thirty-nine lashes on the bare back well apartment which was allotted to all the laid on, and then pay a fine of 100 pounds lodgers was really a subject of diversion. of lawful money, the half to the governor Here one lawyer had his clients in one of this province for support of the gov- corner of the room; there another had ernment, and the other half to the dis- his; a third was shaving; a fourth powcoverer; that the defendant pay the costs dering his own hair; a fifth noting his of prosecution, and as he has no lands or brief; and at the table standing in the tenements, goods or chattels, to pay said middle of the room, between a clamorous fine, he is hereby adjudged to be sold for set of old men on one side, and three or the term of four years to make satisfac- four women in tears on the other, I and tion for the said fine of 100 pounds." the rest of the company, who were not Surely, upon the passing of this sentence, lawyers, were left to eat our break fast. York County had become an unsafe place for "idle and dissolute persons.' "On entering into the courts a stranger is apt to smile at the grotesque appearand at their manners on the bench, but ance of the judges who preside in them, this smile must be suppressed when it is But our early courts were engaged not alone in meting out certain justice to the offenders against the laws and statutes of "Our Lord, the King," but also in the per-recollected that there is no country, performance of those duties, within their jurisdiction, looking to the up-building of the infant County, such as the recommending to the Governor of those competent to keep public house or tavern, the regulating of tavern rates, and the proceedings incident to the laying out of new | tomed to little else than following the roads. haps, in the world, where justice is more impartially administered, or more easily obtained by those who have been injured. The judges in the country parts of Pennsylvania are no more than plain farmers, who from their infancy have been accus plough. The laws expressly declare that there must be, at least, three judges resident in every county; now as the salary allowed is but a mere trifle, no lawyer course must be filled from amongst the inhabitants, who are all in a happy state of mediocrity, and on a perfect equality with each other. The district judge, however, who presides in the district or circuit. has a larger salary, and is a man of a different cast." Until the completion of York County's first Court House, in 1758, the several sessions of the Court are supposed to have been held at the homes of one or would accept of the office, which of more of the resident justices. And what an important occasion the sessions of the Courts must have been in Colonial York Town! Although written of a later period, the following excerpt from Isaac Weld, Junior's, "Travels in the States of North America and the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, During the Years of 1795, 1796 and 1797," published in London in 1799, gives a vivid contemporary picture of York Town on court days and the early administration of justice. Says he: "York contains about five hundred houses and six churches, and is another town as Lancaster. It is inhabited by Germans, by whom the same manufactures are carried on as at Lancaster. Yes, perhaps our early judges were "grotesque" in appearance when compared with the robed and bewigged jurists of old England, but what greater compliment could be paid them than that of this English traveler when he tells us "that there is no country, perhaps, in the world, where justice is more impartially administered, or more easily obtained by those who have been injured?" Surely, our courts of the period had advanced far towards the realization of the ideal of all courts-that of impartial and speedy justice. "The courts of common pleas, and those of general quarter sessions, were holding when I reached this place; I found it difficult, therefore, at first, to procure accommodation, but at last I got admission in a house principally taken up So much for the Courts, but what of by lawyers. To behold the strange as- the Bar? For, after all, lawyers are of semblage of persons that was brought to- far greater service than judges; for they gether this morning in the one poor it is who do the actual fighting, while the judges merely referee the bout and fin- Lancaster County bar in 1745, James ally "give the count" to the loser. Smith, for a time, studied in his office, as well as Colonel Thomas Hartley (admitted to the bar of York County July 25, 1769), and also Major John Clark and Colonel Henry Miller, who were both law students under him when the Revolutionary War opened. And, moreover, the learning acquired by James Smith was handel down to his law student, Colonel David Grier (admitted to the bar of York County April 23, 1771). With Smith, Hartley and Grier, the native bar at the time of the Revolution is probably com Well, of course, there was George Stevenson, who undoubtedly was learned in the law; but, then, he was one of the Justices, as we have seen; and, besides, it would appear doubtful if he ever found time, excepting on rare occasions, to either sit on the Bench or to practice law; for, following in regular order his commission as Justice in Record Book "A" in the office of our Recorder of Deeds, are his commissions as "Prothonotary or principal Clerk of the Court of Common plete. And oh, what a bar: : Pleas." "Deputy Register for the probate of wills and granting letters of adminis James Smith, signer of the Declaration. tration," "Clerk or Register of the Or- of Independence; phans' Court," "Clerk of the Peace and of the Quarter Sessions," "Recorder of Col. Thomas Hartley, of whom Con Deeds." "Surveyor of the County of gress had a "high sense" of his "merit York," and "Chief Rangers," also. and services"; In fact, Stevenson was the "efficiency ex Col. David Grier, hero of the Battle of pert" of his day, sent here by the Provin- Paoli; and even the law students: cial Authorities to see to it that York | County's local government was properly Major John Clark, friend of Washing established, at a time when, apparently, ton and "eyes of the army"; the term "incompatibility of offices" was Col. Henry Miller, participator in one yet unknown in the theory and prac- forty-seven Revolutionary battles and tice of municipal government. skirmishes. For in the War of Independence, as in every National crisis since, both upon the field as well as in the forum, the Bar has stood as the bulwark of American liberty. From the organization of the Courts in Where shall we find the like-a native1749, up to the year 1790, the records trained bar one hundred per cent for show a total of eighty-seven members ad-freedom and independence? Although mitted to the local Bar, beginning with history records that they possessed large William Peters, John Lawrence, George practices, both in York and the adjoining Ross, David Stout and John Renshaw, Counties, their contribution to the adwho were admitted at the first session. vancement of legal learning and jurispruBut the vast majority of these, including dence in the infant nation has not surmany names both then and afterwards vived them, but their services in the famous in the legal history of Pennsyl- founding of this nation can never die. vania, were attorneys from other counties who came here for the trial of particular cases and were admitted solely for such purpose. In fact, it was not until October 28, 1755, that York County's first resident attorney was admitted in the person of Samuel Johnston, an Englishman by birth, who came here as agent for the heirs of William Penn, and who engaged in active practice until the year 1764. when he succeeded Stevenson in the of fices of Prothonotary, Clerk of the Courts, Register of Wills, and Recorder of Deeds. Johnston, a man of attainments and good judgment, and the possessor of a well-selected library, was undoubtedly the "father" of York County's native bar; for, although admitted to the And yet, how sad to contemplate that the old preceptor, Johnson, the Englishman, father of this bar of patriots, should have been accused of disloyalty to the American cause and compelled to leave the Province during the period of the Revolution. Looking back at the situation through the softening perspective of time, we are led irresistibly to the conclusion that this must have been a false accusation, under the stress of wartime conditions, and based solely upon the friehdship existing between him and the Rev. Thomas Batwell, Tory rector of St. John's Episcopal Church; for surely, the patriotism displayed by York County's Revolutionary bar could not have grown and thrived otherwise than under the tutelage of one possessing to the highest degree a spirit of justice and freedom. importance of the wretches who felt the humiliation of the pillory and the sting of the lash, realizing that all things have their usefulness-even the "idle and dissolute persons" who were the clients of our early Bar; for without them, and the necessity for their punishment as a moving cause, York County would not With the successful close of the Revo- have been formed and York Town, on lution, the passing of the Province, and that fateful September 30th, 1777, would the rise of the Commonwealth of Penn- not have been a place of sufficient size to sylvania, there occurred a radical change have accommodated the members of the in the judicial system. No longer do we Continental Congress nor possessing a find "Justices," but, in their stead, Court House in which their sessions "Judges" of the several courts, in accord- might be held. And without such acance with the Constitution of 1790. commodation at some place affording York, Chester, Lancaster and Dauphin safety as well as easy communication beCounties have become the Second Cir- tween the Government and the army encuit, presided over by that eminent jur- camped at Valley Forge, the cause must ist, William Augustus Atlee. The day have failed. Bearing in mind the diffiof the Justices is at an end; their work, culty of travel at that period, what other successful or unsuccessful, is a closed place existed? Lancaster? No; brave chapter; but that the efforts of those of York County were not in vain, may be gained from the fact that when, by Act of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, passed January 22, 1800, Adams County was formed from the Western portion of York County, no reference is made, as in the prior Acts, to those "idle and dissolute persons" who so sorely vexed our early ancestors. Yes, it would appear that the Bench and Bar of York County had been entirely successful in coping with this troublesome situation. And yet, while glorying in the triumph of justice administered by our Provincial Court, we should not depreciate the men that they were, the members of Congress did not consider it a safe enough place in which to hold more than one day's session, and they breathed freely only after the broad waters of the River Susquehanna flowed between them and the enemy. And now, it is doubtless apparent why I have said that "out of a great evil comes a great good"; for without York County and her County Seat, York Town, there would, in all probability, have been no Nation. And York County would not have been formed but for the presence among our "sober and industrious" ancestors of "idle and dissolute persons.' INDEX OF CASES REPORTED IN THIS VOLUME ABANDONMENT. Decedent's estate-War risk insurance -MEISENHELTER'S ESTATE, 170 ACCORD AND SATISFACTION. Accord and satisfaction-Part pay- Payment of a less sum than was claimed to that effect. It must appear not only that that the payee agreed to it or was bound to On the trial of a suit for an unpaid balance where the defendant alleges that the amount the claim was accepted by the plaintiff in full tiff denies, the case was properly submitted -Contract to purchase stock-Necessity —LIGHTNER, RECEIVER OF AUTOMOBILE Actions-Form of Jurisdiction of -REED V. BOROUGH OF THROOP, ET AL., 180 Husband and wife-Joinder-Actions -ROBBINS V. YOUNG AND REAM, 185 ADVERTISEMENTS. Cities, third class-Resolutions-Ordi- -PEARSON, ET AL., V. BANCROFT, ET AL., 166 AFFIDAVIT OF DEFENSE. Assumpsit-Practice Act - Statement ties as a full settlement of a disputed bill and of claim-Affidavit of defense-Suffi- their verdict for the plaintiff should stand. ACCOUNTING. ciency of statement and of affidavit. A statement of claim in assumpsit must Equity-Fraud-Accounting-Scheme tainty that in default of a sufficient affidavit to defraud by conveyance, mortgage and of defense judgment may be leases. -ALLEN, ET AL., V. SARSHIK, ET AL., 178 ACTION. Receiver appointed by Maryland court, taken and liquidated upon the data which it furnishes. An affidavit of defense which avers pay- right to maintain action in Pennsylvania ment and that on a certain date the defend- |