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 relations, our bodies, our reputations, and our estates. Let us unite in love, and then, how inexpressibly beautiful would such a union be? How would it strengthen our interests, advance our estates, 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 Attorney General in 1719. His commission was renewed 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.

No other events of importance occurred while Jamison was Chief Justice, nor have any of his judicial opinions been preserved. We have however 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 portion 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 believed 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

However devoutly our fathers may have believed in the existence of witches, they suffered them to live unmolested, and the consequence was, that in New Jersey, as in Penn's domain, "neither demon nor hag ever rode through the air on goat or broomstick; and the worst acts of conjuration went no farther than to foretell fortunes, mutter powerful spells over quack medicines, or dis

cover by the divining-rod the hidden treasures of the Bucaniers."-Bancroft's U. S., II. 393.

There was, however, a trial for witchcraft in Pennsylvania, as early as 1684, at which Penn presided. After a charge from the Governor, the jury rendered the following verdict: "The prisoner is guilty of the common fame of being a witch, but not guilty as she stands indicted.".

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 complaint 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 residing 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 remedial 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 Governor 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. 105

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 integrity. 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 William Trent." It had been the city residence of William Penn and his family. It afterwards became 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 Philadelphia. 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

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 Supreme 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 honors, 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

The name of William Trent frequently occurs in the "Logan letters," in the possession of the American Philosophical Society. He is commended for his" thorough skill and insight into trade." James Logan speaks of him

as a "noted churchman," but always in terms of respect. In one of his letters, he refers feelingly to his sudden death, as "another instance how little anxious we ought to be about the affairs of this world."