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ly interesting proceedings on the opening of the
Court Of Oyer and Termlner- =


Court OF Oyer and Terminer, Delaware.
Hon. A. J. PARKER Presidng-J. A. HucHsroS, Esq,


District Attorney.


The court met at half past ii O'Clock. The following
is list OF the Grand Jurors who were sworn:


Orrin Griffin, OF stamford, sworn Foreman-Fitch
Ford Franklin Gusham ii. Bradley, Hamden Patt
Townsend, Walton James w. Knapp, Colchester /;
Daniel 5 smith Mer,d.a ,u, sam scudder Roxeury
vile John Towsend, Walton Abraham Shell Harpers.
field Reuben S. smith, Franklin Milton Bostwick
stamford Novatus Blish, do; Gabriel s Meal Walton
Edmund Crooker. Sidney David M Smith, John Actell
The following Petit Jurors for the Circuit
Court and Court of Oyer and Termner:


Edwin Giles, John Munson, Walter Bennett James A.
Thomas, B Mcfarland VIM Il Manwarnng Daniel $
Weeks, David Ackerly, John Z. Stott. VIM ii Oakley
Harvey Barnes, Cornelius Frazier, James Dean John
Renwick. VIM Ola ston. James McClain Warren
Green. VIM Brownwe, Herman Treaiwell VIM A
Willard VIM. Doig, Andrew Little, Saml. W. Smith
John Mcllullen.


The Court room was crowded to excess, but ow-
ing to the excellent arrangements of Mr.. Webster,
the captain of the guard, the utmost order prevailed
At ten minutes to twelve, Judge Parker rose and
delivered the following charge to the Grand jury


THE CHARGE.


Gcntlemen-It becomes my duty on the present occa
SION in accordance with long established usage to call
your attention to the state of the County, regards





volve upon you We meet for the purpose Of discharg
ing respective duties under very extraordinary
cumstances For the first time in the history Of this
State Court OF Oyer and Terminer is opened in Coun
ty declared in state ofnsurrecton We find ourselves
here surrounded by military force whose aid it
found necessary obtain in order to enforce the law and
preserve the public peace Your ails filled to
1owiug and all around have the evidences of
chy and crime II is certainly state
of circumstances to be in any section of the
Union but least of all would be looked for herein
County which for nearly fifty years. has been foremost
in offo fttr,tia nf
which has been known abroad containing popula.
ton industrious and vruous and free from
crime Yet this is the County declared by the Ex
ecutve OF the State to be In state of nsurrection
is certainly most melancholy picture, that is thus
presented all hands to your eye and great always
are the responsibilities that devolve upon Grand Jury
they are infinitely increased occasion like the pre-
sent At all times your duties of high importance,
for you take the first step in the punishment of crime
You stand in the front rank In administering penal jus.
tice If you alter in the discharge of your duty crime
goes unpunished and the lives and property Of the
munity are unprotected. II is, therefore, at all times
most important duty that devolves upon the Grand In
quest OF the county but in the present circumstances
becomes invested with far than usual weight and
solemnity When the government OF the country, and
the very existence OF our free institutions have been
oy rebellion in your midst and which have been
preserved only by the strong of the law, aided by
military force- seems to me that your duty be
discharged with perfect fidelity without looking back
upon the OF this most unfortunate state of things
1t well known that this matter originated in the differ
ences between landlord and tenant feeling of deep
hostility against the leasehod titles that are he from
the landlords has pervaded very large portion of the
State If that feeling had been manifested only in dis.
cussons of that question, either by individuals by
assocations-either by the public press by public
meetings-f it had been confined to such discussions
no evil, but probably good, would have been the
ding on these easehod farms should have been so far
mised to place themselves in attitude oresisance
against the law and thus violated to the greatest ex
sympathy has been felt, throughout the whole
nifty for those who hold their farms by leasehold titles
There general feeling that it kind OF tenure
not compatible with the nature of institutions
1t was regretted that it had existence. That sympathy
would still have existed and still have encouraged those
who held la ded property by that tenure to fair and
peaceable discussion of the subject, and contributed
largely to settlement of the differences that existed be-
tween them and those landlords, il they had not pro-
ceeded to acts of violence to the shedding oblood
Thath turned back the stream of sympathy. 1t
nifty will be extended those who violate the laws
array themselves against the very government under
have been mised regard to the character of these IT,
ties These lands granted in large tracts before
the revolution by the colonial government The titles
were given by the sovereign authority; and prn-
cple now recognised throughout the civilized world,
that unapproprated lands belong to the State ard the
right to give title to them rests in the sovereign autho
rity. So il here These titles to large tracts of
lands were thus granted to individuals and at the time
of the revolution, the titles which had descended to
others by assignment or devise remained unchanged
and unimpaired The change Of government dees
not change the title to individual property. In all
cases 1t is recognised still existing especially
in the OF those who hold allegiance to their
try. And on this principle act passed in 1887





ing these titles. 1t only in cases where per-
holding these lands had placed themselves in oppo
son to the power eventually established by the Revo
luton that the lands conscaed and returned TO
the possession of the State. Much doubt has unques
tonaby been entertained by the tenants to the vad
~ of these titles And it TO be regretted that ectu
from abroad should have into your midst and
incucated wrong notions in regard to these things II


as necessary to the tenant as to the ndlord that titles
for long tine held should not be disturbed. II is
claimed that the tenant when sued for rent should be
permitted TO require that the landlord should prove his
title that is, that the tenant should be permitted to dis
pute his title The law does not permit and very
wisely too because the tenant enters under the landlord
mis- title Is the title of the landlord and if he defects it
he defects his own. The interest of the tenant the
land IN almost all cases far greater than that OF the
landlord II is clear that the title Of the landlord be
detected that OF the tenant must fall and both lose their
interest in the premises Besides, is principle recog
missed throughout the civsed world that where land
held and possessed under any for certain length OF
time-twenty years in this sate-the title should be re-
garded as established-as not open to controversy.
peson in possession for twenty years becomes the legal
forced within that time. And il is certainly a
wise provision of the law. 1t would be dangerous
perceive that very. great evils would flow from
any disturbance Of titles Here very large portion
Of your county between the two branches Of
the Delaware 1t is occupied under the Hardenbui gh pa
tent Now question were raised to the validity Of
that title where land has been held under it for sixty
seventy and eighty years, what would be the conse
qnence? If shown that originally the patent did not CO.
yer that land must to the State into some other
hands from the present propretors and of course





and lose all their improvements You perceive
that the greatest of all evils, far property con-
cerned, would fall those tenants If they were TO sue
ceed In defeating that long established title And how
much worse for that great number OF farmers thousands
perhaps, who own the soil hemelve that title were de-
eated They have all derived title under the Harden
burgh patent They would lose the labor fheir whole
ives and the titles to their farms pass away. The law
has wseyrequred in all parts ofthe civilized world that
lapse OF time should put this question at rest. And il
E by no probable that this late day the titles TO
all these lands are 10 be disturbed leading to endless
litigation and the ruin Of thousands 1t is idle to suppose
that the legislature can grant any relief against law
that kind The lease is executed by the landlord to tn
tenant and coun,er-lease is executed by latter re
coghng the ie OF the former and taking il from him
SUBJECT TO the covenants of the lease II mn com
pact between them and Legislature interfere with
Tue rights either OF the one the other 1t beyond its
power to do go. An act Of the Legislature that
would declare a contract, fairly and hone s,y en-
tered into, null and void would he itself void
because It would conflict with the provisions Of the
constitution OF the United States, and all courts
from the highest to the lowest would be bound to deny
ls validity Vested rights cannot be inrnged upon II
the conditions thus voluntarily BY the tenan,