xx Introduction.

when the preceding Assembly had been held (November-December), and that
he hoped that the one now opened would be more convenient for the members of
both houses to frame such new acts and to continue such old laws, now about
to expire, as the present circumstances of the country required. The Governor
did not doubt but that the proceedings would show "that you come together
with minds sincerely disposed to Promote the Tranquility and Welfare of the
Province", (p. 18). Upon retiring, the Lower House had the speech read to
them and ordered that it lie upon the table.

The Lower House then requested the Reverend Mr. Robert Read to read
Divine Service at nine o'clock in the morning and at five in the afternoon during
the session (p. 138). Robert Read [Reade], who had succeeded the Reverend
David Love as chaplain of the Lower House, was a Virginian by birth, had
been educated at William and Mary College, Williamsburg, and was apparently
but a recent arrival in Maryland at the time of his appointment to read "Divine
Service" twice daily to the Lower House. He seems to have held no clerical
charge in Maryland at this time, although he may have been serving temporarily
as a curate in one of the neighboring parishes. It may be added that on January
13, 1767, he was licensed by Governor Sharpe to preach in Coventry Parish,
Somerset and Worcester Counties; on November 9, 1767, he was inducted as
rector of All Hallows', Worcester County; less than a month later he became
rector of St. Paul's Parish, Kent County; and in 1774, is known to have also
been conducting a school in Kent not far from Rock Hall (Md. Hist. Mag.
XXVI, 1931: 355, 356).

The Governor's speech was read a second time in the Lower House, and a
committee of seven, headed by William Murdock of Prince George's, was
ordered to prepare an address in reply. The address thus prepared was pre-
sented and adopted on the day following, and delivered to the Governor in the
Conference Chamber. The usual formal thanks were returned to his Excellency
for his speech. The address disclosed, however, that the members did not agree
with the Governor that May was the best season to call them together. The
members saw no reason why they might not have been called together towards
the end of September or early in October as less inconvenient to them, although
"his good intention" was not doubted. It was hoped that their proceedings
would justify the favorable opinion the Governor held of their good intentions
(pp. 20-21). The Upper House, in its address, simply thanked the Governor
for calling them together upon the "Supposition that it would be more Con-
venient for the Members in General to meet now than later", and that they
would embrace the opportunity to pass such laws as would promote the welfare
of the Province (p. 4). The Governor, evidently surprised that his selection
of the time of meeting had not been favorably received by the Lower House,
sent a message thanking the house for its address, and saying, "I thought that
in meeting you at this time I was gratifying the desire of your Constituents
and taking a step that would be very agreeable to yourselves" (p. 22).

Col. Robert Lloyd of "Hope", Queen Anne's County, continued as Speaker,
and Michael Macnemara as Clerk of the Lower House, as did Robert Saunders
and Cornelius Howard as Sergeant-at-arms and Doorkeeper, respectively. Dr.