drawn from the Bible, and a very considerable por- 
 tion of the charge is made up of passages from the 
 Old and New Testament. It is not unlikely that 
 he was a descendant of the Puritans, whose ideas 
 of criminal jurisprudence were derived from the 
 Levitical code, rather than from Hale and Hawkins. 
 In the list of capital offences given by him, we find 
 heresy and witchcraft included. Not to have be- 
 lieved in witchcraft at that day, would, I suppose, of 
 itself have been deemed heresy. But I am happy 
 to say, that so far as I have been able to discover, 
 no prosecution for this offence ever stained our 
 judicial records. 1 
 
 1 However devoutly our fathers cover by the divining-rod the hidden 
 
 may have believed in the existence of treasures of the Bucaniers." — Ban- 
 
 witches, they suffered them to live croft's U. S., II. 393. 
 
 unmolested, and the consequence was, There was, however, a trial for 
 
 that in New Jersey, as in Penn's do- witchcraft in Pennsylvania, as early 
 
 main, " neither demon nor hag ever as 1684, at which Penn presided, 
 
 rode through the air on goat or After a charge from the Governor, 
 
 broomstick ; and the worst acts of the jury rendered the following ver- 
 
 conjuration went no farther than to diet : " The prisoner is guilty of the 
 
 foretell fortunes, mutter powerful common fame of being a witch, but 
 
 spells over quack medicines, or dis- not guilty as she stands indicted." 
 
104 ASSEMBLY ADDRESS GOV. BURNET. 
 
 Governor Burnet, who succeeded Hunter in 
 1719, continued Jamison in office. But although he 
 had been Chief Justice of New Jersey for so many 
 years, he still resided in the City of New York. 
 This was felt to be a great grievance, and subjected 
 attorneys and suitors to much trouble and expense. 
 Governor Hunter, however, contrived to keep the 
 Assembly in such good humor, that no public com- 
 plaint was made of it in his time. But in 1723, the 
 House presented an address to Governor Burnet, 
 representing that, as it was not the happiness of 
 the Province to have his Excellency constantly re- 
 siding among them, it would be a great satisfaction 
 that the Chief Justice should. They speak of the 
 hardship and inconvenience of being obliged to go 
 from the most distant parts of the Province to the 
 City of New York, to put in special bail, or get the 
 allowance of a habeas corpus, certiorari, or other re- 
 medial writ ; and as there were persons living in the 
 Province, who were quite competent to execute the 
 office, they express an earnest hope that the Go- 
 vernor would be pleased to select some one among 
 them for the Chief Justice. The Governor took 
 the address in good part, and promised a speedy 
 compliance with their wishes ; and thereupon the 
 House resolved, that there should be paid to a 
 Chief Justice, who would ride the Circuit of the 
 
WILLIAM TRENT APPOINTED CHIEF JUSTICE. 1Q5 
 
 several counties of the Province, the sum of one 
 hundred pounds yearly, in addition to his ordinary 
 salary. 
 
 William Trent, who was at that time Speaker of 
 the House of Assembly, was at once appointed Chief 
 Justice in place of Jamison. He was not a lawyer 
 by profession, but had filled for many years a high 
 judicial post in Pennsylvania ; and was withal a man 
 of strong sense, of business habits, and of strict in- 
 tegrity. He too was a native of Scotland — from 
 the town of Inverness — and with a brother, whose 
 name was James, came to this country at an early- 
 day. He settled in Philadelphia, where he became 
 an extensive and successful merchant. The house 
 which he there occupied is still standing, although 
 it retains few traces of its ancient grandeur. It 
 was long known as " the slated-roof house of Wil- 
 liam Trent." It had been the city residence of 
 William Penn and his family. It afterwards be- 
 came a celebrated boarding-house, and John Adams, 
 and other members of the first Congress, lodged in 
 it. Those who are curious in such matters, may 
 find a full account of it in Watson's Annals of Phi- 
 ladelphia. Trent was for many years a Judge of 
 the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and Speaker 
 of the House of Assembly. 
 
 In 1714, he purchased Mahlon Stacey's planta- 
 
106 WILLIAM TRENT. 
 
 tion of eight hundred acres, lying on both sides of 
 the Assanpink, upon which the cities of Trenton 
 and South Trenton now stand. To this place he 
 removed some years afterwards, and in 1721 was 
 chosen a representative to the Assembly from 
 the county of Burlington. In 1723, he was made 
 Speaker of the House, and in November of the 
 same year, was appointed Chief Justice of the Su- 
 preme Court — his commission reciting, that the 
 letters patent granted unto David Jamison, the late 
 Chief Justice, were disannulled. He took his seat 
 on the Bench at Burlington, on the fourth Tuesday 
 of March, 1724. 
 
 He did not, however, long live to enjoy the ho- 
 nors, or discharge the duties of Chief Justice. He 
 died suddenly, from an attack of apoplexy, on the 
 twenty-fifth of December, 1724, universally beloved 
 and much lamented. None of his descendants, I 
 believe, remain, but his name will long live in the 
 memory of Jerseymen, for it is borne by the capital 
 of our State. 1 Some years before his death, a 
 town was laid out upon his estate, which, in honor 
 
 1 The name of William Trent fre- as a " noted churchman," but always 
 
 quently occurs in the " Logan letters," in terms of respect. In one of his 
 
 in the possession of the American Phi- letters, he refers feelingly to his sud- 
 
 losophical Society. He is commended den death, as "another instance how 
 
 for his" thorough skill and insight into little anxious we ought to be about 
 
 trade." James Logan speaks of him the affairs of this world." 
 
WILLIAM TRENT. 107 
 
 of him, was called Trenfs Town, the name by 
 which it was originally known. It had before, says 
 Smith, been significantly called " Little Worth." 
 It was, however, at the death of the Chief Justice, 
 a town only in name — containing, as it did, but two 
 or three houses. The spot on which the City Hall 
 now stands, was then in the midst of a dense 
 woods, through which a solitary foot-path wound 
 its way to the old mill — then called Stacey's, but 
 now known as Wain's Mill. In 1719, the Courts 
 for the County of Hunterdon were held here for 
 the first time. Trent presented to the county the 
 lot on which the first Court House was built. It 
 was the lot now owned by the Trenton Banking 
 Company, and on which their banking house 
 stands. It was not until 1790, that Trenton was 
 made the seat of government of New Jersey. 1 
 
 In tracing the history of our Courts, we have 
 come to the administration of Governor Burnet; 
 and it seems to be a fitting place in which to speak 
 of the Court of Chancery. For we are told it was 
 a Court in which Governor Burnet took especial de- 
 light, and in which he loved to display his parts ; 
 
 1 Barber and Howe's N. J. Hist, nally published in the Trenton State 
 
 Col., ^83. The historical notice of Gazette, and written by the Rev. Eli 
 
 Trenton contained in this work, is F. Cooley, pastor of the Presbyterian 
 
 taken from a series of articles, origi- church in Ewing. 
 
]08 
 
 COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 and although no lawyer, 1 yet being a man of books, 
 and fond of the society of men of letters, he is said 
 to have made in it a very respectable figure. 3 
 
 The Court of Chancery, for some reason or 
 other, seems never to have been a popular favorite 
 
 1 In the Encyclopaedia Americana, 
 II. 336, Governor Burnet is said to 
 have been " originally bred to the 
 law." But however this may be, he 
 never pursued his profession. He 
 was the eldest son of the celebrated 
 Bishop Burnet, and was born at the 
 Hague in March, 1688. He was 
 named after William the Prince of 
 Orange, who stood his godfather. 
 His fortune, which was at one time 
 considerable, was wrecked in the 
 South Sea scheme, and like most 
 royal Governors, he was poor when 
 he came to this country. The love 
 of money, however, was a vice from 
 which he was entirely free, and he 
 carried nothing away with him but his 
 books. In 1728, he was removed 
 from the government of New York 
 and New Jersey, and transferred to 
 that of Massachusetts and New 
 Hampshire. Although the son of a 
 bishop, and said to have been a man 
 of piety, yet he was of a convivial dis- 
 position, and by no means distin- 
 guished by his seriousness of charac- 
 ter. His levity shocked the good 
 people of New England. Upon one 
 occasion, he was dining with an old 
 charter senator, and being asked, 
 whether it would be most agreeable 
 to his Excellency that grace should 
 be said standing or sitting ; the gov- 
 
 ernor replied, " Standing or sitting, 
 any way or no way, just as you 
 please." A deputation was sent to 
 conduct him in state to his new gov- 
 ernment. They met him on the bor- 
 ders of Rhode Island. He complain- 
 ed of the long graces that were said 
 by the clergymen on the road, and 
 asked when they would shorten. One 
 of the committee, the facetious Colo- 
 nel Tayler, answered, " The graces 
 will increase in length till you come 
 to Boston ; after that, they will short- 
 en till you come to your government 
 of New Hampshire, where your Ex- 
 cellency will find no grace at all." 
 
 He died in September, 1729, from 
 the effects of a violent cold contracted- 
 by the oversetting of his carriage up- 
 on the causeway at Cambridge. He 
 was a man of superior talents, and of 
 an amiable character. He published 
 some astronomical observations in the 
 transactions of the Royal Society, and 
 an essay on scripture prophecy. — 
 Allen's Biog. Die. Belknap. Hutch- 
 inson. Grahame. 
 
 2 Smith's N. Y. 240. Governor 
 Burnet however had one foible, which 
 would seem to have disqualified him 
 in some measure, for the duties of a 
 Chancellor. He used to say of him- 
 self, " I act first, and think after- 
 wards." 
 
COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 109 
 
 in this country. 1 The large discretionary power 
 which it is thought to confer upon one man ; the 
 fact that the people appear to be in some measure 
 excluded from it ; and that it altogether dispenses 
 with the cherished mode of trial by jury, may per- 
 haps account for the prejudice entertained towards 
 it. The early annals of New York and Pennsylva- 
 nia, abound with manifestations of the jealousy and 
 distrust with which this tribunal was regarded. It 
 was in 1711, that Governor Hunter first began to 
 exercise the office of Chancellor in New York ; but 
 it was made a subject of constant complaint and 
 remonstrance by the Assembly ; and so unpopular 
 
 1 Even in England the Court of 
 Chancery has never been a popular 
 tribunal. It has at least always been 
 deemed a fair subject for the pen of 
 the satirist. Butler, who indeed 
 spared nothing, thus writes : 
 
 " Does not in Chancery every man swear, 
 What makes best for him in his answer ? 
 And whilst their purses can dispute, 
 There is no end of th' immortal suit." 
 
 Hudibras, III. Cant. 2. 
 
 Swift represents Gulliver as having 
 been almost ruined by a suit in Chan- 
 cery, which was decreed for him with 
 costs. 
 
 Even the learned Selden thus 
 speaks: "Equity is a roguish thing : 
 for law we have a measure — know 
 what to trust to ; equity is according 
 to the conscience of him that is Chan- 
 cellor, and as that is larger or nar- 
 rower, so is equity. It is all one as 
 
 if they should make the standard of 
 the measure we call a foot, a Chan- 
 cellor's foot ; what an uncertain mea- 
 sure would this be ! One Chancellor 
 has a long foot, another a short foot, 
 a third an indifferent foot : it is the 
 same thing in the Chancellor's con- 
 science." — Selden's Table-Talk. 
 
 In fact, it was not until near the 
 close of the reign of Charles II. that 
 the Court of Chancery was entitled 
 to much respect. Lord Chancellor 
 Nottingham, who died in 1682, has 
 been called the Father of Equity. He 
 it was, who first reduced it to a regu- 
 lar and cultivated science ; and re- 
 deemed it from the disgrace of being 
 supposed to depend upon the indivi- 
 dual opinion or caprice of the Chan- 
 cellor. — Lives of the Lord Chancel- 
 lors, III. 329. Am. ed. 
 
HO COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 did it become in that Province, that little or no bu- 
 siness was transacted in it for many years. In 
 1727, it was resolved by the House of Assembly, 
 that the erection of a Court of Chancery in that 
 Colony, without the consent of the General Assem- 
 bly, was unwarrantable and illegal, a manifest op- 
 pression and grievance to the people, and of perni- 
 cious consequence to their liberties and properties. 
 An ordinance was soon after passed to remedy the 
 abuses of the Court, and reduce the fees of its offi- 
 cers ; and from that time, until 1756 — when William 
 Smith wrote his History of New York — we are in- 
 formed that the wheels of the Chancery rusted upon 
 their axles, and that its practice was contemned by 
 all gentlemen of eminence in the profession. 1 
 
 In 1720, a Court of Chancery was first estab- 
 lished in Pennsylvania, by Governor Keith, with 
 the concurrence of the Council and Assembly. It 
 was declared to be absolutely necessary in the ad- 
 ministration of justice, for the purpose of mitigat- 
 ing the rigor of the law, whose judgments are tied 
 down to fixed and unalterable rules, and for open- 
 ing the way to the right and equity of a cause, for 
 which the law cannot in all cases make a sufficient 
 provision. 2 But it happened, unfortunately, a few 
 
 1 Smith's N. Y., 270. * Proud's Pa., II. 126. 
 
COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 Ill 
 
 years afterwards, that John Kinsey, a Quaker law- 
 yer of eminence, and afterwards Chief Justice of 
 that Province, having occasion to transact business 
 in the Court, appeared with his hat on his head, as 
 was the custom with members of his society. The 
 Chancellor, Sir William Keith, who stood much 
 upon form, ordered his hat to be taken off; which 
 was accordingly done by one of the officers of the 
 Court. This gave great offence to the Quakers ; 
 insomuch, that at a Quarterly Meeting, held in the 
 City of Philadelphia, a committee was appointed to 
 wait upon the Governor, and present to him an ad- 
 dress, in which they gravely complain of the act in 
 question, as a direct infringement of their rights 
 and liberties. And such was the excitement pro- 
 duced, and so loud the clamor that was raised, that 
 the Chancellor found it necessary to make a solemn 
 order, by which it was provided, that it should be a 
 standing rule of the Court of Chancery, for the 
 Province of Pennsylvania, in all time to come, 
 that any person professing to be one of the people 
 called Quakers, should be permitted to address the 
 Court, without being obliged to observe the usual 
 ceremony of uncovering his head. 1 But however 
 satisfactory this concession may have been deemed 
 
 1 Proud's Pa., II. 197. 
 
112 COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 at the time, we find, not many years afterwards, 
 that the Court was considered to be " so great a 
 nuisance," that it was entirely laid aside ; and from 
 that day to this, I believe, there has been no Court 
 of Chancery in Pennsylvania. It might be curious 
 to inquire, what influence the trifling incident to 
 which I have alluded may have had, in bringing 
 about such a result ; a result, I may add, which 
 has been much regretted by some of the most en- 
 lightened jurists of that State. 1 
 
 In New Jersey, however, the Court of Chancery 
 has encountered less hostility than in her sister 
 States. While there have always been found indi- 
 viduals, who have doubted the propriety of its ex- 
 istence as a separate tribunal, yet by the great 
 mass, not only of the profession, but of the people 
 at large, it has ever been deemed a useful and an 
 indispensable part of our judicial system. It is 
 said in some of our histories, that the first Court 
 of Chancery ever held in New Jersey was in 1718. 
 It was then, indeed, that the Governor for the first 
 time assumed to act as Chancellor without the as- 
 
 1 " The experience of England," their intercourse in the same tribunal, 
 
 says Mr. Binney, in his beautiful Eu- It is the misfortune of Pennsylvania, 
 
 logium on Chief Justice Tilghman, that the want of a Court of Chancery 
 
 " and of most of these States, is bet- has left her tribunals no alternative, 
 
 ter than volumes, to show, that the but that of attempting this difficult 
 
 purity and vigor of both law and incorporation." 
 equity, are maintained by preventing 
 
COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 113 
 
 sistance of his Council ; but it is a great mistake 
 to suppose that there had been no Court of Chan- 
 cery in the Province before. The Ordinance of 
 Governor Franklin in 1770, truly declares, "that 
 there always has been a Court of Chancery held in 
 the Province of New Jersey." Under the Proprie- 
 tary Government, it was, as we have seen, a part 
 of the Court of Common Right, and continued to be 
 held by the same Judges until 1698. How it was 
 composed from that time until 1705, does not dis- 
 tinctly appear, but there is every reason to believe 
 that it was held by the Governor and Council. 1 In 
 1705, however, we find Lord Cornbury, by virtue 
 of his commission as Governor, and with the ad- 
 vice and consent of the Council, passing an Ordi- 
 nance, for the erection and establishment of a High 
 Court of Chancery in the Province of New Jersey. 
 The Ordinance recites, " that it is absolutely ne- 
 cessary that a Court of Chancery should be estab- 
 lished in this Province, that the subject may find 
 remedy in such matters and things as are properly 
 cognizable in the said Court, in which the common 
 law by reason of its strict rules cannot give relief;" 
 and it provides, that the Governor or Lieutenant 
 Governor for the time being, and any three of the 
 
 1 Griffith's Law Reg., IV. 1183. 
 8 
 
114 COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 Council, shall constitute the said Court; and it 
 authorizes them to hear and determine all causes in 
 the said Court, which from time to time shall come 
 before them, as near as may be, according to the 
 usage or custom of the High Court of Chancery in 
 the kingdom of England. It was further provided, 
 that there should be four stated terms in each year, 
 and that the Court should be open on Thursday of 
 every week, at Burlington, to hear motions, and 
 make rules and orders thereon. 1 
 
 This Ordinance continued in force until Gov- 
 ernor Hunter's administration, when he claimed the 
 right to exercise the powers of Chancellor alone, 
 and without the aid of his Council. This was 
 thought to be an undue exercise of authority upon 
 his part, and occasioned some complaint at the 
 time, but his conduct met with the approbation of 
 the King f and under this sanction, and without any 
 new Ordinance, so far as I have been able to disco- 
 ver, the Governor continued to act as Chancellor 
 until 1770. 
 
 The first Ordinance for the regulation of fees in 
 the Court of Chancery, was adopted in 1724, dur- 
 ing the administration of Governor Burnet. These 
 fees, particularly those allowed to the counsel and 
 
 1 Book A. A. A. of Commissions, * Whitehead's East Jersey, 167. 
 54. Note. 
 
COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 115 
 
 solicitors, would be deemed liberal even at the pre- 
 sent day. At that time, they were thought to be 
 very extravagant, and were made the subject of 
 frequent complaints. A Committee of Council was 
 therefore appointed in 1730, under the administra- 
 tion of Governor Montgomery, for the purpose of 
 revising and moderating the same, so as to make 
 them more conformable " to the circumstances of 
 the Province." They performed the task assigned 
 to them with a most unsparing hand. Their object 
 would seem to have been the same, with that avow- 
 ed by Abraham Clarke at a later period, when he 
 introduced the bill, known by the name of " Clarke's 
 Practice Act." " If it succeeds," said he, " it will 
 tear off the ruffles from the lawyers' wrists." * 
 
 If the Court of Chancery was the delight of 
 Burnet, it was evidently the aversion of Montgo- 
 mery. In New York, he countenanced the cla- 
 mors against it ; declined to sit as Chancellor, until 
 enjoined by special orders from England ; and then 
 obeyed the command most reluctantly, frankly con- 
 fessing, that he thought himself wholly unqualified 
 for the station. " He never," says Smith, " gave a 
 single decree, nor more than three orders ; and 
 these, both as to matter and form, were first settled 
 
 1 Sedgwick's Life of Livingston, 434. Note. 
 
116 COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 by the counsel concerned. 1 It may be presumed, 
 therefore, that he regarded, with no little com- 
 placency, the dissatisfaction which the Court was 
 beginning to excite in New Jersey. As an evidence 
 of the growing jealousy with which its proceedings 
 were here watched, the same Committee who were 
 appointed to cut down its fees, were also directed 
 to inquire into the abuses which had crept into the 
 practice of the Court, and to propose suitable re- 
 medies. They appear to have made very thorough 
 and searching inquiries, and some of the abuses 
 which they brought to light, may perhaps be recog- 
 nized as existing at a much later day, and not very 
 remote from the present time. 
 
 They complain, for instance, that in drawing 
 bills, matters of conveyance and inducement are 
 set forth too much at length, whereas, they ought 
 to be set forth in the briefest manner possible, and 
 the points in question alone fully set forth ; and 
 the remedy which they propose is, that counsel, 
 setting their hands to any such bill, should pay all 
 the charges which the parties are subjected to, by 
 reason of the superfluous matter. 
 
 Another abuse which they point out is, that in 
 the drawing of bills, they find it usual to amass a 
 
 1 Smith's N. Y., 273. 
 
COURT OF CHANCERY. 117 
 
 number of iniquities against the defendant as mere 
 matter of form; and to turn the whole things 
 charged into questions afterwards; "whereas" — 
 it is pertinently remarked — " when a fact is once 
 properly charged, there needs few, and often no 
 questions to bring out the truth concerning it, other 
 than the general one, to answer the things charg- 
 ed ;" and the remedy they propose is, that solicit- 
 ors in drawing their bills should keep to the truth 
 of their case, and avoid inserting things purely as 
 matters of form ; and that counsel, under the same 
 penalty as before, should set their hands to no bill, 
 " with any questions therein, which can bring no 
 further answer than the charge does require." 1 
 
 1 In the Life of Lord Ellesmere — abuse is not in any sort to be tolerat- 
 Lord Chancellor in the reign of Queen ed — proceeding of a malicious pur- 
 Elizabeth — we have a striking in- pose to increase the defendant's 
 stance of the vigor with which he charge, and being fraught with much 
 strove to correct the prolixity of Chan- impertinent matter not fit for this 
 eery pleadings in his time. In the Court ; it is therefore ordered, that 
 case of Mylwardv. Weldon, there be- the Warden of the Fleet shall take 
 ing a complaint of the length of the the said Richard Mylward into his 
 Replication, and the Lord Chancellor custody, and shall bring him into 
 being satisfied that " whereas it ex- Westminster Hall on Saturday about 
 tended to six score sheets, all the ten of the clock in the forenoon, and 
 matter thereof which was pertinent then and there shall cut a hole in the 
 might have been well contained in midst of the same engrossed Replica- 
 sixteen," an order was made by him tion, which is delivered to him for 
 in these words : — " It appearing to that purpose, and put the said Rich- 
 his Lordship by the confession of ard's head through the same hole, and 
 Richard Mylward, the plaintiff's son, so let the same Replication hang 
 that he did devise, draw, and engross about his shoulders with the written 
 the said Replication, and because his side outward, and then, the same so 
 Lordship is of opinion that such an hanging, shall lead the same Rich- 
 
118 COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 There were various other abuses exposed, tend- 
 ing to delay the progress of causes, and enhance the 
 expense of proceedings. One is reminded of that 
 quaint old tract on " the abuses and remedies of 
 Chancery," presented to the Lord Keeper, in the 
 reign of James the First, by Mr. George Norburie, 
 to be found in Mr. Hargrave's collection of tracts ; 
 in which poor suitors are represented as coming 
 into the Court of Chancery, " like a flock of sheep 
 to a bush for shelter, and are there more wet than 
 they were in the open field ; and yet the bush will 
 not part without a fleece, and out of which they 
 go, with the same note they came in, pitifully com- 
 plaining. 19 And he asks, " Will your Lordship 
 know the reason, and who are the causers thereof; 
 I answer in a word, Counsellors. For well near 
 with every one of them, nothing is more familiar, 
 than so soon as the bill is exhibited, presently to 
 ruminate upon something that may be moved . . . ; 
 and if he chance to get a new order, then he thinks 
 he has done a great exploit, and bound the poor 
 
 ard, bareheaded and barefaced, round fine, and twenty nobles to the defend- 
 about Westminster Hall whilst the ant for his costs in respect of the 
 Courts are sitting, and shall show aforesaid abuse, which fine and costs 
 him at the bar of every of the three are now adjudged and imposed upon 
 Courts within the Hall, and then shall him by this Court for the abuse afore- 
 take him back again to the Fleet, and said." — Lives of the Lord Chancel- 
 keep him prisoner until he shall have lors. II. 172. Am. ed. 
 paid ten pounds to her Majesty for a 
 
COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 119 
 
 client to him for ever. The next day he is over- 
 thrown ; yet will he not so give it over ; but he will 
 make more work for himself and his adverse plead- 
 er, till his client has scarce a round shilling in his 
 pocket." 
 
 The Committee seem to have come to very 
 much the same conclusion, and to have laid all the 
 sins of the Court upon the heads of the lawyers. 
 Their report, however, was approved of, and the 
 suggestions which they made, were embodied in an 
 Ordinance of the Governor and Council. How far 
 these evil practices were corrected, we have no 
 means of ascertaining ; but if checked for the time, 
 it is very certain they sprung up afterwards, and 
 produced a luxuriant growth, which it has required 
 the pruning hand of the Legislature, from time to 
 time, to lop off. 
 
 By far the most important bill ever filed in the 
 Provincial Court of Chancery, was the one known 
 by the name of the Elizabethtown Bill in Chancery,' 
 to which some reference has already been made. 
 The' complainants in this suit, were John Earl of 
 Stair, and thirty-eight other Proprietors of the 
 Eastern Division of New Jersey ; and the defend- 
 ants, were Benjamin Bond and others — to the num- 
 ber of about four hundred and fifty — claiming under 
 the Elizabethtown Associates, and distinguished by 
 
120 COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 the name of the Clinker-Lot-Right-Men. The bill 
 was filed in 1745, and is drawn out into the extra- 
 vagant length of about fifteen hundred sheets. It is 
 signed by James Alexander, the father of Lord 
 Stirling, and Joseph Murray, a distinguished law- 
 yer of New York. It was printed by James Parker 
 in 1747, and, with the accompanying documents, 
 makes a folio volume of one hundred and sixty 
 pages. It is entitled—" A Bill in the Chancery of 
 New Jersey, at the suit of John Earl of Stair, and 
 others, Proprietors of the Eastern Division of New 
 Jersey; against Benjamin Bond, and some other 
 persons of Elizabethtown, distinguished by the 
 name of the Clinker-Lot-Right-Men. With three 
 large Maps done from copper-plates — To which is 
 added the Publications of the Council of Proprie- 
 tors of East New Jersey, and Mr. Nevill's speeches 
 to the General Assembly, concerning the Riots 
 committed in New Jersey, and the pretences of the 
 "Rioters and their Seducers. These papers will 
 give a better light into the History and Constitu- 
 tion of New Jersey, than any thing hitherto pub- 
 lished, the matters whereof have been chiefly col- 
 lected from Records." 
 
 The answer was not put in until 1751. It is 
 almost as prolix as the bill itself. The Defendants, 
 not to be behindhand with their adversaries, had 
 
COURT OF CHANCERY. 121 
 
 the answer also published in 1752, and with a title 
 quite as long as that prefixed to the bill. It runs 
 thus : — " An Answer to a Bill in the Chancery of 
 New Jersey, at the suit of John Earl of Stair, and 
 others, commonly called Proprietors of the Eastern 
 Division of New Jersey, against Benjamin Bond 
 and others claiming under the original Proprietors 
 and Associates of Elizabethtown. To which is add- 
 ed, nothing either of the Publications of the Coun- 
 cil of Proprietors of East New Jersey, or of the Pre- 
 tences of the Rioters and their Seducers ; except 
 so far as the Persons meant by Rioters, pretend 
 title against the Parties to the above Answer ; but 
 a great deal of the Controversy, though much less 
 of the History and Constitution of New Jersey, 
 than the said Bill. Audi alteram partum." 
 
 The counsel who put their names to the an- 
 swer, were William Livingston, afterwards Gov- 
 ernor of New Jersey, and William Smith, jun., 
 who became Chief Justice of New York, and after 
 the Revolution, Chief Justice of Canada. 
 
 The parties to this suit seem to have been at 
 issue upon all points. The Defendants in their 
 answer, without formally excepting to the right of 
 the Governor to act as Chancellor, nevertheless 
 protest, that Brigadier Hunter was the first Gov- 
 ernor of New Jersey, that vever assumed to himself 
 
122 COURT OF CHANCERY, 
 
 the power solely to hear and determine causes in 
 Equity ; and that neither he, nor any of his suc- 
 cessors, ever received any special order from the 
 crown to erect such a Court. They repudiate the 
 name of Clinker-Lot-Right-Men, by which they are 
 called in the bill ; declare it to be nothing more 
 than a " nick-name," given to them by their oppo- 
 nents ; and that the only reason why the Com- 
 plainants are so fond of using it, and why they have 
 so often " garnished their bill with it," was to bring 
 the Defendants into derision, and to cast " a slur 
 and odium" upon them and their title. They even 
 go so far as to deny, that Elizabethtown was ever 
 named after the wife of Sir George Carteret, the 
 first Proprietor of New Jersey, but insist, that it 
 was named by those under whom they claim, " in 
 memory of the renowned Queen Elizabeth." 
 
 But it is not proposed to go into the merits of 
 the controversy. The bill, notwithstanding its ex- 
 treme prolixity, is certainly drawn up with much 
 ability, and makes out a very strong case in favor 
 of the complainants. That the original deed from 
 the Indians, under which the Defendants claimed, 
 did not confer any valid title, would seem to be 
 quite clear ; and yet, there were various other mat- 
 ters which entered into the case, and by which it 
 was somewhat complicated. The conduct of Gov- 
 
COURT OF CHANCERY 123 
 
 ernor Carteret himself, who purchased an interest 
 in the Elizabethtown grant, thereby recognizing, as 
 was said, its validity, was a strong point in the De- 
 fendants' case. But notwithstanding the immense 
 labor bestowed upon the preparation of this cause, 
 it was never brought to a conclusion in the Court 
 of Chancery. Before a final hearing could be had, 
 the events which ushered in the Revolution, inter- 
 rupted the progress of the suit, and it was never af- 
 terwards revived. 
 
 In 1768, the attention of the General Assembly 
 was called to the subject of the Court of Chancery, 
 by a message from Governor Franklin. He stated 
 to them, that controversies frequently arose wherein 
 the Courts of common law could not give relief, 
 and which therefore became the proper objects of 
 a Court of Chancery ; that as the disuse of such a 
 Court would probably be attended with mischiefs 
 to the good people which they represented, he had 
 kept it open, though under very great disadvan- 
 tages to himself; but that no salary was allowed 
 for the necessary officers, and that the fees were 
 not sufficient to make some of them even a moder- 
 ate recompense for their trouble and attendance. 
 He recommended the matter, therefore, to their 
 serious consideration, and desired them to make 
 such a provision for the necessary officers of the 
 
124 COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 Court, as would induce persons of knowledge and 
 probity to discharge those important trusts. The 
 House requested the Governor to inform them par- 
 ticularly, what officers of the Court of Chancery it 
 was necessary that they should make provision for ; 
 and he thereupon sent them a list of the officers, 
 for which he thought salaries ought to be allowed. 
 They were, a Master of the Rolls, and a Master in 
 Chancery for one division of the Province ; two 
 Masters in Chancery for the other division ; and a 
 Sergeant at Arms in each division. For the Clerks, 
 Registers, and Examiners, the fees allowed by law 
 were deemed sufficient. 
 
 The subject of salaries, however, was one upon 
 which Governor Franklin always had the misfor- 
 tune to differ from the Assembly ; and as he was now 
 pressing upon them the necessity of making fur- 
 ther provision for the support of the King's troops 
 in the Province — a point upon which the House 
 were beginning to be sensitive — they showed no 
 disposition to comply with his recommendations as 
 to the Court of Chancery. 
 
 But in 1770, by virtue of the powers and autho- 
 rities given to him by his commission, and with 
 the advice and consent of the Council, Governor 
 Franklin adopted an Ordinance in reference to the 
 Court of Chancery ; by which, after reciting, that 
 
COURT OF CHANCERY. 125 
 
 there always had been a Court of Chancery in the 
 Province of New Jersey, and that the same re- 
 quired regulation, it was ordained and declared, 
 that his Excellency William Franklin be consti- 
 tuted and appointed Chancellor and Judge of the 
 High Court of Chancery of New Jersey, and that 
 he be empowered to appoint and commission such 
 Masters, Clerks, Examiners, Registers, and other 
 necessary officers, as should be needful in holdino- 
 the said Court and doing the business thereof; and 
 also to make such rules, orders, and regulations, 
 for carrying on the business of the said Court, as 
 from time to time should seem necessary. 1 
 
 This Ordinance remained in force, until the 
 adoption of the Constitution of July the second, 
 1776, which provided, that the Governor for the 
 time being, or in his absence the Vice President of 
 the Council, should be the Chancellor ; and on the 
 seventh of October following, the Court of Chan- 
 cery was confirmed and •established by the Legisla- 
 ture, with the same powers as those exercised by it 
 before the Declaration of Independence. The offi- 
 ces of Governor and Chancellor continued to be 
 united, until the adoption of our present Constitu- 
 tion, when a separation was made. The conse- 
 
 1 Griffith's Law Reg. IV. 1183. 
 
126 ROBERT L. HOOPER— THOMAS FARMAR. 
 
 quence was, that every Governor, from the Revo- 
 lution to 1844, was a lawyer; and if in one point 
 of view this was objectionable, by confining the 
 office to the members of a single profession, yet on 
 the other hand, it gave to us, during the whole of 
 that period, a succession of Governors, of whom 
 New Jersey may well be proud — a Livingston, a 
 Paterson, a Howell, a Bloomfield, an Ogden, a Pen- 
 nington, a Williamson, and a Southard, (not to 
 mention the living,) every one of whom shone as a 
 star of the first magnitude. 
 
 But to return to the history of the Supreme 
 Court. Upon the death of William Trent, Robert 
 Lettice Hooper was appointed by Governor Burnet 
 Chief Justice, and took his seat upon the Bench at 
 Burlington, on the thirtieth of March, 1725. At 
 the time of his appointment, he was a member of 
 the House of Assembly, and without being much 
 distinguished in any way, seems to have enjoyed in 
 a high degree the respect and confidence of the 
 public. In 1728, after having been Chief Justice 
 for about three years, Thomas Farmar was ap- 
 pointed to succeed him. 
 
 Farmar had removed from Staten Island to Am- 
 boy, about the year 1711, and was soon afterwards 
 appointed Second Judge of the Supreme Court, in 
 place of Lewis Morris, who, although his name ap- 
 
THOMAS FARMAR. 
 
 127 
 
 pears among the Judges of our Supreme Court, 
 never, I believe, took his seat upon the Bench, hav- 
 ing soon after his appointment removed to New 
 York, where he was made Chief Justice. 
 
 Gordon, in his History of New Jersey, says, that 
 Lewis Morris was at the same time Chief Justice 
 of both colonies, and adduces the fact as evidence, 
 that New Jersey was treated as a mere dependency 
 of New York. 1 This, however, is but one of the 
 many glaring inaccuracies of that work — a work, 
 in which ignorance of facts is equalled only by un- 
 skilfulness of narrative. In this instance, his facts 
 and his inferences are alike unfounded. So jealous 
 were the people of New Jersey of their more pow- 
 erful neighbor, that, as we have seen in the case 
 of Jamison, they were unwilling that their Chief 
 Justice should ever reside in New York ; and they 
 complained that James Alexander, the father of 
 Lord Stirling, was a member of the Council here, 
 although he was a large Proprietor of New Jersey, 
 and quite as much interested in this colony as in 
 New York. 
 
 Farmar represented for many years the county 
 of Middlesex in the Assembly, and was an active 
 and influential member of that body. At that time, 
 
 1 Gordon's N. J., 97. 
 
128 CHRISTOPHER BILLOP. 
 
 there was nothing incompatible in a Judge of the 
 Supreme Court having a seat in the House. He 
 officiated as Chief Justice from March, 1728, until 
 November Term, 1729, when Robert Lettice 
 Hooper was again appointed. Farmar was for 
 some years insane, and was frequently obliged to 
 be kept in close confinement ; and this may have 
 been the reason why he was now removed from the 
 Bench. 
 
 The eldest son of Thomas Farmar, married the 
 daughter of Captain Christopher Billop, an officer 
 of the British navy, who had succeeded in obtain- 
 ing a patent for a large tract of land on Staten 
 Island, containing between one and two thousand 
 acres. Young Farmar, upon his wife's inheriting 
 this estate, adopted her father's name, and, as 
 Christopher Billop, became a very noted character 
 during the revolutionary war. He commanded a 
 corps of New York loyalists, and upon one occa- 
 sion, was taken prisoner by the Whigs, and con- 
 fined in the jail at Burlington. The late Elias 
 Boudinot, then commissary of prisoners, was con- 
 strained to treat him with great severity, in reta- 
 liation for the cruel treatment of two Whig officers 
 who had fallen into the hands of the royal troops. 
 Irons were put on his hands and feet, he was chain- 
 ed to the floor of a close room, and fed on bread 
 
ROBERT LETTICE HOOPER. 
 
 129 
 
 and water. His residence on Staten Island was 
 well known as the old Billop House. It was here 
 that Lord Howe met Benjamin Franklin, John 
 Adams, and Edward Rutledge, a Committee of 
 Congress, in the vain hope of adjusting the difficul- 
 ties between the Colonies and the mother country. 
 After the peace, Billop's estate was confiscated, 
 and he went to the Province of New Brunswick, 
 where he became a member of the House of As- 
 sembly, and of the Council, and for many years 
 bore a prominent part in the administration of its 
 affairs. He died at St. John's, in 1827, at the age 
 of ninety. 1 
 
 Hooper, after his restoration to the Bench, con- 
 tinued to act as Chief Justice until his death, which 
 occurred in March, 1738. His remains were car- 
 ried to the city of New York, where they were 
 interred with every mark of respect. He had held 
 the office of Chief Justice, with a short interval, for 
 about fourteen years, and had so conducted him- 
 self as to win universal approbation and esteem. 
 
 Nothing could exceed the tranquillity, the con- 
 tentment, and repose, which pervaded the Province 
 during this period. It was the golden age of our 
 Colonial history. The most rapid advancement was 
 
 1 Sabine's Am. Loyalists, 160. 
 
 9 
 
130 SLAVE INSURRECTION. 
 
 making, in all the elements of prosperity and hap- 
 piness. The voice of faction, and the discords of 
 party, which had so long distracted the Assembly, 
 and perplexed the Courts, were hushed. The ad- 
 ministration of justice, flowing tranquilly, as it did, 
 through its accustomed channels, was productive 
 of no events of sufficient importance to claim our 
 attention. 
 
 Once only, was this scene of peace and security 
 broken in upon. It was upon the occasion of an 
 insurrection among the slaves, the only instance of 
 the kind recorded in the annals of New Jersey ; 
 and I refer to it, as another illustration of the mild 
 and humane spirit, which has ever characterized 
 the administration of our criminal justice. Slaves 
 formed at this time nearly a tenth part of our whole 
 population, being a larger proportion than at any 
 other period of our history. Whether the con- 
 spiracy was real or imaginary, no doubt was enter- 
 tained as to its existence ; and yet, notwithstand- 
 ing the rage and terror which such an event al- 
 ways excites, but a single one of the supposed con- 
 spirators was punished. This, says Oldmixon, ill- 
 naturedly enough, was "probably because they 
 could not well spare any more." But, as Grahame 
 observes, " it is happy for slaves, when their mas- 
 ters feel themselves unable to spare them, even to 
 
MILD TREATMENT OF SLAVES. 
 
 131 
 
 the cravings of fear and vengeance." And he re- 
 fers to an insurrection which took place about the 
 same time, in the British colony of Antigua, and 
 which, he observes, " was punished with a barba- 
 rity more characteristic of slave owners." 1 Three 
 of the ringleaders were broken on the wheel ; se- 
 venty-nine were burned alive ; and nine were sus- 
 pended in chains, and starved to death. And it 
 may be added, that a few years afterwards, a " ne- 
 gro plot," as it was called, was thought to have 
 been discovered in the city of New York ; and al- 
 though there is every reason to believe that the 
 whole affair was a delusion, yet fourteen unfortu- 
 nate wretches were burned at the stake, eighteen 
 hanged, and seventy-one transported ; besides 
 which, a poor Catholic priest, of blameless life 
 and of great learning, upon mere suspicion of be- 
 ing an accomplice, was executed, to glut the ven- 
 geance of an enraged and infatuated multitude. 2 
 
 But the mild treatment of slaves in New Jersey, 
 was always the subject of remark. 3 Never, in fact, 
 did slavery exist in a more mitigated form. Among 
 the Quakers, and more especially among the Dutch 
 farmers, slaves were generally treated as members 
 of the family ; living under the same roof, partak- 
 
 • Grahame's Col. Hist., II. 105. 3 Grahame's Col. Hist., I. 490. 
 
 2 Smith's N. Y., 434. 
 
132 DANIEL COXE. 
 
 ing of the same fare, and even sitting down at the 
 same table with their masters. 
 
 In 1733, during the administration of Governor 
 Crosby, it was provided by an act of Assembly, 
 that no person should be permitted to practise as 
 an attorney at law, but such as had served an ap- 
 prenticeship of at least seven years with some able 
 attorney licensed to practise, or had pursued the 
 study of the law for at least four years after com- 
 ing of full age. Before this, no previous term of 
 study had been required as a qualification for ad- 
 mission to the bar ; and the consequence was, that 
 many persons of mean parts and slender attain- 
 ments had found their way into the profession. 
 Under the wise and wholesome provisions of this 
 act, however, we shall soon find the Courts of 
 New Jersey adorned by men, who were lawyers 
 indeed. 
 
 In 1734, and while Hooper was Chief Justice, 
 Daniel Coxe was appointed an Associate Justice of 
 the Supreme Court. He was the son of Dr. Daniel 
 Coxe of London, the great Proprietor of West 
 Jersey, and Governor of that Province for some 
 years. 1 We have seen that he was a member of 
 
 1 Dr. Daniel Coxe, according to ed Edward Hunloke his deputy. In 
 
 Smith, owned twenty-two shares of 1691, he conveyed the Government 
 
 Propriety. He was Governor of West of West Jersey and territories to a 
 
 Jersey from 1687 to 1690, and appoint- company of Proprietaries, called the 
 
DANIEL COXE. I33 
 
 Lord Cornbury's Council, and Speaker of the 
 House of Assembly during the administration of 
 Governor Hunter. He was a man of an enterprising 
 character, and of great activity of mind, and his 
 name is entitled to a place in our Colonial history, 
 which it has not hitherto received. 
 
 In 1630, a patent had been obtained by Sir 
 Robert Heath, Attorney General to Charles the 
 First, of that extensive region of country then call- 
 ed Carolina. In 1663, however, this patent was 
 declared to be void, the purposes for which it was 
 given never having been carried out ; and a new 
 grant of it was made by Charles the Second to 
 some of his rapacious courtiers. But towards the 
 close of the seventeenth century, Dr. Coxe — who 
 speculated largely in North American proprietary 
 rights — contrived among other acquisitions, to pro- 
 cure an assignment of this old patent, which he 
 contended was a valid and subsisting one. 1 In 
 1699, he addressed a memorial to King William, 
 reciting the original patent, and setting forth his 
 pretensions to the Province embraced within it. 2 
 This memorial was referred to the Attorney Gene- 
 
 West Jersey Society, for the sum of ' Grahame's Col. Hist., I. 343. 
 nine thousand pounds sterling. — Note. 
 
 Smith's N. J., 190, 207. 2 For an abstract of this memorial 
 
 see Coxe's Carolana, p. 114. 
 
134 DANIEL COXE. 
 
 ral, who, after perusing the letters patent and con- 
 veyances produced by Dr. Coxe, reported in favor 
 of the validity of his title. 
 
 After his death, his son, Daniel Coxe, of whom 
 we are now speaking, revived his father's claim, 
 and made various unsuccessful efforts to colonize 
 the country embraced in it, and which he called Ca- 
 rolana, the name given to it in the original patent. 
 In the prosecution of this purpose he wrote a trea- 
 tise, which was published in 1722, 1 and which de- 
 serves more than a passing notice. It was entitled, 
 " A description of the English Province of Caro- 
 lana, by the Spaniards called Florida, and by the 
 French La Louisiane." The question as to his 
 title has long since lost its interest; and his de- 
 scription of the Province only shows how little was 
 then known of the geography of our country f but 
 
 1 Grahame says it was published carriage." The River Mississippi, 
 
 in the year 1741. But this was a re- through one of its branches, is shown 
 
 publication made after the death of to be navigable to its heads or springs, 
 
 Daniel Coxe. It was originally pub- which proceed from a ridge of hills, 
 
 lished in 1722, many years before his somewhat north of New Mexico, 
 
 death. passable by horse, foot, or wagon, in 
 
 9 The fifth chapter of the work un- less than half a day ; and on the other 
 
 folds " a new and curious discovery," side of this ridge, are said to be navi- 
 
 of an easy communication betwixt gable rivers, which run into a great 
 
 the River Mississippi and the South lake, that empties itself by another 
 
 Sea, which separates America from navigable river into the Sou^th Sea. 
 
 China, by means of several large ri- This ridge of hills, passable by horse, 
 
 vers and lakes. This easy commu- foot, or wagon, in less than half a 
 
 nication was by water, with the ex- day, was of course the Rocky Moun- 
 
 ception of "about half a day's land tains. — Coxe's Carolana,p. 62. 
 
DANIEL COXE'S PLAN OF UNION. 135 
 
 his preface to the work contains suggestions which, 
 as they connect themselves with the formation of 
 our American Union, cannot even now be deemed 
 unimportant. 
 
 He proposed, for the more effectual defence of 
 the British settlements against the hostile incur- 
 sions of the French and Indians, that all the North 
 American Colonies should be united under a legal, 
 regular, and firm establishment; over which, a 
 Lieutenant, or Supreme Governor, should be ap- 
 pointed to preside, and to whom the Governors of 
 each Colony were to be subordinate. He further 
 proposed, that two deputies should be annually 
 elected by the Council and Assembly of each Pro- 
 vince, who were to form a Great Council, or Ge- 
 neral Convention of the Estates of the Colonies ; 
 they were to be convened by the Governor Gene- 
 ral, to consult and advise for the general good of 
 all the Colonies, and to settle and appoint the re- 
 spective quotas or proportions of men and money 
 to be raised by each, for their mutual defence and 
 safety, as well as for offence and invasion of their 
 enemies in case of necessity ; the Governor Gene- 
 ral to have a negative upon the acts and proceed- 
 ings of the Great Council, but not to enact any 
 thing without their consent. It was further pro- 
 vided, that the quota or proportion allotted to each 
 
]3G DANIEL COXE'S PLAN OF UNION. 
 
 Colony, might nevertheless be levied and raised by 
 its own Assembly, in such manner as they should 
 judge most easy and convenient, and the circum- 
 stances of their affairs would permit. 1 
 
 " In this plan," says Grahame, " which is de- 
 veloped at considerable length, and supported with 
 great force of argument, we behold the germ of 
 that more celebrated, though less original project, 
 which was again ineffectually recommended by an 
 American statesman in the year 1754 ; and which, 
 not many years after, was actually embraced by 
 his countrymen, and rendered instrumental to the 
 achievement of their independence." 2 It was in 
 fact the very plan, which was recommended by Dr. 
 Franklin to the Convention, which assembled at 
 Albany, in 1754, for the purpose of forming a league 
 with the Six Nations, and concerting measures for 
 united operations against the encroachments of 
 
 1 " Let us consider," he says, " the interest, as they are under one gra- 
 fall of our ancestors, and grow wise cious sovereign, and with united 
 by their misfortunes. If the ancient forces were ready and willing to act 
 Britains had been united amongst in concert, and assist each other, 
 themselves, the Romans, in all pro- they would be better enabled to pro- 
 bability, had never become their mas- vide for and defend themselves against 
 ters : for as Caesar observed of them, any troublesome ambitious neighbor 
 dum singuli pugnabant, universi vin- or bold invader. For Union and Con- 
 cebantur, whilst they fought in sepa- cord increase and establish strength 
 rate bodies, the whole island was and power, whilst Division and Dis- 
 subdued. So, if the English Colo- cord have the contrary effect." — 
 nies in America were consolidated as Coxe's Carolana, Preface. 
 one body, and joined in one common 2 Grahame's Col. His , II. 199. 
 
DANIEL COXE. 
 
 137 
 
 the French. This plan of Dr. Franklin's has been 
 much talked of, as " the Albany Plan of Union," 
 figures largely in all our histories, and is thought 
 to have been one of those grand and original con- 
 ceptions for which he was so famous. And yet, it 
 was little more than a transcript of the design 
 sketched by Daniel Coxe many years before, and 
 which would seem to have originated with him. 
 To him, therefore, a citizen of New Jersey, and 
 one of the Judges of our Supreme Court, belongs 
 the credit of it, and the truth of history requires 
 that from him it should no longer be withheld. 
 The name of Franklin is encircled with such a glo- 
 rious plumage of its own, that it can well afford to 
 have this single borrowed feather plucked from it. 
 
 Daniel Coxe remained upon the Bench of the 
 Supreme Court until his death, which took place 
 at Trenton in the spring of 1739. His early career 
 in New Jersey was clouded, by his connexion with 
 Lord Cornbury, and his differences with Governor 
 Hunter ; but he lived to enjoy the confidence and 
 respect of the community ; and his judicial duties 
 appear to have been discharged with 'ability and 
 integrity. 
 
 The next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court 
 was Robert Hunter Morris. His commission bears 
 date on the seventeenth of March, 1738, and a few 
 
138 LEWIS MORRIS. 
 
 days afterwards he took his seat upon the Bench. 
 He was the son of Lewis Morris, of whom we have 
 had occasion more than once to speak, a man who 
 for more than half a century filled a most conspi- 
 cuous place in the annals both of New Jersey and 
 New York. 
 
 Having the misfortune when an infant to lose 
 both his parents, Lewis Morris was adopted by an 
 uncle, who took care of him until he came to man's 
 estate. His early years were wild and erratic. In 
 one of his youthful freaks, he strolled away to Vir- 
 ginia, and from there to the Island of Jamaica, 
 "where, to support himself, he set up for a scriv- 
 ener." After some years spent in this " vagabond 
 life," he returned to his uncle, by whom he was 
 kindly received, and who, dying soon after, left him 
 heir to his fortune. 1 He began his public career in 
 New Jersey, where he became a Judge of the 
 Court of Common Right under the Proprietary 
 Government, and after the Surrender, a member of 
 the Council, and a popular leader of the Assem- 
 bly. Upon receiving the appointment of Chief 
 Justice of the Supreme Court of New York, he re- 
 moved to that Province, and for many years took 
 a leading part in its affairs ; and now, after a long 
 
 1 Smith's N. Y., 202. 
 
LEWIS MORRIS. 139 
 
 absence, he returned to New Jersey, not to spend 
 in quietness and peace the remnant of a life which 
 was drawing to a close, but to enter upon a new 
 and troubled scene of action. He brought with 
 him a commission as Governor of New Jersey 
 alone, this Province being now, for the first time 
 since the Surrender, allowed to have a separate 
 Governor from New York. 
 
 But it is impossible for me, within the limits 
 which I have prescribed to myself, to do justice to 
 the character of either the Governor or the Chief 
 Justice. Ample materials exist for a life of both fa- 
 ther and son, and it is to be hoped that they will 
 ere long be collected, and embodied in some suita- 
 ble form. Interesting and valuable would their 
 biographies be. Their history would in fact be the 
 history of New Jersey for the first century of its 
 existence. Lewis Morris, in his youth, must have 
 been the companion of the first settlers of the 
 Colony, and Robert Hunter Morris, in his old age, 
 of the chief actors in the Revolution. Lewis Mor- 
 ris was one of the earliest Judges of the Court of 
 Common Right, and Robert Hunter Morris one of 
 the latest Chief Justices of the Supreme Colonial 
 Court. Their career, too, was so chequered, and 
 their features so strongly marked, that they present 
 a most tempting theme for discussion. But it is 
 
140 • LEWIS MORRIS. 
 
 one in which I cannot now indulge. I can only 
 glance at a few of the more striking incidents of 
 their life, and the more prominent traits of their 
 character. 
 
 Lewis Morris, notwithstanding his eccentrici- 
 ties, was a man of strong natural parts, which 
 were much improved by commerce with the world, 
 and the society of men of sense and knowledge, of 
 which he was passionately fond. But he was at 
 the same time a man of strong passions, which 
 were not always under his control, and of an ar- 
 dent, restless, and aspiring disposition. In his 
 youth he was a flaming patriot, and stood up man- 
 fully for the rights of the people ; but when in 
 power himself, no one was a fiercer stickler for 
 prerogative. He was indolent in the management 
 of his private affairs, but always busy about public 
 matters. He had considerable knowledge of the 
 law, but was much more deeply versed in the arts 
 of intrigue. In short, he was neither a profound 
 lawyer, nor an enlightend statesman, but a mere 
 politician, and his vices were the vices which be- 
 long to that class of men. But he was not defi- 
 cient in generous or manly qualities, nor incapable 
 of appreciating them in others. An inordinate love 
 of money was not one of his faults. The fortune 
 which he left behind him, he had inherited from his 
 
LEWIS MORRIS. 
 
 141 
 
 uncle. He was a kind husband, and an affection- 
 ate parent. 1 
 
 He was nearly seventy years old, when he was 
 appointed Governor of New Jersey ; but age had 
 not impaired the vigor of his faculties, nor cooled 
 the ardor of his passions, nor extinguished his fond- 
 ness for disputation. He was received by the peo- 
 ple and the Assembly with open arms. They re- 
 membered, with gratitude, the services which in 
 times past he had rendered to the Colony, and the 
 boldness and eloquence with which he had vindi- 
 cated their rights, against the tyrannical encroach- 
 ments of Cornbury. The first messages which 
 passed between him and the House, breathed no- 
 thing but mutual congratulation and confidence. 
 They expressed their deep sensibility of their sove- 
 reign's paternal care over them, in giving them a 
 Governor so exactly adapted to their wants and 
 circumstances ; a person so distinguished for his 
 profound knowledge of the law, and so eminent for 
 his skill in the affairs of government; one, in 
 short, who from his learning and ability, and from 
 his acquaintance with the nature and Constitution 
 of the Province, was every way qualified to render 
 them a happy and flourishing people. But the 
 
 1 Smith's N. J., p. 428. 
 
142 LEWIS MORRIS. 
 
 scene soon changed. In his very next message to 
 the House, he read them a long political lecture, in 
 which he assumed an arrogant and overbearing 
 tone, and concluded with a solemn, not to say irre- 
 verent warning, that they should now in this their 
 clay, follow the things that made for their peace, before 
 they were hid from their eyes. This the Assembly 
 did not much relish ; and evincing no disposition 
 to be dragooned into submission, they were soon 
 after dissolved. A new Assembly fared no better, 
 and from that time until his death, there was one 
 uninterrupted scene of contention and strife. The 
 Governor prided himself upon his great skill and 
 experience in political matters ; he could not brook 
 the slightest opposition to his views, even in the 
 smallest particular ; and he was passionately fond 
 of argumentation. With such a temper of mind, 
 and constantly brought into contact with an As- 
 sembly, the members of which were quite as un- 
 yielding in their opinions as he was, and who were 
 besides always ready to run a tilt with a royal 
 Governor, it was not to be wondered at, that a 
 continual series of explosions should take place. 
 
 There is some reason, however, for believing, 
 that in his personal intercourse with the members 
 of the Assembly, there was much to soften and re- 
 lieve the harshness and severity of their public pro- 
 
LEWIS MORRIS. 
 
 143 
 
 ceedings. A little incident related by Smith, fur- 
 nishes some evidence of this. During one of the 
 long and tedious sessions, when business had been 
 for some time at a stand, the Governor, meeting 
 one day in the street with Joseph Cooper, a repre- 
 sentative from the county of Gloucester, said to 
 him in a pleasant way, " Cooper, I wish you would 
 go home and send your wife in your place." Cooper 
 replied, that he would willingly do so upon one 
 condition, and that was, that the Governor would 
 also resign in favor of his wife. Nor was this a 
 pointless jest. For the Governor's lady — whom he 
 had married in early life, and with whom he had 
 lived most happily for many years — was really a 
 most sensible and accomplished woman, and there 
 is little doubt, that if she could have been permit- 
 ted to hold the reins of government in her own 
 hands, she would have managed the troublesome 
 Assemblies much better than her husband did. 
 
 Governor Morris died on the twenty-first of 
 May, 1746, at his place, called Kingsbury, near 
 Trenton. He had twelve children, the two eldest of 
 which were Lewis and Robert Hunter. Lewis was 
 the father of Lewis Morris, one of the signers of 
 the Declaration of Independence, and of the still 
 more celebrated Gouverneur Morris, whose life has 
 been written by Mr. Sparks. 
 
144 ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS. 
 
 Robert Hunter Morris held the office of Chief 
 Justice of New Jersey for six-and-twenty years, 
 although, as we shall see, he did not confine him- 
 self very closely to the Bench. Of all the Chief 
 Justices of our Supreme Court, prior to the Revo- 
 lution, he was by far the most accomplished. Along 
 with much of his father's genius, he inherited some 
 of his peculiarities, the most prominent of which 
 was his love of disputation, a propensity not likely 
 to be checked by the profession which he em- 
 braced. He was brought up under the care of an 
 excellent mother, and enjoyed all the advantages of 
 a liberal education. He had strong natural pow- 
 ers, great quickness of apprehension, and a most 
 retentive memory. Although born to the posses- 
 sion of fortune, yet this did not — as it too often 
 does — repress the energies of his mind, or abate 
 his thirst for knowledge. In the gifts of person, na- 
 ture had been as bountiful to him, as in those of in- 
 tellect and fortune. He was comely in his appear- 
 ance, graceful in his manners, and of a most impos- 
 ing presence. He had a smooth flow of words, 
 and was distinguished, beyond most men of his 
 time, by his powers of conversation. 
 
 With these advantages natural and acquired, it 
 is not to be wondered at, that he should have risen 
 rapidly to distinction. He soon became a member 
 
ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS. I45 
 
 of Council, and at an early age, was appointed 
 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It is in this 
 capacity, that we are chiefly to consider him ; and 
 while there are no records of his judicial opinions, 
 yet he left behind him the reputation of having been 
 a learned and upright Judge. " He came young," 
 says Smith, " into the office of Chief Justice, stuck 
 to punctuality in the forms of the Courts, reduced 
 the pleadings to precision and method, and pos- 
 sessed the great qualities of his office, knowledge 
 and integrity, in more perfection than had often 
 been known in the colonies." 
 
 Had no other office engrossed his attention — 
 whatever might have been said of his private irre- 
 gularities — his public character had been without a 
 shade. But it is not surprising, that the reputation 
 of a country lawyer, and a provincial judge, should 
 not have been sufficient to fill the measure of his 
 ambition. He soon began to look abroad for dis- 
 tinction. In 1749, he visited England. A plan 
 was believed to be in contemplation, for the pur- 
 pose of placing New Jersey and New York again 
 under the same Governor. Perhaps it was thought, 
 that the experiment of having a separate Governor 
 for New Jersey had not worked well ; and that the 
 more the people of New Jersey saw of their Gov- 
 ernors, the less they were apt to like them. It was 
 10 
 
146 ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS. 
 
 to protest against any such design, and to prevent the 
 consummation of it, that the Chief Justice — at the 
 request of the Council, of which he was a member 
 — went to England. This at least, was the osten- 
 sible object of his visit. Doubtless, he had other 
 ends in view, of a more private and personal na- 
 ture. He remained abroad for several years. He 
 was treated in England with much respect and 
 consideration. With his talents and accomplish- 
 ments, the graces of his manner, and his powers of 
 conversation, he was fitted to shine in any society. 
 But it was not pleasure alone that he was in 
 pursuit of. He was ambitious of political distinc- 
 tion, and courted office. It was proposed to make 
 him Lieutenant Governor of New York; and 
 among the papers of the Society, there is the 
 copy of a letter from him to Lord Lincoln, in 
 which he urges, that the appointment should be 
 hastened, if it was intended to confer it upon him. 
 For some reason or other, however, this appoint- 
 ment was not made. But a higher honor awaited 
 him. He was a friend of John' and Thomas Penn, 
 the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, and saw much 
 of them while in England. Hamilton, the Gov- 
 ernor of that Province — worn out by the incessant 
 disputes with the Assembly, to which his adher- 
 ence to proprietary instructions subjected him — 
 
ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS. 
 
 147 
 
 declared, that he would serve no longer, and in- 
 sisted that a successor should be at once appoint- 
 ed. The office was thereupon tendered to Mr. 
 Morris, and he undertook the perilous task of at- 
 tempting to wield that " fierce democraty." 
 
 In 1754, after an absence of five years, he return- 
 ed, bearing the commission of Governor of Penn- 
 sylvania. Soon after his arrival, he met in New 
 York with Benjamin Franklin, a member of the As- 
 sembly of Pennsylvania, then on his way to Boston. 
 The interview which took place between them was 
 so characteristic, that I will give it in the words of 
 Franklin himself. 
 
 After giving an account of his meeting in New 
 York with Mr. Morris, who had just arrived from 
 England with a commission to supersede Mr. Ham- 
 ilton, he says : — " Mr. Morris asked me if I thought 
 he must expect as uncomfortable an administration. 
 I said no ; you may, on the contrary, have a very 
 comfortable one, if you will only take care not to 
 enter into any dispute with the Assembly." " My 
 dear friend," said he, pleasantly, " how can you 
 advise my avoiding disputes ? you know I love dis- 
 puting ; it is one of my greatest pleasures ; how- 
 ever, to show the regard I have for your counsel, 
 I promise you I will, if possible, avoid them." And 
 Franklin adds : — " He had some reason for loving 
 
148 ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS. 
 
 to dispute, being eloquent, an acute sophister, and 
 therefore generally successful in argumentative 
 conversation. He had been brought up to it from 
 a boy, his father, as I have heard, accustoming his 
 children to dispute with one another for his diver- 
 sion, while sitting at table after dinner ; but I think 
 the practice was not wise ; for, in the course of 
 my observation, those disputing, contradicting, and 
 confuting people are generally unfortunate in their 
 affairs. They get victory sometimes, but they 
 never get good-will, which would be of more use to 
 them. We parted, he going to Philadelphia, and I 
 to Boston. In returning, I met at New York with 
 the votes of the Assembly of Pennsylvania, by 
 which it appeared that, notwithstanding his pro- 
 mise to me, he and the House were already in high 
 contention ; and it was a continual battle between 
 them as long as he retained the Government. I 
 had my share of it ; for as soon as I got back to 
 my seat in the Assembly, I was put on every com- 
 mittee for answering his speeches and messages, 
 and by the committees always desired to make the 
 draughts. Our answers, as well as his messages, 
 were often tart, and sometimes indecently abusive ; 
 and as he knew I wrote for the Assembly, one 
 might have imagined that, when we met, we could 
 hardly avoid cutting throats. But he was so good- 
 
I ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS. 149 
 
 natured a man, that no personal difference between 
 him and me was occasioned by the contest, and we 
 often dined together." 
 
 Here was in fact repeated, upon a new theatre, 
 and with some additional parts, the very same 
 scenes, which, not many years before, had been 
 enacted by his father and the Assembly of New 
 Jersey. Well had he learned the lessons which 
 his father had given him in the art of disputation. 
 In one respect, however, he was more unfortunate 
 than his father ; for in this war of words, he was 
 destined to encounter in the person of Franklin, a 
 foeman, whose blade was as keen as his own, and 
 who was quite as much a master of the art of 
 fence. 
 
 Upon his receiving the appointment of Gov- 
 ernor of Pennsylvania, he tendered his resignation 
 as Chief Justice, in a letter addressed to the Lords 
 of Trade, a draft of which, bearing date on the 
 twenty-ninth of March, 1754, is among the Ruther- 
 furd Collection of Papers. I am indebted to Mr. 
 Whitehead for some interesting extracts from this 
 letter, containing a variety of suggestions touching 
 appointments to office in New Jersey. He dwells 
 upon the importance of filling the office of Attorney 
 General with a man of character and abilities — 
 one, " whose knowledge and standing in the law, 
 
150 ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS. 
 
 may render him respected by the Courts, and en- 
 able him to act up to the duties of his office." He 
 recommends for that station David Ogden, as a 
 man of character and fortune, of more than twenty 
 years' standing at the Bar, among the first in the 
 profession, and firmly attached to the Government. 
 He names as his successor in the office of Chief 
 Justice, Richard Saltar ; " a man," he says, " of 
 understanding and fortune, a firm friend to the 
 Government, and will act in that station with ho- 
 nor to himself, and justice to the public." He did 
 not think Samuel Nevill would do; "his circum- 
 stances," he observes, " are so low, and he is, from 
 that reason, unfit to be trusted in the principal seat 
 of justice." It is very evident, that Mr. Morris 
 esteemed the possession of wealth an indispensable 
 requisite for high office. 
 
 However, the resignation of the Chief Justice 
 was not accepted, and he held the office the whole 
 time he was Governor of Pennsylvania. But the 
 Bench of the Supreme Court was, in the mean- 
 while, ably filled, by Nevill and Saltar, the associate 
 Justices. 
 
 In 1756, Mr. Morris relinquished his situation 
 as Governor of Pennsylvania, and resumed his du- 
 ties as Chief Justice. But the next year, 1757, we 
 find him making another visit to England, and dur- 
 
WILLIAM AYNSLEY. 151 
 
 ing his absence, William Aynsley was appointed 
 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. As Mr. Mor- 
 ris held his commission during good behavior, it 
 is not known upon what ground a vacancy was 
 thought to exist. The appointment of Aynsley 
 may perhaps be accounted for, by the peculiar cir- 
 cumstances attending the Government of the Pro- 
 vince at that time. Upon the death of Governor 
 Belcher — which took place on the thirty-first of 
 August, 1757 — the administration, of right, de- 
 volved upon John Reading, the first named of the 
 Councillors. His age and infirmities, however, 
 were such, that he at first refused to act, and it 
 was with the utmost reluctance that he was at last 
 prevailed upon to assume the duties. For more 
 than a month, the Government was administered 
 by the whole Council. It was not until the thir- 
 teenth of June, 1758, that Governor Bernard ar- 
 rived. It was during this interregnum, if it may be 
 so called, that Aynsley was appointed. He took 
 his seat upon the Bench in March, 1758, and acted 
 as Chief Justice during that and the following term. 
 But he did not long survive his appointment: he 
 died in the latter part of 1758, or early in 1759. 
 
 Shortly after the death of Aynsley, it was an- 
 nounced, that one Nathaniel Jones had been ap- 
 pointed Chief Justice of New Jersey ; that he had 
 
152 NATHANIEL JONES. 
 
 kissed the hands of his sovereign George the Third, 
 and was about to sail for America to enter upon the 
 duties of his office. Who this gentleman was, I 
 have not been able to ascertain ; but, in all proba- 
 bility, he was some briefless barrister of London, 
 who had contrived in some way to make himself 
 useful to the Government, and who was to be re- 
 warded by the Chief-Justiceship of New Jersey. 
 He arrived at New York, on the twelfth of Novem- 
 ber, 1759, and at once proceeded to Amboy, where 
 he received his commission from Governor Ber- 
 nard. Being thus invested with his new dignity, 
 he made a visit to Elizabethtown, where he was 
 received with much ceremony. A public enter- 
 tainment was given to him, and the Mayor and 
 civil authorities presented an address, congratulat- 
 ing him upon his safe arrival in the Colony. To 
 this he returned a flattering response, promising 
 himself much happiness from a residence among so 
 "humane and religious a people," and pledging 
 himself to a faithful performance of the duties of 
 his office. 
 
 At the next term of the Supreme Court, which 
 was held in March, 1760, he appeared, produced 
 his commission, and prayed that the oath of office 
 might be administered to him. But here an unex- 
 pected difficulty arose. The seat of the Chief Jus- 
 
NATHANIEL JONES. 153 
 
 tice was already occupied. Robert Hunter Morris 
 was again upon the Bench, claiming to be still the 
 Chief Justice of New Jersey. Judge Nevill was by 
 his side. It was altogether an awkward business, 
 a very embarrassing affair. On the one hand, Mr. 
 Jones had his commission read, by which he was 
 appointed Chief Justice in the room of William 
 Aynsley deceased. He also referred to a number 
 of entries in the minutes of the Court, from which 
 it appeared, that at the Term of March, 1758, the 
 commission of Aynsley as Chief Justice had been 
 openly read, and that he had actually sat upon the 
 Bench during that and the following Term. This 
 was certainly a very strong case for Mr. Jones. 
 But on the other hand, Mr. Morris produced his 
 commission, bearing date on the seventeenth day of 
 March, 1738, appointing him to the office of Chief 
 Justice, in place of Robert Lettice Hooper, to hold 
 and enjoy the same during good behavior. 
 
 In this dilemma, it became necessary for the 
 Court to decide. Mr. Morris of course took no 
 part in the decision, and the opinion of the Court 
 was pronounced by Mr. Justice Nevill. It was to 
 this effect; that, inasmuch as the commission of 
 Mr. Morris conferred upon him a freehold in the 
 office of Chief Justice of the Province of New Jer- 
 sey, and nothing had been shown to divest him 
 
154 NATHANIEL JONES— ROBERT H. MORRIS. 
 
 thereof, the Court could not administer the oath of 
 office to Mr. Jones, or admit him to enter upon the 
 execution of the duties of Chief Justice ; but would 
 leave his right, if he had any, to be determined by 
 a due course of law. Mr. Morris at the same time 
 stated, from the Bench, that David Ogden and 
 Charles Read would appear for him, and defend 
 any suit that might be brought against him, touch- 
 ing his right to the office. 1 Thus ended for the 
 time this notable controversy; nor does it appear 
 ever to have been revived. Mr. Jones quietly put 
 his commission in his pocket, and returned whence 
 he came, not finding his hopes of "happiness" 
 likely to be realized in this New World, and proba- 
 bly concluding, that the people of New Jersey were 
 not quite so " humane and religious," as he had 
 taken them to be. 
 
 Mr. Morris continued to occupy, without inter- 
 ruption, the seat of Chief Justice until his death. 
 He was too important a man in the Colony, and 
 too good a friend to the Government, to be discard- 
 ed. The appointment of Jones had been in all 
 probability made, under some misapprehension, or 
 from a belief that Mr. Morris had no wish to return 
 to the Bench. 
 
 1 Minutes of Supreme Court. 
 
ROBERT H. MORRIS— SAMUEL NEVILL. 155 
 
 But we must hasten to the close of the Chief 
 Justice's career. It was a sudden and a melan- 
 choly one. On the morning of the twenty-seventh 
 of January, 1764, he left Morrisiana, in fine health 
 and spirits, on a visit to Shrewsbury, where he had 
 a cousin residing, the wife of the clergyman of the 
 parish. In the evening, there was a dance in the 
 village, and all the respectable families of the 
 neighborhood were assembled. The Chief Justice 
 made one of the gay throng, and entered heartily, 
 as was his wont, into the festivities of the occa- 
 sion. He led out the parson's wife, opened the 
 ball, danced down six couple, and then— without a 
 word, or a groan, or a sigh— fell dead upon the 
 
 floor. 
 
 Such is the sad story of his end, given in a let- 
 ter from William Smith, the Provincial historian of 
 New York, to his friend Horatio Gates, which is 
 preserved in the library of the New York Histori- 
 cal Society. And he adds, " Unhappy Jersey has 
 lost her best ornament." 
 
 Samuel Nevill, was second Judge of the Su- 
 preme Court, while Morris was the Chief Justice. 
 He was a son of John Nevill, of Stafford in Eng- 
 land ; had received a liberal education ; and previ- 
 ous to his coming to America, had been editor of 
 the London Morning Post. His sister was the 
 
156 SAMUEL NEVILL. 
 
 second wife of Peter Sonmans — of whom we have 
 already spoken — and who dying in March, 1734, 
 left the whole of his estate — including his large 
 proprietary interests in New Jersey — to his widow. 
 She died in the month of December, of the follow- 
 ing year, intestate, and Samuel Nevill, being her 
 eldest brother, inherited the property. He at once 
 embarked for New Jersey, to look after the estate, 
 to which he had thus fallen heir ; and arriving here 
 in May, 1736, took up his residence at Amboy. 
 He soon rose to eminence, and became a man of 
 much influence in the Colony. He was for many 
 years a member of the Assembly, and during the 
 greater part of the time, Speaker of the House. 
 He was the strenuous supporter of the rights of 
 the Proprietors of East Jersey, in their difficulties 
 with the Elizabethtown and Newark rioters, and 
 some of the speeches which he delivered upon the 
 occasion in the Assembly, were published in con- 
 nexion with the Bill in Chancery, and have thus 
 been preserved. He was also the principal cham- 
 pion of the Assembly, in their long contests with 
 Governor Morris, and penned some of those caus- 
 tic addresses in reply to the speeches of his Ex- 
 cellency. This may perhaps account for the dis- 
 paraging terms in which he is spoken of by Robert 
 Hunter Morris, in his letter to the Lords of Trade, 
 
SAMUEL NEVILL. 157 
 
 before referred to. In 1748, he was appointed a 
 Judge of the Supreme Court, and for a period of 
 sixteen years, continued to discharge the duties of 
 that office with great fidelity. While upon the 
 Bench, he published, under the direction of the 
 General Assembly, an edition of the laws of the 
 Province, in two volumes ; containing all the acts 
 of Assembly from the Surrender, in 1702, to the 
 first of George the First, 1761. The first vol- 
 ume was published in 1752, and the second in 
 1761. 
 
 Judge Nevill was not only a man of ability, but 
 of considerable literary pretensions. In January, 
 1758, appeared the first number of " The New 
 American Magazine." It was printed by James 
 Parker, published at Woodbridge, in the county of 
 Middlesex, and edited by the Hon. Samuel Nevill, 
 under the coofhomen of Sylvanus Americanus. It 
 was the first periodical of any description that was 
 published in New Jersey, and the second magazine 
 of the kind on the continent. It continued to make 
 its appearance regularly until March, 1760, when it 
 was discontinued for want of patronage. Altoge- 
 ther it was a very creditable publication. 1 
 
 Upon the death of Mr. Morris, Judge Nevill 
 
 1 Barber and Howe's N. J. Hist. Col., 44. 
 
158 CHARLES READ. 
 
 would probably have been appointed Chief Justice, 
 had not his advanced age, and growing infirmities, 
 in a great measure disqualified him. He died, in 
 fact, but a few months after the Chief Justice, in 
 the sixty-seventh year of his age, leaving behind 
 him a name, unsullied by the slightest stain, and 
 which deserves to be held in grateful remembrance. 
 Charles Read was appointed to succeed Robert 
 Hunter Morris as Chief Justice. His commission 
 is dated on the twentieth of February, 1764, and at 
 the March Term following, he took his seat upon 
 the Bench. William Smyth, in his letter to Hora- 
 tio Gates, speaks of this appointment as an objec- 
 tionable one, and after commenting upon it at some 
 length, exclaims ; " Franklin after Boone — after 
 Morris, Read ! Patience, kind heavens !" On the 
 other hand, Lord Stirling addressed a letter to 
 Governor Franklin, shortly after the* death of Mr. 
 Morris, in which he recommends Charles Read as 
 a very suitable person to fill the office of Chief Jus- 
 tice. 1 He officiated as Chief Justice, however, but 
 a few months. Whether the appointment gave 
 dissatisfaction, or was designed only as a tempo- 
 rary one, the fact is, he was soon displaced, and 
 consented again to take the place of second Judge, 
 
 1 Duer's Life of Lord Stirling, 80. 
 
FREDERICK SMYTH. 159 
 
 which he had held for some time before Mr. Mor- 
 ris's death. 
 
 The last Chief Justice of the Colony of New 
 Jersey was Frederick Smyth. He was appointed 
 on the seventeenth of October, 1764, and continued 
 in office until the adoption of the Constitution of 
 1776. I need not say, that this was a most event- 
 ful period in the history of the Colonies. The 
 Stamp Act was passed soon after his elevation to 
 the Bench, and the Declaration of Independence 
 was adopted a few days after his retirement 
 from it. 
 
 New Jersey shared with her sister Colonies, in 
 the indignation and alarm which was occasioned 
 by the passage of the Stamp Act, and nowhere did 
 it encounter a more vigorous, though peaceful re- 
 sistance. The lawyers of New Jersey were the 
 first to adopt measures for a systematic opposition 
 to the use of stamps. At the September Term of 
 the Supreme Court, 1765, a meeting of the Bar 
 was held at Amboy, for the purpose of considering 
 what steps it would be proper to pursue upon the 
 arrival of the stamps, which were then shortly ex- 
 pected. There was a full and general attendance, 
 and after a free interchange of sentiment, it was 
 unanimously resolved, that they would not consent 
 to make use of the stamps, under any circum- 
 
160 THE LAWYERS OPPOSE THE STAMP ACT. 
 
 stances, or for any purposes whatever. The effect 
 of such a resolution, was to put an entire stop to 
 the transaction of all legal business, and thus ren- 
 der the odious act wholy unproductive as a source 
 of revenue. It was the most efficient measure, 
 therefore, that could have been adopted, and the 
 more creditable to them, inasmuch as they were 
 likely to be the principal sufferers by it. Their 
 wise and patriotic example was much applauded at 
 the time, and was soon followed in other Colonies ; 
 but, like every thing else of interest and import- 
 ance connected with New Jersey, it hardly receives 
 a passing notice on the page of American history. 
 The truth is, Massachusetts and Virginia seem to 
 have monopolized, in a great measure, all the glory 
 of the Revolution. 
 
 On the twentieth of September, the day after 
 this meeting, Chief Justice Smyth desired the mem- 
 bers of the Bar to attend him in a body, that he 
 might lay before them some matters for their con- 
 sideration. A report had been in circulation, that 
 he had solicited the appointment of distributor of 
 stamps. This he denied upon his honor. After 
 setting himself right upon that point, he proceeded 
 to propose to them certain questions, to which he 
 desired a separate answer from each. 
 
 The first was ; — " Whether if the stamps should 
 
QUESTIONS OF CHIEF JUSTICE SMYTH. 161 
 
 arrive, and be placed at the city of Burlington, by 
 or after the first of November, they would, as prac- 
 titioners, agree to purchase them for their neces- 
 sary legal proceedings ?" To this they answered, 
 " that they would not, but rather suffer their pri- 
 vate interests to give way to the public good, pro- 
 testing against all riotous proceedings." 
 
 The next question was ; — " Whether in their 
 opinion, the duties could possibly be paid in gold 
 and silver ?" They answered, " that they could not 
 be paid in gold and silver, even for one year." 
 
 The last question was ; — " Whether, as the act 
 required the Governor and Chief Justice to super- 
 intend the distribution of stamps, he would be 
 obliged to accept the appointment of distributor, 
 in case the Governor should fix upon him for that 
 office ?" Their answer was, " that the Governor 
 was not empowered by the act to appoint ; that if 
 he was, it was left to the option of the Chief Jus- 
 tice whether to accept or not ; and that it would 
 be incompatible with his office as Chief Justice." 
 
 The Chief Justice seems to have been entirely 
 satisfied with these answers, and to have acted 
 upon the advice thus given him. In fact, before 
 the arrival of the day on which the act was to take 
 effect, every distributor of stamps in America had 
 resigned. The effect of these proceedings was to 
 11 
 
162 ANOTHER MEETING OF THE BAR. 
 
 produce a complete cessation of all legal business. 
 The stamps arrived, but no one would purchase 
 them. The Courts of justice were shut up. 
 
 But this state of things could not last long. 
 The people were becoming impatient of its continu- 
 ance, and tired of mere passive resistance. Asso- 
 ciations had sprung up in nearly all the Colonies, 
 under the title of " The Sons of Liberty," who were 
 in favor of setting the provisions of the act at open 
 defiance. Efforts were made to induce the lawyers 
 of New Jersey to transact business without the use 
 of stamps. Another meeting of the Bar was pro- 
 posed. Heretofore, all had been done in perfect 
 harmony. There had not been a single dissenting 
 voice. But now, the line began for the first time to 
 be drawn, between those who thought they had 
 gone far enough, and those who were willing to go 
 farther. We have a letter from David Ogden, to 
 Philip Kearney, in which he declares himself op- 
 posed to another meeting of the Bar, and expresses 
 the hope, that they would continue to pursue the 
 peaceful method they had adopted, until the Stamp 
 Act was repealed. 
 
 The meeting, nevertheless, took place. It was 
 held at New Brunswick, on the thirteenth of Feb- 
 ruary, 1766. The Sons of Liberty, to the number 
 of several hundred, took care to be present at the 
 
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE BAR. 
 
 163 
 
 same time, and united in a written request to the 
 members of the Bar, urging them to proceed to bu- 
 siness as usual without stamps, and to use their in- 
 fluence to have the Courts of justice opened. The 
 meeting, while they agreed to preserve that happy 
 state of peace and tranquillity which had thus far 
 been maintained in the Province, at the same time 
 resolved, that if the Stamp Act was not repealed 
 by the first day of April following, they would re- 
 sume their practice as usual ; and they appointed a 
 Committee of two, to wait upon the Sons of Li- 
 berty, and assure them, that if the act was not sus- 
 pended or repealed, they would join them in oppos- 
 ing it with their lives and fortunes. 
 
 These were bold and spirited resolutions. Even 
 in Massachusetts — generally in advance of the other 
 Colonies — the most patriotic of the lawyers deem- 
 ed it impossible to conduct judicial business, in 
 open disregard of an act of Parliament, however 
 unjust and tyrannical it might be ; and nothing but 
 a resolution of the Assembly emboldened them to 
 venture upon such a step. 1 And in Philadelphia, 
 at a numerous meeting of the members of the Bar, 
 held a short time before the Stamp Act was to go 
 into operation, upon the question being submitted, 
 
 1 Grahame's Col. Hist., II. 405. 
 
164 COMPLAINTS AGAINST LAWYERS. 
 
 whether they should intermit all business, or carry 
 it on without stamps and set the act at defiance, 
 only three individuals were found, who were will- 
 ing to risk the consequences of going on without 
 stamps. John Dickinson strenuously opposed the 
 adoption of the measure, upon the ground, that the 
 Colonies were bound by all acts of Parliament. 1 
 Before the arrival of the day, however, named in 
 the resolutions of the Bar of New Jersey, the 
 Stamp Act was repealed, and all further proceed- 
 ings upon their part became unnecessary. 
 
 In 1769 and 70, and while Chief Justice Smyth 
 was on the Bench, the most serious complaints 
 were made against the lawyers of New Jersey, fol- 
 lowed, I regret to say, in some instances, by tu- 
 mults and riots of the most disgraceful character. 
 For many years, complaints had been made, from 
 time to time, of the abuses practised by attorneys, 
 of the multitude of lawsuits, and the expenses of 
 judicial proceedings. During Governor Morris's 
 administration, repeated efforts were made by the 
 Assembly to correct these evils, so far as they were 
 thought to have any real existence ; but the mea- 
 sures which they adopted for that purpose, were 
 not so fortunate as to meet with the approbation 
 
 1 Sanderson's Biography of the Signers, II. 312. 
 
COMPLAINTS AGAINST LAWYERS. J65 
 
 of the Governor and Council. In Governor Frank- 
 lin's time, these complaints grew louder, and be- 
 came more frequent, until, in 1769, so many memo- 
 rials were presented to the Assembly upon the sub- 
 ject, and in language so strong, as to indicate a 
 very wide-spread excitement. A pecuniary crisis 
 had arrived in the Colony, not unlike one of those 
 periods of financial embarrassment, through which 
 we have since occasionally passed. Money was 
 scarce, prices were low, business in all its branches 
 depressed, and property of all kinds greatly depre- 
 ciated. Creditors grew clamorous, debtors were 
 unable to pay, prosecutions were set on foot, and 
 judgments and executions followed as of course. 
 The people — as is not unusual in such cases — 
 looking round for the causes of their sufferings, and 
 not taking the trouble to search very far for them — 
 ascribed them all to the lawyers. It never seems 
 to have occurred to them, that the multiplicity of 
 lawsuits — which was the principal topic of com- 
 plaint — might have been the effect, rather than the 
 cause, of the universal decay of trade, and the en- 
 tire prostration of the business of the country. 
 
 However, the excitement was not the less vio- 
 lent, because it was unreasonable. The table of the 
 Assembly groaned beneath the weight of petitions 
 which were daily presented, praying for relief, and 
 
]QQ COMPLAINTS AGAINST LAWYERS. 
 
 invoking vengeance on the heads of the attorneys. 
 It was almost impossible for the House not to 
 catch the contagion. Individual members of the 
 profession were pointed out by name, and charges 
 preferred against them. Among others, Mr. Ber- 
 nardus Legrange was accused of having taken ex- 
 orbitant fees in certain suits brought by him, and 
 was ordered to answer at the bar of the House. 
 He appeared, and delivered a written defence, and 
 offered in evidence a number of affidavits. But 
 the Assembly — not unwilling perhaps to find a vic- 
 tim, with which to appease the popular fury — re- 
 solved, that the charges had been sustained, and 
 ordered their Speaker to reprimand him at the bar 
 of the House — which was accordingly done. The 
 ground upon which he appears to have been con- 
 victed was, that the Chief Justice, and his associ- 
 ate on the Bench, had certified to the House, that 
 the fees complained of were unnecessary in the 
 prosecution of the suits, and not warranted by law. 
 But it turned out that the Judges had been entirely 
 mistaken, and Mr. Lagrange had the satisfaction, a 
 short time afterwards, of laying before the Assem- 
 bly, certificates of the Chief Justice, and his asso- 
 ciate, Charles Read, stating, that upon further ex- 
 amination, they had found the bills of costs in ques- 
 tion fully warranted by the practice of the oldest 
 
COMPLAINTS AGAINST LAWYERS. 
 
 167 
 
 and most respectable practitioners in the Province, 
 and that in fact they were lower than were gene- 
 rally taxed in like cases. These certificates the 
 House ordered to be entered on their minutes, and 
 thus Mr. Lagrange stood wholly exonerated. 
 
 Similar charges were made against Samuel Al- 
 linson ; but he also produced certificates — signed 
 by the Justices of the Supreme Court, and three of 
 the most distinguished members of the Bar, Rich- 
 ard Stockton, James Kinsey, and John Lawrence, 1 
 setting forth, that they had carefully inspected the 
 bills of costs complained of, and found them to be 
 in every particular correct. With these the House 
 were satisfied, and he was accordingly acquitted. 
 
 But the members of the New Jersey Bar — jeal- 
 ous as they have always been of their honor — were 
 not disposed to sit down quietly, while the whole 
 Province was ringing with the most exaggerated 
 charges against them. A memorial was therefore 
 presented to the House, by James Kinsey and 
 Samuel Allinson, on behalf of themselves and others, 
 practitioners of law in the Province, referring to 
 the petitions presented and the accusations made 
 against them, and praying leave to be heard before 
 the House, not only to answer the charges of the 
 
 1 John Lawrence resided in the of the gallant Captain James Law- 
 city of Burlington, and was the father rence of the navy. 
 
16 8 JOSEPH REED. 
 
 petitioners, but also to show whence the oppres- 
 sions of the people really proceeded. The House 
 readily acceded to the prayer of the memorialists, 
 and on the twenty-fifth of October, 1769, James 
 Kinsey and Samuel Allinson appeared at the bar of 
 the Assembly, to plead the cause of the lawyers of 
 New Jersey. Nor did they stand alone ; but asso- 
 ciated with them was one, who although not of 
 many years standing at the Bar, had already reach- 
 ed the foremost rank in his profession ; and whose 
 subsequent career in another field of action was so 
 full of honor and glory. I allude to Joseph Reed, 
 a native of New Jersey, and then a lawyer in full 
 practice at Trenton ; but who afterwards became 
 Adjutant General of the continental army, a mem- 
 ber of Congress, and President of the Executive 
 Council of Pennsylvania ; the man, who when of- 
 fered the sum of ten thousand pounds sterling, and 
 the best office in the gift of the crown in America, 
 if he would bring about a reunion between the two 
 countries, made that memorable reply which has 
 immortalized him ; — / am not worth purchasing, but 
 such as I am, the King of Great Britain is not rich 
 enough to buy me. 1 No report of their argument 
 
 1 Joseph Reed was born at Trenton New Jersey, in 1757. He read law un- 
 
 on the 27th of August, 1741. He was der the care of Richard Stockton, and 
 
 educated at Princeton, where he took was admitted to practise in the Courts 
 
 his Bachelor's degree in the College of of New Jersey in May, 1763. He 
 
SAMUEL TUCKER. 
 
 169 
 
 has been preserved, but from the character of the 
 advocates, we may well presume that it was an ef- 
 fort worthy of the occasion, and that they triumph- 
 antly vindicated the profession from the aspersions 
 which had been cast upon it. 
 
 There was one member of the Assembly, who 
 seems to have taken a very active part in foment- 
 ing the complaints against the lawyers. This was 
 Samuel Tucker, who in 1776, although President 
 of the Convention which framed the Constitution 
 of the State, and Chairman of the Committee of 
 Safety, yet took a protection from the British, and 
 renounced allegiance to his country. Now it so 
 happened, that Samuel Tucker had been Sheriff of 
 the county of Hunterdon ; and as he was so ready 
 to charge the attorneys with having taken illegal 
 fees, they had the curiosity to look into some of 
 his bills as Sheriff, to ascertain how far he had a 
 right to stand up as the accuser of others. The re- 
 sult of their researches was, the discovery, that Mr. 
 Tucker, while Sheriff, had upon several occasions, 
 
 then went to England, to complete return removed to Philadelphia. His 
 
 his professional education, and re- subsequent career is known to all. 
 
 mained a student in the Middle Tern- He died in 1785. His Life and Cor- 
 
 ple for two years. In 1765, he re- respondence, by his grandson, Wil- 
 
 turned to America, and commenced liam B. Reed, of Philadelphia, pub- 
 
 the practice of the law in his native lished in 1847, is one of the most val- 
 
 place. He pursued his profession in uable contributions which has been 
 
 New Jersey until 1770, when he made to our Revolutionary history, 
 again went to England, and upon his 
 
170 SAMUEL TUCKER. 
 
 charged the most exorbitant fees, without the 
 slightest color of law. The matter was at once 
 brought before the Assembly, and Mr. Tucker was 
 now arraigned as the criminal. A memorial, charg- 
 ing him with these illegal exactions, was presented 
 to the House, signed by James Kinsey, Samuel Al- 
 linson, and John Lawrence, in which they declare, 
 that the execution fees demanded by Sheriffs were 
 the most grievous oppression under which the peo- 
 ple labored — that while attorneys were obliged to 
 have their bills of costs taxed by the Court, and 
 filed with the Clerk, the Sheriffs were under no 
 such obligation — and that these execution fees be- 
 ing frequently confounded with the costs of the 
 suit, the lawyer was loaded with the whole censure. 
 The House spent much time in the investiga- 
 tion of these charges ; and Mr. Tucker, being a 
 member of that body, had of course every oppor- 
 tunity of defending himself, and was not likely to 
 be convicted without very clear proof of his guilt. 
 But the result was, the adoption by a large majo- 
 rity of the following resolution : — " That it is the 
 opinion of this House, that the said Samuel Tucker 
 has taken excessive and illegal fees, not warranted 
 by the laws of the Province, and that the same are 
 oppressive, and a very great grievance." After 
 this, I presume, Mr. Tucker let the attorneys alone. 
 
RIOTS IN MONMOUTH AND ESSEX. 
 
 171 
 
 But the spirit of hostility to the lawyers, did 
 not vent itself merely in petitions to the Assembly. 
 It proceeded in some instances to open violence. 
 In July, 1769, a multitude of persons assembled in 
 a riotous manner at Freehold, in the county of 
 Monmouth, and endeavored to prevent the lawyers 
 from entering the Court House, and transacting bu- 
 siness. But the tumult was at this time quelled, 
 owing in a great measure to the spirited exertions 
 of Richard Stockton. " While all men were di- 
 vided betwixt rash or timid counsels, he only with 
 wisdom and firmness seized the prudent mean, ap- 
 peased the rioters, punished the ringleaders, and 
 restored the laws to their regular course." 1 But 
 at the Term of January, 1760, a more successful 
 effort was made. On the day appointed for hold- 
 ing the County Court, a large number of people 
 came together, armed with clubs and other of- 
 fensive weapons, and by their violence and threats, 
 drove the attorneys from the bar, and set the laws 
 at defiance. Riots of a similar nature occurred 
 about the same time in the county of Essex, and 
 among other outrages perpetrated, was the setting 
 fire to the stables and out-houses of David Ogden. 
 
 A special Commission was at once issued for 
 
 1 Dr. Smith's Funeral Discourse upon Mr. Stockton, p. 40. 
 
172 GOV. FRANKLIN CONVENES THE ASSEMBLY. 
 
 the trial of the offenders, and to give weight and 
 dignity to it, a number of gentlemen of rank and 
 character were associated with the Justices of the 
 Supreme Court. In Essex the rioters were prompt- 
 ly punished; but in Monmouth, where the disaf- 
 fection was more general, they were screened from 
 chastisement by the sympathy of their fellow- 
 citizens. 
 
 A meeting of the Legislature was also called, 
 for the purpose of reviving and continuing process 
 in the Courts of the county of Monmouth, and 
 adopting such measures as might be necessary, to 
 vindicate the majesty of the law, and support the 
 authority of government. Governor Franklin sent 
 a message to the Assembly, recommending the 
 passage of a number of laws, which he thought the 
 exigencies of the occasion required ; and telling 
 them very plainly, that in his opinion, this cry 
 against lawyers was raised only for the purposes of 
 deception, and that the unwillingness of some to 
 pay their just debts, and the inability of others, 
 were the true causes of all the difficulties that had 
 arisen. The House in reply assured the Governor, 
 that they would ever discountenance such riotous 
 proceedings, and would heartily join in such mea- 
 sures, as were necessary to bring the offenders to 
 condign punishment; and they declared, that the 
 
CHIEF JUSTICE SMYTH. 
 
 173 
 
 best remedy against any abuses from the practition- 
 ers of the law, was one, which the people had in 
 their own hands, namely, a patriotic spirit of fru- 
 gality arid industry, and an honest care to fulfil con- 
 tracts. 
 
 It might be worth while to inquire, whether 
 those who thus made war upon the lawyers, were 
 equally ready to take up arms against the enemies 
 of their country, in the contest which soon follow- 
 ed. We know there were a good many Tories in 
 the county of Monmouth, as well as in other parts 
 of the State ; and if the truth were known, I sus- 
 pect it would be found, that among those who took 
 sides with the British, were included most of the 
 individuals who were engaged in these riotous pro- 
 ceedings. Nor is this mere conjecture. The same 
 thing happened precisely in North Carolina, where 
 in 1771, a body of men, to the number of about 
 fifteen hundred, calling themselves " Regulators," 
 and complaining of the oppressions attending the 
 practice of the law, rose in arms, for the purpose 
 of exterminating lawyers, and shutting up the 
 Courts of justice. And yet most of these very per- 
 sons, in the Revolution, joined the royal party, and 
 enlisted under the King's banner. 1 Nor should this 
 
 1 Grahame's Col. Hist., II. 466. Sabine's American Loyalists, 26. 
 
174 CHIEF JUSTICE SMYTH. 
 
 surprise us. The freedom for which our fathers 
 contended, was not an unlicensed freedom, but a 
 liberty regulated by law. 
 
 In 1772, Chief Justice Smyth was appointed 
 one of the Commisioners to examine into the af- 
 fair of the burning of the British Schooner Gaspee, 
 by a party of Rhode Island Whigs. Wanton, the 
 Governor of Rhode Island, Horsmanden, Chief 
 Justice of New York, Oliver, Chief Justice of Mas- 
 sachusetts, and Auchmuty, Judge of Admiralty, 
 were associated with him in the Commission. 
 They began their sitting at Newport, on the fifth 
 of January, 1773, and continued in session until the 
 twenty-fourth of June. But although the most 
 diligent and searching inquiries were made, and 
 large rewards offered for the discovery of the of- 
 fenders, not a particle of evidence could be pro- 
 cured against a single individual. 1 This is the 
 " Court" alluded to, in the address of the first Con- 
 gress, to the inhabitants of the Colonies, where it 
 is said, " A Court has been established at Rhode 
 Island, for the purpose of taking colonists to Eng- 
 land to be tried." It was a Court of Inquiry only ; 
 and if any delinquents had been detected, they 
 were to have been sent to England for trial. 2 
 
 1 Grahame's Col. Hist., II. 467. s Griffith's Historical Notes, p. 
 Gordon. Holmes. 261. 
 
CHARGE TO THE GRAND JURY OF ESSEX. 175 
 
 The time had now arrived, when it became ne- 
 cessary for every man to decide upon the part 
 which he would take in the approaching contest. 
 It is due to Chief Justice Smyth to say, that he 
 never seems for one moment to have faltered in his 
 course. He was throughout, a firm and consistent 
 loyalist. Nor was he at any pains to conceal his 
 sentiments. Thus, in a charge to the Grand Jury 
 of the county of Essex, at the Term of November, 
 1774, he alluded to the troubled state of the times, 
 and among other things observed, " that the imagi- 
 nary tyranny three thousand miles distant," was 
 less to be feared and guarded against, than the 
 " real tyranny at our own doors." This was bold 
 language to be uttered, at such a time, and in such 
 a place ; and it drew from the Grand Jury a reply, 
 so spirited and patriotic, that it deserves a conspic- 
 uous place among the memorials of our Revolu- 
 tionary history. 
 
 After expressing their obligations to the Chief 
 Justice for his " friendly admonitions," and the 
 " paternal tenderness" he had evinced for their wel- 
 fare, they proceed to say : — " But respecting the 
 tyranny at the distance of three thousand miles, which 
 your Honor is pleased to represent as imaginary, 
 we have the unhappiness widely to differ from you 
 in opinion. The effect, Sir, of that tyranny is too 
 
176 REPLY OF THE GRAND JURY OF ESSEX. 
 
 severely felt, to have it thought altogether vision- 
 ary. We cannot think, Sir, that taxes imposed 
 upon us by our fellow subjects, in a Legislature in 
 which we are not represented, is an imaginary, but 
 that it is a real and actual tyranny ; and of which 
 no nation whatsoever can furnish a single instance. 
 We cannot think, Sir, that depriving us of the in- 
 estimable right of trial by jury ; seizing our per- 
 sons, and carrying us for trial to Great Britain, 
 is a tyranny merely imaginary. Nor can we think 
 with your Honor, that destroying Charters, and 
 changing our forms of Government, is a tyranny 
 altogether ideal : — That an Act passed to protect, 
 indemnify, and screen from punishment, such as 
 may be guilty even of murder, is a bare idea ; — 
 That the establishment of French Laws and Popish 
 religion in Canada, the better to facilitate the arbi- 
 trary schemes of the British Ministry, by making 
 the Canadians instruments in the hands of power 
 to reduce us to slavery, has no other than a mental 
 existence. In a word, Sir, we cannot persuade our- 
 selves, that the Fleet now blocking up the port of 
 Boston, consisting of ships built of real English 
 oak, and solid iron, and armed with cannon of pon- 
 derous metal, with actual powder and ball ; nor the 
 Army lodged in the Town of Boston, and the forti- 
 fications thrown about it, — substantial and formida- 
 
REPLY OF THE GRAND JURY OF ESSEX. 
 
 177 
 
 ble realities, — are all creatures of the imagination. 
 These, Sir, are but a few of the numerous grievan- 
 ces under which America now groans. These are 
 some of the effects of that deliberate plan of tyran- 
 ny, concerted at ' three thousand miles distance,' 
 and which, to your Honor, appears only like the 
 6 baseless fabric of a vision.' To procure redress 
 of these grievances, which to others assume the 
 form of odious and horrid realities, the Continent, 
 as we learn, has very naturally been thrown into 
 great commotions ; and as far as this County in par- 
 ticular has taken part in the alarm, we have the 
 happiness to represent to your Honor, that in the 
 prosecution of measures for preserving American 
 liberties, and obtaining the removal of oppressions, 
 the people have acted in all their popular assem- 
 blies (which it is the right of Englishmen to con- 
 vene whenever they please) with the spirit, temper, 
 and prudence, becoming freemen and loyal sub- 
 jects." 
 
 And they conclude, by expressing their hearty 
 wishes, that while the great cause of liberty was so 
 warmly, and at the same time so peaceably vindi- 
 cated by all honest Americans, no bias of self- 
 interest, no fawning servility to those in power, no 
 hopes of future preferment, would induce any man 
 to lend his helping hand to the unnatural and dia- 
 12 
 
178 DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA. 
 
 bolical work, of riveting those chains which were 
 forging for them, at the distance of three thousand 
 miles. 1 How this keen rebuke was received by the 
 Chief Justice, we are not informed. 
 
 The destruction of the tea in Boston is familiar 
 to all. It is not so generally known, that we had 
 in New Jersey a little affair of our own of the same 
 kind. The captains of the tea ships destined for 
 Philadelphia, did not deem it safe to land their car- 
 goes there, and most of them returned to England. 
 One however, in the brig Greyhound, ventured up 
 the Cohansey, and discharged at Greenwich, a quiet 
 little village in the County of Cumberland, where a 
 popular outbreak was never dreamed of. The 
 tea was landed without resistance, and deposited in 
 the cellar of a house fronting the market-place. 
 But on the twenty-second of November, 1774, about 
 forty men assembled in the dusk of the evening, de- 
 liberately took possession of the tea, removed the 
 chests from the cellar, piled them up in an adjoin- 
 ing field, and made a bonfire of them. 2 
 
 We are indebted to one of our venerable Vice 
 Presidents, Col. Robert G. Johnson, for the names 
 of many of these ardent and resolute patriots. One 
 
 1 A copy of this address will be 2 Johnson's History of Salem, p. 
 found in Clarke and Force's Ameri- 123. 
 can Archives. Fourth series, vol. i. 
 p. 967. 
 
SUITS FOR DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA. 179 
 
 of them was the late Ebenezer Elmer, father of the 
 Hon. Lucius Q. C. Elmer, of Bridgeton ; another 
 was Richard Howell, afterwards Governor of the 
 State ; a third was James Ewing, father of the dis- 
 tinguished Chief Justice of New Jersey ; and a 
 fourth was the Rev. Andrew Hunter, 1 a man as dis- 
 tinguished for his piety as his patriotism, and who 
 was a chaplain in the American army, during the 
 whole of the Revolutionary war. His second wife 
 was the daughter of Richard Stockton, the signer 
 of the Declaration of Independence ; and one of his 
 sons became Attorney General of the State. 
 
 Suits were brought in the Supreme Court, by 
 the owners of the tea, for the recovery of damages, 
 against those who had been concerned in the de- 
 struction of it ; but the Whigs of the County held 
 a meeting, and resolved that funds should be raised 
 for the purpose of defending the actions. Joseph 
 Reed, and Charles Pettit, of Philadelphia, were em- 
 ployed by the owners of the tea ; and Joseph Bloom- 
 field, afterwards Governor of New Jersey, Elias 
 Boudinot, of Elizabethtown, Jonathan Dickinson 
 
 1 His father, the Rev. Andrew ergies, both in and out of the pulpit, 
 Hunter, was the beloved and vene- to awaken amongst the people a spirit 
 rated pastor of the Presbyterian of resistance to the arbitrary and op- 
 church of Greenwich, in the county pressive measures of the British gov- 
 <of Cumberland. He was like his son, ernment. He died in July, 1775. — 
 an ardent Whig, and up to the pe- Johnson's History of Salem, p. 91. 
 riod of his death, exerted all his en- 
 
180 SUITS FOR DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA. 
 
 Sergeant 1 of Princeton, and George Read of New- 
 castle, were retained on behalf of the Defendants. 
 The suits, however, were never brought to trial. 
 The Plaintiffs being non-residents, a rule was ob- 
 tained to file security for costs, and no further pro- 
 ceedings appear to have been taken. 
 
 At the next term of the Oyer and Terminer, for 
 the County of Cumberland, Chief Justice Smyth 
 presided ; and it was probably the last opportunity 
 which he had, of making a display of his loyalty 
 from the Bench. He inveighed with much severity 
 against the "wanton waste of property," and the 
 flagrant breach of the peace, which had been com- 
 mitted, and charged the Grand Jury strongly upon 
 
 1 Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, ton was burnt by the British army 
 was born near Princeton in 1746. in its march through New Jersey in 
 He was graduated in the College of 1776. In 1777, upon his being in- 
 New Jersey in 1762. After reading vited to accept the office of Attorney 
 law with Richard Stockton, he com- General of Pennsylvania, he removed 
 menced practice at Princeton, and to the city of Philadelphia. He died 
 pursued his profession there up to the in 1793, of yellow fever, to which he 
 period of the Revolution. He was a was exposed by his benevolent exer- 
 member of the Provincial Congress of tions as one of the committee of 
 New Jersey in 1775, and 1776, and twelve, who offered their services to 
 took an active part in their proceed- the city during the prevalence of the 
 ings. He was one of the Committee disease. He had an active and pow- 
 that drafted the first Constitution of erful mind, and was as distinguished 
 New Jersey. In February, 1776, he for his moral as for his intellectual 
 was elected a delegate from New qualities. He was the father of the 
 Jersey to the general Congress then Honorable John Sergeant of Philadel- 
 sitting in Philadelphia. He took his phia ; and the Rev. Dr. Samuel Mil- 
 seat in that body, but resigned it be- ler, of Princeton, married one of his 
 fore the Declaration of Independence daughters, 
 was adopted. His house in Prin.ce- 
 
LAWYERS IN THE REVOLUTION. 18 1 
 
 the subject. But the Whigs of Cumberland were 
 as inflexible as those of Essex. The Grand Jury 
 came into Court, without bringing in any bills. He 
 sent them out a second time, but they still refused 
 to find any indictments. 1 
 
 But here we must part with Chief Justice Smyth. 
 When the Revolution broke out, he removed to 
 Philadelphia, where he died. His reputation as a 
 Judge was highly respectable, but it was eclipsed 
 by that of his more distinguished associates upon 
 the Bench, of whom we are now to speak. 
 
 In the struggle for independence, a majority of 
 the lawyers in the Colonics, were undoubtedly 
 Whigs. Most of the speakers and advocates on 
 the popular side were members of the Bar ; and 
 one of the objects of the " Stamp Act," was to 
 drive from the profession those, who were perpetu- 
 ally annoying the royal Governors, and who were 
 termed by a member of the House of Commons, 
 " mere pettifoggers." But still it has been said, 
 that the " giants of the law" in the Colonies, were 
 nearly all Loyalists. This no doubt was to some 
 extent true. In fact, the anti-revolutionary Bar of 
 Massachusetts and New York, furnished the Courts 
 of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Canada, for 
 many years, with their most distinguished Judges. 2 
 
 1 Johnson's History of Salem, p. a Sabine's American Loyalists, p. 
 125. 52. 
 
182 DAVID OGDEN.* 
 
 One of these giants of the law in New Jersey, 
 was David Ogden, an associate Judge of the Su- 
 preme Court, while Frederick Smyth was Chief Jus- 
 tice. He was perhaps the first of a race of men, 
 afterwards numerous in New Jersey, and which I 
 trust will never become extinct ; I mean thorough- 
 bred lawyers, — men, who love their profession, who 
 devote themselves to it, who are satisfied with its 
 honors, and look not beyond it for distinction. The 
 name of Ogden seems to belong in an especial man- 
 ner to the Bar of New Jersey. For the last 
 hundred and twenty years, never has there been a 
 time, when the profession has not been graced by 
 at least one eminent individual of that name. 
 
 David Ogden sprung from an ancient and re- 
 spectable family that came to New England at an 
 early day, and thence removed to Long Island and 
 New Jersey. He was a son of Josiah Ogden, 
 who for many years represented the county of Es- 
 sex in the Colonial Assembly ; and a brother of 
 Dr. Jacob Ogden, a distinguished physician, who 
 was born and educated in Newark, but subse- 
 quently settled in Jamaica, Long Island, where he 
 died in 1780. 1 David Ogden was born in Newark, 
 somewhere about the year 1707. He completed 
 
 1 For a notice of Dr. Jacob Ogden, see Thompson's History of Long Isl- 
 and. I. 275. Note. 
 
DAVID OGDEN. ] 83 
 
 his education at Yale College, where he was gradu- 
 ated in 1728 ; and after reading law for some years 
 in the city of New York, he returned to his native 
 State, to pursue his profession and to become one 
 of its brightest ornaments. He was not a man of 
 genius, in the ordinary acceptation of the term — a 
 quality, by the by, which is quite as apt to mar as 
 to make the fortune of a lawyer — but of clear head, 
 of strong sense, and of sound judgment. And, 
 what was of more importance still, he was a most 
 diligent student, and of untiring industry and appli- 
 cation. Up at four in the morning, winter and 
 summer, he had done a day's work, before most of 
 his professional brethren were out of their beds. 
 He rose therefore rapidly in his profession ; soon 
 acquired an extensive and lucrative practice ; and, 
 for many years, stood confessedly at the head of 
 the Bar in New Jersey. He was frequently con- 
 cerned in the trial of important causes in the city of 
 New York, where, if he had any equal, he certainly 
 had no superior. But here, he was for a long time 
 without a rival. He was looked up to as an oracle 
 of the law, and his opinions had almost the weight 
 of judicial decisions. 
 
 In 1772, he was appointed a Judge of the Su- 
 preme Court ; and probably, no man ever brought 
 to that station qualifications of a higher order. 
 
184 DAVID OGDEN. 
 
 Solid rather than brilliant ; more distinguished for 
 accuracy of judgment than fertility of invention, and 
 for clearness of apprehension than for quickness of 
 perception ; of deep learning ; of long practice ; 
 and of unsullied integrity ; he seemed to combine 
 every property requisite for a Judge. 1 But, unhap- 
 pily for him, he was not long permitted to display 
 these qualities. The period was approaching, 
 when laws were to be silenced by the din of arms, 
 and a new scene was to present itself, in which he 
 was not so well fitted to act a part. We have 
 seen, in reference to the Stamp Act, that while he 
 was ready to concur in all peaceful methods of re- 
 dress, he was opposed to every thing that looked 
 like forcible resistance. Such continued to be his 
 course until hostilities actually commenced ; and 
 then, he bid adieu to the place of his birth, to the 
 home of his youth, to the seat of his family, of his 
 fortune, of his fame. He sought refuge under the 
 protection of the British, in the city of New York, 
 where he remained during the war. 
 
 1 " Judges," says Lord Bacon, find that which he might have heard 
 
 " ought to be more learned than in due time from the bar ; or to show 
 
 witty, more reverend than plausible, quickness of conceit in cutting off 
 
 and more advised than confident, evidence or counsel too short, or to 
 
 Patience and gravity of hearing is an prevent information by questions, 
 
 essential part of justice ; and an over- though pertinent." — Bacon's Works. 
 
 speaking judge is no well-tuned cynir I. 58. 
 bal. It is no grace to a judge first to 
 
DAVID OGDEN. 185 
 
 But he was not satisfied with mere neutrality. 
 He was not only a loyalist, but an active and a de- 
 termined one. He was a member of the Board of 
 Refugees, established at New York, in 1779, com- 
 posed of delegates from the loyalists of the different 
 Colonies, and of which Governor Franklin was at 
 one time president. 1 After Joseph Galloway, the 
 celebrated loyalist of Pennsylvania, retired to Eng- 
 land, David Ogden became one of his correspond- 
 ents, and his letters are said to evince much bitter- 
 ness of feeling. He drew up the outlines of a plan 
 for the government of the Colonies, after their 
 submission to Great Britain, an event, which, as 
 he expressed it, " was certain, and soon to happen, 
 if proper measures were not neglected." By this 
 plan it was proposed, that the British Parliament 
 should formally renounce the right to tax the Colo- 
 nies ; that each Colony should have a Governor 
 and Council appointed by the Crown, and a House 
 of Representatives to be elected by the freeholders 
 
 1 It was mainly through the agen- in a letter written December 5th. 
 cy of Daniel Coxe — another Jersey- 1779. "The Deputies of the Re- 
 man, and a member of Council dur- fugees from the different Provinces 
 ing Governor Franklin's administra- meet once a week. Daniel Coxe, 
 tion — that this Board of Refugees or Esq., was appointed to the chair, to 
 Loyalists, was organized. He was deprive him of the opportunity of 
 made President of the Board, and the speaking, as he has the gift of saying 
 reason for putting him in the chair, is little with many words." — Sabine's 
 thus given by Christopher Sower, an American Loyalists, p. 232. 
 influential loyalist of Pennsylvania, 
 
18G DAVID OGDEN. 
 
 and residents of the several counties, who were to 
 make all necessary laws for the internal regulation 
 and government of the respective Colonies ; that 
 an American Parliament should be established for 
 all the English Colonies on the continent, consist- 
 ing of a Lord Lieutenant — Barons, to be created 
 for the purpose, and appointed by the Crown out 
 of the freeholders and inhabitants of the Colo- 
 nies — and a House of Commons, to be elected by 
 the respective Houses of Representatives for each 
 Colony — which Parliament was to be styled the 
 Lord Lieutenant, the Lords, and Commons, of the 
 British Colonies in North America. This Ameri- 
 can Parliament was to have the power of enacting 
 laws in all cases whatsoever, for the general wel- 
 fare and safety of the Colonies, which laws were to 
 be in force, unfil repealed by his Majesty in Coun- 
 cil ; and they were also to apportion among the 
 several Colonies, the amount of taxes to be raised 
 by each. The mode of raising them, was to be left 
 to the General Assembly of each Colony, but in 
 case of their refusal or neglect, the American Par- 
 liament was to have power to levy the same. It 
 was also provided, that the American Parliament 
 should have the superintendence and government 
 of the several colleges in North America, "most of 
 which," it was alleged, " have been the grand 
 
DAVID OGDEN. 187 
 
 nurseries of the late rebellion, instilling into the 
 tender minds of youth principles favorable to re- 
 publican, and against a monarchical Government." 
 This was a compliment to our literary institutions, 
 which by no one was more richly merited, than by 
 our own College of New Jersey, of which Dr. With- 
 erspoon, one of the signers of the Declaration of 
 Independence, was the President. 
 
 But that event, that was deemed so "certain 
 and soon to happen," luckily never arrived, and 
 this ingenious plan, therefore, was of course never 
 carried out ; but it is not very difficult to imagine, 
 who were intended to be the Barons in the several 
 Colonies, that were to compose our American 
 House of Lords. 
 
 After the peace, Mr. Ogden went to England, 
 and was agent for the New Jersey loyalists in pro- 
 secuting their claims to remuneration for losses 
 which they had sustained. His own property, 
 which was large and valuable, was confiscated by 
 the State of New Jersey, and he received a com- 
 pensation for it from the British Government. He 
 remained in England until 1790, when he returned 
 to the United States, where he found in operation, 
 a better plan of government than the one which he 
 had devised. He took up his residence in Queens 
 County, Long Island, where he lived until his death, 
 
188 DAVID OGDEN. 
 
 which did not happen until the year 1800, when 
 he had reached the advanced age of ninety-three. 
 While he resided on Long Island, he occasionally 
 visited Newark, where he was always received 
 with affection and respect, most of the old inhabit- 
 ants waiting upon him, and welcoming him. 
 
 He left a number of sons, two of which, Isaac 
 and Abraham, were lawyers. Isaac was in full 
 practice in Newark at the time of the Revolution, 
 and had been Clerk of the Supreme Court. He 
 followed the fortunes of his father, joined the Bri- 
 tish in New York, remained there during the war, 
 then went to England, and afterwards settled in 
 Canada, where he was appointed a Judge of the 
 Supreme Court, and so continued until his death. 
 Abraham resided in Newark, and for many years 
 after the Revolution, was a distinguished member 
 of the New Jersey Bar. He was United States 
 District Attorney, under the administration of 
 Washington. As a jury lawyer, he is said to have 
 been unrivalled. He was also a fine belles-lettre 
 scholar. He was a member of the Legislature in 
 1790, and advocated with much force, but without 
 success, the calling of a Convention to revise the 
 Constitution of the State. 1 He died suddenly in 
 
 1 It was in answer to a speech of Kitchell, a member from the county 
 Abraham Ogden's in favor of a revi- of Morris, exclaimed, " When the 
 sion of the Constitution, that Aaron fox preaches let the geese beware." 
 
RICHARD STOCKTON. 189 
 
 1798, when upwards of sixty years of age. 1 Samuel, 
 another son, married a sister of Governeur Morris, 
 and was a man of considerable distinction. He 
 was a member of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, 
 and of the Convention that framed her Constitution 
 of 1790. He was the father of David B. Ogden of 
 New York, who after sustaining for some years in 
 New Jersey the professional honor of his family 
 and name, removed to a sister State, where he has 
 long been the pride and ornament of the Bar. To 
 him I am indebted for many particulars in the life 
 of his grandfather. 
 
 The other associate of Chief Justice Smyth 
 upon the Bench of the Supreme Court, at the 
 breaking out of the Revolution, was Richard 
 Stockton; and with him, I must close these im- 
 
 Tt is to this that Mr. Griffith alludes Court at the time of his death ; and 
 
 in his <Eumenes,'when he says:- Gabriel H. Ford, who for so many 
 
 « One of the opposers of a Conven- years adorned the Bench of the Su- 
 
 tion introduced the fable of the fox preme Court of New Jersey, and who 
 
 and °eese ; and in a very extraordi- is still living in the full enjoyment of 
 
 nary Strain of compliment, represent- all his faculties About the same 
 
 ed an advocate for a Convention in time, there were m the office of Eh- 
 
 the character of the fox, and the ho- sha Boudinot of Newark, Richard 
 
 ; r :raudL y as a v * **•- ^°«> wi ^ Griffit n' a ; t 
 
 -Griffith's Eulenes, p. 15, n. b. ander C McWhorter, all of whom 
 
 « Amon. the students in the office I need scarcely say, became eminent 
 
 of A tTam Ogden, were Josiah Og- m their profession Jhey formed the 
 
 dn Hoffman, who became Attorney - Institutio Le g aks» of Newark a 
 
 General of the State of New York, sort of Moot Court, which was kept 
 
 and was a Judge of the Superior up for many years. 
 
190 RICHARD STOCKTON. 
 
 perfect sketches, already, perhaps, too far ex- 
 tended. 
 
 Richard Stockton was born at Princeton, on 
 the first day of October, 1730. His ancestors, 
 who came from England at an early day, were the 
 first settlers in this part of the State ; his great- 
 grandfather having purchased of William Penn a 
 tract of land, containing between five and six thou- 
 sand acres, extending from the Province line, about 
 two miles south of Princeton, to the Millstone River, 
 near where the village of Kingston now stands. A 
 portion of this property has remained in the family 
 to the present day. His father, John Stockton, was 
 a gentleman of fortune, and of high character, a 
 liberal friend of the College of New Jersey, and for 
 many years the presiding Judge of the Court of 
 Common Pleas of the county of Somerset. He 
 died in 1757. 
 
 Richard being the -eldest son, great pains were 
 bestowed upon his education. After receiving such 
 instruction as his native village — always famous 
 for its schools — could afford, he was sent to an 
 academy at Nottingham, in Maryland, which had 
 just been established by the Rev. Samuel Finley, 
 afterwards President of the College of New Jersey. 
 Dr. Finley was a ripe scholar, and a skillful teach- 
 er, and his school became a very celebrated one. 
 
RICHARD STOCKTON. 
 
 191 
 
 Some of the most distinguished men in our country 
 were educated here. It could boast of having in 
 it, at one time, a cluster of pupils, all of whom be- 
 came eminent in their several departments. Among 
 these, were Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia. 
 and his brother Judge Bush; the Rev. James 
 Waddell of Virginia, of whose eloquence so .vivid 
 a description is given by Wirt, in his British Spy ; 
 the Rev. Alexander McWhorter of Newark, for 
 many years, a distinguished supporter of literature 
 and religion in the American church; Ebenezer 
 Hazard of Philadelphia, Postmaster General of the 
 United States in 1782, and author of a valuable 
 work in reference to American history, entitled, 
 Historical Collections ; Alexander Martin, Gov- 
 ernor of North Carolina, and a delegate to the Con- 
 vention which framed the Constitution of the United 
 States ; John Henry, a member of Congress dur- 
 ing the Revolution, a Senator of the United States, 
 and Governor of Maryland ; and Colonel John 
 Bayard, an eminent Christian and patriot, a mem- 
 ber of the old Congress, and Speaker of the House 
 of Representatives of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. Stockton remained under the care of Dr. 
 Finley about two years, and was then sent to the 
 College of New Jersey, and received the honors of 
 its first annual commencement at Newark, just a 
 
192 RICHARD STOCKTON". 
 
 hundred years ago. He read law under the direc- 
 tion of David Ogden of Newark, whose reputation 
 attracted to his office students from all parts of 
 the Province. He was admitted to the Bar in the 
 Term of August, 1754, and at once entered upon 
 the duties of his profession at Princeton. His fine 
 natural powers had been highly cultivated and im- 
 proved by study and discipline, and his success 
 was rapid and brilliant. His practice soon became 
 coextensive with the Province, and he was often 
 invited to conduct causes in the neighboring Colo- 
 nies. Although as a lawyer, he might still have 
 been willing to acknowledge David Ogden as his 
 master, yet as an eloquent and accomplished advo- 
 cate, he had no competitor. 
 
 He pursued his profession for twelve years with 
 unremitting ardor. But in 1766, he relaxed from 
 his toils, and made a visit to England, where he 
 remained some fifteen months. He was received 
 with much attention, and was frequently consulted 
 by the Marquis of Rockingham, and other distin- 
 guished friends of America, upon the affairs of the 
 Colonies. In conjunction with Dr. Franklin, he 
 had several interviews with the merchants of Lon- 
 don, trading to North America, upon the subject 
 of a paper currency in the Colonies, and with a 
 view to the repeal of the act of Parliament prohib- 
 iting future emissions. 
 
RICHARD STOCKTON. 
 
 193 
 
 While Mr. Stockton was in England, Dr. Fin- 
 ley, the President of the College of New Jersey, 
 died, and the trustees unanimously elected the Rev. 
 Dr. Witherspoon, of Paisley, in Scotland, as his suc- 
 cessor. The letter to Dr. Witherspoon, informing 
 him of his appointment, was transmitted to Mr. 
 Stockton, who was a member of the Board, with a 
 request, that he should make a personal application 
 to Dr. Witherspoon, to solicit his acceptance. To 
 do this, it became necessary that he should take a 
 journey to Scotland. The result of his visit, and 
 the agency which he had in securing to the Col- 
 lege the services of Dr. Witherspoon, will best ap- 
 pear, from some extracts which I am enabled to 
 make from letters, written by him about this time 
 to his wife. 
 
 In a letter, dated February the 9th, 1767, he 
 says : — " I have at last concluded to go to Scot- 
 land. The friends of the College here, press the 
 propriety of the step, as much as those on your 
 side the water have done. The event will show, 
 whether I take all this labor in vain." Upon his 
 return from Scotland, in a letter dated London, 
 March the 17th, 1767, he thus writes : — " It is a 
 matter absolutely certain, that if I had not gone in 
 person to Scotland, Dr. Witherspoon would not have 
 had a serious thought of accepting the office — be- 
 13 
 
194 RICHARD STOCKTON. 
 
 cause neither he, nor any of his friends with whom 
 he would have consulted, had any tolerable idea of 
 the place to which he was invited, had no adequate 
 notions of the importance of the College of New 
 Jersey, and more than all, would have been entirely 
 discouraged from thinking of an acceptance, from 
 an artful, plausible, yet wickedly contrived letter, 
 sent from Philadelphia to a gentleman of Edin- 
 burgh. I have obtained a copy of it, but cannot 
 take time to send you any extracts, nor would it be 
 necessary if I had time, because the contents of it 
 at present had better be unknown. I was so hap- 
 py, as to have an entire confidence placed in me 
 by Dr. Witherspoon, and thereby I was able to 
 come fairly at him. I certainly have succeeded in 
 removing all the objections which have originated 
 in his own mind. Those of Mrs. Witherspoon I 
 could not remove, because she would not give me 
 an opportunity of conversing with her, although I 
 went from Edinburgh to Paisley, fifty miles, on 
 purpose. After I returned from Paisley to Edin- 
 burgh, letters passed between Dr. Witherspoon and 
 me, whereby I have received some hopes that she 
 may be brought over. This firmness is not pecu- 
 liar to this case ; for her own husband informed 
 me, that she was as much averse to removing from 
 an inconsiderable place to Paisley, where he was 
 
RICHARD STOCKTON. 195 
 
 then minister — from whence we should put a good- 
 natured construction, and suppose that it is only 
 owing to a certain greatness of mind, averse to 
 changing place. I wish we may have reason to 
 think so finally. I have taken most effectual mea- 
 sures to make her refusal very troublesome to her. 
 I have engaged all the eminent clergymen in Edin- 
 burgh and Glasgow, to attack her in her intrench- 
 ments, and they are determined to take her by 
 storm, if nothing else will do. This has a favorable 
 aspect, and is at the same time surprising ; because 
 they were upon my first coming, so unwilling to 
 part with her husband; but the light in which I 
 have set the affairs of the College, has made them 
 perfect proselytes." . 
 
 Soon after Mr. Stockton's return to New Jer- 
 sey, he had the satisfaction of informing the board 
 of trustees, that he had received letters from Scot- 
 land, informing him, that the difficulties which had 
 prevented Dr. Witherspoon's acceptance of the 
 Presidentship had been removed, and that upon a 
 re-election, he would esteem it a duty to accept 
 the appointment. It is due to Mrs. Witherspoon 
 to say, that she became perfectly reconciled to her 
 husband's removal, and cheerfully accompanied him 
 to a distant clime, renouncing all hope of ever re- 
 turning to the "land of her fathers' sepulchres." 
 
] 96 RICHARD STOCKTON. 
 
 Mr. Stockton's reception in Edinburgh was flat- 
 tering to him. He was waited upon by the Lord 
 Provost and Council, who invited him to a public 
 dinner, after which the freedom of the city was 
 conferred upon him. A similar honor was paid to 
 him in the town of Paisley. He returned to Ame- 
 rica in September, 1767. The next year he was 
 made a member of Council, and in 1774, he was 
 appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court, and took 
 his seat upon the Bench alongside of his old and 
 honored preceptor, David Ogden. 
 
 His subsequent career is too well known, to 
 make it necessary that I should dwell upon it. On 
 the twenty-first of June, 1776, he was elected a 
 member of the general Congress, then sitting in 
 Philadelphia. Among his colleagues, was Dr. 
 Witherspoon, who from his first landing upon our 
 shores, had proved himself to be in heart an Ame- 
 rican ; who from the earliest stage of the contest, 
 had warmly espoused the cause of the Colonies ; 
 and who shed lustre upon his adopted country, no 
 less by his wisdom in council, than by his zeal for 
 the promotion of science and learning. The dele- 
 gates from New Jersey were instructed to unite 
 with the representatives of the other Colonies, in 
 the most vigorous measures for the support of the 
 just rights and liberties of America; and if it 
 
RICHARD STOCKTON. 
 
 197 
 
 should be thought expedient and necessary, to join 
 in declaring the United Colonies independent of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 Mr. Stockton was present during the debates in 
 Congress, which preceded the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence ; in a short but energetic speech, he ex- 
 pressed his full concurrence in the measure, and 
 had the honor of affixing his name to that immortal 
 instrument. 1 But if there was honor, there was 
 
 1 Mr. Sedgwick, in his Life of Gov- 
 ernor Livingston, p. 194, note, ob- 
 serves, that the New Jersey de- 
 legation, consisting of Witherspoon, 
 Stockton and others, arrived after the 
 Declaration had been signed, but 
 were allowed to affix their names to 
 it. This statement is made on the 
 authority of a letter from Samuel 
 Adams to Richard Henry Lee, dated 
 July 15th, 1776, in which the follow- 
 ing expressions occur : — " We were 
 more fortunate than we expected, in 
 having twelve of the thirteen Colo- 
 nies in favor of the all-important 
 question. The delegates of New 
 Jersey were not empowered to give 
 their voice on either side. Their 
 Convention has since acceded to the 
 Declaration, and published it, even 
 before they received it from Con- 
 gress." — R. H. Lee's Mem., vol. i , 
 p. 183. 
 
 This is unquestionably high autho- 
 rity, nor is it easy to see, how Mr. 
 Adams could have been mistaken 
 with regard to a matter of this kind. 
 And yet it is very certain, that the 
 
 delegates from New Jersey were em- 
 powered to vote in favor of Independ- 
 ence, and that they did do so. They 
 took their seats in Congress some 
 days before the final question was 
 taken upon the Declaration, and par- 
 ticipated in the debates which pre- 
 ceded its adoption. They were ap- 
 pointed on the 21st of June, after the 
 proposition to declare Independence 
 had been brought forward in Con- 
 gress, and with a full knowledge of 
 that fact ; and they were expressly 
 authorized " to join with the delegates 
 of the other Colonies in declaring the 
 United Colonies independent of Great 
 Britain, and entering into a Confed- 
 eration for union and common de- 
 fence." On the 28th of June, as ap- 
 pears by the Journal, Mr. Hopkinson 
 appeared in Congress, and presented 
 the instructions under which he and 
 his colleagues were appointed. — Jour- 
 nals of Congress, vol. ii., p. 230. 
 How then Mr. Adams, writing on 
 the 15th of July, could have said, 
 that the New Jersey delegates were 
 not empowered to give their voice on 
 
198 RICHARD STOCKTON. 
 
 also peril in it ; and no one of those illustrious men 
 hazarded more, or suffered more, than he did. His 
 residence at Princeton was directly in the route 
 of the victorious British Army, in its triumphant 
 march through New Jersey. His happy home 
 was soon the scene of desolation, his estate was 
 laid waste, his property pillaged and destroyed. 
 Compelled to fly with his wife and children to a 
 place of safety, he sought refuge in the house of an 
 old friend and fellow-patriot in the county of Mon- 
 mouth. But the place of his retreat was soon dis- 
 covered by a party of refugee royalists, who drag- 
 ged him from his bed at night, subjected him to 
 every species of insult and indignity, exposed him 
 to all the severity of a most inclement season, hur- 
 ried him to Amboy, and thence to the city of New 
 York, where he was ignominiously thrown into a 
 common jail. Here his treatment was so severe 
 and inhuman, as to call for the interposition of 
 
 either side, is inexplicable. That Dr. H. Lee's Mem., vol. i. 176. So when 
 Witherspoon was present during the a distinguished member of Congress 
 discussion of the question of Inde- said, we were " not yet ripe for a 
 pendence, appears from various cir- Declaration of Independence," Dr. 
 cumstances. In the original draft of Witherspoon replied, " in my judg- 
 the Declaration, among the foreign ment, sir, we are not only ripe, but 
 mercenary troops, which George III. rotting." — Saunderson's Biography of 
 is upbraided with having sent to in- the Signers, vol. ii. 215. It is equal- 
 vade America, the Scotch are men- ly certain that Mr. Stockton was pre- 
 tioned. It was upon the motion of sent and took part in the debates. — 
 Dr. Witherspoon, or at his instance, Saunderson's Biography of the Sign- 
 that this word was stricken out. — E. ers, vol, ii. 192. 
 
RICHARD STOCKTON. 199 
 
 Congress, who instructed General Washington to 
 remonstrate with General Howe, against this wan- 
 ton violation of all the rules of civilized warfare. 
 
 He was at length released from his cruel cap- 
 tivity, but his constitution had received a shock 
 from which it never recovered, and the period of 
 his active usefulness was at an end. The few re- 
 maining years of his life were imbittered by a can- 
 cerous affection, of peculiar malignity, and which 
 preyed upon him with the most exquisite pain, from 
 which no relief could be obtained but by the use of 
 anodynes. But although he did not live to see that 
 independence, for which he had done and suffered so 
 much, secured and acknowledged, yet he died in the 
 full faith and hope of its final accomplishment. He 
 expired on the twenty-eighth of February, 1781, at 
 his residence in Princeton, in the fifty-first year of 
 his age. 1 His remains were taken to the chapel of 
 
 i Mr. Stockton left two sons and and died at Princeton, October 2nd 
 
 four daughters. Both of his sons be- 1821. Mary was married to the Rev. 
 
 came very eminent as lawyers. Rich- Dr. Andrew Hunter, of whom mention 
 
 ard, the eldest, died at Princeton, has already been made ; she died at 
 
 March 7th, 1823. Lucius Horatio Princeton, March 18th, 1846. Abby, 
 
 died at Trenton, May 26th, 1835. the youngest daughter, and only sur- 
 
 Julia, his eldest daughter, was mar- viving child of Mr. Stockston, was 
 
 ried to Dr. Benjamin Rush, who was married to Robert Field, of White- 
 
 also a signer of the Declaration of hill, in the county of Burlington. She 
 
 Independence. She lived to an ad- is still living at Princeton, 
 vanced age, and died in Philadelphia, Mr. Stockton married the sister of 
 
 July 7th, 1848. Susan was married the late Dr. Elias Boudinot, of Bur- 
 
 to Alexander Cuthbert, of Canada, lington, who was President of Con- 
 
200 RICHARD STOCKTON. 
 
 the College, where a funeral discourse was pro- 
 nounced by the Rev. Dr. Samuel Stanhope Smith, 
 then the Vice-President of that institution. 
 
 " It was one of his earliest honors," said this 
 eloquent divine, " to have been a son of this Col- 
 lege, and it was one of the first honors of this Col- 
 lege, to have given birth to such a son. After hav- 
 ing adorned the place of his education by his tal- 
 ents, he soon rose to the Board of its Trustees, and 
 has ever since been one of its most distinguished 
 patrons. 
 
 "Young gentlemen," said he, addressing the 
 students of the College, " another of the fathers of 
 learning and of eloquence is gone. While you feel 
 and deplore his loss as a guardian of your studies, 
 and as a model upon which you might form your- 
 selves for public life, let the memory of what he 
 was excite you to emulate his fame ; let the sight 
 
 gress under the Confederation, a said to have remarked, that there 
 
 member of the House of Representa- were two books in it which she chief- 
 
 tives after the adoption of the Consti- ly valued, and if these were left to 
 
 tution, and the first Director of the her, she would almost be reconciled 
 
 Mint of the United States. Mrs. to the loss of the rest ; one was the 
 
 Stockton was a woman of a highly Bible, and the other Young's Night 
 
 cultivated mind, and of fine literary Thoughts, of which she was a great 
 
 taste. She wrote a number of poeti- admirer. The tradition is, that when 
 
 cal effusions, many of which possess- she returned to her desolate mansion, 
 
 ed no inconsiderable merit. When she these very books were the only ones 
 
 heard of the destruction by the Bri- that were found to have escaped, 
 tish of her valuable library, she is 
 

 RICHARD STOCKTON. 201 
 
 of what he is, teach you that every thing human is 
 marked with imperfection. 
 
 " At the Bar he practised for many years with 
 unrivalled reputation and success. ... In Council 
 he was wise and firm, but always prudent and mo- 
 derate. . . . The office of a Judge of the Province 
 was never filled with more integrity and learning 
 than it was by him, for several years before the 
 Revolution. ... In his private life, he was easy 
 and graceful in his manners; in his conversation 
 affable and entertaining, and master of a smooth 
 and elegant style even in his ordinary discourse. 
 As a man of letters, he possessed a superior genius, 
 highly cultivated by long and assiduous application. 
 His resarches into the principles of morals and re- 
 ligion were deep and accurate, and his knowledge 
 of the laws of his country extensive and profound. 
 He was well acquainted with all the branches of 
 polite learning; but he was particularly admired 
 for a flowing and persuasive eloquence, by which 
 he long governed in the Courts of Justice." 
 
 Such were the last Judges of our Supreme Pro- 
 vincial Court. And thus, its dying glory was the 
 brightest. But it was destined to be revived when 
 the Colony became a State, and to shine with 
 new lustre — graced by a succession of such Chief 
 
202 RICHARD STOCKTON. 
 
 Justices, as Brearley, and Kinsey, and Kirkpatrick, 
 and Ewing — to which, we may not doubt, will 
 hereafter be added the names of others no less dis- 
 tinguished, but of whom I am not now permitted 
 to speak. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
APPENDIX A 
 
 In connection with the Courts of East and West Jer- 
 sey, under their Proprietary Governments, it may be well to 
 glance at some of the more important laws which were 
 enacted. Many valuable provisions which we have in- 
 grafted upon the common law, and which now exist in 
 our statute book, will be found to have originated at this 
 early period. 
 
 The first step towards making lands liable for the pay- 
 ment of debts, was taken in East Jersey, in 1679. It was 
 enacted, that where an execution issued against a person 
 having lands, the defendant should make a conveyance of 
 such lands to the plaintiff, in satisfaction of his debt ; and 
 upon his refusal to do so, he was to be imprisoned until the 
 debt and charges were paid. 1 And, in 1682, provision was 
 made for having the lands of a defendant in execution ap- 
 praised, and the plaintiff was to take them at their appraised 
 value in satisfaction of his debt, paying the overplus, if any. 
 to the defendant. 2 
 
 In West Jersey, as early as 1682, lands were made lia- 
 ble for the payment of debts, in all cases whatever, when 
 
 1 Grants and Concessions, 136. 2 lb., 253. 
 
206' APPENDIX A. 
 
 the personal estate of the defendant was insufficient for that 
 purpose. 1 
 
 In East Jersey, in 1682, it was provided, that the estate 
 of a Feme Covert might be conveyed by a deed acknow- 
 ledged in the Court of Common Right, the wife declaring, 
 upon a secret examination, that she signed it freely, with- 
 out threats or compulsion of her husband. 2 By a subse- 
 quent act, this acknowledgment might be made before a 
 Judge of any Court of Record in the Province. 3 
 
 By the Fundamental Constitutions of the twenty-four 
 Proprietors of East Jersey, it was declared, that there 
 should be a public registry for deeds, in each County, and 
 that every grant and conveyance of land — except leases for 
 three years and under — not registered within six months, 
 should be void in law. 4 A similar provision is contained 
 in the Concessions and Agreements of the West Jersey 
 Proprietors. 5 And, in 1695, a law was passed in West 
 Jersey, imposing a penalty of twenty shillings upon every 
 person neglecting for the space of six months to have a 
 deed recorded. 6 
 
 In East Jersey, proceedings against non-resident debtors 
 were authorized in 1682 ; 7 and, in West Jersey, in 1683, an 
 act was passed, regulating attachments against absconding 
 debtors, and providing for an equitable distribution of their 
 goods and estate, among such of their creditors as should 
 come in and prove their claim before three of the Magis- 
 trates of the Province. 8 
 
 By the laws of West Jersey, executors were required 
 to give security for the faithful performance of their trust ; 9 
 
 1 Grants and Concessions, 447. 6 Grants and Concessions, 541. 
 
 2 lb., 235. 7 lb., 266. 
 
 3 lb., 371. ■ lb., 477. 
 * lb., 162. 9 lb., 430. 
 6 lb., 399. 
 
APPENDIX A. 207 
 
 and where parents died leaving children, and no estate suf- 
 ficient to maintain and bring them up, the Governor was 
 to appoint some one to take care of them, and the charges 
 thereof were to be borne by the public stock of the Pro- 
 vince.' In all trials wherein any of the native Indians 
 were concerned, the Jury were to consist of six men of the 
 neighborhood, and six of the native Indians. 2 
 
 But while the civil laws and regulations of East and 
 West Jersey bore a close resemblance to each other, no- 
 thing could be more unlike than their criminal codes. 
 While the former exhibits all the sternness and severity of 
 Puritan legislation, the latter shows in beautifnl contrast the 
 mildness and benignity of Quaker rule. 
 
 In East Jersey there were no less than thirteen distinct 
 offences, for which the punishment of death might be in- 
 flicted. In this long list of capital crimes, were included 
 not only murder, robbery, perjury, burglary, and rape, but 
 witchcraft, smiting or cursing parents, and even stealing 
 where the thief was incorrigible. 
 
 In West Jersey, on the other hand, there were no capi- 
 tal crimes ; no offences for which the punishment of death 
 was prescribed. Even in the case of murder and treason, 
 it was provided, that the sentence and way of execution 
 thereof, should be left to the General Assembly to deter- 
 mine, as they in the wisdom of the Lord should judge meet 
 and expedient. 3 False witnesses were to be severely fined, 
 forever after disabled from giving testimony, and rendered 
 incapable of holding any office or employment in the Pro- 
 vince. 4 Burglary was punished with whipping for the first 
 offence ; and for the second, branding with a T in the fore- 
 head ; and for a third, branding in the cheek, and imprison- 
 
 1 Grants and Concessions, 431. 3 Grants and concessions, 404. 
 
 2 lb., 401. * lb., 429. 
 
208 APPENDIX A. 
 
 ment at hard labor. 1 The thief was to make restitution 
 fourfold out of his estate, and for want of such estate, to 
 work for his theft until restitution was thereby made. 2 
 The punishment for assault, battery, and wounding, was to 
 be such, as twelve men of the neighborhood should determine 
 upon. 3 Two witnesses were required in all cases ; the ac- 
 cused might challenge any mumber of jurors, not exceeding 
 thirty-five, without assigning any reason ; and it was pro- 
 vided, that in all criminal causes — treason, murder, and 
 felony excepted — the prosecutor should have full power to 
 forgive the offender, and remit the punishment, either be- 
 fore or after judgment. 4 
 
 But it was not merely in the severity of the penal laws, 
 that the influence of the Puritans was discernible in the 
 early legislation of East Jersey. This but reflected the 
 harsher features of their character. There were other en- 
 actments, in which their virtues and excellencies shone 
 conspicuously forth. Thus, in 1693, an act was passed by 
 the General Assembly of East Jersey, for the promotion of 
 Education. It was entitled, " An Act for establishing 
 Schoolmasters within this Province." Its preamble recites, 
 that the cultivation of learning and good manners tends 
 greatly to the good and benefit of mankind. It authorized 
 the inhabitants of each Township to meet together, and 
 choose three men, whose duty it should be to make a rate 
 for the salary and maintaining of a Schoolmaster within 
 the said Township, for as long a time as they should think 
 fit ; and it provided, that the consent and agreement of the 
 major part of the inhabitants of the said Township, should 
 bind and oblige the remaining part of the inhabitants to sat- 
 isfy and pay their shares and proportions of said rate ; and 
 
 1 Grants and Concessions, 573. 3 Grants and Concessions, 434. 
 
 2 lb., 434. * lb., 397. 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 209 
 
 the goods and chattels of persons refusing or neglecting to 
 pay were to be distrained and sold. l This act is not only 
 the earliest, but I am inclined to think, it is also the very 
 best law we have ever had upon the subject of Common 
 Schools. Whatever may have been its practical operation, 
 it was certainly much more efficient in its provisions, than 
 the act which is now in force. 
 
 We may also trace the influence of the Puritans, in the 
 pious custom, which was introduced at an early period in 
 the history of East Jersey, of setting apart, by public authori- 
 ty, a day of Thanksgiving to God for his mercies. In 1676. 
 it was solemnly enacted by the General Assembly, that 
 " whereas there hath been signal demonstrations of God's 
 mercy and favor towards us in this Colony, in the preserving 
 and continuing our peace in the midst of wars round about 
 us, together with many other mercies which we are sensi- 
 ble of, which call aloud for our acknowledgment and thanks- 
 giving to the Lord," therefore, " Be it enacted by this As- 
 sembly, that there be a day of public Thanksgiving set 
 apart throughout the whole Province, to give God the Glory 
 and Praise thereof, and oblige us to live to his praise, and 
 in his fear always, which day shall be the second Wednes- 
 day in November next ensuing." 2 And, in 1679, we find 
 the twenty-sixth day of November set apart, by an act of 
 Assembly, as a day of Thanksgiving. 3 This appointment of 
 a day of Thanksgiving, by the representatives of the people 
 convened in General Assembly, was calculated to add 
 much to its solemnity, and it may be regretted, that we 
 should now give to it no higher sanction than the Procla- 
 mation of a Governor. 
 
 1 Grants and Concessions, 328. 3 Grants and Concessions, 137. 
 
 8 lb., 121. 
 
 14 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS for our Right Trusty and well 
 beloved Edward Lord Cornbury, our Cap- 
 tain General and Governor in Chief, in and 
 over our Province of Nova-Ceesarea, or New- 
 Jersey, in America. Given at our Court at St. 
 James's, the 16th Day of November, 1702, in 
 the first Year of our Reign. 
 
 1. WITH these our Instructions you will receive our 
 Commission under our Great Seal of England, constituting 
 you our Captain General and Governor in Chief of our 
 Province of New- Jersey. 
 
 2. You are with all convenient speed to repair to our 
 said Province, and being there arrived, you are to take 
 upon you the Execution of the Place and Trust we have 
 reposed in you, and forthwith to call together the following 
 Persons, whom we do by these Presents appoint and con- 
 stitute Members of our Council in and for that Province, 
 viz. Edward Hunlock, Lewis Morris, Andrew Bowne, 
 Samuel Jennings, Thomas Revill, Francis Devenport, 
 
APPENDIX B. 211 
 
 William Pinhorne, Samuel Leonard, George Deacon, 
 Samuel Walker, Daniel Leeds, William Sandford, and 
 Robert Quary, Esqrs. 
 
 3. And you are with all due Solemnity, to cause our 
 said Commission under our Great Seal of England, con- 
 stituting you our Captain General and Governor in Chief as 
 aforesaid, to be read and published at the said Meeting of 
 our Council, and to cause Proclamation to be made in the 
 several most publick Places of our said Province, of your 
 being constituted by us our Captain General and Governor 
 in Chief as aforesaid. 
 
 4. Which being done you shall yourself take, and also 
 administer to each of the Members of our said Council, so 
 appointed by us, the Oaths appointed by Act of Parliament 
 to be taken instead of the Oaths of Allegiance and Suprema- 
 cy, and the Oath mentioned in an Act, entitled, An Act to 
 declare the Alteration in the Oath appointed to be taken, by 
 the Act, entitled, An Act for the further Security of his 
 Majesty's Person, and the Succession of the Crown in the 
 Protestant Line and for extinguishing the hopes of the 
 Pretended Prince of Wales, and all other Pretenders and 
 their open and Secret Abettors, and for declaring the As- 
 sociation to be determined. As also the Test mentioned in 
 an Act of Parliament made in the 25th Year of the Reign 
 of King Charles the Second, entitled, An Act for prevent- 
 ing dangers which may happen from Popish Recusants, 
 together with an Oath for the due Execution of your and 
 their Places and Trusts, as well with regard to the Equal 
 and Impartial Administration of Justice in all Causes that 
 shall come before you, as otherwise, and likewise the Oath 
 required to be taken by Governors of Plantations to do 
 
212 APPENDIX B. 
 
 their utmost, that the Laws relating to the Plantations be 
 observed. 
 
 5. You are forthwith to communicate unto our said 
 Council, such and so many of these our Instructions, 
 wherein their Advice and Consent are mentioned to be re- 
 quisite, as likewise all such others from Time to Time, as 
 you shall find convenient for our Service to be imparted to 
 them. 
 
 6. And whereas the Inhabitants of our said Province 
 have of late Years been unhappily divided, and by their 
 Enmity to each other, our Service and their own Welfare 
 has been very much obstructed, you are therefore in the 
 Execution of our Commission to avoid the Engaging your 
 self in the Parties which have been form'd amongst them, 
 and to use such Impartiality and Moderation to all, as may 
 best conduce to our Service and the good of the Colony. 
 
 7. You are to permit the Members of our said Council 
 to have and enjoy Freedom of Debate, and Vote in all Af- 
 fairs of publick Concern, that may be debated in Council. 
 
 8. And altho' by our Commission aforesaid, we have 
 thought fit to direct that any three of our Councillors make 
 a Quorum, it is nevertheless our Will and Pleasure, that 
 you do not Act with a Quorum of less than five Members 
 except in case of Necessity. 
 
 9. And that we may be always informed of the Names 
 and Characters of Persons fit to supply the vacancies 
 which shall happen in our said Council, you are to trans- 
 mit unto us by one of our Principal Secretaries of State, 
 and to our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, with 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 213 
 
 all convenient speed, the Names and Characters of six Per- 
 sons Inhabitants of the Eastern Division, and six other Per- 
 sons Inhabitants of the Western Division of our said Prov- 
 ince, whom you shall esteem the best qualified for that 
 Trust, and so from Time to Time when any of them shall 
 dye, depart out of our said Province, or become otherwise 
 unfit, you are to nominate unto us so many other Persons 
 in their stead, that the List of Twelve Persons fit to supply 
 the said Vacancies, viz. six of the East, and six out of the* 
 West Division as aforesaid, may be always compleat. 
 
 10. You are from Time to Time to send to us as afore- 
 said, and to our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, 
 the Names and Qualities of any Members by you put into 
 our said Council, by the first conveniency after your so 
 doing. 
 
 11. And in the Choice and Nomination of the Members 
 of our said Council, as also of the principal Officers, Judges, 
 Assistants, Justices and Sheriffs, you are allways to take 
 care that they be Men of good Life and well affected to 
 our Government, of good Estates and Abilities, and not 
 necessitous People or much in Debt. 
 
 12. You are neither to augment nor diminish the num- 
 ber of our said Council, as it is hereby established, nor to 
 suspend any of the present Members thereof without good 
 and sufficient cause : And in case of suspension of any of 
 them, you are to cause your Reasons for so doing, together 
 with the Charges and Proofs against the said Persons, and 
 their Answers thereunto (unless you have some extraordi- 
 nary reason to the contrary) to be duly entered upon the 
 Council Books, and you are forthwith to transmit the same 
 
214 APPENDIX B. 
 
 together with your Reasons for not entering them upon 
 the Council Books, (in case you do not enter them) unto 
 us and to our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations as 
 aforesaid. 
 
 13. You are to signify our Pleasure unto the Members 
 of our said Council that if any of them shall at any Time 
 hereafter absent themselves, and continue absent above the 
 
 "space of two Months together from our said Province 
 without Leave from you, or from our Governor or Com- 
 mander in Chief of our said Province, for the Time being, 
 first obtained ; or shall remain absent for the space of two 
 Years or the greater Part thereof successively without our 
 Leave given them under our royal Sign Manual, their 
 Place or Places in our said Council, shall immediately 
 thereupon become void, and that we will forthwith appoint 
 others in their stead. 
 
 14. And in order to the better consolidating and incor- 
 porating the two Divisions of East and West New-Jersey, 
 into and under one Government, Our Will and Pleasure is, 
 that with all convenient speed, you call together one Gene- 
 ral Assembly for the Enacting of Laws for the joint and 
 mutual good of the whole ; and that the said General As- 
 sembly do sit in the first Place at Perth- Amboy, in East 
 New-Jersey, and afterwards the same, or other the next 
 General Assembly at Burlington in West New-Jersey ; and 
 that all future General Assemblies do set at one or the other 
 of those Places alternately, or (in Cases of extraordinary 
 Necessity) according as you with the advice of our afore- 
 said Council, shall think fit to appoint them. 
 
 15. And our further Will and Pleasure is, that the 
 General Assembly so to be called, do consist of four and 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 215 
 
 Twenty Representatives; who are to be chosen in the 
 manner following, viz. Two by the Inhabitants House- 
 holders of the City or Town of Perth- Amboy, in East 
 New-Jersey, two by the Inhabitants House-holders of the 
 City and Town of Burlington in West New- Jersey ; Ten 
 by the Freeholders of East New-Jersey, and Ten by the 
 Freeholders of West New-Jersey ; and that no Person shall 
 be capable of being elected a Representative by the Free- 
 holders of either Division, or afterwards of sitting in Gene- 
 ral Assemblies, who shall not have one Thousand Acres 
 of Land of an Estate of Freehold, in his own Right, within 
 the Division for which he shall be chosen ; and that no 
 Freeholder shall be capable of voting in the Election of 
 such Representative, who shall not have one Hundred 
 Acres of Land of an Estate of Freehold in his own Right, 
 within the Division for which he shall so Vote : And that 
 this Number of Representatives shall not be enlarged or 
 diminished, or the manner of electing them altered, other- 
 wise than by an Act or Acts of the General Assembly 
 there, and confirmed by the Approbation of us, our Heirs 
 and Successors. 
 
 16. You are with all convenient speed to cause a Col- 
 lection to be made of all the Laws, Orders, Rules, or such 
 as have hitherto served or been reputed as Laws amongst 
 the Inhabitants of our said Province of Nova-Ccssarea or 
 New-Jersey, and together with our aforesaid Council and 
 Assembly, you are to revise, correct, and amend the same, 
 as may be necessary ; and accordingly to enact such and so 
 many of them, as by you with the Advice of our said Coun- 
 cil and Assembly, shall be judged proper and conducive to 
 our Service, and the welfare of our said Province, that 
 they may be transmitted unto us, in authentick Form, for 
 our Approbation or Disallowance. 
 
216 APPENDIX B. 
 
 17. You are to observe in the passing of the said Laws, 
 and of all other Laws, that the Stile enacting the same, be 
 by the Governor, Council and Assembly, and no other. 
 
 18. You are also as much as possible to observe in the 
 passing of all Laws, that whatever may be requisite upon 
 each different Matter, be accordingly provided for by a dif- 
 ferent Law, without intermixing in one and the same Act, 
 such Things as have no proper Relation to each other ; 
 and you are especially to take care that no Clause or 
 Clauses be inserted in, or annexed to any Act which shall 
 be Foreign to what the Title of such respective Act 
 imports. 
 
 19. You are to transmit authentic Copies of the fore- 
 mentioned Laws that shall be Enacted, and of all Laws, 
 Statutes, and Ordinances which shall at any Time hereafter 
 be made or enacted within our said Province, each of them 
 separately, under the publick Seal, unto us and our said 
 Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, within three 
 Months or by the first opportunity after their being Enact- 
 ed, together with Duplicates thereof by the next Convey- 
 ance, upon pain of our high displeasure, and of the forfeit- 
 ure of that Years Salary, wherein you shall at any Time, 
 or upon any pretence whatsoever, omit to send over the 
 said Laws, Statutes and Ordinances as aforesaid, within 
 the Time above limited, as also of such other Penalty as 
 we shall please to inflict. But if it shall happen that dur- 
 ing Time of War, no Shipping shall come from our said 
 Province or other our adjacent or neighbouring Plantations, 
 within three Months after the making such Laws, Statutes 
 and Ordinances, whereby the same may be transmitted as 
 aforesaid, then the said Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 217 
 
 are to be so transmitted as aforesaid, by the next convey- 
 ance after the making thereof, whenever it may happen, 
 for our Approbation or Disallowance of the same. 
 
 20. You are to take care that in all Acts or Orders, to 
 be passed within that our Province, in any Case for levying 
 Money or imposing Fines and Penalties, express mention 
 be made that the same is granted or reserved for Us, our 
 Heirs or Successors for the publick Uses of that our Pro- 
 vince, and the Support of the Government thereof, as by 
 the said Act or Orders shall be directed. 
 
 21. And we do particularly require and command, that 
 no Money, or value of Money whatsoever, be given or 
 granted by any Act or Order of Assembly, to any Gov- 
 ernor, Lieutenant Governor, or Commander in Chief of our 
 said Province, which shall not according to the Stile of 
 Acts of Parliament in England, be mentioned to be given 
 and granted unto Us, with the humble desire of such As- 
 sembly, that the same be applied to the Use and Behoof of 
 such Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Commander in 
 Chief, if we shall so think fit ; or if we shall not approve of 
 such Gift or Application, that the said Money or Value of 
 Money be then disposed of and appropriated to such other 
 Uses as in the said Act or Order shall be mentioned, and 
 that from the Time the same shall be raised, it remain in 
 the Hands of the Receiver of our said Province until our 
 Royal Pleasure shall be known therein. 
 
 22. You shall also propose with the said General As- 
 sembly, and use your utmost endeavours with them, that 
 an Act be passed for raising and settling a publick Reve- 
 nue for defraying the necessary Charges of the Govern- 
 
218 APPENDIX B. 
 
 ment of our said Province, in which Provision be particu- 
 larly made for a competent Salary to yourself, as Captain 
 General and Governor in Chief of our said Province, and 
 to other our succeeding Captain Generals, for supporting 
 the Dignity of the said Office, as likewise due Provision for 
 the Salaries of the respective Members of our Council and 
 Assembly, and all other Officers necessary for the Adminis- 
 tration of that Government. 
 
 23. Whereas it is not reasonable that any of our Colo- 
 nies or Plantations should by virtue of any Exemptions or 
 other Privileges whatsoever, be allowed to seek and pursue 
 their own particular Advantages, by methods tending to 
 undermine and prejudice our other Colonies and Planta- 
 tions, which have equal Title to our Royal Care ; and 
 whereas the Trade and Welfare of our Province of New- 
 York, would be greatly prejudiced, if not intirely ruined, 
 by allowing unto the Inhabitants of Nova Ccssarea, or 
 New-Jersey, any Exemption from those Charges, which the 
 Inhabitants of New-York are liable to, you are therefore in 
 the settling of a Publick Revenue as before directed, to 
 propose to the Assembly, that such Customs, Duties and 
 other Impositions be laid upon all Commodities imported or 
 exported in or out of our said Province of Nova Ccssarea, 
 or New-Jersey, as may equal the Charge that is or shall be 
 laid upon the like Commodities in our Province of New- 
 York. 
 
 24. And whereas we are willing in the best manner to 
 provide for the Support of the Government of our said Pro- 
 vince, by setting a Part sufficient allowances to such as 
 shall be our Governor or Commander in Chief, residing for 
 the Time being within the same. Our Will and Pleasure 
 therefore is, that when it shall happen, that you shall be 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 219 
 
 absent from the Territories of New-Jersey and New-York, 
 of which we have appointed you Governor, one full Moiety 
 of the Salary and of all Perquisites and Emoluments what- 
 soever, which would otherwise become due unto you, shall, 
 during the Time of your absence from the said Territories, 
 be paid and satisfied unto such Governor or Commander in 
 Chief who shall be resident upon the Place for the Time 
 being, which we do hereby order and allot unto him to- 
 wards his Maintenance, and for the better Support of the 
 Dignity of that our Government. 
 
 25. Whereas great Prejudices may happen to our Ser- 
 vice and the Security of our said Province under your 
 Government by your absence from those Parts, without a 
 sufficient Cause and especial Leave from us ; for preven- 
 tion thereof, you are not upon any pretence whatsoever to 
 come to Europe from your Government, without first hav- 
 ing obtained Leave for so doing, under our Signet and 
 Sign Manual, or by our Order in our privy Council. 
 
 26. You are not to permit any Clause whatsoever to be 
 inserted in any Law for the levying Money, or the value 
 of Money, whereby the same shall not be made liable to be 
 accounted for unto us here in England, and to our high 
 Treasurer, or to our Commissioners of our Treasury for 
 the Time being. 
 
 27. You are to take care that fair Books of Accounts 
 of all Receipts and Payments of all such Money be duly 
 kept, and the Truth thereof attested upon Oath, and that the 
 said Books be transmitted every half Year, or oftener, to 
 our High Treasurer or to our Commissioners of our Trea- 
 sury for the Time being, and to our Commissioners for 
 Trade and Plantations, and Duplicates thereof by the next 
 
220 APPENDIX B. 
 
 Conveyance ; in which Books shall be specified, every par- 
 ticular Sum raised or disposed of, together with the Names 
 of the Persons to whom any Payment shall be made, to the 
 End we may be satisfied of the right and due Application 
 of the Revenue of our said Province. 
 
 28. You are not to suffer any publick Money whatso- 
 ever, to be issued or disposed of otherwise than by War- 
 rant under your Hand, by and with the Advice and Con- 
 sent of our said Council ; but the Assembly my be never- 
 theless permitted from Time to Time to view and examine 
 the Accounts of Money, or value of Money, disposed of by 
 Virtue of Laws made by them, which you are to signify 
 unto them as there shall be occasion. 
 
 29. And it is our express Will and Pleasure, that no 
 Law for raising any Imposition on Wines or other strong 
 Liquors, be made to continue for less than one whole 
 Year : as also that all Laws whatsoever for the good Gov- 
 ernment and support of our said Province, be made indi- 
 finite, and without Limitation of Time, except the same be 
 for a temporary End, which shall expire and have its full 
 effect within a certain Time. 
 
 30. And therefore you shall not re-enact any Law 
 which shall have been once enacted there by you, except 
 upon very urgent Occasions, but in no case more than once 
 without our express consent. 
 
 31. You shall not permit any Act or Order to pass in 
 our said Province, whereby the Price or Value of the Cur- 
 rent Coin within your Government, (whether it be Foreign 
 or belonging to our Dominions) may be altered, without 
 our particular Leave or Direction for the same. 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 221 
 
 32. And you are particularly not to pass any Law or 
 do any Act, by Grant, Settlement, or otherwise, whereby 
 our Revenue, after it shall be settled, may be lessened or 
 impaired, without our especial leave or Commands therein. 
 
 33. You shall not remit any Fines or Forfeitures what- 
 soever, above the Sum of Ten Pounds, nor dispose of any 
 Escheats, Fines or Forfeitures whatsoever, until upon sig- 
 nifying unto our High Treasurer, or to our Commissioners 
 of our Treasury for the Time being, and to our Commis- 
 sioners for Trade and Plantations, the Nature of the Offence 
 and the Occasion of such Fines, Forfeitures or Escheats, 
 with the particular Sums or Value thereof, (which you are 
 to do with all speed) you shall have received our Direc- 
 tions therein, but you may in the mean Time suspend the 
 Payment of the said Fines and Forfeitures. 
 
 34. You are to require the Secretary of our said Pro- 
 vince, or his Deputy for the Time being, to furnish you 
 with Transcripts of all such Acts and publick Orders as 
 shall be made from Time to Time, together with a Copy of 
 the Journals of the Council, to the End the same may be 
 transmitted unto us, and to our Commissioners for Trade 
 and Plantations as above directed, which he is duly to per- 
 form upon pain of incurring the forfeiture of his Place. 
 
 35. You are also to require from the Clerk of the As- 
 sembly, or other proper Officer, Transcripts of all the 
 Journals, and other Proceedings of the said Assembly, to 
 the End the same may in like manner be transmitted as 
 aforesaid. 
 
 36. Our Will and Pleasure is, that for the better quiet- 
 ing the Minds of our good Subjects, Inhabitants of our said 
 
222 APPENDIX B. 
 
 Province, and for settling the Properties and Possessions 
 of all Persons concerned therein, either as General Pro- 
 prietors of the Soil under the first original Grant of the 
 said Province, made by the late King Charles the Second, 
 to the late Duke of York, or as particular Purchasers of 
 any Parcels of Land from the said General Proprietors, you 
 shall propose to the General Assembly of our said Pro- 
 vince, the passing of such Act or Acts, whereby the Right 
 and Property of the said General Proprietors, to the Soil of 
 our said Province, may be confirmed to them, according to 
 their respective Rights and Title ; together with all such 
 Quit-Rents as have been reserved, or are or shall become 
 due to the said General Proprietors, from the Inhabitants 
 of our said Province ; and all such Priviledges as are ex- 
 prest in the Conveyances made by the said Duke of York, 
 excepting only the Right of Government, which remains 
 in us : And you are further to take care, that by the said 
 x\ct or Acts so to be passed, the particular Titles and Es- 
 tates of all the Inhabitants of that Province, and other Pur- 
 chasers claiming under the said General Proprietors, be 
 confirmed and settled as of Right does appertain, under 
 such Obligations as shall tend to the best and speediest Im- 
 provement or Cultivation of the same. PROVIDED AL- 
 WAYS, that you do not consent to any Act or Acts, to 
 lay any Tax upon Lands that lye unprofitable. 
 
 37. You shall not permit any other Person or Persons 
 beside the said General Proprietors, or their Agents, to 
 Purchase any Land whatsoever from the Indians within 
 the Limits of their Grant. 
 
 38. You are to permit the Surveyors and other Per- 
 sons appointed by the forementioned General Proprietors 
 of the Soil of that Province, for Surveying and Recording 
 
APPENDIX B. 223 
 
 the Surveys of Land granted by and held of them, to exe- 
 cute accordingly their respective Trusts : And you are 
 likewise to permit, and if need be, aid and assist such other 
 Agent or Agents, as shall be appointed by the said Pro- 
 prietors for that End, to collect and receive the Quit- 
 Rents which are or shall be due unto them, from the parti- 
 cular Possessors of any Parcels or Tracts of Land from 
 Time to Time, PROVIDED ALWAYS, that such Sur- 
 veyors, Agents or other Officers appointed by the said Ge- 
 neral Proprietors, do not only -take proper Oaths, for the 
 due Execution and Performance of their respective Offices 
 or Employments, and give good and sufficient Security for 
 their so doing, but that they likewise take the Oaths ap- 
 pointed by Act of Parliament to be taken instead of the 
 Oaths of Allegience and Supremacy, and the Oath men- 
 tioned in the aforesaid Act, entitled, An Act to declare the 
 Alteration in the Oath appointed to be taken by the Act, 
 entitled, An Act for the further Security of his Majesty's 
 Person, and the Succession of the Crown in the Protestant 
 Line, and for extinguishing the hopes of the pretended 
 Prince of Wales, and all other Pretenders, and their open 
 and Secret Abettors, and for declaring the Association to 
 be determined. As also the forementioned Test. And you 
 are more particularly to take care that all Lands Purchased 
 from the said Proprietors, be cultivated and improved, by 
 the Possessors thereof. 
 
 39. You shall transmit unto us, and to our Commission- 
 ers for Trade and Plantations, by the first Opportunity, 
 a Map with the exact Description of our whole Territory 
 under your Government, and of the several Plantations 
 that are upon it. 
 
224 APPENDIX B. 
 
 40. You are likewise to send a List of Officers em- 
 ployed under your Government, together with all publick 
 Charges. 
 
 41. You shall not displace any of the Judges, Justices, 
 Sheriffs, or other Officers or Ministers within our said 
 Province, without good and sufficient Cause to be signified 
 unto us, and to our said Commissioners for Trade and Plan- 
 tations, and to prevent arbitrary removal of Judges and 
 Justices of the Peace, you shall not express any Limitation 
 of Time in the Commissions which you are to grant, with 
 the Advice and Consent of the Council of our said Pro- 
 vince, to Persons fit for those Imployments, nor shall you 
 execute yourself, or by Deputy, any of the said Offices, 
 nor suffer any Persons to execute more Offices than one 
 by Deputy. 
 
 42. Whereas we are given to understand that there are 
 several Offices within our said Province granted under the 
 great Seal of England, and that our Service may be very 
 much prejudiced by reason of the Absence of the Pa- 
 tentees, and by their appointing Deputies not fit to officiate 
 in their stead, you are therefore to inspect the said Offices , 
 and to inquire into the Capacity and Behaviour of the Per- 
 sons now exercising them, and to report thereupon to us, 
 and to our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, what 
 you think fit to be done or altered in relation thereunto ; 
 and you are upon the misbehaviour of any of the said Pa- 
 tentees, or their Deputies, to suspend them from the Exe- 
 cution of their Places, till you shall have represented the 
 whole matter and received our Directions therein; but you 
 shall not by colour of any Power or Authority hereby or 
 otherwise granted or mentioned to be granted unto you, 
 take upon you to give, grant or dispose of any Office or 
 
APPENDIX B. 225 
 
 Place within our said Province, which now is or shall be 
 granted under the Great Seal of England, and further then 
 that you may upon the vacancy of any such Office or 
 Place, or Suspension of any such Officer by you as afore- 
 said, put in any fit Person to officiate in the Intervall till 
 you shall have represented the Matter unto us, and to our 
 Commissioners for Trade and Plantations as aforesaid 
 (which you are to do by the first opportunity) and till the 
 said Office or Place be disposed of by us, our Heirs or 
 Successors, under the Great Seal of England, or that our 
 further Directions be given therein. 
 
 43. In Case of any Goods, Money or other Estate of 
 Pirates, or Piratically taken, shall be brought in, or found 
 within our said Province of Nova-Ccesaria, or New-Jersey, 
 or taken on Board any Ships or Vessels, you are to cause 
 the same to be seized and secured until you shall have 
 given us an Account thereof, and receive our Pleasure con- 
 cerning the disposal of the same : But in case such Goods 
 or any part of them are perishable, the same shall be pub- 
 lickly sold and disposed of, and the produce thereof in like 
 manner secured until our further Orders. 
 
 44. And whereas Commissions have been granted unto 
 several Persons in our respective Plantations in America, 
 for the trying of Pirates in those Parts, pursuant to the Act 
 for the more effectual Suppression of Piracy, and by a 
 Commission already sent to our Province of New-York,. 
 you (as Captain General and Governor in Chief of our said 
 Province of New-York) are impowered, together with 
 others therein mentioned, to proceed accordingly in refer- 
 ence to our Provinces of New- York, New- Jersey, and Con- 
 necticut ; our Will and Pleasure is, that in all Matters re- 
 lating to Pirates, you Govern yourself according to the 
 
 15 
 
226 APPENDIX B. 
 
 intent of the Act and Commission aforementioned ; but 
 whereas Accessories in Cases of Piracy beyond the Seas, 
 are by the same Act left to be tryed in England, accord- 
 ing to the Statute of the Second of King Henry the Eighth, 
 We do hereby further direct and require you to send all 
 such accessories in Cases of Piracy in our aforesaid Pro- 
 vince of Nova-Ccesarea, or New- Jersey, with the Proper 
 Evidences that you may have against them, into England, 
 in order to their being tryed here. 
 
 45. You shall not erect any Court or Office of Judica- 
 ture, not before erected or established, without our espe- 
 cial Order. 
 
 46. You are to transmit unto us, and to our Commis- 
 sioners for Trade and Plantations, with all convenient 
 speed, a particular account of all Establishments of Juris- 
 dictions, Courts, Offices, and Officers, Powers, Authorities, 
 Fees, and Privileges which shall be granted or settled within 
 the said Province, by Virtue, and in pursuance of our Com- 
 mission and Instructions to you our Captain General and 
 Governor in chief of the same, to the End you may re- 
 ceive our further Directions therein. 
 
 47. And you are with the Advice and Consent of our 
 said Council, to take especial care, to regulate all Salaries 
 and Fees belonging to Places, or paid upon Emergencies, 
 that they may be within the Bounds of Moderation, and 
 that no Exaction be made on any Occasion whatsoever ; 
 as also that Tables of all Fees be publickly hung up in all 
 Places where such Fees are to be paid ; and you are to 
 transmit. Copies of all such Tables of Fees to us, and to our 
 Commissioners for Trade and Plantations as aforesaid. 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 227 
 
 48. Whereas it is necessary that our Rights and Dues 
 be preserved and recovered, and that speedy and effectual 
 Justice be administered in all Cases relating to our Reve- 
 nue, you are to take Care that a Court of Exchequer be 
 called and do meet at all such Times as shall be needful], 
 and you are to inform us and our Commissioners for Trade 
 and Plantations, whether our Service may require, that a 
 constant Court of Exchequer be settled and established 
 there. 
 
 49. You are to take Care that no Man's Life, Member, 
 Freehold, or Goods be taken away or harmed in our said 
 Province, otherwise then by established and known Laws, 
 not repugnant to, but as much as may be agreeable to the 
 Laws of England. 
 
 50. You shall administer, or cause to be administered, 
 the Oaths appointed by Act of Parliament to be taken in- 
 stead of the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, and the 
 Oath mentioned in the aforesaid Act, entitled, An Act to 
 declare the Alteration in the Oath appointed to be taken, by 
 the Act, entitled, An Act for the further Security of his 
 Majesty's Person, and the Succession of the Crown in the 
 Protestant Line and for extinguishing the hopes of the 
 pretended Prince of Wales, and all other Pretenders, and 
 their open and Secret Abettors, and for declaring the As- 
 sociation to be determined, as also the forementioned Test, 
 to the Members and Officers of the Council and Assembly, 
 and to all Judges, Justices, and all other Persons that hold 
 any Office or Place of Trust or Profit in the said Province, 
 whether by Virtue of any Patent under our Great Seal of 
 England, or otherwise, without which you are not to ad- 
 mit any Person whatsoever into any publick Office, nor 
 suffer those who have been admitted formerly to continue 
 therein. 
 
228 APPENDIX B. 
 
 51. You are to permit a Liberty of Conscience to all 
 Persons (except Papists) so they may be contented with a 
 quiet and peaceable Enjoyment of the same, not giving 
 Offence or Scandal to the Government. 
 
 52. And whereas we have been informed that divers 
 of our good Subjects inhabiting those Parts, do make a re- 
 ligious scruple of Swearing, and by Reason of their refus- 
 ing to take an Oath in Courts of Justice and other Places, 
 are or may be liable to many inconveniencies, our Will 
 and Pleasure is, that in Order to their ease in what they 
 conceive to be matter of Conscience, so far as may be con- 
 sistent with good Order and Government, you take Care 
 that an Act be passed in the General Assembly of our said 
 Province, to the like effect as that past here in the 7th and 
 8th Year of his Majesty's Reign, entitled, An Act, that the 
 Solemn Affirmation and Declaration of the People called 
 Quakers, shall be accepted, instead of an Oath in the usual 
 form, and that the same be transmitted to us, and to our 
 Commissioners for Trade and Plantations as before di- 
 rected. 
 
 53. And whereas we have been further informed, that 
 in the first Settlement of the Government of our said Pro- 
 vince, it may so happen that the Number of Inhabitants 
 fitly qualified to serve in our Council, in the General As- 
 sembly, and in other Places of Trust or Profit there, will 
 be but small ; it is therefore our Will and Pleasure, that 
 such of the said People called Quakers, as shall be found 
 capable of any of those Places or Employments, and ac- 
 cordingly be elected or appointed to serve therein, may 
 upon their taking and signing the Declaration of Allegi- 
 ance, to us in the form used by the same People here in 
 England, together with a Solemn Declaration for true dis- 
 
APPENDIX B. 229 
 
 charge of their respective Trusts, be admitted by you into 
 any of the said Places or Employments. 
 
 You shall send an Account unto us, and to our Com- 
 missioners for Trade and Plantations, of the present Num- 
 ber of Planters and Inhabitants, Men, Women and Chil- 
 dren, as well Masters as Servants, free and unfree, and of 
 the Slaves in our said Province, as also a Yearly account 
 of the Increase or Decrease of them, and how many of 
 them are fit to bear Arms in the Militia of our said 
 Province. 
 
 You shall also cause an Account to be kept of all Per- 
 sons Born, Christened and Buried, and you shall Yearly 
 send fair abstracts thereof to us, and to our Commissioners 
 for Trade and Plantations as aforesaid. 
 
 You shall take care that all Planters and Christian Ser- 
 vants, be well and fitly provided with Arms, and that they 
 be listed under good Officers, and when, and as often as 
 shall be thought fit, Mustered and Trained, whereby they 
 may be in a better readiness for the Defence of our said 
 Province under your Government, and you are to endea- 
 vour to get an Act past, (if not already done) for appor- 
 tioning the number of white Servants to be kept by every 
 Planter. 
 
 You are to take especial care, that neither the fre- 
 quency, nor unreasonableness of their Marches, Musters, 
 and Trainings, be an unnecessary Impediment to the affairs 
 of the Inhabitants. 
 
 You shall not, upon any Occasion whatsoever, estab- 
 lish, or put in Execution any Articles of War, or other 
 
230 APPENDIX B. 
 
 Law Martial, upon any of our Subjects, Inhabitants of our 
 said Province, without the Advice and consent of our 
 Council there. 
 
 And whereas there is no Power given you by your 
 Commission, to execute Martial Law in Time of Peace 
 upon Soldiers in pay, and that nevertheless it may be Ne- 
 cessary that some care be taken for the keeping of good 
 Discipline amongst those, that we may at any Time think 
 fit to send into our said Province, (which may properly be 
 provided for by the Legislative Power of the same) you are 
 therefore to recommend to the General Assembly of our 
 said Province, that they prepare such Act or Law for the 
 Punishing of Mutiny, Desertion, and false Musters, and for 
 the better preserving of good discipline amongst the said 
 Soldiers, as may best answer those Ends. 
 
 And whereas upon Complaints that have been made of 
 the irregular Proceedings of the Captains of some of our 
 Ships of War, in the pressing of Seamen in several of our 
 Plantations, we have thought fit to order, and have given 
 Directions to our High Admiral accordingly, that when 
 any Captain or Commander of any of our Ships of War, in 
 any of our said Plantations, shall have Occasion for Sea- 
 men to serve on board of Ships under their Command, 
 they do make their Applications to the Governors, and 
 Commanders in Chief, of our Plantations respectively, to 
 whom, as Vice Admirals, we are pleased to commit the sole 
 Power of impressing Seamen in any of our Plantations in 
 America, or in sight of any of them ; you are therefore 
 hereby required upon such Application made to you, by 
 any of the Commanders of our said Ships of War within 
 our Province of Nova-Ccesarea, or New- Jersey, to take 
 care that our said Ships of War be furnished with a num- 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 231 
 
 oer of Seamen that may be necessary for our Service on 
 board them from Time to Time. 
 
 And whereas together with other Powers of Vice Ad- 
 miralty, you will receive Authority from our dearest Hus- 
 band Prince George of Denmark, our High Admiral of 
 England, and of our Plantations, upon the Refusal or Ne- 
 glect of any Captain or Commander of any of our Ships of 
 War, to execute the written Orders he shall receive from 
 you for our Service, and the Service of our Province un- 
 der your Government, or upon his negligent, or undue exe- 
 cution thereof, to suspend him, such Captain or Command- 
 er from the Exercise of his said Office of Captain or Com- 
 mander, and to commit him into safe Custody, either on 
 board his own Ship or elsewhere, at your Discretion, in or- 
 der to his being brought to answer for such Refusal or Ne- 
 glect, by Commission either under our Great Seal of Eng- 
 land, or from our High Admiral, or our Commissioners for 
 executing the Office of our High Admiral of England for 
 the Time being. 
 
 And whereas you will likewise receive Directions from 
 our said Dearest Husband, as our High Admiral of Eng- 
 land, and of our Plantations, that the Captain or Command- 
 er, so by you suspended, shall during such his Suspension 
 and Commitment be succeeded in his said Office by such 
 Commission or Warrant Officer of our said Ship, appointed 
 by our said High Admiral of England, or by our Commis- 
 sioners for executing the Office of our High Admiral of 
 England for the Time being, as by that known Practice 
 and Discipline of our Navy, does and ought to succeed him 
 next as in case of Death, Sickness, or other ordinary disa- 
 bility happening to the Commander of any of our Ships of 
 War and not otherwise ; you standing also accountable for 
 
232 APPENDIX B. 
 
 the Truth and Importance of the Crime and Misdemea- 
 nour, for which you shall so proceed to the suspending of 
 such our Captain or Commander ; you are not to exercise 
 the said Power of suspending any such Captains or Com- 
 manders of our Ships of War, otherwise then by virtue of 
 such Commission or Authority from our said High Admi- 
 ral ; any former Custom or Usage notwithstanding. 
 
 Whereas it is absolutely necessary, that we be exactly 
 informed of the State of Defence of all our Plantations in 
 America, as well in relation to the Stores of War, that are 
 in each Plantation, as to the Forts and Fortifications there, 
 and what more may be necessary to be built for the De- 
 fence and Security of the same, you are so soon as possible 
 to prepare an Account thereof, with relation to our said 
 Province of Nova-Casarea, or New- Jersey, in the most 
 particular manner ; and you are therein to express the pre- 
 sent state of the Arms, Ammunition and other Stores of 
 War, either in any publick Magazines, or in the Hands of 
 private Persons, together with the state of all Places either 
 already fortified, or that you judge necessary to be fortified 
 for the Security of our said Province ; and you are to 
 transmit the said Account to us, and to our Commissioners 
 for Trade and Plantations by the first opportunity, and 
 other like Accounts Yearly in the same Manner. 
 
 And that we may be the better informed of the Trade 
 of our said Province, you are to take especial care that due 
 Entries be made in all Ports in our said Province, of all 
 Goods and Commodities, their Species or Quantities Im- 
 ported or Exported from thence, with the Names, Burden, 
 and Guns of all Ships importing and exporting the same, 
 also the Names of their Commanders, and likwise express- 
 ing from and to what Places the said Ships do come and 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 233 
 
 go, a Copy whereof the Naval Officer is to furnish you 
 with, and you are to transmit the same unto us, our High 
 Treasurer or our Commissioners of our Treasury for the 
 Time being, and to our Commissioners for Trade and Plan- 
 tations Quarterly, and Duplicates thereof by the next con- 
 veyance. 
 
 And whereas great losses have been sustained by our 
 Subjects, Trading to our Plantations in America, by Ships 
 sailing from those Parts without Convoy, or without the 
 Company of other Ships, which might protect them from 
 our Enemies, by which means many of them have been 
 taken by the French in their return to England ; to the 
 end therefore the Ships of our Subjects may be the better 
 secured in their return home, you are to take care that dur- 
 ing this Time of War, no Ships Trading to our Province 
 of Nova-Ccesarea, or New- Jersey, be permitted to come 
 from thence to England, but in Fleets, or under Convoy 
 or Protection of some of our Ships of War, or at such a 
 Time as you shall receive Notice from hence, of their 
 meeting such Convoys, as may be appointed for the bring- 
 ing them safe to some of our Ports in this Kingdom ; and 
 in case of any Danger, you are to expect Directions from 
 hence, what Precautions shall be further necessary for their 
 Security. 
 
 You are likewise to examine what Rates and Duties 
 are charged and payable upon any Goods Imported or Ex- 
 ported within our Province of Nova-Ccesarea, or New- 
 Jersey, whether of the Growth or Manufacture of the said 
 Province or otherwise, and to use your best endeavours 
 for the Improvement of the Trade in those Parts. 
 
 And whereas Orders have been given for the Commis- 
 sionating of fit Persons to be Officers of our Admiralty 
 
234 APPENDIX B. 
 
 and Customs in our several Plantations in America ; and it 
 is of great importance to the Trade of this Kingdom, and 
 to the Welfare of all our Plantations, that illegal Trade be 
 every where discouraged. You are therefore to take espe- 
 cial care, that the Acts of Trade and Navigation be duly 
 put in Execution ; and in Order thereunto, you are to give 
 constant Protection and all due Encouragement to the said 
 Officers of our Admiralty and Customs, in the Execution 
 of their respective Offices and Trust within our Territo- 
 ries under your Government. 
 
 You are from Time to Time to give an Account as be- 
 fore directed, what Strength your bordering Neighbours 
 have, be they Indians or others, by Sea and Land, and of 
 the Condition of their Plantations, and what Correspond- 
 ence you do keep with them. 
 
 You shall take especial care, that God Almighty be de- 
 voutly and duly served throughout your Government, the 
 Book of Common Prayer as by Law established read each 
 Sunday, and Holy-day, and the Blessed Sacrament admin- 
 istered according to the Rights of the Church of England. 
 
 You shall be careful that the Churches already built 
 there, be well and orderly kept, and that more be built, as 
 the Colony shall by God's blessing be improved ; and that 
 besides a competent maintainance to be assigned to the 
 Minister of each Orthodox Church, a convenient House be 
 built at the common Charge for each Minister, and a com- 
 petent Proportion of Land, assigned to him, for a Glebe 
 and exercise of his industry. 
 
 And you are to take care, that the Parishes be so limit- 
 ted and settled, as you shall find most convenient, for the 
 accomplishing this good Work. 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 235 
 
 You are not to prefer any Minister to any ecclesiastical 
 Benefice in that our Province, without a Certificate from 
 the Right Reverend Father in God the Loed Bishop of 
 London, of his being conformable to the Doctrine and Dis- 
 cipline of the Church of England, and of a good Life and 
 Conversation : And if any Person already preferr'd to a 
 Benefice shall appear to you, to give scandal either by his 
 Doctrine or Manners, you are to use the best means for the 
 Removal of him, and to supply the Vacancy in such man- 
 ner as we have directed. 
 
 You are to give Order, that every Orthodox Minister 
 within your Government, be one of the Vestry in his re- 
 spective Parish, and that no Vestry be held without him, 
 except in case of Sickness, or that after the Notice of a 
 Vestry summon'd, he omit to come. 
 
 You are to enquire whether there be any Minister 
 within your Government, who preaches and administers the 
 Sacrament in any Orthodox Church or Chappel, without 
 being in due Orders, and to give account thereof to the 
 said Lord Bishop of London. 
 
 And to the End the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the 
 said Lord Bishop of London, may take Place in our said 
 Province, so far as conveniently may be, we do think fit 
 that you give all Countenance and encouragement to the 
 Exercise of the same, excepting only the collating to Bene- 
 fices, granting Licences for Marriages, and Probate of 
 Wills, which we have reserved to you our Governor, and 
 the Commander in Chief of said Province for the Time 
 being. 
 
 And you are to take especial Care that a Table of Mar- 
 riages established by the Canons of the Church of Eng- 
 
236 APPENDIX B. 
 
 land, be hung up in every Orthodox Church, and duly ob- 
 served, and you are to endeavour to get a Law passed in 
 the Assembly of our said Province, (if not already done,) 
 for the strict Observation of the said Table. 
 
 You are to take care that Drunkenness and Debauche- 
 ry, Swearing and Blasphemy, be discountenanced and pun- 
 ished : And for the further discountenance of Vice, and 
 Encouragement of Virtue and good living, (that by such 
 example the Infidels may be invited and Desire to partake 
 of the Christian Religion) you are not to admit any Person 
 to publick Trusts and Employments in our said Province, 
 under your Government, whose ill Fame and Conversation 
 may occasion Scandal. 
 
 You are to suppress the engrossing of Commodities as 
 tending to the prejudice of that freedom which Commerce 
 and Trade ought to have, and to settle such Orders and 
 Regulations therein, with the Advice of the Council, as 
 may be most conducive to the Benefit and Improvement of 
 that Colony. 
 
 You are to give all due Encouragement and Invitation 
 to Merchants and others, who shall bring Trade unto our 
 said Province, or any way contribute to the advantage 
 thereof, and in particular the Royal African Company of 
 England. 
 
 And whereas we are willing to recommend unto the 
 said Company, that the said Province may have a constant 
 and sufficient supply of Merchantable Negroes, at moderate 
 Rates, in Money or Commodities, so you are to take espe- 
 cial Care, that Payment be duly made, and within a com- 
 petent time according to their Agreements. 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 237 
 
 And you are to take care that there be no trading from 
 our said Province to any Place in Africa, within the Char- 
 ter of the Royal African Company, otherwise than pre- 
 scribed by an Act of Parliament, entitled, An Act to settle 
 the Trade to Africa. 
 
 And you are Yearly to give unto us, and to our Com- 
 missioners for Trade and Plantations, an Account of what 
 Number of Negroes, our said Province is yearly supplyed 
 with, and at what Rates. 
 
 You are likewise from Time to Time, to give unto us, 
 and to our Commissioners for Trade and Plantations as 
 aforesaid, an account of the Want and Defects of our said 
 Province, what are the chief Products thereof, what new 
 Improvements are made therein by the Industry of the In- 
 habitants or Planters, and what further Improvements you 
 conceive may be made, or Advantages gained by Trade, 
 and in what manner we may best advance the same. 
 
 You are not to grant Commissions of Marque or Re- 
 prizals, against any Prince or State, or their Subjects in 
 Amity with us, to any Person whatsoever without our es- 
 pecial Command. 
 
 Our Will and Pleasure is, that Appeals be made in 
 Cases of Error from the Courts in our said Province of 
 Nova-Casarea, or New- Jersey, unto you and the Council 
 there ; and in your absence from our said Province, to our 
 Commander in Chief for the Time being, and our said 
 Council, in civil Causes, wherein such of our said Council 
 as shall be at that Time Judges of the Court from whence 
 such Appeal shall be made to you our Governor, and Coun- 
 cil, or to the Commander in Chief for the Time being, and 
 
238 APPENDIX B. 
 
 Council as aforesaid, shall not be admitted to vote upon 
 the said Appeal, but they may nevertheless be present at 
 the hearing thereof, to give the Reasons of the Judgment 
 given by them, in the. Cause wherein such Appeal shall be 
 made. PROVIDED NEVERTHELESS, that in all 
 such Appeals, the Sum or Value appealed for exceed one 
 Hundred Pounds Sterling, and that Security be first duly 
 given by the Appellant to Answer such Charges as shall be 
 awarded in Case the first Sentence be affirmed. 
 
 And if either Party shall not rest satisfyed with the 
 Judgment of you, or the Commander in Chief for the Time 
 being, and Council as aforesaid, Our Will and Pleasure is, 
 that they may then appeal unto us, in our privy Council, 
 provided the Sum or Value so appealed for unto us, do ex- 
 ceed two Hundred Pounds Sterling, and that such Appeal 
 be made within Fourteen Days after Sentence ; and that 
 good Security be given by the Appellant, that he will ef- 
 fectually prosecute the same, and answer the Condemna- 
 tion, as also pay such Costs and Damages as shall be 
 awarded by us, in case the Sentence of you, or the Com- 
 mander in Chief for the Time being, and Council, be af- 
 firmed. And Provided also, that Execution be not sus- 
 pended by reason of any such Appeal to us. 
 
 You are also to permit Appeals to us in Council, in all 
 Cases of Fines imposed for Misdemeanours ; provided the 
 Fines so imposed, amount to or exceed the value of two 
 Hundred Pounds, the Appeallant first giving good Se- 
 curity, that he will effectually Prosecute the same, and An- 
 swer the Condemnation, if the Sentence by which such 
 Fine was imposed in our said Province of Nova-Ccesarea, 
 or New-Jersey, shall be confirmed.- 
 
APPENDIX B. 039 
 
 You are for the better Administration of Justice, to en- 
 deavour to get a Law passed (if not already done) wherein 
 shall be set the value of Men's Estates, either in Goods or 
 Lands, under which they shall not be capable of serving as 
 Jurors. 
 
 You shall endeavour to get a Law past for the restrain- 
 ing of any inhuman Severity, which by ill Masters or 
 Overseers, may be used towards their Christian Servants, 
 and their Slaves, and that Provision be made therein, that 
 the wilfull killing of Indians and Negroes may be punished 
 with Death, and that a fit Penalty be imposed for the 
 maiming of them. 
 
 You are also with the Assistance of the Council and 
 Assembly, to find out the best means to facilitate and en- 
 courage the Conversion of Negroes and Indians, to the 
 Christian Religion. 
 
 You are to endeavour with the Assistance of the Coun- 
 cil, to provide for the raising of Stocks, and building of 
 publick Work-houses, in convenient Places, for the em- 
 ploying of poor and indigent people. 
 
 You are to propose an Act to be past in the Assembly, 
 whereby the Creditors of Persons becoming Bankrupts in 
 England, and having Estates in our aforesaid Province of 
 New-Jersey, may be relieved and satisfied for the Debts 
 owing them. 
 
 You are to encourage the Indians upon all Occasions 
 so as they may apply themselves to the English Trade and 
 Nation, rather than to any other of Europe. 
 
240 APPENDIX B. 
 
 And whereas the preservation of the Northern Fron- 
 tiers of our Province of New-York, against the Attempts 
 of any Enemy by Land, is of great Importance to the Se- 
 curity of our Northern Plantations on the Continent of 
 America, and more especially of our said Province of New- 
 Jersey, which lyes so near adjoining to our Province of 
 New-York; and the charge of erecting and repairing the 
 Fortifications, and of maintaining the soldiers necessary 
 for the defence of the same, as too great to be borne by the 
 single Province of New-York, without due Contributions 
 from others concerned therein, for which reason, we have 
 upon several Occasions, required such Contributions to be 
 made, and accordingly settled a quota to regulate the Pro- 
 portions thereof; you are therefore to take further Care, to 
 dispose the General Assembly of our said Province of New- 
 Jersey, to the raising of such other Supplies, as are or may 
 be necessary for the Defence of our Province of New-York, 
 according to the Signification of our Will and Pleasure 
 therein, which has already been made to the Inhabitants of 
 New-Jersey, or which shall at any Time hereafter be made 
 to you our Governor, or to the Commander in Chief of our 
 said Province for the Time being. 
 
 And in Case of any Distress of any of our Plantations, 
 you shall upon Application of the respective Governors to 
 you, assist them with what aid the condition and safety of 
 your Government will permit, and more particularly in 
 case our Province of New-York, be at any Time attacked 
 by an Enemy, the Assistance you are to contribute to- 
 wards the defence thereof, whether in Men or Money is 
 according to the forementioned Quota or Repartition 
 which has already been signified to the Inhabitants of our 
 foresaid Province under your Government, or according to 
 
APPENDIX B. 241 
 
 such other Regulation as we shall hereafter make in that 
 behalf, and signify to you or the Commander in Chief of our 
 said Province, for the Time being. 
 
 And for the greater Security of our Province of New- 
 Jersey, you are to appoint fit Officers and Commanders, in 
 the several Parts of the Country bordering upon the In- 
 dians, who upon any Invasion may raise Men and Arms 
 to oppose them, until they shall receive your Directions 
 therein. 
 
 And whereas we have been pleased by our Commis- 
 sion to direct, that in case of your Death or Absence 
 from our said Province, and in case there be at that Time 
 no Person upon the Place commissionated or appointed 
 by us to be our Lieutenant Governor, or Commander in 
 Chief, the then present Council of our said Province, shall 
 take upon them the Administration of the Government, 
 and execute our said Commission, and the several Powers 
 and Authorities therein contained in the manner therein 
 directed ; it is nevertheless our express Will and Pleasure, 
 that in such case the said Council shall forbear to pass any 
 Acts, but what are immediately necessary for the Peace 
 and Welfare of our said Province, without our particular 
 Order for that Purpose. 
 
 You are to take care that all Writs be issued in our 
 Name throughout our said Province. 
 
 Forasmuch as great Inconveniencies may arise by the 
 Liberty of Printing in our said Province, you are to pro- 
 vide by all necessary Orders, that no Person keep any 
 Press for printing, nor that any Book, Pamphlet or other 
 16 
 
242 APPENDIX B. 
 
 Matters whatsoever be printed without your especial 
 Leave and Licence first obtained. 
 
 And if any thing shall happen that may be of advan- 
 tage and security to our said Province, which is not herein, 
 or by our Commission to you provided for, we do hereby 
 allow unto you, with the Advice and Consent of our Coun- 
 cil of our said Province, to take order for the present there- 
 in, giving unto us by one of our Principal Secretaries of 
 State, and to our Commissioners for Trade and Planta- 
 tions, speedy Notice thereof, that so you may receive our 
 Ratification if we shall approve of the same. 
 
 PROVIDED ALWAYS, that you do not by any co- 
 lour of any Power or Authority hereby given you, Com- 
 mence or Declare War, without our Knowledge and parti- 
 cular Commands therein, except it be against Indians, upon 
 emergencies, wherein the consent of our Council shall be 
 had, and speedy Notice given thereof unto us as aforesaid. 
 
 And you are upon all occasions to send unto us by one 
 of our principal Secretaries of State, and to our Commis- 
 sioners for Trade and Plantations, a particular account of 
 all your Proceedings and of the Condition of Affairs within 
 your Government. 
 
 And whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Par- 
 liament, upon Consideration of the great abuses practised in 
 the Plantation Trade, did by an humble Address represent to 
 his late Majesty, the great Importance it is of both to this 
 our Kingdom and to our Plantations in America, that the 
 many good Laws which have been made for the Govern- 
 ment of the said Plantations, and particularly the Act pass- 
 ed in the seventh and eighth Years of his said Majesty's 
 
APPENDIX B. 243 
 
 Reign, entitled, An Act for preventing Frauds, and regu- 
 lating abuses in the Plantation Trade, be strictly observed. 
 You are therefore to take Notice, that whereas notwith- 
 standing the many good Laws made from Time to Time, 
 for preventing Frauds in the Plantation Trade, it is never- 
 theless manifest, that very great Abuses have been and 
 continue still to be practised to the prejudice of the same ; 
 which abuses must needs arise, either from the Insolvency 
 of the Persons who are accepted for the Security, or from 
 the Remissness or Connivance of such as have been or are 
 Governors in the Several Plantations, who ought to take 
 care that those Persons who give Bond should be duly 
 prosecuted, in case of non performance ; we take the good 
 of our Plantations and the Improvement of the Trade 
 thereof, by a strict and punctual observance of the several 
 Laws in force concerning the same, to be of so great Im- 
 portance to the Benefit of this our Kingdom, and to the 
 advancing of the Duties of our Customs here, that if we 
 shall be hereafter informed, that at any Time there shall 
 be any failure in the due observance of those Laws, within 
 our foresaid Province of Nova-Casarea, or New- Jersey, 
 by any willful fault or neglect on your Part, we shall look 
 upon it as Breach of the Trust reposed in you by us, 
 which we shall punish with the loss of your Place in that 
 Government, and such further Marks of our Displeasure, 
 as we shall Judge reasonable to be inflicted upon you, for 
 your Offence against us, in a Matter of this consequence 
 that we now so particularly charge you with. 
 A True Copy. 
 
 Thomas Hill, Secretary. 
 
244 APPENDIX B. 
 
 LORD CORNBURY'S COMMISSION. 
 
 ANNE by the Grace of God of England, Scotland, 
 France and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, &c. 
 To our Trusty and well reloved, Edward Hyde, Esquire, 
 commonly called Lord Cornbury, Greeting. _ Whereas in 
 the Government of that Country, which was formerly 
 granted by King Charles the Second, under the Name of 
 Nova-Casarea, or New- Jersey, and which has since been 
 subdivided by the Proprietors and called East New-Jersey, 
 and West New Jersey, such Miscarriages have happened 
 that the said Country is fallen into disorder and confusion, 
 which has accordingly been represented to our dearest 
 Brother the late King in several Petitions, Memorials and 
 other Papers signed by the General Proprietors and by 
 great numbers of the Inhabitants ; and by means of that 
 disorder the publick Peace and Administration of Justice, 
 whereby the Properties of our Subjects should be pre- 
 served there, is interrupted and violated, and the Guard 
 and Defence of that Country so totally neglected, that the 
 same is in eminent danger of being lost from the Crown of 
 England : And whereas the aforesaid Proprietors being 
 sensible that the said Country and our good Subjects the 
 Inhabitants thereof cannot be defended and secured by any- 
 other means then by our taking the Government of the 
 same under our immediate Care, have executed and made 
 a formal and entire Surrender of their Right or pretended 
 Right and Title to the Government of that Country unto 
 us, we therefore reposing especial trust and confidence in 
 the Prudence, Courage and Loyalty of you the said Lord 
 Cornbury, out of our especial Grace, certain Knowledge 
 and mere Motion, have thought fit to constitute and ap- 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 245 
 
 point, and by these Presents do constitute and appoint you 
 the said Lord Cornbury, to be our Captain General and 
 Governor in Chief, in and over the aforesaid Country of 
 Nova-CcBsarea, or New- Jersey, viz. the Division of East 
 and West New-Jersey, in America, which we have thought 
 fit to reunite into one Province, and settle under one en- 
 tire Government : And we do hereby require and com- 
 mand you to do and execute all Things in due manner that 
 shall belong unto your said Command, and the trust we 
 have reposed in you, according to the several Powers and 
 Directions granted or appointed you by this present Com- 
 mission, and the Instructions and Authorities herewith 
 given you, or by such further Powers, Instructions or Au- 
 thorities as shall at any Time hereafter be granted, or ap- 
 pointed you under our Signet and Sign Manual, or by our 
 Order in our privy Council, and according to such reason- 
 able Laws and Statutes as shall be made and agreed upon 
 by you, with the advice and consent of the Council and 
 Assembly of our said Province, under your Government, 
 in such manner and form as is hereafter expressed. And 
 our Will and Pleasure is, that you the said Lord Cornbury, 
 having, after the Proclamation of these our Letters Patents, 
 first taken the Oaths appointed by Act of Parliament to be 
 taken instead of the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy, 
 and the Oath mentioned in an Act, entitled, An Act to de- 
 clare the Alteration in the Oath appointed to be taken, by 
 the Act, entitled, An Act for the further Security of his 
 Majesty's Person, and the Succession of the Crown in the 
 Protestant Line, and for the extinguishing the hopes of the 
 Pretended Prince of Wales, and all other Pretenders and 
 their open and secret Abettors, and for the declaring the 
 Association to be determined. As also the Test mentioned 
 in the Act of Parliament made in the Twenty-fifth Year of 
 
246 APPENDIX B. 
 
 the Reign of King Charles the Second, entitled, An Act 
 for preventing Dangers which may happen from Popish 
 Recusants, together with the Oath for the due Execution 
 of the Office and Trust of our Captain General and Gov- 
 ernor in Chief, in and over our said Province of Nova- 
 CcBsarea, or New- Jersey, as well with regard to the equal 
 and impartial Administration of Justice, in all Causes that 
 shall come before you, as otherwise, and likewise the Oath 
 required to be taken by Governors of Plantations, to do the 
 utmost that the Laws relating to the Plantations be observ- 
 ed ; all which our Council in our said Province, or any 
 three of the Members thereof, have hereby full Power and 
 Authority, and are required to administer unto you, and in 
 your absence our Lieutenant Governor, if there be any 
 upon the Place : you shall administer unto each of the 
 Members of our said Council, as also to our Lieutenant 
 Governor, if there be any upon the Place, as well the 
 Oath appointed by the Act of Parliament to be taken in- 
 stead of the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy, and the 
 Oath mentioned in the said Act, entitled, An Act to declare 
 the Alteration in the Oath appointed to be taken by an Act, 
 entitled, An Act for the further Security of his Majesty's 
 Person, and the Succession of the Crown in the Protestant 
 Line, and for exthiguishing the hopes of the pretended 
 Prince of Wales, and all other Pretenders, and their open 
 and Secret Abettors, and for declaring the Association to 
 be determined; as the forementioned Test, and the Oath 
 for the due execution of their Places and Trusts. And we 
 do hereby give and grant unto you, full Power and Autho- 
 rity to suspend any of the Members of our said Council 
 from sitting, voting, and assisting therein, if you shall see 
 just cause for so doing : And if it shall at any Time hap- 
 pen that by the Death, Departure out of our said Province, 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 24? 
 
 or Suspension of any of our said Councillors, or other- 
 wise, there shall be wanting in our said Council, any three 
 whereof we do appoint to be a Quorum, Our Will and 
 Pleasure is, that you signify the same unto us, by the first 
 opportunity, that we may under our Signet and Sign Ma- 
 nual constitute and appoint others in their stead ; but that 
 our affairs may not suffer at that instant, for want of 
 a due Number of Councillors, if ever it should happen 
 that there should be less than seven of them residing in our 
 said Province, we do hereby give and grant unto you the 
 said Lord Cornbury, full Power and Authority to chuse 
 as many Persons out of the Principal Freeholders, Inhabit- 
 ants thereof, as will make up the full number of our said 
 Council to be seven, and no more, which persons so chosen 
 and appointed by you, shall be to all Intents and Purposes 
 Councillors in our said Province, until either they shall be 
 confirmed by us, or that by the Nomination of others by 
 us, under our Sign Manual and Signet, our said Council 
 shall have seven or more Persons in it. And we do here- 
 by give and grant unto you, full Power and Authority, 
 with the advice and consent of our said Council from Time 
 to Time, as need shall require, to summon and call Gen- 
 eral Assemblies of the Freeholders and Planters within 
 your Government, in manner and form as shall be directed 
 in our Instructions which shall be given you, together with 
 this our Commission. Our Will and Pleasure is, that the 
 Persons thereupon duly elected, by the Major part of the 
 Freeholders of the respective Counties and Places so re- 
 turned, and having before sitting, taken the Oaths appoint- 
 ed by Act of Parliament to be taken instead of the Oaths 
 of Allegiance and Supremacy, and the Oath mentioned in 
 the aforesaid Act, entitled, An Act to declare the Alteration 
 in the Oath appointed to be taken by the Act, entitled, An 
 
248 APPENDIX B. 
 
 Act for the further Security of his Majesty's Person, 
 and the Succession of the Crown in the Protestant Line, 
 and for extinguishing the hopes of the pretended Prince of 
 Wales, and all other Pretenders, and their open and secret 
 Abettors, and for declaring the Association to be determin- 
 ed ; as also the aforementioned Test: Which Oath you 
 shall commissionate fit Persons under our Seal of Nova- 
 Ccesarea, or New-Jersey, to administer unto them, and 
 without taking of which Oaths and subscribing the said 
 Test, none shall be capable of sitting though elected, shall 
 be called and held the General Assembly of that our Pro- 
 vince, and that you the said Lord Cornbury, by and with 
 the Advice and Consent of our Council and Assembly, or 
 the Major part of them respectively, shall have full Power 
 and Authority to make, constitute, and ordain Laws, Sta- 
 tutes and Ordinances, for the publick Peace, Welfare, and 
 good Government of our said Province, and of the People 
 and Inhabitants thereof, and such others as shall report 
 thereto, and for the Benefit of us, our Heirs, and Succes- 
 sors, which said Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances are not to 
 be repugnant, but as near as may be agreeable unto the 
 Laws and Statutes of this our Kingdom of England. Pro- 
 vided that all such Laws, Statutes and Ordinances of what 
 nature or duration soever, be within three Months or soon- 
 er, after the making thereof, transmitted to us, under our 
 Seal of Nova-Caisarea, or New- Jersey, for our Approba- 
 tion or Disallowance of them, as also Duplicates thereof 
 by the next conveyance, or in case any or all of them be- 
 ing not before confirmed by us, shall at any Time be disal- 
 lowed and not approved, and so signified by us, our Heirs 
 or Successors, under our or their Sign Manual and Signet, 
 or by Order of our or their privy Council, unto you the 
 said Lord Cornbury, or to the Commander in Chief of our 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 249 
 
 said Province for the Time being, then such and so many 
 of them as shall be disallowed and not approved shall from 
 thenceforth cease, determine, and become utterly void and 
 of none effect, any Thing to the contrary thereof notwith- 
 standing. And to the end that nothing may be passed or 
 done by our said Council or Assembly, to the prejudice of 
 our Heirs and Successors, we will and ordain, that you the 
 said Lord Cornbury, shall have and enjoy a Negative 
 Power in the making and passing of all Laws, Statutes and 
 Ordinances as aforesaid. And that you shall and may like- 
 wise from Time to Time, as you shall judge it necessary, 
 adjourn, prorogue and dissolve all General Assemblies. 
 Our Will and Pleasure is, that you shall and may use and 
 keep the publick Seal of our Province of Nova-Ccesarea, 
 or New-Jersey, for Sealing all Things whatsoever that pass 
 the Great Seal of our said Province under your Govern- 
 ment. And we do further give and grant unto you the 
 said Lord Cornbury, full Power and Authority, from Time 
 to Time, and at all Times hereafter, by yourself, or by any 
 other to be authorized by you in that behalf, to administer 
 and give the Oaths appointed by Act of Parliament, instead 
 of the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy, to all and every 
 such Person and Persons as you shall think fit, who shall at 
 any Time or Times pass into our said Province, or shall 
 be resident or abiding there. And do further give and 
 grant unto you, full Power and Authority, with the advice 
 and consent of our said Council, to erect, constitute and 
 establish such and so many Courts of Judicature and pub- 
 lick Justice within our said Province under your Govern- 
 ment, as you and they shall think fit and necessary, for the 
 hearing and determining of all Causes as well Criminal as 
 Civil, according to Law and Equity, and for awarding 
 execution thereupon with all reasonable and necessary 
 
250 APPENDIX B. 
 
 Powers, Authorities, Fees and Privileges belonging unto 
 them ; and also to appoint and commissionate fit Persons 
 in the several Parts of your Government to administer the 
 Oaths appointed by Act of Parliament to be taken instead 
 of the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy, and the Oath 
 mentioned in the aforesaid Act, entitled, An Act to declare 
 the Alteration in the Oath to be taken by the Act, entitled, 
 An Act for the further Security of his Majesty's Person, 
 and the Succession of the Crown in the Protestant Line, 
 and for the extinguishing the hopes of the pretended Prince 
 of Wales, and all other Pretenders, and their open and se- 
 cret Abettors, and for declaring the Association to be de- 
 termined ; as also the Test, unto such Persons as shall be 
 obliged to take the same. And we do hereby authorize 
 and empower you to constitute and appoint Judges, and in 
 Cases requisite, Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, Jus- 
 tices of the Peace, and other necessary Officers and Ma- 
 gistrates in our said Province, for the better administration 
 of Justice, and putting the Laws in Execution ; and to ad- 
 minister, or cause to be administered unto them, such Oath 
 or Oaths as are usually given for the due Execution and 
 Perform ace of Offices and Places, and for the clearing of 
 Truth in judicial Causes. And we do hereby give and 
 grant unto you, full Power and Authority where you shall 
 see Cause, or Judge any Offender or Offenders in Criminal 
 Matters, or any fines or forfeitures due unto us, fit Objects 
 of our Mercy, to pardon all such Offenders and to remit all 
 such Offences, Fines and Forfeitures, Treasons and wilful 
 Murder only excepted, in which case you shall likewise 
 have Power upon extraordinary Occasions, to grant re- 
 prises to the Offenders, until and to the Intent our Royal 
 Pleasure may be known therein. And we do by these 
 presents authorize and impower you to collate any Person 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 251 
 
 or Persons to any Churches, Chappels or other ecclesias- 
 tical Benefices within our said Province, as often as any of 
 them shall happen to be void. And we do hereby give and 
 grant unto you the said Lord Cornbury, by your self, and by 
 your Captains and Commanders, by you to be authorized, 
 full Power and Authority to levy, arm, muster, command 
 and employ all Persons whatsoever residing within our 
 said Province of Nova-Casarea, or New- Jersey, and as 
 occasion shall serve them, to Transport from one place to 
 another for the resisting and withstanding of all Ene- 
 mies, Pirates, and Rebels, both at Sea and Land, and to 
 Transport such Forces to any of our Plantations in Ameri- 
 ca, if necessity shall require, for the defence of the same 
 against the Invasion and attempts of any of our Enemies, 
 Pirates and Rebels, if there shall be occasion to pursue and 
 prosecute in or out of the Limits of our said Province and 
 Plantations, or any of them ; and if it shall please God 
 them to vanquish, apprehend and take, and being taken 
 either according to Law, to put to Death, or keep and pre- 
 serve alive at your discretion, and to execute Martial Law, 
 in time of Invasion, Insurrection or War, and to do and 
 execute all and every other Thing and Things, which to 
 any Captain General and Governor in Chief, doth or ought 
 of right to belong. And we do hereby give and grant unto 
 you full Power and Authority, by and with the Advice and 
 Consent of our said Council, to erect, raise and build in 
 our said Province of Nova-Caesarea, or New- Jersey, such 
 and so many Forts, Platforms, Castles, Cities, Burroughs, 
 Towns, and Fortifications, as you by the Advice aforesaid, 
 shall judge necessary, and the same, or any of them, to for- 
 tify and furnish with Ordinance, Ammunition, and all sorts 
 of Arms fit and necessary for the Security and Defence of 
 our said Province ; and by the advice aforesaid, the same 
 
252 APPENDIX B. 
 
 or any of them again to demolish or dismantle as may be 
 most convenient. And forasmuch as many Mutinies and 
 Disorders may happen, by Persons shipped and employed 
 at Sea during the Time of War, to the end that such as 
 shall be shipped and employed at Sea during the Time of 
 War, may be better governed and ordered, we do hereby 
 give and grant unto you the said Lord Cornbury, full 
 Power and Authority to constitute and appoint Captains, 
 Lieutenants, Masters of Ships, and other Commanders and 
 Officers, and to grant unto such Captains, Lieutenants, 
 Masters of Ships, and other Commanders, and Officers, 
 Commissions, to execute the Law Martial during the Time 
 of War, and to use such Proceedings, Authorities, Correc- 
 tions, Executions, upon any Offender or Offenders who shall 
 be mutinous, seditious, disorderly, or any ways unruly at 
 Sea, or during the Time of their abode or residence in any 
 of the Ports, Harbours, or Quays of our said Province, as 
 the cause shall be found to require according to Martial 
 Law, during the Time of War as aforesaid. Provided, 
 that nothing herein contained, shall be construed to the 
 enabling you, or any by your Authority, to hold Plea or 
 have any Jurisdiction of any Offence, Cause, Matter or 
 Thing committed or done upon the High Sea, or within 
 any of the Harbors, Rivers, or Creeks of our said Province 
 under your Government, by any Captain, Commander, 
 Lieutenant, Master, Officer, Sea Man, Soldier, or other 
 Person whatsoever, who shall be in actual Service and Pay, 
 in or aboard any of our Ships of War, or the Vessel acting 
 by immediate Commission or Warrant from our High Ad- 
 miral of England, under the Seal of our Admiralty, or 
 from the Commissioners for executing the Office of our 
 High Admiral of England for the Time being, but that 
 such Captain, Commander, Lieutenant, Master, Officers, 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 253 
 
 Sea Men, Soldiers, and other Persons offending, shall be 
 left to be proceeded against as the Merit of their Offences 
 shall require, either by Commission under our great Seal of 
 England, as the Statute of the Twenty-eighth of King 
 Henry the Eighth directs, or by Commission from our 
 High Admiral of England, or from our Commissioners for 
 executing the Office of our High Admiral of England, for 
 the Time being, according to the Act of Parliament passed 
 in the Thirteenth Year of King Charles the Second, en- 
 titled, An Act for establishing Articles and Orders, for the 
 regulating and better Government of his Majesty's Navy, 
 Ships of War, and Forces by Sea, and not otherwise. 
 PROVIDED NEVERTHELESS that all Disorders and 
 Misdemeanors committed on Shore by any Captain, Com- 
 mander, Lieutenant, Master, Officer, Sea Man, Soldier, or 
 any other Person whatsoever, belonging to any of our 
 Ships of War, or other Vessels acting by immediate Com- 
 mission, or Warrant from our High Admiral of England, 
 under the Seal of our Admiralty, or from our Commission- 
 ers for executing the Office of High Admiral of England, 
 for the Time being, may be tryed and punished according 
 to the Laws and Place where any such Disorder, Offences 
 and Misdemeanours, shall be committed on Shore, not- 
 withstanding such Offender be in our actual Service and 
 in our pay on board any such our Ships of War or other 
 Vessels, acting by immediate Commission or Warrant from 
 our High Admiral, or from our Commissioners for execut- 
 ing the Office of High Admiral for the Time being as 
 aforesaid, so as he shall not receive any Protection for the 
 delaying of Justice, for such Offences committed on Shore, 
 from any pretence of his being employed in our Service at 
 Sea. Our Will and Pleasure is, that all publick Money 
 raised, or shall be raised by any Act hereafter to be made 
 
254 APPENDIX B. 
 
 within our said Province, and issued out by Warrant from 
 you, by and with the Advice and Consent of our Council, 
 and disposed of by you for the Support of the Government, 
 and otherwise, we do hereby give you the said Lord Corn- 
 bury, full Power and Authority to order and appoint Fairs, 
 Marts, and Markets, as also such and so many Ports, Har- 
 bours, Cayes, Havens, and other places for the Conve- 
 niency and Security of Shipping, and for the loading and 
 unloading of Goods and Merchandize, as by you, with the 
 advice and consent of our said Council, shall be thought fit 
 and necessary. And we do hereby require and command 
 all Officers and Magistrates, Civil and Military, and all 
 other the Inhabitants of our said Province, to be obedient, 
 aiding and assisting unto you our said Lord Cornbury, in 
 the execution of this our Commission, and for the Powers 
 and Authorities herein contained ; and in case of your Death 
 or Absence out of our said Province, to be obedient, aid- 
 ing and assisting to such Person as shall be appointed by 
 us, to be our Lieutenant Governor or Commander in Chief 
 of the said Province, to whom we do therefore by these 
 Presents, give and grant all and singular the Privileges 
 and Authorities aforesaid, to be by him executed and en- 
 joyed during our Pleasure, or until your arrival within our 
 said Province : And if upon your Death or Absence out 
 of our said Province there be no Person upon the Place 
 commissionated or appointed by us to be our Lieutenant 
 Governor, or Commander in Chief of the said Province, 
 our Will and Pleasure is, that the then present Council of 
 our said Province, do take upon them the Administration 
 of the Government, and execute this Commission, and the 
 several Powers and Authorities herein contained, and that 
 such Councillor who shall be at the Time of your Death 
 or Absence, residing within our said Province, and nomi- 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 255 
 
 nated by our Instructions to you, before any other at that 
 Time residing there, do preside in our said Council, with 
 such Privileges and Preeminences as may be necessary 
 in those circumstances, for the due and orderly carrying 
 on the publick Service in the Administration of the Gov- 
 ernment as aforesaid, until our Pleasure be further known, 
 or until your return. LASTLY we do hereby declare, 
 ordain and appoint, that you the said Lord Cornbury, shall 
 and may hold, execute and enjoy the Office and Place of 
 Captain General and Governor in Chief, in and over our 
 Province of Nova-Ccesarea, or New- Jersey, together with 
 all and singular the Powers and Authorities hereby granted 
 unto you, for and during our Will and Pleasure from and 
 after the Publication of this our Commission. IN WIT- 
 NESS whereof we have caused these our Letters to be 
 made Patent. WITNESS our self at Westminster, the 
 fifth Day of December, in the first Year of our Reign. 
 
 Per bre probate, Sigillo. Wrighte. 
 
 The foregoing is a true Copy taken from and compared 
 with the Record in the Secretary's Office, at Burlington, 
 in Lib. A. A. A. of Commissions, Folio 1st. 
 
 Examined per 
 
 Samuel Peart, D. Secretary. 
 
APPENDIX C. 
 
 By His Excellency Edward Viscount Cornbury 
 Capt. General and Governour in Chief in and 
 over her Majesty's Provinces of New-Jersey, 
 New- York, and all the Territories and Tracts of 
 Land depending thereon in America, and Vice- 
 Admiral of the same, &c. An Ordinance for 
 Establishing Courts of Judicature. 
 
 Whereas Her Most Sacred Majesty, ANNE, by the 
 Grace of God, Queen of England, Scotland, France, and 
 Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. by her Royal Letters 
 Patents, bearing date the 5th day of December, in the 
 first year of her Majesty's Reign, did among other things 
 therein mentioned, give and grant unto his Excellency 
 Edward Viscount Cornbury, Captain General and Gover- 
 nour in Chief in and over the Province of Nova-Cesarea, 
 or New- Jersey, &c. full Power and Authority, with the 
 Advice and Consent of her Majesty's Council of the said 
 Province, to erect, constitute, and establish such and so 
 many courts of Judicature and publick Justice within the 
 said Province and Territories depending thereon, as his 
 
APPENDIX C. 257 
 
 said Excellency & Council shall think fit and necessary, 
 for the Hearing and Determining all Causes as well Crimi- 
 nal as Civil, according to Law and Equity, and for awarding 
 Execution thereupon, with all necessary Powers, Autho- 
 rities, Fees and Priviledges belonging to them. 
 
 His Excellency the Governour, by and with the Advice 
 and Consent of her Majesty's Council, and by virtue of 
 the Powers and Authorities derived unto him by her said 
 Majesty's Letters Patents, doth by. these Presents Ordain, 
 and it is hereby Ordained by the Authority aforesaid, 
 That every Justice of the Peace that resides within any 
 Town or County within this Province, is by these Pres- 
 ents fully impowered and authorized to have Cognizance 
 of all Causes or Cases of Debt and Trespass to the value 
 of Forty Shillings, or under ; which Causes or Cases of 
 Debt and Trespasses, to the value of Forty Shillings, or 
 under, shall and may be Heard, Try'd and finally Deter- 
 mined without a Jury, by every Justice of the Peace 
 residing, as aforesaid. 
 
 The Process of Warning against a Free-Holder or In- 
 habitant shall be by Summons, under the Hand of the 
 Justice, directed to the Constable of the Town or Precinct, 
 or to any deputed by him, where the party complained 
 against does live or reside ; which Summons being per- 
 sonally served or left at the Defendant's House or place of 
 his Abode, four days before the hearing of the Plaint, shall 
 be sufficient Authority to and for the said Justice to pro- 
 ceed to hear such Cause or Causes, and Determine the 
 same in the Defendants absence, and to grant Execution 
 thereupon against the Defendants Person, or for want 
 thereof, his Goods and Chattels, which the Constable, or his 
 Deputy, of that Town or Precinct shall and may serve, 
 17 
 
258 APPENDIX C. 
 
 unless some reasonable excuse for the Parties absence 
 appear to the Justice. 
 
 And the Process against an 'Itinerant Person, Inmate or 
 Foreigner, shall be by Warrant from any one Justice of 
 the Peace, to be served by any Constable, or his Deputy 
 within that County, who shall by virtue thereof, arrest the 
 Party, and him safely keep till he be carried before the said 
 Justice of the Peace, who shall and may immediately hear, 
 try, & finally determine, all such Causes and Cases of Debt 
 and Trespass, to the value of Forty Shillings, or under, by 
 awarding Judgment and Execution ; and if payment be 
 not immediately made, the Constable is to deliver the Party 
 to the Sheriff, who is hereby required to take him into 
 Custody, and him safely keep till payment be made of the 
 same, with Charges ; Always Provided, That an Appeal to 
 the Justices at the next Court of Sessions held for the said 
 County, shall be allowed for any sum upwards of Twenty 
 Shillings. 
 
 And his said Excellency, by the advice and consent 
 aforesaid, doth by these Presents further Ordain, That 
 there shall be kept and holden a Court of Common Pleas 
 in each respective County within this Province, which 
 shall be holden in each County at such place where the 
 General Court of Sessions is usually held and kept, to begin 
 immediately after the Sessions of the Peace does end and 
 terminate, and then to hold and continue as long as there 
 is any business, not exceeding three days. 
 
 And the several and respective Courts of Pleas hereby 
 established, shall have Power & Jurisdiction to hear, try, 
 and finally determine all Actions or Causes of Action, and 
 all Matters and Things Tryable at Common Law, of what 
 nature or kind soever. Provided always, and it is hereby 
 Ordained, That there may, and shall be an Appeal or 
 
APPENDIX C. 
 
 259 
 
 Removal by Habeas Corpus, or any other lawful Writ, of 
 any Person or of any Action or Suit depending, and 
 of Judgment or Execution that shall be determined in the 
 said respective Courts of Pleas, upwards of Ten Pounds, 
 and of any Action or Suit wherein the Right or Title of, in 
 or to any Land, or anything relating thereto, shall be 
 brought into Dispute or upon Tryal. 
 
 And it is further Ordained by the Authority aforesaid, 
 That the General Sessions of the Peace shall be held in 
 each respective County within this Province at the Times 
 and places hereafter mentioned, that is to say, 
 
 For the County of Middlesex, at Amboy the third 
 Tuesdays in February, May and August ; and the fourth 
 Tuesday in November. 
 
 For the County of Bergen, at Bergen, the first Tuesdays 
 in February, May and August, and the second Tuesday 
 in November. 
 
 For the County of Essex, at Newark, the second Tues- 
 days in February, May and August ; and the third Tues- 
 day in November. 
 
 For the County of Monmouth, at Shrewsbury, the fourth 
 Tuesdays in February, May and August, and the first 
 Tuesday in December. 
 
 For the County of Burlington, at Burlington, the first 
 Tuesdays in March, June, and September, and the second 
 Tuesday in December. 
 
 For the County of Gloucester, the second Tuesdays in 
 March, June and September, and the third Tuesday in 
 December. 
 
 For the County of Salem, at Salem, the third Tuesdays 
 in March, June and September, and the fourth Tuesday in 
 December. 
 
 For the County of Cape May, at the house of Shamger 
 
260 APPENDIX C. 
 
 Hand, the fourth Tuesdays in March, June and September, 
 and the first Tuesday in January. Which General Ses- 
 sions of the Peace in each respective County aforesaid, 
 shall hold and continue for any term not exceeding two 
 days. 
 
 And be it further Ordained by the Authority aforesaid, 
 That there shall be held and kept at the Cities or Towns 
 of Perth- Amboy and Burlington, alternately, a Supream 
 Court of Judicature, which Supream Court is hereby fully 
 impowered to have Cognizance of all Pleas, civil, criminal, 
 and mixt, as fully and amply, to all intents and purposes, 
 whatsoever, as the Courts of Queens Bench, Common Pleas 
 and Exchequer within her Majesties Kingdom of England 
 have or ought to have, in and to which Supream Court all 
 and every Person and Persons whatsoever shall and may, 
 if they see meet, commence any Action or Suit, the Debt 
 or Damage laid in such Action or Suit, being upwards of 
 Ten Pounds, and shall or may by Certiorari, Habeas 
 Corpus, or any other lawful Writ, remove out of any of 
 the respective Courts of Sessions of the Peace or Common 
 Pleas, any Information or Indictment there depending, or 
 Judgment thereupon given, or to be given in any Cri- 
 minal matter whatsoever, cognizable before them, or any 
 of them, as also all actions, Pleas, or Suits, real, personal, 
 or mixt, depending in any of the said Courts, and all Judg- 
 ments thereupon given, or to be given, Provided always, 
 That the Action or Suit depending, or Judgment given, 
 be upwards of the value of Ten Pounds, or that the Action 
 or Suit there depending or determined be concerning the 
 Right or Title of any Free-hold. 
 
 And out of the office of which Supream Court at 
 Amboy and Burlington all process shall issue out, under 
 the Test of the chief Justice of the said Court ; unto which 
 
APPENDIX C. 
 
 261 
 
 Office all Returns shall be made. Which Supream Court 
 shall be holden at the Cities of Amboy and Burlington 
 alternately, at Amboy on the first Tuesday in May, and at 
 Burlington on the first Tuesday in November, annually, 
 and every year ; and each Session of the said Court shall 
 continue for any Term not exceeding five days. And one 
 of the Justices of the said Supream Court shall once in 
 every Year, if need shall so require, go the Circuit, and 
 hold and keep the said Supream Court, for the County of 
 Bergen, at Bergen, on the third Tuesday in April. For 
 the County of Essex, at Newark, on the fourth Tuesday in 
 April. For the County of Monmouth, at Shrewsbury, the 
 second Tuesday in May. For the County of Gloucester, at 
 Gloucester, the third Tuesday in May. For the County 
 of Salem, at Salem, the fourth Tuesday in May. For the 
 County of Cape May, at Shamger Hands, the first Tues- 
 day in June. Which Justice, when he goes the Circuit, 
 shall in each respective County be assisted by two, or more 
 Justices of the Peace, during the time of two days, whilst 
 the Court, in the Circuit, is sitting, and no longer. 
 
 And it is further Ordained by the Authority aforesaid, 
 That all and every of the Justices or Judges of the several 
 Courts afore-mentioned, be, and are hereby sufficiently 
 Impowered and Authorized to make, ordain and establish 
 all such Rules and Orders, for the more regular practising 
 and proceeding in the said Courts, as fully and amply, to 
 all intents and purposes whatsoever, as all or any of the 
 Judges of the several Courts of Queens-Bench, Common- 
 Pleas, and Exchequer, in England legally do. 
 
 And it is further Ordained by the Authority aforesaid 
 That no Persons Right of Property shall be, by any of the 
 aforesaid Courts, Determined, except where matters of 
 Fact are either acknowledged by the Parties, or Judgment 
 
262 APPENDIX C. 
 
 confessed, or passeth by the Defendants fault for want of 
 Plea or Answer, unless the Fact be found by Verdict of 
 Twelve Men of that Neighbourhood, as it ought to be done 
 by Law. 
 
 CORNBURY. 
 
APPENDIX D 
 
 An Ordinance for Establishing Courts of Judi- 
 cature within the Province of New- Jersey. 
 
 By his Excellency Robert Hunter, Esq., Captain- 
 General and Governour in Chief in and over the 
 Provinces of New-Jersey. New- York, and all the 
 Territories arid Tracts of Land depending thereon 
 in America, and Vice Admiral of the same, <$-c. in 
 Council. 
 
 His Excellency the Governour, by virtue of the Power 
 and Authority to him given by her Majesties Letters 
 Patents under the great Seal of Great Britain, by and 
 with the Advice and Assistance of her Majesties Council 
 for the said Province of Nova-Cesarea, doth hereby Ordain 
 and Impower every Justice of the Peace residing within 
 any Town or County within this Province of Nova- 
 Cesarea to have Cognizance of all Causes and Cases of 
 Debt or Trespass, to the value of Forty Shillings or under, 
 all which Causes and Cases shall and may be heard, tryed 
 and finally Determined, without a Jury, by any of the said 
 
264 APPENDIX D. 
 
 Justices of the Peace, as aforesaid, excepting such Cases 
 where Titles of Land are or may be any way concerned. 
 
 And be it ordained by the Authority aforesaid, That the 
 Process of Warning against a Free-holder or Inhabitant, 
 shall be by Summons under the Hand of any of the said 
 Justices of the Peace, directed to the Constable of the 
 Town or Precinct, or to any deputed by him, where the 
 party complained against does dwell or reside, which 
 Summons shall be served upon the Person, or left at the 
 House or place of abode of the Defendant, four days at 
 least before the Time appointed for the hearing of the 
 Plaint. And in case the Defendant does not appear at the 
 Time appointed, the Justice granting such Summons may 
 proceed to hear such Cause or Causes, and Determine the 
 same in the Defendants absence (unless the said Justice, 
 for good reason see cause to the contrary) and grant 
 Execution thereupon, directed to the said Constable, or his 
 Deputy, to be levyed upon the Defendants Goods and 
 Chattels, or for want thereof upon the Person of the 
 Defendant, which he is hereby directed, and required to 
 execute accordingly. 
 
 And be it ordained by the Authority aforesaid, That 
 the Process against an Itinerant Person, Inmate or 
 Foreigner, shall be by Warrant from any one Justice of the 
 Peace, to be served by any Constable or his Deputy, within 
 that County, who shall, by virtue thereof, arrest the Party 
 and him safely keep till he be carryed before the said 
 Justice, who shall and may immediately Hear, Try and 
 finally Determine all such Causes and Cases of Debt and 
 Trespass, as aforesaid, to the value of Forty Shillings, or 
 under, by awarding Judgment and Execution. And if 
 payment be not immediately made, the Constable shall 
 deliver the said Party to the Sheriff of that County, who is 
 
APPENDIX D. 
 
 265 
 
 hereby required to take him into Custody, and him safely 
 keep till Payment be made of the same, with Charges. 
 
 Provided always, and it is hereby further Ordained, 
 That an Appeal to the Justices of the same County at the 
 next General Court of Sessions of the Peace held, shall be 
 allowed for any Sum upwards of Twenty Shilings in all 
 Causes and Cases whatsoever. 
 
 And it is hereby further Ordained by the Authority 
 aforesaid, That there shall be kept and holden a Court of 
 Common Pleas in each respective County within this 
 Province of New-Jersey aforesaid, at such places where 
 the General Courts of Sessions of the Peace are usually 
 held and kept, to begin immediately after, or the next Day 
 after the General Sessions of the Peace ends and termi- 
 nates, and then to hold and continue for any time, not 
 exceeding Three Days. Which several and respective 
 Courts of Common Pleas shall have power and Jurisdic- 
 tion to Hear, Try, and finally Determine all Actions or 
 Causes of Action, and all Matters and Things Tryable at 
 Common Law, of what nature and kind soever. 
 
 And it is hereby further Ordained by the Authority 
 aforesaid, That the General Courts of Sessions of the 
 Peace shall be held and kept in each respective County 
 within this Province, at the Times and Places herein after- 
 mentioned, That is to say, 
 
 The first Court of Sessions to be held after the Pub- 
 lication hereof, at the Times and Places to which the said 
 Courts were last adjourned, and thereafter yearly and 
 every year. 
 
 For the County of Bergen, at the Town of Bergen, 
 until the Court-House and Gaol, for said County be built, 
 on the first Tuesdays in February and August, and the 
 third Tuesdays in April and October, and thereafter at the 
 
266 APPENDIX D. 
 
 Court-house of the said County on the Days and Times 
 before-mentioned. 
 
 For the County of Essex, at Newark, the second Tues- 
 day of February and August ; and the fourth Tuesday in 
 April and October. 
 
 For the County of Middlesex and Somerset, at the 
 Town of Perth-Amboy, the third Tuesday of February, 
 May, August and November. 
 
 For the County of Monmouth, at Shrewsberry, until the 
 Court-house and Gaol for said County be built, and there- 
 after at the Court-house in the said County, on the fourth 
 Tuesday of February, May, August and November. 
 
 For the County of Hunterdon, at Maidenhead, the first 
 Tuesday in June and December. And at Hopewell, the 
 first Tuesday in March and September, until the Court- 
 house and Gaol for said County be built, and thereafter at 
 the Court-house of said County only. 
 
 For the County of Burlington, at the Town of 
 Burlington, on the second Tuesday of March, June, Sep- 
 tember and December. 
 
 For the County of Gloucester, at the Town of Glouces- 
 ter, on the third Tuesday in March, June, September, and 
 December. 
 
 For the County of Salem, at the Town of Salem, on the 
 fourth Tuesday in March, June, September and December. 
 
 For the County of Cape- May, at Cape-May, the first 
 Tuesday in April, July, October and January. 
 
 Which General Court of Sessions of the Peace shall 
 hold and continue for any time not exceeding two Days. 
 
 And it is hereby further ordained by the Authority 
 aforesaid, That there shall be a Supream Court of Judi- 
 cature held and kept at Burlington on the first Tuesday of 
 May next, to which Time and Place it was left adjourned, 
 
APPENDIX D. 
 
 267 
 
 and on the first Tuesday in November. And yearly and 
 every year at Burlington on the first Tuesdays of May 
 and November. And yearly and every year at Perth- 
 Amboy on the second Tuesday of May, and second Tues- 
 day of November. 
 
 Which Supream Court shall continue for any Term not 
 exceeding five days, and is hereby fully Impowered to have 
 Cognizance of all pleas Civil, Criminal and Mixt, as fully 
 and amply to all intents and purposes whatsoever, as the 
 Courts of Queens Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer in 
 England, have or ought to have. In and to which Court 
 all and every Person and Persons whatsoever, shall and 
 may commence and prosecute any Action or Suit, the real 
 Debt or Damages thereof being Twenty Pounds, or 
 upwards, and sha!l or may by Certiorari, Habeas Corpus, 
 Writ of Error, or any other lawful Writ, remove out 
 of any of the said respective Courts of Sessions of the 
 Peace, any Information, Presentment or Indictment there 
 depending, or Judgment thereupon given, or to be given in 
 any Criminal Matter whatsoever, cognizable before them, 
 or any of them, as also all Actions, Pleas or Suits, Real, 
 Personal, or Mixt, depending in any of the said Courts of 
 Common Pleas, and all Judgments thereupon given, or to 
 be given. Provided always, That the Action or Suit 
 depending, or Judgment given be of the Value of Twenty 
 Pounds, or upwards, or that the same be of, for or con- 
 cerning the Right or Title of any Lands, Tenements and 
 Hereditaments whatsoever. 
 
 And it is hereby further Ordained and Declared by the 
 Authority aforesaid, That the Office of the said Supream 
 Court of Judicature shall be kept by the Clerk thereof, 
 or his sufficient Deputy, at Perth- Amboy aforesaid, for the 
 Eastern, and at Burlington aforesaid for the Western 
 
268 APPENDIX D. 
 
 Division, under the Penalty of Deprivation, and such 
 other Fines as the Law can inflict. Out of which Office 
 of Perth- Amboy and Burlington aforesaid, all Process shall 
 issue for each Division respectively, under the Test of the 
 Chief Justice of said Province, for the time being ; and 
 unto which Office all Returns shall be made respectively. 
 
 And it is hereby further Ordained and Declared by the 
 Authority aforesaid, That all and every the Justices and 
 Judges of the said several Courts are sufficiently Im- 
 powered and Authorized to make, order and establish such 
 Rules and Orders for the more Regular Proceedings in the 
 said Courts, as Justices and Judges in England may law- 
 fully do, any former Ordinance or Establishment of Courts 
 of Judicature to the contrary hereof in any way notwith- 
 standing ; All which are from hence-forward declared to 
 be Null and Void by these Presents. 
 
 Given under my Hand and Seal in Horsumus the 17 th 
 
 Day of April, in the Thirteenth year of her Majesties 
 
 Reign, Annoq ; Domini 1714. 
 
 RO. HUNTER. 
 
APPENDIX E. 
 
 An Ordinance for Regulating the Courts of Judica- 
 ture iu the Province of New- Jersey. 
 
 GEORGE, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, 
 France and Ireland, KING, Defender of the Faith, &c. 
 Whereas We have thought fit, by Advice of the most Ho- 
 nourable, the Lords of Our Privy Council, at Our Court at 
 St. James's, on the Twentieth Day of January, in the 
 Eighth Year of Our Reign, to Disallow some Laws or 
 Acts of General Assembly of the Province of New-Jersey, 
 made and Enacted by the Governour, Council and Repre- 
 sentatives of that Province, in General Assembly, met, viz. 
 One Act, Entituled, An Act for shortening of Law Suits 
 and Regulating the Practice of the Law ; One other Act, 
 Entituled, An Act for Acknowledging and Recording of 
 Deeds and Conveyances of Land within each respective 
 County of this Province ; and one other Act, Entituled, An 
 Act for Enforcing the Observation of an Ordinance for 
 Establishing Fees within this Province. And Whereas a 
 late Ordinance for Establishing Courts of Judicature within 
 the same Province, was in some measure made conforma- 
 
270 APPENDIX E. 
 
 ble to one of the said Laws, so as aforesaid Disallowed. 
 And whereas another Ordinance was made, bearing Date 
 the Twenty-ninth Day of April, 1723, upon the Repeal of 
 the said Acts, for Regulating of Courts of Judicature, 
 which is found inconvenient to the Inhabitants of this Pro- 
 vince, both as to the Times of the Sitting of the Courts, 
 and for want of Persons authorized to take Bail in the 
 Counties, and of Courts for Tryals of Causes in the Coun- 
 ties, that came to issue in the Supreme Court. We have 
 therefore thought Jit to Ordain, fy We do hereby Ordain, 
 Direct and Impower Every Justice of the Peace residing 
 within any Town or County in the Province of Nova- 
 Ccesarea, or New-Jersey, to have Cognizance in all Causes 
 and Cases of Debt and Trespass, of the Value of Forty 
 Shillings, or under ; All which Causes and Cases shall and 
 may be Heard, Tryed and finally Determined, without a 
 Jury, by any of the said Justices of the Peace, as aforesaid, 
 Excepting such Cases where the Titles of Land are or 
 may be any wise concerned. 
 
 AND We do hereby further Ordain and Direct, That 
 the Process of Warning against Free-holders and Inhabit- 
 ants shall be by Summons under the Hand of any of the 
 said Justices of the Peace, directed to the Constable of the 
 Town or Precinct, or to any deputed by him, where the Par- 
 ty Complained against doth dwell or reside. Which Sum- 
 mons shall be served upon the Person or left at the House 
 or Place of Abode of the Defendant, Four Days, at least, 
 before the Time appointed for the Hearing of the Plaint. 
 And in case the Defendant does not appear at the time ap- 
 pointed, on Affidavit made by the said Constable or his 
 Deputy, That the said Summons was duly served on the 
 Defendant's Person or left at the Defendant's House or 
 
APPENDIX E. 271 
 
 Place of Abode, with some of the Family of the said De- 
 fendant, the Justice granting such Summons may, and 
 shall not otherwise, proceed to Hear such Cause or Causes, 
 and Determine the same in the Defendant's Absence, and 
 grant Execution thereupon, directed to any of the Consta- 
 bles or Deputy Constables, to be levyed upon the Defend- 
 ant's Goods and Chatties, and for want thereof upon the 
 Person of the Defendant, which he is hereby Impowered 
 and Directed to execute accordingly. 
 
 And We do hereby further Ordain and Direct, That the 
 Process against an Itinerant Person, Inmate or Forreigner 
 shall be by Warrant from any one Justice of the Peace, 
 to be served by any Constable or his Deputy within that 
 County, who shall, by virtue thereof, Arrest the Party, and 
 him safely keep till he shall be carried before the said Jus- 
 tice, who shall and may immediately Hear, Try and finally 
 Determine all such Causes and Cases of Debt and Tres- 
 pass, as aforesaid, to the Value of Forty Shillings, or un- 
 der, by Awarding Judgment and Execution. And if Pay- 
 ment be not immediately made, the Constable shall deliver 
 the said Party to the Sheriff of that County, who is hereby 
 Required and Impowered to take him into Custody, and 
 him safely keep until Payment be made of the same, with 
 Charges. 
 
 Provided always, and We do hereby further Ordain 
 and Direct, That an Appeal shall be allowed to the Jus- 
 tices of the same County at the next General Court of Ses- 
 sions, of the Peace held, for any Sum upwards of Ten Shil- 
 lings, in all Causes or Cases Cognizable before them. 
 
 And Whereas We are given to understand that many 
 of the Inhabitants of Our said Province live Remote from 
 
272 APPENDIX E. 
 
 the Places in which We have appointed Our Supreme 
 Court to be held, and that it will be of great Ease and Con- 
 venience to the said Inhabitants that a Court be held in each 
 County, for the Hearing, Trying and Determining of such 
 Actions and Causes of Actions as shall arise within each 
 of the said Counties, and Determinable by Juries of the 
 same, We being willing and desirous to promote the Ease, 
 Well-being and Security of all our Loving Subjects, In- 
 habitants of the said Province of New-Jersey, and that 
 Right and Justice may be distributed among them, and 
 that all matters of Difference may be Determined by their 
 Equals and Neighbours, as nigh as the present Circum- 
 stances of Our said Province will admit, according to the 
 good and ancient Laws and Usages of Our Kingdom of 
 Great Britain, Do Ordain and Direct, That the County 
 Courts for holding of Pleas, continue to be held and kept in 
 each of the several and respective Counties of Our Pro- 
 vince of New-Jersey, to Hear, and by the Verdict of 
 Twelve Good Honest and Lawful Free-holders inhabiting 
 within the said respective County where the said Court is 
 held, to Try and Determine all Suits, Controversies, Quar- 
 rels and Differences that may arise within the said County 
 between Our Loving Subjects, for any Sum above the Va- 
 lue of Forty Shillings (Causes wherein the Right or Title 
 of any Lands, Tenements or Hereditaments in any wise 
 concerned, Excepted,) Which said Suits, Controversies, 
 Quarrels and Differences shall be Tryed and Determined 
 in the said Courts by a Jury of Twelve Good and Lawful 
 Free-holders, as aforesaid, and not otherwise. 
 
 And Whereas it may so happen, that by the Craft and 
 Artful Practice of the Persons concerned in the said 
 Causes, Quarrel and Controversies Tryable in the said 
 
APPENDIX E. 
 
 273 
 
 County Courts for holding of Pleas, the said Causes, Quar- 
 rels and Controversies may be drawn, contrary to Our 
 Royal Intentions, from the Examination of the Jury, to 
 the great delay and Hindrance of Justice ; and it may 
 also happen, that upon Special Verdicts given in Our 
 said County Courts for holding of Pleas, and upon the 
 Pleadings, before and after Verdict, Matters of Law may 
 arise ; We have therefore thought fit to Ordain and Direct 
 That on any Special Verdict found by a Jury in any of the 
 said Courts, or any Joynder in Demurrer, or Pleading be- 
 fore or after Verdict, whereby any Points of Law may be 
 in issue, (such Points of Law as are necessary to be De- 
 termined by the Judges of the said Courts, for the Regula- 
 tion and Information of the Jury, only Excepted,) That 
 then and in such Case, the Clerk of any of the said County 
 Courts, respectively, where the same shall happen, shall 
 make up a Record of all the Pleadings or Special Verdicts, 
 as the case may happen, and Transmit the same to the 
 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, at the next Supreme 
 Court that shall sit after such Joinder in Demurrer, Plead- 
 ing made or Special Verdict given, that Judgment may be 
 given thereon, by the Justices of Our Supreme Court. 
 
 And We do hereby Ordain and Direct, That the Courts 
 of General Sessions of the Peace, and County Courts for 
 holding of Pleas, shall be held and kept in each respective 
 County within this Province, at the Times and Places 
 hereafter mentioned, that is to say, The first and next 
 Court of Sessions and Pleas, at the Times and Places to 
 which the same Courts were respectively last Adjourned, 
 and afterwards, in every year, to be Opened on the follow- 
 ing Days, viz. 
 
 For the County of Bergen, at the Court-house of the 
 18 
 
274 APPENDIX E. 
 
 said County on the second Monday of September, first 
 Monday of December, third Monday of February, and se- 
 cond Monday of May. 
 
 For the County of Essex, at Newark, on the Thursday 
 next ensuing after the second Monday of September ; the 
 Thursday next ensuing after the first Monday of Decem- 
 ber ; the Thursday next ensuing after the third Monday of 
 February; the Thursday next ensuing after the second 
 Monday of May. 
 
 For the County of Middlesex, at the City of Perth- 
 Amboy, on the third Monday of September, Second iWo?i- 
 rfay of December, Fourth Monday of February, and Fourth 
 Monday of iVfay. 
 
 For the County of Sojnerset, at the Court-house of the 
 same County, on the Thursday next ensuing after the 
 Third Monday of September ; The Thursday next ensuing 
 after the second Monday of December ; The Thursday 
 next ensuing after the Fourth Monday of February ; and 
 the Thursday next ensuing after the Fourth Monday of 
 
 For the County of Monmouth, at the Court-house of the 
 same County, on the first Tuesday of October, Third Twes- 
 e?ay of December, First Tuesday of March, and Second 
 Tuesday of Jwwe. 
 
 For the County of Hunterdon, at the Court-house of 
 the same County, the Third Monday of October, Fourth 
 Monday of December, Second Monday of March, and 
 Fourth Monday of July. 
 
 For the County of Burlington, at the Town-house of 
 Burlington, on the Thursday next ensuing after the Fourth 
 Monday of Jw/y ; The Thursday next ensuing after the 
 Third Monday of October ; The Thursday next ensuing af- 
 
APPENDIX E. 275 
 
 ter the Fourth Monday of December ; and the Thursday 
 next ensuing after the Second Monday of March. 
 
 For the County of Gloucester, at Gloucester, on the Se- 
 cond Monday of August, Fourth Monday of October, First 
 Monday of January, and Third Monday of March. 
 
 For the County of Salem, at Salem, on the Thursday 
 next ensuing after the Second Monday of August ; The 
 Thursday next ensuing after the Fourth Monday of Octo- 
 ber ; The Thursday next ensuing after the First Monday 
 of January ; and the Thursday next ensuing after the Third 
 Monday of March. 
 
 For the County of Cape-May, at Cape-May, the Se- 
 cond Tuesday of July, the First Tuesday of November, the 
 Second Tuesday of January, and the First Tuesday of 
 April. And shall sit any time, not exceeding Three Days. 
 
 .And Whereas the Times of the Sitting of Our Supreme 
 Court of Our said Province of New- Jersey, are, by Experi- 
 ence, found to be inconvenient, and to occasion Delay in 
 the Administration of Justice, to the great Hurt of several 
 of Our Loving Subjects who have Causes depending in Our 
 said Supreme Court. For Remedy whereof, for the Fu- 
 ture, We have thought jit to Ordain, and do hereby Ordain 
 and Direct, That Our Supreme Court of Our said Province 
 of New-Jersey, shall sit and be held at the Places following, 
 and shall sit at and during the Times herein after men- 
 tioned, That is to say, The next Supreme Court at Bur- 
 lington and Amboy, at the Times unto which the said 
 Courts were last, respectively, Adjourned, and afterwards 
 on the First Tuesday of August at Burlington, the Fourth 
 Tuesday of September at Perth- Amboy. The last Tuesday 
 of March at Burlington, and the Third Tuesday of May at 
 Perth-Amboy, yearly. Which Supreme Court shall Con- 
 tinue for any Term not Exceeding Five Days, and is here- 
 
276 APPENDIX E. 
 
 by fully impowered to have Cognizance of all Pleas, Civil, 
 Criminal and Mixt, within this Province, as fully and am- 
 ply, to all Intents, Constructions and Purposes whatsoever, 
 as the Courts of Kings-Bench, Common-Pleas and Exche- 
 quer have, or ought to have in Our Kingdom of Great Bri- 
 tain. In which Court all and every Person or Persons 
 whatsoever may Commence and Prosecute any Action or 
 Suit, Real, Personal or Mixt, above the Value of Five 
 Pounds. .And any Action, Suit or Controversie, Informa- 
 tion, Indictment, or Prosecution Depending, or on which 
 Judgment has been given in any of Our Inferiour Courts, 
 may, by Certiorari, Habeas Corpus, Writ of Error, or 
 any other Lawful Writ or Method, be Removed into Our 
 said Supreme Court, from any of the Inferiour Courts 
 within Our said Province. 
 
 And we do hereby further Ordain and Direct, That the 
 Office of Clerk of the said Supreme Court of Judicature 
 shall be kept by himself or his sufficient Deputy, at Perth- 
 Amboy in the Eastern-Division, and Burlington in the 
 Western-Division. And that all Writs and Process of the 
 Supreme Court for Our Province of New-Jersey, shall issue 
 out of the Office in either of the said Places indifferently, 
 and that the Courts at Perth-Amboy and Burlington, shall 
 take Cognizance of such Writs and Process accordingly. 
 Nevertheless so, that all Actions and Causes of Actions 
 arising in either the Eastern or Western Division of this 
 Province, are to be Tryed in, and a Verdict given by Ju- 
 rors of that Division only in which the Cause of Action 
 shall arise, as near and agreeable to the Laws, Customs 
 and Usages in Our Kingdom of Great Britain, as may be. 
 
 And for the greater Ease and Benefit of all our Loving 
 
APPENDIX E. 
 
 277 
 
 Subjects inhabiting withing Our Province of New-Jersey, 
 and of all Persons whatsoever in taking Recognizance of 
 Special Bail upon all Actions and Suits depending, or to be 
 depending in Our said Supreme Court in Our said Province 
 of New-Jersey. JVe do hereby Impower any two of Our 
 Judges of Our Supreme Court, of which Our Chief Jus- 
 tice to be always one, to grant one or more Commission or 
 Commissions under the Seal of the said Supreme Court, 
 from time to time, as need shall require, to impower such 
 and so many Persons, as by Our said Chief Justice and 
 other Judge of Our Supreme Court aforesaid, shall be 
 thought fit and necessary, in all and every of the several 
 Counties in our said Province of New-Jersey, to take and 
 receive all and every such Recognizance or Recognizances 
 of Bail or Bails, as any Person or Persons shall be willing 
 and desirous to acknowledge or make before any of the 
 Persons so impowered, in any Action or Suit depending, 
 or hereafter to be depending in Our said Supreme Court of 
 Our Province of New-Jersey, in such manner and Form, 
 and by such Recognizance or Bail-Piece as the Judges of 
 Our Supreme Court have here-to-fore used to take the 
 same ; Which said Recognizance or Recognizances of Bail 
 or Bail-Piece shall be Transmitted to some one of the 
 Judges of Our Supreme Court, and by him received, upon 
 payment of the usual Fees, and Affidavits made, according 
 to the Directions in one Act of the Parliament in Eng- 
 land, made in the fourth and fifth years of the Reign of Our 
 Royal Predecessors William and Mary, King and Queen 
 of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, &c, Entituled, 
 An Act for taking Special Bails in the Country, upon Ac- 
 tions and Suits depending in the Courts of Kings-Bench, 
 Common-Pleas and Exchequer at Westminster. Which 
 Act of Parliament We hereby Recommend to Our Judges 
 
278 APPENDIX E. 
 
 of Our Supreme Court of Our said Province of New-Jersey, 
 and to the Persons by them impowered to take and receive 
 Recognizances of Special Bail, as a Direction to Govern 
 themselves by, as nearly as the Circumstances of Our said 
 Province of New-Jersey will admit the same to be done. 
 
 And Whereas the bringing of Jurors and Evidences 
 from the several Counties within Our Province of New- 
 Jersey, will be at the great Charge and Expense of such of 
 Our Loving Subjects as have Causes Depending, or that 
 will be Depending in Our Supreme Court of Our said Pro- 
 vince of New-Jersey, We do, for the ease and benefit of 
 Our said Loving Subjects, further Ordain, That Our Chief 
 Justice or other Justice of Our Supreme Court, shall annu- 
 ally and every Year (if there be occasion) go into every 
 County in our said Province, except the Counties of Ber- 
 gen and Cape-May, and there hold a Court for the Tryal 
 of such Causes arising in the several and Respective Coun- 
 ties, as are brought to Issue in our said Supreme Court ; 
 which Causes our Chief Justice or other Justice of our said 
 Supreme Court, is hereby Impowered to hear and try, by 
 Jurors of the said Counties, and on any Verdict in any of 
 the said Counties, within our said Province, Judgment to 
 Give, at our next Supreme Court of Judicature, to be hold- 
 en at our City of Perth- Amboy, or Town of Burlington, 
 after such Verdict given in any of the said Counties, within 
 our said Province of New-Jersey ; which Court for Tryal of 
 Causes shall be held in our several Counties, excepting 
 Bergen and Cape-May, for and during a Term not exceed- 
 ing Five Days, and at the Times and Places following, that 
 is to say, 
 
 For the Counties of Essex and Bergen, on the first 
 Thursday after the second Monday of May, at Newark. 
 
APPENDIX E. 279 
 
 For the County of Somerset, the Thursday next ensu- 
 ing after the fourth Monday of May, at the Court-house of 
 the same County. 
 
 For the County of Monmouth, the first Tuesday of Oc- 
 tober, at Freehold. 
 
 For the County of Hunterdon, the fourth Monday of 
 July, at Trent-Town. 
 
 For the County of Gloucester, the Thursday next en- 
 suing after the third Monday of July, at Gloucester. 
 
 For the Counties of Salem and Cape-May, the third 
 Monday of Jm/z/. 
 
 Hereby Requiring and Commanding Our High-Sheriff, 
 Justices of the Peace, the Mayor and Aldermen of any 
 Corporation within any of Our said Counties, and all Offi- 
 cers, Magisterial and Ministerial of any Courts within Our 
 said Counties, to be Attending on our Chief Justice, or other 
 Justices going the Circuit, at his Coming into and Leaving 
 their several Counties, and during his Abode within the 
 same, on Penalty to be proceeded against according to 
 Law, for their or any of their Neglect and Contempt of 
 Our Royal Authority and Command hereby signified. 
 
 And it is further Ordained, That the Commissioners 
 to te appointed for Taking of Special Bails in the respec- 
 tive Counties of this Province, for every Bail-piece taken 
 by them, shall take the Sum of Three Shillings, and no 
 more. And the Commissioners for Taking of Affidavits, 
 for every Sheet in an Affidavit, One Shilling, and no 
 more. 
 
 In Testimony whereof We have caused these Our Letters 
 to be made Patent, and the Seal of Our Province of 
 New- Jersey to be thereunto Affixed. Witness Our 
 
280 APPENDIX E. 
 
 Trusty & Well -beloved William Burnet, Esq., Capt. 
 General and Governour in Chief of the Provinces of 
 New-Jersey, New-York, and Territories thereon de- 
 pending in America, and Vice-Admiral of the same, 
 &c., in Council at Perth- Amboy, the 23rd Day of April, 
 in the Tenth year of Our Reign, Annoq. Domini, 1724. 
 
APPENDIX F. 
 
 An Ordinance for Regulating the Courts of Judica- 
 ture in the Province of New- Jersey. 
 
 GEORGE, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, 
 France and Ireland, KING, Defender of the Faith, &c. 
 Whereas We have thought fit, by Advice of the most 
 Honourable, the Lords of Our Privy Council, at Our Court 
 at St. James's, on the Twentieth Day af January, in the 
 Eighth Year of Our Reign, to Disallow some Laws or Acts 
 of General Assembly of the Province of New-Jersey, made 
 and Enacted by the Governour, Council and Representa- 
 tives of that Province in General Assembly met, viz., One 
 entituled, An Act for shortening of Law Suits and Regulat- 
 ing the Practice of the Law ; One other Act, entituled, An 
 Act for Acknowledging and Recording of Deeds and Con- 
 veyances of Land within each respective County of this 
 Province ; and one other Act, entituled, An Act for En- 
 forcing the Observation of an Ordinance for Establishing 
 Fees within this Province. And Whereas a late Ordi- 
 nance for Establishing Courts of Judicature within the 
 same Province, was in some measure made conformable to 
 one of the said Laws, so as aforesaid Disallowed. And 
 
282 APPENDIX F. 
 
 whereas another Ordinance was made, bearing Date the 
 Twenty-ninth Day of April, 1723, upon the Repeal of the 
 said Acts, for Regulating of Courts of Judicature, which is 
 found inconvenient to the Inhabitants of this Province, 
 both as to the Times of the Sitting of the Courts, and for 
 want of Persons authorized to take Bail in the Counties, 
 and of Courts for Tryals of Causes in the Counties, that 
 came to issue in the Supreme Court, We have therefore 
 thought fit to Ordain, and We do hereby Ordain, Direct 
 and Impower Every Justice of the Peace residing within 
 any Town or County in the Province of Nova-Ccesarea or 
 New-Jersey, to have Cognizance of all Causes and Cases 
 of Debt and Trespass, of the Value of Forty Shillings, or 
 under ; All which Causes and Cases shall and may be 
 Heard, Tryed and finally Determined, without a Jury, by 
 any of the said Justices of the Peace, as aforesaid, Except- 
 ing such Cases where the Titles of Land are or may be 
 any wise concerned. 
 
 AND We do hereby further Ordain and Direct, That 
 the Process of Warning against Free-holders and Inhabi- 
 tants shall be by Summons under the Hand of any of the 
 said Justices of the Peace, directed to the Constable of the 
 Town or Precinct, or to any deputed by him, where the 
 Party Complained against doth dwell or reside. Which 
 Summons shall be served upon the Person or left at the 
 House or Place of Abode of the Defendant, Four Days, at 
 least, before the Time appointed for the Hearing of the 
 Plaint. And in case the Defendant does not appear at the 
 time appointed, on Affidavit made by the said Constable or 
 his Deputy, That the said Summons was duly served on 
 the Defendant's Person or left at the Defendant's House or 
 Place of Abode, with some of the Family of the said De- 
 fendant, the Justice granting such Summons may, and 
 
APPENDIX F. 
 
 283 
 
 shall not otherwise, proceed to Hear such Cause or Causes, 
 and Determine the same in the Defendant's Absence, and 
 grant Execution thereupon, directed to any of the Consta- 
 bles, or Deputy Constables, to be levyed upon the Defend- 
 ant's Goods and Chatties, and for want thereof upon the 
 Person of the Defendant, which he is hereby Impowered 
 and Directed to execute accordingly. 
 
 And We do hereby further Ordain and Direct, That 
 the Process against an Itinerant Person, Inmate or For- 
 reigner shall be by Warrant from any one Justice of the 
 Peace, to be served by any Constable or his Deputy within 
 that County, who shall, by virtue thereof, Arrest the Party, 
 and him safely keep till he shall be carried before the said 
 Justice, who shall and may immediately Hear, Try and 
 finally Determine all such Causes and Cases of Debt and 
 Trespass, as aforesaid, to the Value of Forty Shillings, or 
 under, by Awarding Judgment and Execution. And if 
 Payment be not immediately made, the Constable shall de- 
 liver the said Party to the Sheriff of that County, who is 
 hereby Required and Impowered to take him into Custody, 
 and him safely keep until Payment be made of the same, 
 with Charges. 
 
 Provided always, and We do hereby further Ordain 
 and Direct, That an Appeal shall be allowed to the Jus- 
 tices of the same County at the next General Court of Ses- 
 sions of the Peace held, for any Sum upwards of Ten Shil- 
 lings, in all Causes or Cases Cognizable before them. 
 
 And Whereas We are given to understand, that many 
 of the Inhabitants of Our said Province live Remote from 
 the Places in which We have appointed Our Supream 
 Court to be held, and that it will be of great Ease and 
 Conveniency to the said Inhabitants that a Court be held 
 in each County, for Hearing, Trying and Determining of 
 
284 APPENDIX F. 
 
 such Actions and Causes of Actions as shall arise within 
 each of the said Counties, and Determinable by Juries of 
 the same, We being willing and desirous to promote the 
 Ease, Wellbeing and Security of all Our Loving Subjects, 
 Inhabitants of the said Province of New-Jersey, and that 
 Right and Justice may be distributed among them, and 
 that all matters of Differences may be Determined by their 
 Equals and Neighbors, as nigh as the present Circum- 
 stances of Our said Province will admit, according to the 
 good and antient Laws and Usages of Our Kingdom of 
 Great Britain: Do Ordain and Direct, That the County 
 Courts for holding of Pleas, continue to be held and kept in 
 each of the several and respective Counties of Our Pro- 
 vince of New-Jersey, to Hear, and by the Verdict of 
 Twelve Good Honest and Lawful Free-holders inhabiting 
 within the said respective County where the said Court is 
 held, to Try and Determine all Suits, Controversies, Quar- 
 rels and Differences that may arise within the said County 
 between Our Loving Subjects, for any Sum above the Va- 
 lue of Forty Shillings, (Causes wherein the Right or Title 
 of any Lands, Tenements or Hereditaments in any wise 
 concerned, Excepted,) Which said Suits, Controversies, 
 Quarrels and Differences shall be Tryed and Determined 
 in the said Courts by a Jury of Twelve Good and Lawful 
 Free-holders as aforesaid, and not otherwise. 
 
 And Whereas it may so happen, that by the Craft and 
 Artful Practice of the Persons Concerned in the said 
 Causes, Quarrels and Controversies Tryable in the said 
 County Courts for holding of Pleas, the said Causes, Quar- 
 rels and Controversies may be drawn, contrary to Our 
 Royal Intention, from the Examination of the Jury, to the 
 great Delay and Hindrance of Justice ; and it may also 
 happen, that upon special Verdicts given in Our said Coun- 
 
APPENDIX F. 
 
 285 
 
 ty Courts for holding of Pleas, and upon the Pleadings be- 
 fore and after Verdicts, Matters of Law may arise, We 
 have therefore thought Jit to Ordain and Direct, That on 
 any Special Verdict found by a Jury in any of the said 
 Courts, or any Joynder in Demurrer, or Pleading before or 
 after Verdict, whereby any Points of Law may be in issue, 
 (such Points of Law as are necessary to be Determined by 
 the Judges of the said Courts, and for the Regulation and 
 Information of the Jury, only Excepted,) That then and in 
 such Case, the Clerk of any of the said County Courts, re- 
 spectively, where the same shall happen, shall make up a 
 Record of all the Pleadings or Special Verdicts, as the case 
 may happen, and Transmit the same to the Chief Justice 
 of the Supreme Court, at the next Supreme Court that shall 
 sit after such Joinder in Demurrer, Pleading made or Spe- 
 cial Verdict given, that Judgment may be given thereon, 
 by the Justices of Our Supreme Court. 
 
 And We do hereby Ordain and Direct, that the Courts 
 of General Sessions of the Peace, and County Courts for 
 holding of Pleas, shall be held and kept in each respective 
 County within this Province, at the Times and Places here- 
 after mentioned, that is to say, The first and next Court of 
 Sessions and Pleas, at the Times and Places to which the 
 same Courts were respectively Adjourned, and afterwards, 
 in every year, to be Opened on the following Days, viz. 
 
 For the County of Bergen, at the Court-house of the 
 said County on the second Monday of September, first 
 Monday of December, third Monday of February, and se- 
 cond Monday of May. 
 
 For the County of Essex, at Newark, on the Thursday 
 next ensuing after the second Monday of September ; the 
 Thursday next ensuing after the first Monday of Decem- 
 ber; the Thursday next ensuing after the third Monday of 
 
286 APPENDIX F. 
 
 February ; the Thursday next ensuing after the second 
 Monday of May. 
 
 For the County of Middlesex, at the City of Perth- 
 Amboy, on the third Monday of September, second Monday 
 of December, fourth Monday of February, and fourth Mon- 
 day of May. 
 
 For the County of Somerset, at the Court-house of the 
 same County, on the Thursday next ensuing after the 
 third Monday of September ; the Thursday next ensuing 
 after the second Monday of December ; the Thursday next 
 ensuing after the fourth Monday of February; and the 
 Thursday next ensuing after the fourth Monday of 
 May. 
 
 For the County of Monmouth, at the Court-house of the 
 same County, on the first Monday of October, third Mon- 
 day of December, first Monday of March, and second Mbw- 
 dfar/ of Jwwe. 
 
 For the County of Hunterdon, at the Court-house of 
 the same County, the third Monday of October, fourth Mon- 
 day of December, second Monday of March, fourth Mon- 
 day of July. 
 
 For the County of Burlington, at the Town-house of 
 Burlington, on the Thursday next ensuing after the fourth 
 Monday of /w/y ; the Thursday next ensuing after the 
 third Monday of October ; the Thursday next ensuing af- 
 ter the fourth Monday of December ; and the Thursday 
 next ensuing after the second Monday of March. 
 
 For the County of Gloucester, at Gloucester, on the se- 
 cond Monday of August, fourth Monday of October, first 
 Monday of January, and third Monday of March. 
 
 For the County of Salem, on the Thursday next ensuing 
 after the second Monday of August ; the Thursday next 
 ensuing after the fourth Monday of October ; the Thursday 
 
APPENDIX F. 
 
 287 
 
 next ensuing after the first Monday of January ; and the 
 Thursday next ensuing after the third Monday of March. 
 
 For the County of Cape-May, at Cape-May, the se- 
 cond Monday of July, the first Monday of November, the 
 second Monday of January, and the first Monday of April. 
 And shall sit any time, not exceeding Three Days. 
 
 And Whereas the Times of the Sitting of Our Supreme 
 Court of Our said Province of New- Jersey, are, by Experi- 
 ence, found to be inconvenient, and to occasion Delay in 
 the Administration of Justice, to the great Hurt of several 
 of our Loving Subjects who have Causes depending in Our 
 said Supreme Court. For Remedy whereof, for the Fu- 
 ture, We have thought fit to Ordain, and do hereby Ordain 
 and Direct, That Our Supreme Court of Our said Pro- 
 vince of New-Jersey shall sit and be held at the Places fol- 
 lowing, and shall sit at and during the Times herein after 
 mentioned, That is to say, The next Supreme Court at 
 Burlington and Amboy, at the Times unto which the said 
 Courts were last respectfully, Adjourned, and afterwards 
 on the last Monday of March at Burlington, the third 
 Monday of May at Perth- Amboy. The first Monday of 
 August at Burlington, and the fourth Monday of Septe?n- 
 ber at Perth-Amboy, yearly. Which Supreme Court shall 
 continue for any Term not Exceeding Six Days, and is 
 hereby impowered to have Cognizance of all Pleas, Civil, 
 Criminal and Mixt, within this Province, as fully and am- 
 ply, to all Intents, Constructions and Purposes whatsoever, 
 as the Courts of Kings Bench, Common Pleas and Exche- 
 quer have, or ought to have in our Kingdom of Great Bri- 
 tain. In which Court all and every Person and Persons 
 whatsoever may Commence and Prosecute any Action or 
 Suit, Real, Personal or Mixt, above the Value of I'irr 
 Pounds. And any Action, Suit or Controversie, Informa- 
 
288 APPENDIX F. 
 
 tion, Indictment, or Prosecution Depending, or on which 
 Judgment has been given in any of Our Inferiour Courts, 
 may, by Certiorari, Habeas Corpus, Writs of Error, or 
 any other Lawful Writ or Method, be Removed into Our 
 said Supreme Court, from any of the Inferiour Courts 
 within Our said Province. 
 
 And We do hereby further Ordain and Direct, That 
 the Office of the Clerk of the said Supreme Court of Judi- 
 cature shall be kept by himself or his sufficient Deputy, at 
 Perth-Amboy in the Eastern Division, and Burlington in 
 the Western Division. And that all Writs and Process of 
 the Supreme Court for Our Province of New-Jersey, shall 
 issue out of either of the said Places indifferently, and that 
 the Courts of Perth-Amboy and Burlington, shall take Cog- 
 nizance of such Writs and Process accordingly. Never- 
 theless so, that all Actions and Causes of Actions arising in 
 either the Eastern or Western Division of this Province, 
 are to be Tryed in, and a Verdict given by Jurors of that 
 Division only in which the Cause of Action shall arise, as 
 near and agreeable to the Laws, Customs and Usages of 
 Our said Kingdom of Great Britain, as may be. 
 
 And in which soever of the Divisions the Venue is laid, 
 there shall the Declarations, Pleas, and all other Pleadings 
 in that Cause be filed. 
 
 And for the greater Ease and Benefit of all Our Loving 
 Subjects inhabiting within Our said Province of New-Jer- 
 sey, and of all Persons whatsoever in taking Recognizances 
 of Special Bail upon all Actions ana" Suits depending, or to 
 be depending in Our said Supreme Court in our said Pro- 
 vince of New-Jersey, We do hereby Impower any two of 
 Our Judges of Our Supreme Court, of which Our Chief 
 Justice to be always one, to grant one or more Commis- 
 sion or Commissions under the Seal of the said Supreme 
 
APPENDIX F. 289 
 
 Court, from time to time, as need shall require, to impower 
 such and so many Persons, as by Our said Chief Justice 
 and other Judge of Our Supreme Court aforesaid, shall be 
 thought fit and necessary, in all and every the several 
 Counties in Our said Province of New-Jersey, to take and 
 receive all and every such Recognizance or Recognizances 
 of Bail or Bails, as any Person or Persons shall be willing 
 and desirous to acknowledge or make before any of the 
 Persons so impowered, in any Action or Suit depending, 
 or hereafter to be depending in Our said Supreme Court of 
 Our Province of New- Jersey, in such manner and form, 
 and by such Recognizance or Bail-piece as the Judges of 
 Our Supreme Court have here-to-fore used to take the same ; 
 Which said Recognizance or Recognizances of Bail or Bail- 
 pieces shall be Transmitted to some one of the Judges of 
 Our Supreme Court, and by him received, upon payment 
 of the usual Fees, and Affidavits made, according to the 
 Directions in one Act of the Parliament in England, made in 
 the fourth and fifth years of the Reign of Our Royal Pre- 
 decessors William and Mary, King and Queen of England, 
 Scotland, France and Ireland, &c, Entituled, An Act for tak- 
 ing Special Bails in the Country, upon Actions and Suits de- 
 fending in the Courts of Kings Bench, Common Pleas and 
 Exchequer at Westminster. Which Act of Parliament 
 We hereby Recommend to Our Judges of Our Supreme 
 Court in Our said Province of New-Jersey, and to the Per- 
 sons by them impowered to take and receive Recogni- 
 zances of Special Bail, as a Direction to Govern themselves 
 by, as nearly as the Circumstances of Our said Province of 
 New-Jersey will admit the same to be done. 
 
 And Whereas the bringing of Juries and Evidences 
 from the several Counties within Our Province of New- 
 Jersey, will be at the great Charge and Expense of such of 
 19 
 
290 APPENDIX F. 
 
 Our Loving Subjects as have Causes Depending, or that 
 will be Depending in Our Supreme Court of Our said Pro- 
 vince of New-Jersey, We do, for the ease and benefit of 
 Our said Loving Subjects, further Ordain, That Our Chief 
 Justice or other Justices of Our Supreme Court, shall an- 
 nually and every Year (if there be occasion) go into every 
 County in Our said Province, except the County of Cape- 
 May, and there to hold a Court for the Tryal of such 
 Causes arising in the several and Respective Counties, as 
 are brought to Issue in Our said Supreme Court, which 
 Causes Our Chief Justice or other Justices of Our said Su- 
 preme Court, is hereby Impowered to hear and try, by Ju- 
 rors of the said Counties, and on any Verdict in any of the 
 said Counties, within Our said Province, Judgment to Give, 
 at Our next Supreme Court of Judicature, to be holden at 
 Our City of Perth- Amboy, or Town of Burlington, after such 
 Verdict given in any of the said Counties, within Our said 
 Province of New-Jersey ; which Court for Tryal of Causes 
 shall be held in our several Counties, excepting Cape-May, 
 for and during a Term not exceeding Five Days, and at 
 the Times and Places following, that is to say, 
 
 For the County of Bergen, on the second Monday of 
 May, at Hackinsack. 
 
 For the County of Essex, on the first Thursday after 
 the second Monday of May, at Newark. 
 
 For the County of Somerset, the Thursday next ensu- 
 ing after the fourth Monday of May, at the Court-house of 
 the same County. 
 
 For the County of Monmouth, the first Tuesday of Oc- 
 tober, at Freehold. 
 
 For the County of Hunterdon, the fourth Monday of 
 July, at Trent-Town. 
 
 For the County of Gloucester, the Thursday next ensu- 
 ing after the third Monday of July, at Gloucester. 
 
APPENDIX F. 
 
 291 
 
 For the Counties of Salem and Cape-May, the third 
 Monday of July. 
 
 Hereby Requiring and Commanding Our High-Sheriff, 
 Justices of the Peace, the Mayor and Aldermen of any 
 Corporation within any of Our said Counties, and all Offi- 
 cers, Magisterial and Ministerial of any Courts within Our 
 said Counties, to be Attending on Our Chief Justice, or 
 other Justice going the Circuit, at his Coming into and 
 Leaving their several Counties, and during his Abode 
 within the same, on Penalty to be proceeded against ac- 
 cording to Law, for their or any of their Neglect and Con- 
 tempt of Our Royal Authority and Command hereby sig- 
 nified. 
 
 And it is further Ordained, That the Commissioners to 
 be appointed for Taking of Special Bails in the respective 
 Counties of this Province, for every Bail-piece taken by 
 them, they shall take the Sum of Three Shillings, and no 
 more. And the Commissioners for Taking of Affidavits, 
 for every Sheet in an Affidavit, One Shilling, and no 
 more. 
 
 In Testimony wherof We have caused these Our Letters 
 to be made Patent, and the Seal of Our Province of 
 New-Jersey to be thereunto Affixed. Witness Our 
 Trusty & Well-beloved William Burnet, Esq., General 
 and Governour in Chief of the Provinces of New-Jersey, 
 New-York, and Territories thereon depending in Ame- 
 rica, and Vice-Admiral of the same, &c, in Council at 
 Perth- Amboy, the Twenty-first Day of August, in the 
 Twelfth year of Our Reign, 1725. 
 
 SMITH. 
 
APPENDIX G. 
 
 An Ordinance for Regulating Courts of Judicature 
 in the Province of New- Jersey. 
 
 GEORGE the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great 
 Britain, France and Ireland, KING, Defender of the Faith, 
 &c. Whereas the present Ordinance for Regulating Courts 
 of Judicature is found inconvenient to the Inhabitants of this 
 Province, We have therefore thought fit to Ordain, and We 
 do hereby Ordain, Direct and Impower Every Justice of 
 the Peace residing within any Town or County in the Pro- 
 vince of Nova-Ccesarea or New- Jersey, to have Cognizance 
 of all Causes and Cases of Debt and Trespass, of the Value 
 of Forty Shillings, or under ; All which Causes and Cases 
 shall and may be Heard, Tryed and finally Determined, 
 without a Jury, by any of the said Justices of the Peace, 
 as aforesaid, Excepting such Cases where the Titles of 
 Land are or may be any wise concerned. 
 
 AND We do hereby further Ordain and Direct, That 
 Process of Warning against Free-holders and Inhabitants 
 shall be by Summons under the Hand of any of the said 
 
APPENDIX G. 293 
 
 Justices of the Peace, directed to the Constable of the 
 Town or Precinct, or to any deputed by him, where the 
 Party Complained against doth dwell or reside. Which 
 Summons shall be served upon the Person or left at the 
 House or Place of Abode of the Defendant, Four Days, at 
 least, before the Time appointed for the Hearing of the 
 Plaint. And in case the Defendant does not appear at the 
 time appointed, on Affidavit made by the said Constable or 
 his Deputy, That the said Summons was duly served on 
 the Defendant's Person or left at the Defendant's House or 
 Place of Abode, with some of the Family of the said De- 
 fendant, the Justice granting such Summons may, and shall 
 not otherwise, proceed to Hear such Cause or Causes, and 
 Determine the same in the Defendant's Absence, and grant 
 Execution thereupon, directed to any of the Constables or 
 Deputy Constables, to be levyed upon the Defendant's 
 Goods and Chattels, and for want thereof upon the Person 
 of the Defendant, which he is hereby Impowered and Di- 
 rected to execute accordingly. 
 
 And We do hereby further Ordain and Direct, That the 
 Process against an Itinerant Person, Inmate or Foreigner 
 shall be by Warrant from any one Justice of the Peace, to 
 be served by any Constable or his Deputy within that 
 County, who shall, by virtue thereof, Arrest the Party, 
 and him safely keep till he shall be carried before the said 
 Justice, who shall and may immediately Hear, Try, and 
 finally Determine all such Causes and Cases of Debt and 
 Trespass, as aforesaid, to the Value of Forty Shillings, or 
 under, by Awarding Judgment and Execution. And if 
 Payment be not immediately made, the Constable shall de- 
 liver the said Party to the Sheriff of that County, who is 
 hereby Required and Impowered to take him into Custody, 
 
294 APPENDIX G. 
 
 and him safely keep until Payment be made of the same, 
 with Charges. 
 
 Provided always, and We do hereby further Ordain 
 and Direct, That an Appeal shall be allowed to the Jus- 
 tices of the same County at the next General Court of Ses- 
 sions of the Peace held, for any Sum upwards of Ten Shil- 
 lings, in all Causes or Cases cognizable before them. 
 
 And Whereas We are given to understand, that many 
 of the Inhabitants of Our said Province live Remote from 
 the Places in which We have appointed Our Supreme 
 Court to be held, and that it will be of great Ease and Con- 
 veniency to the said Inhabitants that a Court be held in 
 each County, for the Hearing, Trying and Determining of 
 such Actions and Causes of Actions as shall arise within 
 each of the said Counties, and Determinable by Juries of 
 the same, We being willing and desirous to promote the 
 Ease, Well-being and Security of all Our Loving Subjects, 
 Inhabitants of the said Province of New- Jersey, and that 
 Right and Justice might be distributed among them, and 
 that all matters of Difference may be by their Equals and 
 Neighbors, as nigh as the present Circumstances of Our said 
 Province will admit, according to the good and ancient 
 Laws and Usages of Our Kingdom of Great Britain, Do 
 Ordain and Direct, That the County Courts for holding of 
 Pleas, continue to be held and kept in each of the several 
 and respective Counties of Our Province of New-Jersey, to 
 Hear, and by the Verdict of Twelve Good Honest and 
 lawful Free-holders inhabiting within the said respective 
 County where the said Court is held, to Try and Deter- 
 mine all Suits, Controversies, Quarrels and Differences that 
 may arise within the said County between Our Loving 
 
APPENDIX G. 
 
 295 
 
 Subjects, for any Sum above the Value of Forty Shillings, 
 (Causes wherein the Right or Title of any Lands, Tene- 
 ments or Hereditaments in any wise concerned, Excepted,) 
 Which said Suits, Controversies, Quarrels and Differences 
 shall be Tryed and Determined in the said Courts by a 
 Jury of Twelve Good and Lawful Free-holders as afore- 
 said, and not otherwise. 
 
 And Whereas it may so happen, that by the Craft and 
 Artful Practice of the Persons Concerned in the said 
 Causes, Quarrels and Controversies Tryable in the said 
 County Court for holding of Pleas, the said Causes, Quar- 
 rels and Controversies may be drawn, contrary to Our 
 Royal Intention, from the Examination of the Jury, to the 
 great Delay and Hindrance of Justice ; and it may also 
 happen, that upon special Verdicts given in Our said Coun- 
 ty Courts for holding of Pleas, and upon the Pleadings be- 
 fore and after Verdicts, Matters of Law may arise, We 
 have therefore thought fit to Ordain and Direct, That on 
 any Special Verdict found by a Jury in any of the said 
 Courts, or any Joinder in Demurrer, or Pleading before or 
 after Verdict, wherein the matter of Controversy is above 
 Twenty Pounds, whereby any Points of Law may be in issue, 
 (such Points of Law as are necessary to be Determined by 
 the Judges of the said Courts, for the Regulation and In- 
 formation of the Jury, only Excepted,) That then and in 
 such Case, the Clerks of any of the said County Courts, re- 
 spectively, where the same shall happen, shall make up a 
 Record of all the Pleadings or Special Verdicts, as the case 
 may happen, and Transmit the same to the Chief Justice 
 of the Supreme Court, at the next Supreme Court that shall 
 sit after such Joinder in Demurrer, Pleading made or Spe- 
 cial Verdict given, that Judgment may be given thereon, 
 by the Justices of Our Supreme Court. 
 
296 APPENDIX G. 
 
 And We do hereby Ordain and Direct, that the Courts 
 of General Sessions of the Peace, and County Courts for 
 holding of Pleas, shall be held and kept in each respective 
 County within this Province, at the Times and Places here- 
 after mentioned, that is to say, The first and next Court of 
 Sessions and Pleas, at the Times and Places to which the 
 same Courts were respectively last Adjourned, and after- 
 wards, in every year, to be Opened on the following 
 Days, viz. 
 
 For the County of Bergen, at the Court-house of the 
 said County on the second Tuesday of June, first Tues- 
 day of October, first Tuesday of January, and first Tuesday 
 of April. 
 
 For the County of Essex, at Newark, on the third 
 Tuesday of June, fourth Tuesday of September, second 
 Tuesday of January, and second Tuesday of April. 
 
 For the County of Middlesex, at the City of Perth- 
 Amboy, on the third Tuesday of July, second Tuesday of 
 October, third Tuesday of January, and third Tuesday of 
 April. 
 
 For the County of Somerset, at the Court-house of the 
 same County, on the second Tuesday of June, first Tues- 
 day of October, first Tuesday of January, and first Tues- 
 day of April. 
 
 For the County of Monmouth, at the Court-house of the 
 same County, on the fourth Tuesday of July, third Tues- 
 day of October, fourth Tuesday of January, and fourth 
 Tuesday of April. 
 
 For the County of Hunterdon, at the Court-house of the 
 same County, on the third Tuesday of May, first Tuesday 
 of August, fourth Tuesday of October, and first Tuesday of 
 February. 
 
 For the County of Burlington, at the Town-house of 
 
APPENDIX G. 
 
 297 
 
 Burlington, on the first Tuesday of May, second Tuesday 
 of August, first Tuesday of November, and second Tuesday 
 of February. 
 
 For the County of Gloucester, at Gloucester, on the se- 
 cond Tuesday of June, third Tuesday of September, fourth 
 Tuesday of December, and fourth Tuesday of March. 
 
 For the County of Salem, on the first Tuesday of June, 
 third Tuesday of August, fourth Tuesday of November, and 
 third Tuesday of February. 
 
 For the County of Cape-May, at Cape-May, the third 
 Tuesday of May, first Tuesday of August, fourth Tuesday 
 of October, and first Tuesday of February. And shall sit 
 any time not exceeding Four Days. 
 
 And Whereas the sitting of Our Supreme Court of Our 
 said Province of New-Jersey, alternately at Burlington and 
 Amboy, is, by Experience, found to be inconvenient, and to 
 occasion Intricacy in the Administration of Justice, to the 
 great hurt of several of our loving Subjects who have 
 Causes depending in our said Supreme Court, For Remedy 
 whereof, for the future, We have thought fit to Ordain, and 
 do hereby Ordain and Direct, That Our Supreme Court of 
 Our said Province of New-Jersey shall sit and be held at 
 the Time unto which the said Court was last adjourn'd, 
 and afterwards there shall one Supreme Court be held on 
 the first Tuesday of May, second Tuesday of August, first 
 Tuesday of November, and third Tuesday of February, at 
 Burlington, yearly, for the Western Division of the said 
 Province. 
 
 And there shall be one other Supreme Court held on 
 the second Tuesday of May, third Tuesday of August, se- 
 cond Tuesday of November, and fourth Tuesday of Feb- 
 ruary, at Perth- Amboy, yearly, for the Eastern Division of 
 
298 APPENDIX G. 
 
 the said Province. Which Supreme Courts shall continue 
 for any term not exceeding Five Days, and are hereby im- 
 powered to have cognizance of all Pleas, civil, criminal and 
 mixt, within the respective Divisions of this Province, as 
 fully and amply, to all intents, constructions and purposes 
 whatsoever, as the Courts of Kings-Bench, Common-Pleas 
 and Exchequer have, or ought to have in Our Kingdom of 
 Great Britain. In which Courts all and every Person and 
 Persons whatsoever may commence and Prosecute any 
 Action or Suit, Real, Personal or mixt, above the Value 
 of Twenty Pounds. And any Action, Suit or controversy, 
 information, indictment, or prosecution depending, or on 
 which Judgment has been given in any of Our Inferiour 
 Courts by Law Removeable, may, by Certiorari, Habeas 
 Corpus, Writ of Error, or any other Lawful Writ or 
 Method, be Removed into Our said Supreme Courts, from 
 any of the Inferiour Courts within Our said Province. 
 
 And We do hereby further Ordain and Direct, That the 
 Office of Clerk of the said Supreme Court of Judicature 
 shall be kept by himself or his sufficient Deputy, at Perth- 
 Amboy in the Eastern Division, and at Burlington in the 
 Western Division, And that all Actions and causes of Ac- 
 tions arising in either the Eastern or Western Division of 
 this Province, are to be Tryed in, and a Verdict given by 
 the Jurors of that Division only in which the Cause of Action 
 shall arise, as near and agreeable to the Laws, Customs 
 and Usages in Our Kingdom of Great Britain, as may be. 
 
 Provided always, That no Jurors be returned, or any 
 Tryals of Causes be had by the Country in the Terms of 
 August or February, but the same shall only be for the Re- 
 turns of other Writs, and Law Proceedings. And all Try- 
 als by the Country, and Returns of Juries to the said Courts 
 shall only be to the Terms of May and Nove?nber. 
 
APPENDIX G. 
 
 And for the greater Ease and Benefit of all our Loving 
 Subjects inhabiting withing Our said Province of New-Jer- 
 sey, and of all Persons whatsoever in taking Recognizance of 
 Special Bail upon all Actions and Suits depending, or to be 
 depending in Our said Supreme Court in Our said Province 
 of New-Jersey, We do hereby Impower any two of Our 
 Judges of Our Supreme Courts, of which Our Chief Jus- 
 tice to be always one, to grant one or more Commission or 
 Commissions under the Seal of the said Supreme Courts, 
 from time to time, as need shall require, to impower such 
 and so many Persons, as by Our said Chief Justice and 
 other Judge of Our Supreme Courts aforesaid, shall be 
 thought fit and necessary, in all and every of the several 
 Counties in Our said Province of New-Jersey, to take and 
 receive all and every such Recognizance or Recognizances 
 of Bail or Bails, as any Person or Persons shall be will- 
 ing and desirous to acknowledge or make before the Per- 
 sons so impowered, in any Action or Suit depending, or 
 hereafter to be depending in Our said Supreme Courts of 
 Our said Province of New- Jersey, in such manner and form, 
 and by such Recognizance or Bail-piece as the Judges of 
 Our Supreme Courts have here-to-fore used to take the 
 same : Which said Recognizance or Recognizances of Bail 
 or Bail-piece shall be transmitted to some one of the 
 Judges of Our Supreme Courts, and by him received, upon 
 payment of the usual Fees, and Affidavits made, according 
 to the Directions in one Act of Parliament in England, 
 made in the fourth and fifth years of the Reign of Our 
 Royal Predecessors William and Mary, King and Queen 
 of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, &c, Entituled 
 An Act for tailing Special Bails in the Country, upon Ac- 
 tions and Suits depending in the Courts of Kings-Bench, 
 Common-Pleas and Exchequer at Westminster; Which 
 
300 APPENDIX G. 
 
 Act of Parliament We hereby Recommend to Our Judges 
 of our Supreme Courts in our said Province of New-Jersey, 
 and to the Persons by them impowered to take and receive 
 Recognizances of Special Bail, as a Direction to Govern 
 themselves by, as nearly as the Circumstances of Our said 
 Province of New-Jersey will admit the same to be done. 
 
 And Whereas the bringing of Jurors and Evidences 
 from the several Counties within Our Province of New- 
 Jersey, will be at the great charge and expense of such of 
 our loving Subjects as have causes depending, or that 
 will be Depending in our Supreme Courts of our said Pro- 
 vince of New-Jersey, We do, for the ease and benefit of 
 our said loving Subjects, further Ordain, That our Chief 
 Justice or other Justice of our Supreme Courts, shall annu- 
 ally and every Year (if there be occasion) go into every 
 County in our said Province, except the County of Cape- 
 May, and there to hold a Court for the Tryal of such 
 causes arising in the several and respective Counties, as 
 are brought to Issue in our said Supreme Courts ; which 
 causes our Chief Justice or other Justices of our Su- 
 preme Courts, is hereby Impowered to hear and try, by 
 Jurors of the said Counties, and on any Verdict in any of 
 the said Counties, within our said Province, Judgment to 
 give, at Our next Supreme Court of Judicature, to be hold- 
 en at Our City of Perth- Amboy, for the Eastern Division, 
 or Town of Burlington, for the Western Division, after 
 such Verdict given in any of the said Counties, within Our 
 said Province of New-Jersey. Which Courts for Tryal of 
 Causes shall be held in our several Counties, excepting 
 Cape-May, for and during a Term not exceeding Five 
 Days, and at the Times and Places following, that is to say, 
 
 For the County of Bergen, on the first Tuesday of 
 April, at Hackinsack, for the County of Bergen. 
 
APPENDIX G. 301 
 
 For the County of Essex, on the second Tuesday of 
 April, at Newark. 
 
 For the County of Somerset, on the first Tuesday of 
 October, at the Court-house of the same County. 
 
 For the County of Monmouth, on the fourth Tuesday of 
 April, at Free-hold. 
 
 For the County of Hunterdon, on the fourth Tuesday in 
 October, at Trent-Town. 
 
 For the County of Gloucester, on the second Tuesday in 
 June, at Gloucester. 
 
 For the Counties of Salem and Cape-May, the first 
 Tuesday in June, at Salem. 
 
 Hereby Requiring and Commanding Our High-Sheriff, 
 Justices of the Peace, the Mayor and Aldermen of any 
 Corporation within any of Our said Counties, and all Offi- 
 cers, Magisterial and Ministerial of any Courts within Our 
 said Counties, to be Attending on our Chief Justice, or other 
 Justices going the Circuit, at his Coming into and Leaving 
 their several Counties, and during his Abode within the 
 same, on Penalty to be proceeded against according to 
 Law, for their or any of their Neglect and Contempt of 
 Our Royal Authority and Command hereby signified. 
 
 And it is further Ordained, That the Commissioners 
 to te appointed for Taking of Special Bails in the respec- 
 tive Counties of this Province, for every Bail-piece taken 
 by them, they shall take the Sum of Three Shillings, and 
 no more. And the Commissioners for Taking of Affidavits, 
 for every Sheet in an Affidavit, One Shilling, and no 
 more. 
 
 In Testimony whereof We have caused these Our Letters 
 to be made Patent, and the Seal of Our Province of 
 
302 APPENDIX G. 
 
 New-Jersey to be thereunto Affixed. Witness Our 
 Trusty 8? Well-beloved William Burnet, Esq., Capt. 
 General and Governour in Chief of the Provinces of 
 New-Jersey, New- York, and Territories thereon de- 
 pending in America, and Vice-Admiral of the same, 
 fyc, in Council at Perth- Amboy, the 10th Day of Feb- 
 ruary, in the first Year of Our Reign, 1728. 
 
 SMITH. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A 
 
 Adams (Samuel). His letter to Richard 
 Henry Lee, stating that the New Jersey 
 delegates were not empowered to give their 
 voice for independence ; shown to be er- 
 roneous, 197, note. 
 
 Alexander (James). Father of Lord Stirling ; 
 his name signed to the " Elizabethtown Bill 
 in Chancery," 120; a member of Council, 
 and a large proprietor of New Jersey, 127. 
 
 Allen (Jedidiah). Indicted for uttering se- 
 ditious words of Lord Cornbury, 53 ; grand 
 jury return the bills with an ignoramus; in- 
 formations exhibited against him, 54; ap- 
 plies for a postponement of his trial, which 
 is allowed upon conditions, with which he 
 refuses to comply ; he is committed for con- 
 tempt, 55. 
 
 Allinson (Samuel). An attorney at law, 
 charged before the House of Assembly with 
 taking illegal fees; is tried and acquitted, 
 167 ; appears at the bar of the Assembly, 
 on behalf of the lawyers of New Jersev, 168. 
 
 Answer. To the " Elizabethtown Bill in 
 Chancery;" its prolixity, 120; published, 
 with a title as long as that of the Bill ; 
 names of the Counsel by whom it was signed, 
 121 
 
 Appeals (Court of). Erected by the Queen 
 in Council ; adopted by the Constitution of 
 1776; confirmed and continued by act of 
 the Legislature, 45, note. 
 
 Assembly (General). First meeting of, in 
 New Jersey, 5 ; act of, for establishing 
 Courts of justice, 7 ; present remonstrance 
 to Lord Cornbnry, 62 ; his answer to it, 05 
 et seq ; their replication, 68 ; review the 
 address of the Lieutenant Govenor and 
 Council to the Queen, and expel William 
 Sandford for having signed it, 71 ; address to 
 Governor Burnet, asking for the appointment 
 of a Chief Justice residing in New Jersey, 
 104 ; investigate charges against the lawyers, 
 165 et seq. 
 
 Assize (Court of). The Supreme Court of 
 the Province ; held once a year at Wood- 
 bridge, 8. 
 
 Attorneys. First act for regulation of; not 
 
 permitted to practise without a license from 
 the Governor, 23; required to serve an ap- 
 prenticeship of at least seven years, or to 
 pursue the study of the law four years after 
 coming of full age, 132. 
 Aynslri/ (William). Appointed Chief Justice ; 
 takes his seat upon the bench ; dies soon 
 alter his appointment, 151. 
 
 B 
 
 Bacon (Lord). His opinion of the qualities 
 requisite for a Judge 184, note 
 
 Bancroft. (History of the United States.) 
 extracts from. 31, 103, note. 
 
 Barclay (Robert). A Scotchman, and one 
 of the proprietors of East Jersey, 12. 
 
 Basse (Jeremiah). Indicted for perjury, 83 J 
 tiied and acquitted, 84 ; stirs up prosecutions 
 against the principal officers of the province, 
 !)7 ; suspended by the Supreme Court from 
 practising as an Attorney, 98 ; i* returned to 
 the Assembly from the County of ('ape May, 
 100; his Speech in the House, 101 ; acquires 
 the confidence of Governor Hunter, ami is 
 appointed Attorney General ; his commis- 
 sion renewed by Governor Burnet ; his 
 death, and will, 102. 
 
 Bayard (Col. John). A pupil of the Rev. 
 Samuel Finley, a member of the old Con- 
 gress, and Speaker of the Rouse of Repre- 
 sentatives of Pennsylvania, 191. 
 
 Belcher (Governor), 151, 
 
 Bernard (Governor), 151; 
 
 Billop 'Christopher). Bided son of Thomas 
 Farmar ; marries the daughter of < 'apian 
 Christopher Billopj adopts her father's 
 name ; commands a corps of New \ ork 
 loyalists during the revolutionary war: is 
 taken prisoner, confined in the jail at Bur- 
 lington, and treated with great severity, 12- ] 
 his estate is confiscated afiortlie peace: lie 
 goes to the Province of New Brunswick, 
 becomes a member of the Assembly, ami of 
 Council, and dies at St. JolmV 129 
 Binney (Mr ) Extract from bis Euloyium on 
 
 Chief Justice Tilsham, 113, note. 
 Blootnfield (Joseph;. Governor of New Jer- 
 sey, 128, 179. 
 
304 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Boudinot (Elias). President of Congress un- 
 der ihe Confederation, member of the House 
 of Representatives after the adoption of the 
 Constitution, and the first Director of the 
 Mint of the United States; his sister the wife 
 of Richard Stockton. 199, note. 
 
 Boudinot (Elislia). Of Newark ; Richard 
 Stockton, William Griffith, andAlexanderC. 
 McWhorter, students in his office. 189, note. 
 
 Brougham (Lord). Extract from his Speech 
 in the House of Commons on Law Reform, 
 3 ; notice of his Speech on Local Courts, 
 9, note. 
 
 Burke. Extracts from his Speech on Concilia- 
 tion with America, 21, 22, note. 
 
 Burnet. Succeeds Hunter as Governor of 
 New Jersey, 104 ; takes especial delight in 
 the Court of Chancery, 107 ; a son of the 
 celebrated Bishop Burnet ; named after the 
 Prince of Orange ; his fortune wrecked in 
 the South Sea scheme ; made Governor of 
 Massachusetts and New Hampshire ; of con- 
 vivial disposition and levity of manners ; his 
 death and character, 108, note. 
 
 Campbell (Lord). Extracts from his lives of 
 the Lord Chancellors, SI, note ; 109, note; 
 117, note. 
 
 Carolana. Description of the Province of, 
 by Daniel Coxe ; first published in 1722, 
 and republished in 1741 ; contains a " curious 
 discovery" of an easy communication be- 
 tween the river Mississippi and the South 
 Sea, 184 ; note ; plan of Union for the 
 North American Colonies proposed in the 
 preface, 135 ; Dr. Franklin's " Albany Plan 
 of Union," little more than a transcript of 
 it, 137. 
 
 Carolina. Patent for, obtained by Sir Robert 
 Heath, Attorney General to Charles the first ; 
 declared to be void ; Dr. Coxe procures an 
 assignment of it, 133 ; called Carolana in 
 the original patent, 134. 
 
 Carteret (Governor - !. Seeks to extend the 
 jurisdiction of the municipal Courts of Ber- 
 gen and VVoodbridge, 6 ; purchases an in- 
 terest in the Elizabethtown grant, 123. 
 
 Carteret (Lady Elizabeth). " Fashionable and 
 kind-hearted;" Elizabethtown named after 
 her, 13, 122 
 
 Carteret (Sir George). One of the original 
 proprietors of New Jersey, 5 ; concessions of 
 Berkley and Carteret, 18. 
 
 Chancery (Court of ). Recognized as a sepa- 
 rate and distinct tribunal, in the first act for 
 the establishment of Courts, 11 ; made part 
 of the Court of Common Right, but after- 
 wards separated fiom it, 14 ; never a popu- 
 lar favorite in this country, 108 ; in England 
 always a fair subject for the pen of the 
 satirist, 109 ; note; becomes so unpopular in 
 New-York, that no business is transacted in 
 it for many years, 110; first established in 
 Pennsylvania by Governor Keith, ib. ; diffi- 
 culty with John Kinsey a Quaker lawyer, 
 111 ; considered a "nuisance" and entirely 
 laid aside, 112 ; has encountered less hostili- 
 ty in New Jersey than in her sister states, 
 ib. ; ordinance of Lord Cornbury for the 
 erection of, 113; first ordinance for the 
 regulation of fees in, 114 ; a committee of 
 Council appointed to revise and moderate ' 
 
 fees, and perform their task with an unspar- 
 ing hand, 115 ; committee directed to inquire 
 into the abuses which had crept into the 
 practice of the Court, 116; the abuses pointed 
 out, and the remedies proposed by them, 117 ; 
 message of Go.eruor Franklin in relation to 
 Court of Chancery, 123 ; sends the Assembly 
 list of o°' prs in the Court, for which salaries 
 ought to he provided, 124 ; ordinance of 
 Governor Frar.klin, 125; the Constitution 
 of 1770 adcts the Court, and the Legisla- 
 ture confirm its powers, ib. ; office of Gover- 
 nor and Chancellor united until the adoption 
 of the Constitution of 1844 ; effect of this 
 arrangement, 126. 
 
 Clarke (Abraham). His object in introduc- 
 ing the bill known as "Clarke's Practice 
 Act," 115. 
 
 Common Pleas (Courts of). First established 
 by the Ordinance of Lord Cornbury ; when 
 and where held ; their jurisdiction. 43 ; ac- 
 count of the origin of this Court by Mr. Grif- 
 fith erroneous, 47. 
 
 Common Right (Court of). Came in place 
 of the Court of Assize ; name first occurs in 
 the instructions to Gawen Lawrie, Deputy 
 Governor of East Jersey, 12 ; to consist of 
 " twelve members, or six at the least ;" held 
 first at Elizabethtown, but afterwards at 
 Perth Amboy, 13. 
 
 Common Law, brought from England by our 
 fathers ; their birthright and inheritance, 15 ; 
 reached its full vigor about the period of the 
 first settlement of New Jersey, 16, note. 
 
 Concessions, of Berkley and Carteret, the first 
 Proprietors of New Jersey ; proclaimed re- 
 ligious liberty in its fullest extent, and free- 
 dom from taxation without the consent of 
 the people, 18 ; published and circulated in 
 England and throughout the Colonies, 19 ; 
 of the Proprietors ot West Jersey, still more 
 liberal ; their provision for liberty of con- 
 science, 27 ; for freedom from taxation with- 
 out the consent of the General Assembly, 
 28 ; their language in reference to trial by 
 jury, ib. ; members of Assembly to be chosen 
 by ballot, 29 ; to receive instructions from 
 those who sent them, and covenant for 
 obedience under hand and seal, 30 ; these 
 Concessions to be read at the opening and 
 dissolving of every Assembly, and writ on 
 fair tables in every hall of justice in the 
 Province, 31. 
 
 Cooper (Joseph) A member of Assembly 
 from Gloucester County, during the admini- 
 stration of Governor Morris, 143. 
 
 Cornbury (Lord). Cousin of Queen Anne, and 
 grandson of the illustrious Clarendon ; first 
 Royal Governor of New Jersey, 40 ; forbid- 
 den by his Instructions, but authorized by 
 his Commission to establish Courts, 41 ; his 
 Ordinance for the establishment of Courts, 
 42 ; its provisions, 43 et scq. ; this Ordinance 
 the foundation of our Common Law Courts, 
 45 ; Mr. Griffith not aware of the existence 
 of it, 46 ; a copy of it found in the State 
 Library, 50 ; by whom probably framed, ib. ; 
 his disputes with the Assembly, 62 ; their 
 remonstrance presented to him by Samuel 
 Jenings, and his reception of it, 64 ; his an- 
 swer, 65 et seq. ; reply of the Assembly, 68 ; 
 prevails upon the Lieutenant Governor and 
 Council to unite in an address to the Queen 
 justifying his conduct, 69 ; his removal 
 
INDEX. 
 
 305 
 
 and character, 70, note ; th .-n into jail by 
 his creditors, and remain I iere. until ele- 
 vated to the peerage by the death ot his 
 father, 83. _, T 
 
 County Courts first establishei ,n East Jersey, 
 7 • when, and by whom held ; their juris- 
 diction ; appeals from their judgments, 8 ; 
 to be held four times a year in each County, 
 11 • the Judges to be the Justices ot the 
 Peace in the respective Counties 12 ; in 
 West Jersey, when established ; when and 
 by whom held, 24; their jurisdiction un- 
 limited, in civil and criminal cases, ib. ; the 
 great Courts of the Province, 25. 
 Courts, Establishment of, coeval with the 
 first settlement of the State, 4 ; first act o 
 Assembly for the erection of, - ; modihed 
 after the transfer of East Jersey to the 
 twenty-four Proprietors. 11; of West Jersey 
 under its Proprietary Government, .4 ; es- 
 tablished by Ordinance of Governor and 
 Council, after the Surrender, 42 ; first ordin- 
 ance for the erection of Courts, and its pro- 
 visions, 43 ; these Courts continued without 
 any essential change to the Revolution ; 
 have retained all their leading features to 
 this day, 45. . „,, r . 
 
 Core (Dr. Daniel). A great Proprietor of West 
 Jersey and Governor of that Province tor 
 some years: father of Daniel Coxe one ot 
 the Justices of the Supreme Court, 132; pro- 
 cures an assignment of the original Patent 
 for larolina, and addresses a memorial to 
 King William claiming the Province em- 
 braced in it, 133; the memorial is referred 
 to the Attorney General, who reports in 
 favor of the validity of his title, 134. 
 Coxe (Daniel). Son of Dr. Daniel Coxe ; signs 
 the address of the Lieutenant Governor and 
 Council to the Queen, 70, note ; is chosen 
 speaker of the Assembly, 92; absents him- 
 self from the House, with most ol his politi- 
 cal friends, 98 ; the Assembly choose a new 
 speaker, and expel the absent members, 99 , 
 Governor Hunter, in a message to the As- 
 sembly, condemns the conduct ot the late 
 speaker, and the House concur with him, 
 100 ; is appointed an associate Justice o the 
 Supreme Court, 132; revives his lathers 
 claim to Carolina, and makes various efforts 
 to colonize it ; publishes a description ot the 
 country, which he calls Carolana, 134 ; his 
 preface to (he work contains a plan ol 
 union for the North American Colonies, 
 135; extract from it, 136, note ; the same 
 with that, afterwards proposed by Dr. 1- rank- 
 lin at Albany, and which has been so cele- 
 brated 137; "remains upon the bench until 
 his death, and discharges his duties with 
 ability and integrity, ib. . 
 
 Coxe (Daniel). A member of Council during 
 Governor Franklin's administration ; duel 
 agent in organizing the Hoard of Refuge es 
 o? Royalists, in New-York ; made I resident 
 of the Board ; reason assigned lor putting 
 him in the chair, lf5, note. 
 Cuthbert (Alexander). Ot Canada married a 
 daughter of Richard Stockton, 199, note. 
 
 D 
 
 Dicktntm (John). At ameetiDgofthePhila- 
 
 delphia bar, opposes a resolution to transact 
 
 business without the use oi stamps, 104. 
 
 20 
 
 Dudley (Joseph). Chief Justice of New-York, 
 and afterwards Governor of Massachusets, 
 74. 
 
 E 
 
 East Jersey. Courts in, 7, 8; divided into 
 Counties, and Townships, 11, note; laws 
 of under the Proprietory Government, 205 
 et seg. ; severity of the criminal code, 287 ; 
 acts for the promotion of education, 208; 
 thanksgiving days appointed by act of As- 
 sembly, 209. , . , 
 Ellesmere Lord Chancellor in the reign ot 
 Q.ueen Elizabeth ; the vigor with which he 
 corrected prolixity in chancery pleadings, 
 117, note. ' 
 Elitabcthtoum, named after Lady Carteret, 
 long the capital of the Province ot bast 
 Jersey, 13. • . ,. 
 Elizabethtown Bill in Chancery. Embodies 
 much of the early history of the State, -4 ; 
 the most important bill ever filed in the I ro- 
 vincial Court of Chancery, 119; contains 
 fifteen hundred sheets; printed with the 
 accompanying documents, making a tolio 
 volume of" one hundred and sixty pages ; its 
 title, 120 ; drawn np with great ability, UK ; 
 cause never brought to a final hearing, l-J. 
 Elmer (Ehenezer). Father of the Hon Lucius 
 Q, C. Elmer of Bridgeton ; assisted in the 
 destruction of the tea at Greenwich, 179. 
 Essex. Reply of the Grand Jury ot, to tin- 
 charge of Chief Justice Smyth, 175 et f *?. ; 
 riots against the lawyers, 171 ; the rioters 
 promptly punished, 172. 
 Ewinff (James). Father of the distinguished 
 Chief Justice of New Jersey ; assisted in the 
 destruction of the tea at Greenwich, l,.i. 
 
 Farmar (Thomas). An associate Justice pf the 
 
 Supreme Court, 92; remove, iron; Staten 
 Island to Ambov, 126; represents formanj 
 years in the Assembly the County ol Middle 
 sex 127; is made Chief Justice ; was in- 
 sane for some years ; Kiseldesl sons 
 the name of Christopher liillop, and became 
 a noted character during the Revolutionary 
 
 ^"(Robert). Of Whitehill, in the County 
 of Burlington ; married a daughter ol Kich- 
 ard Stockton, 199, note 
 
 Fietd (Abby). The only surviving daughter ol 
 Richard Stockton ; is living at 1 micrton, 
 199, note. , . , . ... 
 
 Finlry (Re. Samuel). A npe scholar, and M - 
 ful teacher, 190; establishes a school al Not- 
 tingham, in Maryland, which becomes a 
 very celebrated one, ib. ; some or the most 
 
 disuVuished men in the country educated 
 
 here, 191 ; is President pi the College ot 
 New Jersey, upon Ins death Dr. Wither 
 spoon is chosen to succeed boo. l.U. 
 y„r,l (Gabriel, II.). A indent in lb- ol,i,, 
 
 of Abraham Ogden ; for many yeat 
 of the Supreme Court; »Utt living in the lull 
 enjoyment of his faculties, 189, note. 
 wZSSL (Dr.). Bis "Albany Plea of 
 I „,„„," |itu e more than a transcript ol 
 
 Redesign of Daniel Coxe.sketc I many 
 
 vears before, 137; his interview with 
 Robert Hunter Morris in New \ork, 147. 
 
306 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Franklin (Governor). His Message to the 
 Assembly in reference to the Court of 
 Chancery, 123 ; his Ordinance establishing 
 the Court, 125; his Message to the Assem- 
 bly, upon the subject of the riots against the 
 lawyers, 172. 
 
 G 
 
 Galloway (Joseph). A celebrated loyalist of 
 Pennsylvania; a correspondent of David 
 Ogden, 185. 
 
 Gates (Horatio). Letter to, from William 
 Smith, the Provincial Historian of New 
 York, 155. 
 
 General Sessions of the Peace (Court of). 
 Established by Ordinance of Lord Corn- 
 bury ; to be held four times a year in every 
 County, 43. 
 
 Gordon (Thomas). A native of Pitlochie in 
 Scotland, 86 ; emigrates to New Jersey ; 
 settles in the neighborhood of the " Scotch 
 Plains;" becomes a large Proprietor, and 
 fills various offices of honor and trust in the 
 Province ; represents Perth Amboy in the 
 Assembly, and is chosen Speaker of the 
 House, 87 ; is appointed Chief Justice of 
 the Supieme Court upon the resignation of 
 Mompesson ; is made Receiver General and 
 Treasurer of the Province, and relinquishes 
 his seat upon the bench ; is appointed Com- 
 missioner to execute the office of Attorney 
 General ; his death, 88. 
 
 Grahame. A Scotchman, and the author 
 of the best Colonial History of the Uniied 
 States that has yet appeared, 86 ; extracts 
 from his History, 31, note ; 38 ; 71, iiote ;86 
 
 Grand .Jury, of Essex. Their spirited reply 
 to the charge of Chief Justice Smyith, 175 ; 
 of Cumberland, refuse to find Indictments 
 against those who were concerned in the 
 destruction of the tea at Greenwich, 181. 
 
 Griffith (Alexander). First Attorney Gen- 
 eral for the Province of New Jersey, 52; 
 suspended for " sundry misdemeanors, ne- 
 glects, and contempts of duty," 88. 
 
 Griffith (William). The learned Compiler of 
 the Law Register, 4(5 ; a student in the , 
 office of Elisha Boudinot of Newark, 
 189, note. 
 
 H 
 
 Hall (William). 80, note. 
 
 Hallo.m. Extracts fiom his Constitutional 
 History of England, 9 note, 17, note. 
 
 Haiard (Ebenezer). Postmaster General of 
 the United States, and author of Historical 
 Collections ; a pupil of the Rev. Samuel 
 Finley, 191. 
 
 Henry (John). A member of the old Con- 
 gress, a Senator of the United States, and 
 Governor of Maryland ; a pupil of the Rev. 
 Samuel Finley, 191. 
 
 Hoarkills (Customs at). Exacted by the 
 agent of the Duke of York, on all vessels 
 ascending the Delaware to New Jersey, 32 ; 
 argument, against. 33, et scq. 
 
 Hoffman (Jo^iah Ogden). A student in the 
 office of Abraham Ogden ; Attorney Gen- 
 eral of New York, and Judge of the Supe- 
 rior Court at the time of his death, 189, 
 note. 
 
 Hollingshead (John). Indictment against for 
 utteing seditious words of Lord Cornbury, 
 
 53 ; grand jury return it with an inrjio- 
 ramui ; information exhibited against him, 
 54; applies for a postponement of his 
 trial ; the motion is allowed, but upon con- 
 ditions with which he refuses to comply ; he 
 is committed for contempt, 55 ; is tried and 
 acquitted, 56. 
 
 Hooper (Robert Lettice). Appointed Chief 
 Justice upon the death of William Trent, 
 126 ; is succeeded by Thomas Farmar, ib. ; 
 is again appointed Chief Justice, 128 ; 
 continues to act until his death, 129. 
 
 Hopkinson (Francis). A delegate from New 
 Jersey, and a signer of the Declaration of 
 Independence ; appears in Congress, and 
 presents the instructions under which he and 
 his colleagues were appointed, 197, note. 
 
 Howell (Richard). Governor of New Jersey ; 
 assisted in the destruction of the tea at 
 Greenwich, 179. 
 
 Buddy (Hugh), 80, note. 
 
 Hume. Extract from his Essay on the origin 
 of government, 3, note. 
 
 Hunter (Rev. Andrew). A chaplain in the 
 American Army during the whole of the 
 Revolutionary war; assisted in the destruc- 
 tion of the tea at Greenwicli ; his second 
 wife a daughter of Richard Stockton, 179. 
 
 Hunter (Rev. Andrew). Pastor of the Presby- 
 terian church in Greenwich, in the County 
 of Cumberland ; an ardent Whig, 179, 
 note. 
 
 Hunter (Governor). Succeeds Lord Love- 
 lace ; his first Address to the House of As- 
 sembly, 79 ; a native of Scotland ; marries 
 a peeress ; a friend of Addison and Swift ; 
 appointed Lieutenant Governor of Virginia; 
 is taken prisoner by the French ; is appointed 
 Governor of Jamaica; a man of some liter- 
 ary pretensions, 89, note ; his address on 
 behalf of the Quakers, 94 : claims the right 
 to act as Chancellor without the aid of his 
 Council, 114. 
 
 Indians. Their right, to the soil always respec- 
 ted in New Jersey ; the Six Nations at 
 Fort Stanwix confer upon New Jersey the 
 title of the Great Doer of Justice, 5, note. 
 
 Ingoldsby (Lieutenant Governor). Unites 
 with the Council in an address to the Queen, 
 justifying the conduct of Lord Cornbury. 
 69 ; acts as Governor upon the death of 
 Lord Lovelace; a dull, heavy man, 78; 
 remonstrances are made to the Queen for 
 his removal, to which she at last yields, 79. 
 
 Institutio J,egalis, of Newark, a sort of Moot 
 Court, kept up for many years, 189, note. 
 
 Jamison (David). Appointed Chief Justice 
 in place of Mompesson, 89 ; a popular law- 
 yer of New York ; distinguished himsell in 
 defence of McKemie the Presbyterian 
 clergyman ; is Chief Justice during the whole 
 of d'overnor Hunter's administration, 91 ; 
 is indicted in the Court of Quarter Sessions 
 of Burlington ; delivers a speech in the 
 Supreme Court, 94 ; indictment removed 
 to the Supreme Court, and quashed, 97 ; 
 his charge to the Grand Jury at Burlington, 
 103; continued in office by Governor Bur- 
 net ; the Assembly complain of his residing 
 
INDEX. 
 
 307 
 
 in New York, and address Governor Burnet 
 upon the subject, 104 ; he is superseded, 
 and William Trent appointed in his place. 
 105. 
 
 Jenhigs (Samuel). Speaker of the Assembly, 
 03; presents their address to Lord Corn- 
 bury, 62 ; was Governor of West Jersey 
 under the Proprietary government. ; his char- 
 acter, 63, note. 
 
 Johnson (Robert G.). One of the Vice Presi- 
 dents of the New Jersey Historical Society; 
 lias preserved the names of those who were 
 concerned in the destruction of the tea at 
 Greenwich, 178. 
 
 Jones (Nathaniel). Is appointed Chief Justice 
 of New Jersey on the death of Aynsley, 151 ; 
 arrives at Amboy where he receives his 
 commission ; makes a visit to Elizabeth- 
 town ; his reception there ; at the next Term 
 of the Supreme Court, prays that, the oath 
 of office may be administered to him, 158 : 
 Robert Hunter Morris claims to be si ill 
 Cliipf Justice ; the matter is referred to the 
 Court, 153 ; Judge Nevill decides against 
 Jones ; he puts his commission in his pocket, 
 and returns to England, 154. 
 
 Judges, during the Colonial government were 
 clad in official robes, and affected much 
 state ; costumes worn by them before the 
 Revolution, 20, note. 
 
 Justice's Courts, and convenient tribunals ; 
 origin of, 8. 
 
 Justices of the Trace, their jurisdiction in civil 
 cases, by the ordinance of Lord Cornbury, 
 143. 
 
 K 
 
 Kearney (Philip). Letter to, from David Og- 
 
 den, 10-2. 
 
 Keith (Sir William). Governor of Pennsyl- 
 vania ; establishes a Court of Chancerv. 110; 
 orders the hat of John Kinsey. a Quaker 
 lawyer, to betaken off in Court ; excitement 
 caused by it ; a rule of Court adopted, allow- 
 ing Quakers to wear their hats. 111. 
 
 Killingworth (Tbomas). Informations a?ainst, 
 for speaking contemptuously of the Church 
 of England ; tried and acquitted, 56. 
 
 Kinsey (John). Father of John Kinsey, Chief 
 Justice of Pennsylvania ; chosen speaker of 
 the Assembly upon the expulsion of Daniel 
 Ooxe, 99. 
 
 Kinsey (John). Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, 
 and father of James Kinsey, Chief Justice 
 of New Jersey, 99, note ; a Quaker lawyer ; 
 wears his hat in the Court of Chancery ; it 
 is ordered to be taken off; great offence 
 given to the Quakers bv it. 111. 
 
 Kinsey (James). Chief Justice of New Jersey, 
 90, note : appears at the bar of the Assembly, 
 to plead the cause of the lawyers of New 
 Jersev. 108. 
 
 Kitchell (Aaron). Member of Assembly from 
 the County of Morris ; introduces the fable 
 of the fox and geese, in answer to a speech 
 of Abraham Ogden, 18^, note. 
 
 Laurence (John). A distinguished lawver of 
 Burlington, father of the gallant ('apt. James 
 Lawrence of the navy, 107. note. 
 
 I,?.:cs, curly, few and simple, 15. 
 
 Lairs, of East Jersev nnder the Proprietary 
 Government. 205, et seq. 
 
 J. (its, oi Wesl Jersey under the Proprietary 
 Government, 205, ct seq. 
 
 Lawyers, New Jersey blessed by the absence 
 of. 22 : soon found their way into the colony, 
 33 ; of New Jersey, the first to adopt mea- 
 sures of opposition to the Stamp Act, 159; 
 resolutions of a meeting of the bar held at 
 Amboy, and the effect of them, 160 
 tions proposed to the bar bv Chief Justice 
 Smyth, and their answers to them, 161 ; 
 another meeting of the bar held at New 
 Brunswick. 102: resolutions adopted, bold 
 and spirited, 163 ; complaints against the 
 lawyers of New Jersey, 104 ; causes of the 
 excitement which existed, 165 ; the Assem- 
 bly investigate the charges, 166 ; the lawyers 
 address a memorial to the House, praying 
 leave to be heard at their bar, 167 ; leave 
 granted, and the hearing takes place, 168 : 
 the lawyers make charges against Samuel 
 Tucker ; they are investigated bv the House, 
 and Mr. Tucker found suilty, 170; riots in 
 Monmouth and Essex. 171 ; rioters punished 
 in Essex, but screened in Monmouth; mes- 
 sage of Governor Franklin to the Assembly 
 upon the subject, 172; in the Revolution, 
 a majority of the lawyers were Whigs ; but 
 the "giants of the law " are said to have 
 been nearly all loyalists, 181 ; thorough-bred 
 lawyers, a race of men that became numer- 
 ous in New Jersev. 182. 
 
 Lreiis (Daniel. Signed the address of the 
 Lieutenant Governor and Council to the 
 Queen, justifying the conduct of Lord Corn- 
 bury, ">0, note. 
 
 Legrange (Bernardus). An attorney at law. 
 charged before the Assembly with having 
 taken illegal fees ; is tried and convicted, 
 and reprimanded by the speaker at the bar 
 of the House, 166 ; procures certificates of 
 the Judges of the Supreme Court, by which 
 he is wholly exonerated, 167. 
 
 Livingston (William). Governor of New Jer- 
 sey ; puts his name to the answer to the F.liza- 
 bethtown Bill in Chancerv. 121 ; Sedgwick's 
 life of, referred to, 107, note. 
 
 Logan (James). Letter to, from William 
 Penn, introducing Roger Monipesson, 58 ; 
 extracts from his letters to Penn, 59. 
 
 Lovelace (Lord). Governor of New Jersey; 
 sn >ded Lord Cornbury; rongialulatory 
 
 ad lre-s to him by the Council. ', ~> ; hi sadden 
 
 and premature death, 7 J . 
 
 M 
 
 Mngarinr (The New American), printed bv 
 James Parker, published at Woodbridge, and 
 edited by Samuel Nevill ; first periodical in 
 New Jersey, and necond magazine of the 
 kind on the Continent, 157. 
 
 Martin (Alexander). Governor of No^h Caro- 
 lina, and a delegate to the Convention which 
 framed the Constitution of the United States; 
 a pupil of the Rev. Samuel Pinley, 157. 
 
 Massachi illy in advance nf the 
 
 other Colonies ; but her lawvei deem it no 
 
 possible to conduct judicial business in 0|hmi 
 
 disregard of an act ofparlia nt, 163. 
 
 MrKniiit (Francis). A Presbyterian ctergj 
 
 man. tried in New York for preaching with- 
 out a license ; he is acquitted, but the Court 
 
308 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 refuse to discharge him, until he has paid the 
 fees of prosecution, 7-2. 
 
 McWhorter (Rev. Alexander), of Newark, a 
 distinguished clergyman ; a pupil of the Rev. 
 Samuel Finley, 191. 
 
 Me Whortcr (Alexander C). An eminent law- 
 yer ; a student in the office of Elisha Boudi- 
 not of Newark, 189. 
 
 Minutes of the Supreme Court, contain full 
 reports of some of the early trials ; a mine of 
 curious and valuable information, 51, note. 
 
 Mompesson (Rev. William). Rector of Eyam 
 in Derbyshire during the time of the plague 
 in London ; performed the functions of phy- 
 sician and priest ; extracts from a letter 
 written by him to Sir George Saville, 57, 
 note. 
 
 Mompesson (Roger). The first Chief Justice of 
 the Supreme Court of New Jersey, 51 ; sup- 
 posed to have descended from the Rev. 
 William Mompesson, Rector of Eyam. 57 ; 
 arrives in Philadelphia, bearing a letter from 
 William Peon to Samuel Logan, 58; appoint- 
 ed Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, and prob- 
 ably never took his seat upon the bench, 61), 
 note; is made Chief Justice of New Jersey 
 and New-York, 00 ; a member of Lord Corn- 
 bury's Council, fil ; puts his name to the 
 address of the Lieut. Governor and Council 
 to the Queen, 70 ; Assembly comment with 
 much severity upon his conduct, 71 ; upon 
 the removal of Cornbury surrenders his com- 
 mission, 71 ; his conduct as Chief Justice of 
 New-York, 72 ; presides at the trial of Fran- 
 cis McKemie, the Presbyterian clergyman, 
 who was indicted for preaching without 
 license, ib. ; marries a daughter of William 
 Pinhorne, 75 ; is restored to office upon the 
 retirement of Thomas Gordon, 89 ; upon the 
 arrival of Governor Hunter, again surrenders 
 his commission, ib. 
 
 Monmouth, tiots in, against the lawyers, 171 ; 
 rioters screened from punishment, 172 ; tories 
 in Monmouth, 173. 
 
 Montgomery (Governor). His aversion to the 
 Court of Chancery, 115. 
 
 Monthly Court of small causes (first establish- 
 ment of), 7 ; the original of the Justice's 
 Court, 8 ; either prfPty at liberty to demand 
 a jury, 1 1. 
 
 Morris (Governor). Grandson of Governor 
 Lewis Morris, 143. 
 
 Morris (Lewis). Governor of New Jersey, ex- 
 pelled from the Council by Lord Cornbury, 
 61 ; draws up 'he remonstrance of the As- 
 sembly, 62 ; appointed Chief Justice of New- 
 York, 91 ; hisearly years, 138; his character, 
 140; appointed Governor of New Jersey, 
 141 ; difficulties with the Assembiy, 142 ; his 
 death, 143. 
 
 Morris (Lewis). One of the signers of the 
 Declaration of Independence, a grandson of 
 Governor Morris, 143. 
 
 Morris (Robert Hunter). Chief Justice of the 
 Supreme Court, 137 ; son of Gove nor Lewis 
 Morris, 133 ; held the office of Chief Justice 
 twenty-six years ; his education, appearance, 
 manners, 144 ; his character as a Judge, 
 145; visits England, ib. ; it is proposed to 
 make him Lieutenant Governor of New- 
 York ; for some reason the appointment not 
 made, 146 ; is appointed Governor of Penn- 
 sylvania, 147 ; interview with Dr. Franklin, 
 ib. ; his difficulties wijh the Assembly of 
 
 Pennsylvania, 148 ; tenders his resignation 
 as Chief Justice, in a letter to the Lords of 
 Trade, 149 ; names Richard Saltar as his 
 successor ; his resignation not accepted ; re- 
 linquishes his situation as Governor of Penn- 
 sylvania , makes another visit to England, 
 150 ; during his absence, William Aynsley 
 appointed Chief Justice, 151 ; controversy 
 with Nathaniel Jones as to the Chief Justice- 
 ship, 153 ; decision in favor of Mr. Morris, 
 154 ; his sudden and melancholy death, 155. 
 Murray (Joseph). A distinguished lawyer of 
 New-York; signs the Elizabelhtown Bill in 
 Chancery, 120. 
 
 N 
 
 " Negro plot" in New York, cruelties attend- 
 ing it ; probably the whole affair a delusion, 
 131. 
 
 Nevill (Samuel). Second Judge of the Su- 
 preme Court ; had been Editor of the Lon- 
 don Morning Post, before coming to Amer- 
 ica, 155 ; he was connected by marriage 
 with Peter Sonmans, and inherited his pro- 
 prietary interests in East Jersey ; comes to 
 New Jersey, and takes up his residence at 
 Amboy ; becomes a member of the Assem- 
 bly, and is fur many years Speaker of the 
 House, 156; is appointed a Judge of the 
 Supreme Court, and for sixteen years dis- 
 charges its duties with fidelity ; publishes 
 the laws of the Province in two volumes ; 
 edits " The New American Magazine," 
 157 ; his death, 15^. 
 
 New Jersey. Her history divided into three 
 periods, 4 ; her treatment of the Indian, 5, 
 note ; an insurrection among the slaves, the 
 only instance of the kind in her annals, 
 130; the condition of slaves in, 131; 
 allowed to have a separate Governor f-om 
 New York, 139 ; her resistance to the Stamp 
 Act, 159. 
 
 Norburie (George). His quaint tract on " the 
 abuses and remedies of Chancery ;" extract 
 from it, 118. 
 
 North Carolina. "Regulators" in rise 
 in arms to exterminate the lawyers ; in the 
 Revolution most of them join the royal 
 party, 173. 
 
 Nottingham, Lord Chancellor in the reign 
 of Charles II ; his remark about the Statute 
 of Frauds. 17, note ; has been called the 
 Father of Equity, 109, note. 
 
 O 
 
 Ogdcn (Abraham). Son of David Ogden ; a 
 distinguished lawyer after the Revolution; 
 District Attorney of the United States ; a 
 member of the Legislature, and advocates 
 the calling of a Convention to revise the 
 Constitution, 188. 
 
 Ogden (David). Son of Josiah Ogden ; 
 brother of Dr. Jacob Ogden ; born in New- 
 ark, 182 ; a graduate of Yale College ; reads 
 law in New York; practises in New Jer- 
 sey ; rises rapidly in his profession ; is ap- 
 pointed a Judge of the Supreme Court, 183 ; 
 upon the breaking out of the Revolution, 
 seeks protection from the British in New 
 York, 184 ; an active loyalist ; a member of 
 the Board of Refugees ; a correspondent of 
 Joseph Galloway ; draws up a plan for the 
 government of the Colonies after their sub- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 309 
 
 mission to Groat Britain, 185; after the 
 peace sees to England ; his estate confisca- 
 ted; receives compensation from the British 
 government ; returns to the United States, 
 and takes up his residence on Long Island, 
 187 ; his death, and family, 188. 
 Orrden (David B.)- A distinguished lawyer 
 "of New York ; son of Samuel and grandson 
 of David Ogden ; pursued his profession for 
 some years in New Jersey, 189. 
 Ogden (Isaac). Son of David Ogden ; Clerk 
 of the Supreme Court ; joined the British in 
 New York ; went to England ; settled in 
 Canada, and became a Judge of the Su- 
 preme Court, 188. 
 0<rden (Samuel). Son of David Ogden, and 
 father of David B. Ogden ; member of the 
 Legislature of Pennsylvania, and of the 
 Convention that framed her Constitution of 
 1790, 189. 
 Olive (Thomas). Governor of West Jersey ; 
 dispensed justice " sitting on the stumps in 
 his meadows," 20. 
 Ordinances of Governor and Conned, must 
 look to them for the Constitution of our 
 Courts, after the Surrender, 42. 
 Ordinance of Lord Cornbury, the foundation 
 of our whole judicial system, 42 ; its provi- 
 sions, 43, et seq. ; not to be found in the 
 books of CommUsions in (he office of Secre- 
 tary of State, 47 ; a copy of it found in the 
 State Library, 50; probably framed by 
 Roger Mompesson, ib. 
 Ordinance of George II., not the foundation 
 of the jurisdiction of our Courts, 47; little 
 more than a copy of the original ordinance 
 of Lord Cornbury ; continued in force bnt 
 a single year, 48. 
 Oyer and Terminer (Court of)- It* ' irst estaD " 
 lishment in West Jersey ; of whom com- 
 posed, 26. 
 
 Parker (James). Prints "The New Ameri- 
 can Magazine," 157. 
 Penn (William). Assists in the preparation 
 of the argument against the customs at the 
 Hoarkills, but probably not the sole author 
 of it 32, note; his letter to James Logan, 
 recommending Roger Mompesson, 58 ; ex- 
 tracts from other letters ot his to Logan, 
 59, note ; presides at a trial for witchcraft in 
 Pennsylvania, 103. note. 
 Penn and Mead (Trial of). At the Old 
 Bailey, for preaching to a tumultuous 
 assembly, 29, note. 
 Perth Imboy. Named in honor ot the barl ot 
 Perth, 13 ; a favorite project of the Proprie- 
 taries, 14, note. 
 Petit (Charles). Employed by the owners of 
 
 the tea destroyed at Greenwich. 179. 
 Philadelphia (Lawyers of). Hold a meeting 
 upon the subject of the Stamp Act, 1M , 
 bnt three individuals in favor of carrying on 
 business without stamps. 164. 
 Pinhorne (William). Originally a merchant 
 in the city of New York ; became a member 
 of Council, and a Judge of the Supreme 
 Court in that Province; removes to New 
 Jersev, 74 ; is appointed Second Judge of 
 the Supreme Court; his connexion with 
 Roger Mompesson, 75; signs the address 
 from the Lieutenant Governor and Council 
 
 21 
 
 to the Queen ; is denounced by the Assem- 
 bly in unsparing terms. 76 ; their address 
 however to be taken with some grains of 
 allowance, 77 ; acts as Governor upon the 
 removal of Lieut. Governor [ngoldsby ; is 
 superseded by the arrival of Governor Hun- 
 ter, 79 ; his removal from the Council, 80, 
 note: retires into private life, el; bis 
 death, 82. 
 
 Pinhorne (John). Son of William Pinhorne, 
 an Attorney at Law and Clerk of the House 
 of Assembly ; did not long survive his 
 father, 82. 
 
 Pomphrcy (Walter). Indictment against, for 
 speaking seditious words of Lord Cornbury, 
 53; returned with an ignoramus ', an In- 
 formation filed against him for the same 
 offence, 54 ; tried aud a verdict of guilty 
 rendered, but the Court did not dare to pro- 
 nounce judgment, 55. 
 
 a 
 
 Quakers. Settlement of West Jersey by, 31 ; 
 Lord Combury's attacks upon them. 66; 
 their reply to him, 09 ; controversy with re- 
 gard to accepting their affirmation, in lieu of 
 an oath, 93 et seq : the same question pro- 
 duced serious difficulties in Pennsylvania, 
 96, note. 
 
 Quaker legislation. First essay of, to be 
 found in the West Jersey Concessions, 31, 
 note. 
 
 Quarry (Robert). Signed the address of tne 
 Lieut. Governor and Council to the Q,ueen, 
 justifying the conduct of Lord Cornbury ; 
 a member of Council in five of the Colonies 
 atone time, 70, note. 
 
 R 
 
 Read (Charles). Succeeds Robert Hunter 
 Morris as Chief Justice ; recommended by 
 Lord Stirling ; holds the office but a few 
 months ; consents to take again the place of 
 Second Judge, which he had previously 
 held, 158. , , 
 
 Read (George). Of New Castle, one of the 
 counsel retained on behalf of those concerned 
 in the destruction of the tea at Greenwich, 
 180. 
 Reading (John). Upon the death of Gov. 
 Belcher, he became entitled, as the first 
 named of the Councillors, to act as Gover- 
 nor ; was reluctantly prevailed upon to as- 
 sume the duties, 151. 
 Read (Joseph). Appears at the bar or the 
 Assembly, to plead the canse of the lawyers 
 of New Jersey ; became Adjutant General 
 of the Continental army, a member of Con- 
 gress and President of the Executive < OUD 
 cil of Pennsylvania ; his noble reply to the 
 offer made to him upon condition of his 
 effecting a reunion between the Colonies 
 and the Crown, 168 ; born at Trenton ed- 
 ucated at Princeton, read law with Richard 
 Stockton, pursued his profeerioi for MOM 
 years in New Jersey, and then removed to 
 Philadelphia, 168, note. 
 Remdatora, in North Carolina, take nn arms 
 to exterminate lawyers ; in the Revolution, 
 most of them enlisted under the king s ban- 
 ner, 173. , 
 Revell (Thomas). One of Lord Cornbury s 
 Council ; signed the atldress of the Lieut. 
 
310 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Governor and Council to the Q,ueen, 70, 
 note. 
 
 Rhode Island. Burning of the British Schooner 
 Gaspee, by the Whigs of: Commissioners 
 appointed to examine into the affair; con- 
 tinued in sessions several months without 
 procuring any evidence ; a Court of Inquiry 
 only ; the " Court " alluded t§, in the ad- 
 dress of the firat Congress to the inhabitants 
 of the Colonies, 174. 
 
 Rush (Dr. Benjamin). Of Philadelphia, a 
 pupil of the Rev. Samuel Finley, J 91 ; one 
 of the signers of the Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence ; married a daughter of Richard 
 Stockton, 199, note. 
 
 Rush (Judge). A brother of Dr. Benjamin 
 Rush ; a pupil of the Rev. Samuel Finley, 
 191. 
 
 Rush (Julia). A daughter of Richard Stock- 
 ton ; married to Dr. Benjamin Rush ; died 
 at an advanced age in Philadelphia, 199, 
 note. 
 
 S 
 
 Sandford (William). Signs the address of 
 Lieut. Governor and Council to the Q,ueen, 
 justifying Lord Cornbury ; refuses to ac- 
 knowledge his fault, 70, note ; is expelled 
 from the Assembly in consequence of it, 71. 
 
 Saltar (Richard). An associate Judge of the 
 Supreme Court ; recommended by Robert 
 Hunter Morris as his successor in the office 
 of Chief Justice, 150. 
 
 Scotch emigrants to New Jersey, of a class 
 superior both to the Dutch and English ; 
 many of them men of family and education, 
 86. 
 
 Selden. Extract from his " Table Talk," 109, 
 note. 
 
 Sergeant (Jonathan Dickinson). One of the 
 counsel on behalf of those who were con- 
 cerned in the destruction of the tea at Green- 
 wich, 179 ; born near Princeton ; a gradu- 
 ate of the College of New Jersey ; read law 
 with Richard Stockton ; a member of the 
 Provincial Congress, and one of the com- 
 mittee that drafted the first Constitution of 
 New Jersey ; his house in Princeton burnt 
 by the British army; made Attorney Gen- 
 eral of Pennsylvania, and removes to Phila- 
 delphia; died of the yellow fever in 1793 ; 
 father of the Hon. John Sergeant of Phila- 
 delphia, 180, note. 
 
 Sheriffs. First provided for, and process out of 
 the County Courts directed to them, 12. 
 
 Slavery, in New Jersey ; never did it exist in a 
 milder form, 131. 
 
 Slave Insurrection, in New Jersey ; the only' 
 instance of the kind recorded in our annals, 
 130 ; in New York, cruelties attending, 131. 
 
 Smith (Samuel Stanhope). Vice President of 
 the College of New Jersey ; pronounces a 
 funeral discourse upon Richard Stockton ; 
 extracts from it, 200. 
 
 Smith (William). Puts his name to the 
 "answer" to the Elizabethtown bill in 
 Chancery ; became Chief Justice of New 
 York, and after the Revolution Chief Justice 
 of Canada, 121 ; his letter to Horatio 
 Gates, 155, 158. 
 
 Smyth (Frederick). The last Chief Justice of 
 the Colony of New Jersey ; his appoint- 
 ment, 159 ; desires the members of the Bar 
 
 to attend him, to consult about the Stamp 
 Act, 100 ; the questions which he proposes 
 to them, with their answers, 161 ; one of the 
 Commissioners to examine into the affair of 
 the burning of the British Schooner Gaspee, 
 174; a firm and consistent loyalist; his 
 charge to the Grand Jury of Essex, 175; 
 presides at a Court of Oyer and Terminer in 
 Cumberland, and charges the Grand Jury 
 strongly upon the destruction of the tea at 
 Greenwich, 180 ; removed to Philadelphia 
 when the Revolution broke out, and died 
 there, 181. 
 
 Sonmans (Arent). One of the twenty-four 
 Proprietors; father of Peter Sonmans ; shot 
 by a highwayman on his journey from Scot- 
 land to London, 84. 
 
 Sonmans (Peter). Son of Arent Sonmans ; a 
 native of Holland ; educated at Leyden ; 
 succeeds to his father's estates in New Jer- 
 sey ; indicted for perjury, tried and ac- 
 quitted ; the Assembly charge that he owed 
 his escape to a packed jury, 84 ; publishes 
 a vindication of himself which has come 
 down to us, and is a production of some 
 vigor, 85. 
 
 Sons of liberty. An association which had 
 sprung up in most of the Colonies ; in favor 
 of setting the provisions of the Stamp Act 
 at defiance, 162 ; unite in a written request 
 to the members of the Bar, that they would 
 proceed to business as usual without stamps, 
 163. 
 
 Southard (Samuel L.), Advocates before the 
 Legislature a claim made by a remnant of 
 the Delaware tribe of Indians ; extract from 
 his speech, 5, note. 
 
 Stacey (Mahlon). His plantation of eight 
 hundred acres, on both sides of the Assan- 
 p ink, purchased by William Trent, 105. 
 
 Stamp Act. Measures adopted by the law- 
 yers of New Jersey, in opposition to, 159 ; 
 their example followed in other Colonies, 
 160 ; the stamps arrived but no one would 
 purchase them, 162 ; another meeting of the 
 Bar, and the resolutions adopted, 163; repeal 
 of the Stamp Act render further proceedings 
 unnecessary, 164. 
 
 Stirling (Lord). Addresses a letter to Gov. 
 Franklin, recommending Charles Read as a 
 suitable person for Chief Justice, 158. 
 
 Stockton (John). Father of Richard Stock- 
 ton ; a liberal friend of the College of New 
 Jersey ; presiding Judge of the Court of 
 Common Pleas of Somerset, 190. 
 
 Stockton (Richard). Born at Princeton ; great 
 pains bestowed on his education ; sent to 
 the academy of the Rev. Samuel Finley at 
 Nottingham in Maryland, 190 ; received the 
 honors of the first commencement of the 
 College of New Jersey, 191 ; reads law with 
 David Ogden ; pursues his profession as 
 Princeton with distinguished success ; visits 
 England, 192 ; is requested to make a per- 
 sonal application to Dr. Witherspoon to 
 solicit his acceptance of the Presidency of 
 the College of New Jersey ; his journey to 
 Scotland for that purpose ; the result of his 
 visit, and his agency in securing the services 
 of Dr. Witherspoon, 193 ; his reception in 
 Scotland; returns to America: is made a 
 member of Council, and a Judge of the Su- 
 preme Court ; is elected a member of the 
 general Congress, 196 ; is present during the 
 
INDEX. 
 
 311 
 
 debates which preceded the Declaration of 
 Independence; expresses his concurrence in 
 the measure ; puts his name to that immor- 
 tal instrument, 197; his residence at Prince- 
 ton in the route of the British Army ; com- 
 pelled to fly with his wife and children ; the 
 place of his retreat discovered by a party of 
 refugee loyalists ; is stripped, plundered, 
 taken to New York, and thrown into a com- 
 mon jail, 198; his sufferings call for the in- 
 terposition of Congress ; his death, 199 ; 
 leaves two sons, Richard and Lucius Hora- 
 tio, who became eminent lawyers, and four 
 daughters, 199, note ; his character, as 
 drawn by Dr. Smith in his funeral discourse, 
 200. 
 
 Stockton (Mrs.). The wife of Richard Stock- 
 ton, and sister of Elias Boudinot ; a woman 
 of a cultivated mind, and of fine literary 
 taste ; the writer of a number of poetical 
 effusions, 199, note. 
 
 Supreme Court. Its jurisdiction defined by 
 Lord Cornbury's ordinance ; has remained 
 without change to the present day, 44 ; two 
 Supreme Courts established, one for East 
 and the other for West Jersey, 48 ; object of 
 this arrangement; did not continue many 
 years, 49, note ; early minutes of, 50 ; first 
 Session of the Court, and some of its early 
 proceedings, 51, et seq. 
 
 Surrender of the government to the crown ; 
 motives which led to it ; the surrender abso- 
 lute and unconditional, but, by the instruc- 
 tions to Lord Cornbury, the rights of the 
 Proprietors in the .oil were confirmed to 
 them, 40, note. 
 
 T 
 
 Tea (Destruction of). At Greenwich, in the 
 County of Cumberland, 178 ; suits brought 
 by the owners ; the whigs of the County re- 
 solve to raise money for the purpose of de 
 fending them, 179 ; never brought to trial, 
 180 ; the Grand Jury refuse to find indict- 
 ments against the individuals concerned, 
 181. 
 
 Thanksgiving days, appointed by act of As- 
 sembly in East Jersey, 209. 
 
 Thomas (Gabriel). Notice of his History of 
 Pennsylvania and West New Jersey, 22, 
 note. 
 
 Townley (Richard). Signed the address of the 
 Lieut. Governor and Council to the Q.ueen, 
 justifying Lord Cornbury, 70, note. 
 
 Trent (William) A native of Scotland ; 
 came to this country at an early day, and 
 settled at Philadelphia ; Judge of the Su- 
 
 preme Court of Pennsylvania, and Speaker 
 of the House of Assembly, 105 ; purchases 
 Mahlon Stacey's plantation, and removes 
 to New Jersey ; represents the County o 
 Burlington in the Assembly, and is made 
 Speaker of the House ; appointed Chief 
 Justice of the Supreme Court ; his sudden 
 death, 10b ; Trenton is named after him ; 
 he presents to the County the lot on which 
 the first Court House was built, 107. 
 
 Trenton. Capital of the State ; named after 
 William Trent, 10G; originally called " Lit- 
 tle Worth," 107. 
 
 Tucker (Samuel). President of the Conven- 
 tion which framed the Constitution of the 
 State ; Chairman of the Committee of 
 Safety ; lakes a protection from the British ; 
 is active in fomenting complaints against 
 the lawyers ; had been Sheriff of Hunter- 
 don, 1C9 ; is charged with having takni ille- 
 gal fees ; tried by the Assembly, of which 
 he was a member, and convicted, 170. 
 
 Turnbull (Thomas). Information against, 
 for speaking scandalous words of Lord Corn- 
 bury ; complains that he can get no Attor- 
 ney to defend him, 82; Court assign him 
 counsel, who advises him to plead guilty : 
 sentence of the Court, 83. 
 
 W 
 
 JVaddell (Rev. James). A pupil of the Rev. 
 Samuel Finley, 191. 
 
 West Jersey. Courts in, 24 ; laws in, under 
 Proprietary government, 205 et seq. ; crimi- 
 nal code, 207. 
 
 West Jersey Proprietors. Concessions of, 27 
 et seq. 
 
 Witchcraft. No prosecution for, has overtaken 
 place in New Jersey, 103 ; trial for in IVnn 
 sylvania, at which Penn presided, ib., note. 
 
 nitherspoon (Rev. Dr.). Upon the death of 
 Dr. Finley, is elected President of the Col- 
 lege of New Jersey ; Mr. Stockton is re- 
 quested to solicit in person his acceptance of 
 it; takes a journey to Scotland for the pur- 
 pose; the result of his visit, J93 ; the diffi- 
 culties which at first prevented his accept- 
 ance are removed, 195 ; espouses the cause 
 of the Colonies ; is chosen a delegate to the 
 general Congress, sitting in Philadelphia ; 
 the instructions under which the delegate! 
 from New Jersey acted, 196 ; is present 
 during the discussion of the question of In- 
 dependence ; his reply to a member who said . 
 we were "not yet ripe for a Declaration of 
 Independence," 198. 
 
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