The Morning herald., 1878-11-12
AMONG THE ARCHIVES.

II
lAroer INTO THE OLD RECORDS OF VII
ussros, WHEN IT WAS BOROUGH IN
173a-AS OLD VOLUME OF LEeIsLATivk
nycopns-A RxPHATIc oATH--oBDI-
sANcss &c. G
From a narrow recess in the wsinseotng
NJ the clerks Office In the City Hall, clerk
of Council Frazer and the HsRLD reporter
dsy or ,wo ago drew two or three dingy
b,oks that had perhaps been hidden thers'
away from the eyes OF man, for many
Iday. There is much In them thst is inter
esting and their contents give the reaoe
oui,e a eood idea of the town government
ss It was conducted in Wilmingtons 10.
fancy.
One Of these books 10 q record OF the city
government and contains written account
Of all important tskings place bearing spon
the borough legislation. In outward sp>
nearauce II 10 time worn. Its cover OF
thrown leather is scuffed and abused by con-
slant handling extending through several
decades, yet so strong and substantial is !
: hat It will hold for long time to come.
, It is thick and ponderous volume OF some
thing like four hundred pages. The leaves
] are of heavy paper and yellow and brown
, ith ago and their edges are ragged and
broken and 20 brittle that they show de
cided tendency to give way beneath III
touch when you turn then. The wriIinl
il so exact and faultless as to look likr
D copperplate ami it EXHIBITS that style peculiar
' m the charigrsphy Of century or Sd ago.
The & marks are turned upside down and
Il he as have great flourish, the use OF
which q person cannot tell were he to lock
n for ever 90 long.
The index comes On the first two pages
and 10 composed of several PERSONS hand
# writing, accounted for by the fact that there
were several different town clerks in office
, | while the book Was IN use. On the mex
page Ia something which appears to be q
d Communication from one OF the county OF.
+ | ficials to the Sheriff OF New Castle county
y accompanied by list of IN for him to sum
o mon as juryman. On one corner 1t bears
i the zeal OF the King and the call commenced
,e az follows: Correcting to the Sheriff of New
X before our justices of our Supreme Court a
y New Castle on the 18th day of April next
twenty-four honest and lawful men of you
Bailywick" (then comes the names of th
~ twenty four "honest <ud lawful men,"
IN The Borough charter comes next, ant
st following it is = form of An oath which WI
infer from its nature was the osth of allie
i.nce which each pers 70 "as r'g ,ired tc
Do take before he could D.. citz IN. Tai:
nt oar fills one page aud is c5uched In tn
III same profuse phraseology which our Law
ny gers use to-day. 1t Is divided into leu
III parts: first, declaration of fidelity TO th
70 government ard faith in King George
lie second thorough adherence of the Ro
oy man Catholic church, third, profession o
belief, ana fourth declaration OF truso.
After this we have the following oat
which all the officials were compelled
axe and which gives COOK idea of no
YER they swore in that distant Gay:
in "a. D., 1853.
or "The qualifications Of the Burgess, Hig
Constable and other officers of the Blu
lie rough of Wilmington, in the county OF Ne
IRE Castle upon Delaware.
all wilmington BuTougb.
10. 81 Thomas West do sincerely promise ar
~ soltmnly ueclsre, wrIl be Eru- su1 fait
# full % King George and do solemnry pre-
80 fess aDd declare tb4tI DO from my heal
~ sD or, drtes, d renounce as 1npious al
no Heritcal that Damnab,e d1ctrIDe and po
Nh | uion, that previ1us accommodated or d
Ike privsd by the Pope or any other of the See
ess Rome may be dep0sed Or murt lered
hle their subjects or any other what so ev
rs ana declare that no foreign prince, prelet
Potentats hath or ought to have any pow
Jurisdiction pre- emminence or sutborit
ecclesiastical or spiritual wish the Real
OF Great Britain or any other OF the Domi
ions thereof.
is 81 Thomas West do profess faith In G
the Father and in Jesus Chris the tterI
AL son, the true God and the Holy Spirit
One God blessed for ever more and do &C
40 1wledge the Holy Scriptures OF the T
III and the new testament 10 Re given by
vine Inspiration.
.tor 81 Tbomes West, do sincerely prom
and solennly declare tnat will to the b.
of my knowledge and skill, execute the
flee of assistant for the BurrOugh of WI
mington during my continuance In the
fee and until | am lawfully eischarg
there from"
II will be noticed that the name
''er Thomas West appears here; he was the q
Que " hO took tie oath.
re- A little further over and we have a r
ord of meeting of the citizens held to
tabish the place of holding the mark
'ast and spring and fall fairs. The first clau
en- of this record says: "That the Saturd
d a market and the sprizg fair shall be kept
D. high street-by m1jorty Of 146 voic
"The several clause says: "That the We
nesday market and the fall fair shall
held in Second street by . majority of
rom voices"
wss The result of the election held accorGi
to the charter on the eighth day of 81
orm tember, gu 1740. shows that the same
by icers were reelected as were appoint
the when the charter was granted one befo
lave Two ord'rsnces are then given which W
or passed about this time OEe regulates