xiv Letter of Transmission.

for intoxicating liquor is notable (p. 538). The word "diet" in the bill is
probably equivalent to a meal. The maidservant who had accused Mrs. Brad-
nox now accuses her former lover, a youth of rather questionable character,
of defaming her reputation (p. 550) and he was fined and ordered to ask
her forgiveness upon his knees in open court. The drowning of the sheriff of
St. Mary's County and his friend gave the Court considerable business (e. g.,
p. 551). Killing and stealing a hog (p. 553) and contempt of Government in
refusing to aid in the arrest of the alleged hogstealer (p. 553) gave the
Court some difficulty, as did the disputed arrangements between a planter and
a man who raised a crop of tobacco for him (p. 554). An interesting question
as to the possession of real estate at the transfer (p. 559) appeared, in which
case the rights of orphans received some consideration (p. 561).

Just before the Court adjourned, Rev. Francis Fitzherbert, a Roman
Catholic priest, being informed against by " his Lordship's Attorney General,"
in whose name all criminal suits were brought, made a noble defense (p. 566)
stating the fundamental principle of Christianity and interpreting the Charter
in a notable way. In August, Philip Calvert made an attempt to confiscate
some of Claiborne's property supposed to be within the Province (p. 568).
The last half of the volume is very irregularly paged, but no pages are lacking
entirely until the very end of the book, and all the existing pages are transcribed
and printed in this volume.

The Court Session held at St. Mary's on October. 7, 1662, found the Snow
Hill Manor case still before it (p. 571). Two men were charged with break-
ing open the Governor's letters and the testimony shows, in an amusing way,
how communications were passed from hand to hand (p. 573). Fendall sued
the servant of his old associate Hatch for riding a horse to death (p. 575) and
the legacy of a mare foal caused litigation (p. 582). Waste is alleged (p.
584) and a judgment is confessed for a " heifer and calf, the milk of the
heifer " (p. 585). Dr. Lumbroso and Mr. Hammond fell out and the evidence
in the case was quite discreditable to the physician (p. 590). A man is
accused of trading with the Indians without license from the Lord Proprietor

(p. 593)

The Provincial Court met again at St. Mary's, where Gov. Charles Calvert
always summoned it, on December 2, 1662 (p. 598). A suit for defamation
(p. 601) and one concerning a runaway servant (p. 601) together with a case
of bastardy (p. 603) and one for assaulting the sheriff of St. Mary's (p. 602)
are the most interesting ones recorded, but the best part of the proceedings of
the session is missing and the extant part of the manuscript volume here ends.

" Historical students do not at this day need to be informed that legal
archives are among the most important of their material," was truly written