which he is adjudged to have his neck and heels tied together. . . . But on craving pardon he is forgiven." The second offence committed in the same colony was, as Governor Bradford informs us, "the first duel fought in New England, upon a challenge at single combat with sword and dagger, between Edward Doty and Edward Leister, servants of Mr. Hopkins. Both being wounded, the one in the hand, the other in the thigh, they are adjudged by the whole company to have their head and feet tied together, and so to lie for twenty-four hours, without meat or drink." Here was no bill of indictment, no jury, no special pleading nor long arguments. The trial, conviction, and punishment followed immediately on the offence, by order and in presence of the whole company. We dare say it was the last duel fought in the old Colony.
In Maine the earliest footsteps in the practice of law were equally simple. There were no lawyers there for about a hundred years after the settlement of the country commenced. The General Court took at first sole jurisdiction; afterwards Courts of Commissioners were held in different towns, to bring justice nearer home; and a pretty rigid discipline was kept up. The first courts held there combined the two fold duty of making and executing the laws; frequently summary justice was rendered by making and applying a law after the offence was committed, by which they were enabled to suit the punishment to the crime. This was a very convenient arrangement, because, the offence having been committed, they could adapt the penalty to its nature and aggravation, and thus more exactly accomplish the work of justice. They might have sung with the "Mikado:"—
"My object all sublime
I shall achieve in time,
To make the punishment fit the crime,
The punishment fit the crime."
At these courts some forms were observed,—they had a grand jury consisting of twelve persons, several of whom were witnesses to the offences charged; they also had their register and provost-marshal, who corresponded to the clerk and sheriff in our courts. Thomas Gorges, a nephew of Sir F. Gorges the proprietor, presided over the court, which was called the General Assembly, assisted by other gentlemen of practical knowledge. All the proceedings, however, show a want of technical form and precision.
The following process in a civil suit in the year 1647 fully shows the simplicity of the practice at that day. "To his worship Henry Joslyn, Esq., with the rest of the commissioners and assistants, now assembled at Wells; Captaine Francis Champernoone, plf., against Wm Paine, of Ipswich, declareth against the said Wm Paine for certaine monies dew for a cable or harser delivered unto his servant Wm Quicke to the vallew of twenty pounds or thereabout." The verdict of the jury, written upon the back of the writ, is as follows: "Wee find for the plaintiff fourteen pound starling damidge, and cost of court." It is fair to suppose that the foregoing declaration is a fair example of the legal form of the period.
In criminal cases the proceedings were equally summary; and from the numerous presentments for drunkenness and other misdemeanors in Maine, the inference in regard to the morals of the population is not the most flattering. At the court in 1636, held at Saco, four persons were fined five shillings each for getting drunk, and George Cleeves was fined five shillings for rash speeches. In 1663 we find the following entry upon the records: "Francis Small is presented for being a common liar and drunkard." The judgment of the court is, "The Court find the charges against said Small dubious." They, however, proceed to fine him ten shillings for drunkenness and discharge him with an admonition.
The punishments, as well as the laws, partook of the peculiarity of the age. The following copy of a record under the year 1665 introduces us to some of the instru-
