declared, that he would serve no longer, and insisted that a successor should be at once appointed. The office was thereupon tendered to Mr. Morris, and he undertook the perilous task of attempting to wield that "fierce democraty."

In 1754, after an absence of five years, he returned, bearing the commission of Governor of Pennsylvania. Soon after his arrival, he met in New York with Benjamin Franklin, a member of the Assembly 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. Hamilton, 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 disputing; it is one of my greatest pleasures; however, 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

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 diversion, 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 promise 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 committee 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

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 Governor 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 Rutherfurd 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 abilitiesone, "whose knowledge and standing in the law,

may render him respected by the Courts, and enable 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 honor to himself, and justice to the public." He did not think Samuel Nevill would do; "his circumstances," 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 meanwhile, ably filled, by Nevill and Saltar, the associate Justices.

In 1756, Mr. Morris relinquished his situation as Governor of Pennsylvania, and resumed his duties as Chief Justice. But the next year, 1757, we find him making another visit to England, and dur

ing his absence, William Aynsley was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. As Mr. Morris 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 circumstances attending the Government of the Province at that time. Upon the death of Governor Belcher-which took place on the thirty-first of August, 1757-the administration, of right, devolved 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 thirteenth of June, 1758, that Governor Bernard arrived. 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 announced, that one Nathaniel Jones had been appointed Chief Justice of New Jersey; that he had