"The Colony of Neiv Jersey to A. B. Greet ing" By its terms the Governor and Coun iil were made the Court of Appeals in the last resort in all cases, and could pardon crim inals for any offence. In its very last article it was provided : " That if a reconciliation between Great Britain and these colonies should take place, and the latter be again taken under the protection and government of the Crown of Great Britain, this charter shall be null and void!' Even then, when the Continental Congress was just about to shut the door most effec tually against any settlement with the mother country, the patriots of New Jersey were still hoping for peace. There was little business done by the Supreme Court, or by any other court in New Jersey, while the war continued, except in the punishment of traitors and other crim inals, confiscating estates, and providing for the confinement of suspected rebels; in fact, regular terms could not and were not always held. It became necessary, in consequence of the many irregularities in suspending terms and in other proceedings, for the Legis lature to pass a statute legalizing the acts of the Supreme Court, reviving writs and other processes, and giving efficiency to the tri bunal as if it had regularly met. The last term of the court held by the justices appointed by the colonial authori ties was in May, 1776, when Frederick Smyth was Chief-Justice, and David Ogden and Richard Stockton were Associate Jus tices. The Chief-Justice and Justice Ogden were the only judges then present. The first session, under the new Constitu tion, was held in November, 1776, only one judge — Samuel Tucker — being present. He was one of the Associate Justices who had been elected in the month of September preceding. The office of Chief-Justice was tendered to Richard Stockton immediately upon the adoption of the new Constitution, and he would have been unanimously elected had he not refused to accept the position. When Mr. Stockton rejected the proffered
office, it was tendered to John DeHart, a leading lawyer in Newark, who accepted in writing, but, for some reason which cannot now be ascertained, did not serve. At the same time that he was elected, Francis Hopkinson was appointed an Associate Justice; but he was a member of the Continental Congress, and declined to serve. This left Samuel Tucker the only Judge of the Su preme Court. Mr. Tucker was not a lawyer; but he had been much in public life, and had held some most important offices. He had been Sheriff of Hunterdon County, a member of the Leg islature, and was President of the Provin cial Congress when the Constitution was adopted. At the beginning of the war he was Treasurer of the province, and had in his possession a large amount of the paper currency issued by the colony. In February he was called to an account, and then as serted that the British had captured him and stolen this money during the preceding December, when Washington was on the west bank of the Delaware, resting after the terrible struggle succeeding the Long Island campaign. Mr. Tucker had obtained a protection from Colonel Rail, the German officer in command of the British forces at Trenton. During the preceding summer Howe, the English General, had issued a proclamation inviting the colonists to seek protection by submission to him as the rep resentative of the mother country. Tucker had availed himself of this invitation, and had sought pardon, and then, as he alleged, was robbed. His submission to the English leader was a very weak measure; his fellowcitizens clamored for his resignation, and he was obliged to yield to the popular indigna tion. He lost favor; the accuracy of his statements as to the robbery was not only doubted, but openly questioned as untrue, and he never recovered from the disgrace. He died in 1789, still resting under a cloud which has never been removed. Two excuses may be urged for his dis loyalty to the patriot cause, — one, the ap
