gation of treaties to assist her against the armed alliance of kings against whom she was singly contending.

Under the law of 1794 above mentioned, Fort Sumner was constructed, as I have described on a former page, and was the only fort which existed until 1809. The defenses now guarding our harbor are, Fort Preble on Spring Point in Cape Elizabeth, Fort Scammel, opposite, on House Island, and Fort Gorges on Hog Island ledge. The latter is in progress of construction, and nearly completed, under charge of Capt. Casey of the U. S. Engineer Corps. When all the armament which it is designed to receive in its several tiers and in barbette, is in place, it will contain one hundred and ninety-five guns of fifteen, ten, and eight-inch calibre, including some thirty-two pounders, and will be a most formidable battery, bearing advantageously upon the harbor and the entrance to it.

Forts Preble and Scammell, named for two very renowned officers, Commodore Preble of the navy, and Colonel Alexander Scammell of revolutionary memory, were commenced in 1808, and finished according to the original plan, before the war of 1812. Fort Preble originally held but eleven or twelve guns, and Fort Scammell nine guns, and would afford no protection to the town under the modern system of war. They are now, 1864, undergoing a most thorough renovation and large extension, and when the present plan is carried out, will contain as follows, viz., Fort Preble, two fifteen-inch guns, twenty teninch, twenty-two eight-inch, ten thirty-two pounders, eight twenty-four pounders, ten field guns and mortars, making seventy-two pieces; it is now ready for thirty-six guns. Fort Scammell is fitted for seventy-one pieces, viz., one fifteen-inch, thirty-eight ten-inch, eighteen thirty-two pounders, seven twelve pounder block-house guns, and seven mortar and field pieces. On the completion of the forts, the defense of the harbor will consist of two hundred and ninety formidable pieces in the best style of modern gunnery. In addition to which it is proposed, in time of need, to crect batteries on Fish Point, and other available positions upon the contiguous islands.

CHAPTER XXII.

COURTS-COURT-HOUSES AND JAILS-INFERIOR COURT-SUPERIOR COURT-LAW AND LAWYERS-CAP ITAL TRIALS-DECREASE OF CRIME.

The whole territory of Maine formed but one county until 1760, when the counties of Cumberland and Lincoln were established; the former embraced the present counties of Cumberland and Oxford, the latter all the country east of them. On this occasion a term of the Superior Court was first granted to Cumberland, and held in Falmouth in June, for the counties of Cumberland and Lincoln; the records of the court, however, were still kept in Boston. The Inferior Court and Court of "General Sessions of the Peace," had been held in Falmouth once a year since 1735. The first term of these courts was established here in 1736, William Pepperrell of Kittery, being chief justice. The Inferior Court consisted of four judges; the Sessions was composed of all the justices in the county,' and they were "empowered to hear and determine all matters relating to the conservation of the peace and punishment of offenders," grant licenses, lay out highways, etc. This court continued until 1808, when it was abolished, and a court consisting of five justices was established in its place. The Inferior Court was established in 1699 and was continued

1 These two courts were held at the same time and place: in 1747, October 6, Mr. Smith says, "I prayed with the court P. M. Justice Came drunk all day."

until 1811, when it yielded to the circuit system, by which the Commonwealth was divided into six circuits, of which the counties of York, Cumberland, and Oxford formed one. Each circuit had a chief justice and two associate justices. This continued until after the separation from Massachusetts, when in 1822 a court of Common Pleas was established, consisting of a chief and two associate justices whose jurisdiction extended over the whole State. The judges first appointed were Ezekiel Whitman of Portland, chief, Samuel E. Smith of Wiscasset, and David Perham of Bangor, associates. The Common Pleas or intermediate court continued until 1852, when it was abolished and its jurisdiction transferred to an enlarged Supreme Court.

As early as 1733 the inconvenience of attending court at York by people in this part of the country, was so severely felt that the town authorized the selectmen to join the neighboring towns in a petition to the General Court to divide the county or have the courts held further east, and it was in consequence of this effort that a term of the court was extended here.' There was no court-house and no regular place for holding the courts before the revolution; they were generally held at the town-house at the foot of Middle street, sometimes at the meeting-house, at others in one of the taverns, but always with one exception upon the Neck. A large and handsome court-house was commenced by the county in 1774, on the spot where the town-house had stood, which had been moved to Hampshire street, than called Grecle's lane, to make room for it; this was

In 1735, June, the legislature appointed the Inferior Court to be held at York and Falmouth alternately in January and October. The judges were Samuel Came, Timothy Gerrish, Joseph Moody, and Jeremiah Moulton; John Leighton was sheriff: they all resided west of Saco river.

2 "October 4, 1743. The court this year is kept at Purpooduck on pretence of no tavern this side."-Smith's Journal. In 1776, Alice Greele charged ten shillings six pence for a room for the use of the court; in 1777, her bill was two pounds eight shillings.

nearly completed, when it perished in the conflagration of the town.'

The frame of the second court-house was raised on the lot where the new City Hall stands, in October, 1785, and finished next year; it was two stories high with a belfry, and was forty-eight feet by thirty-four; the courts were held in the second story, the first was an open hall. This was removed to Court, now the upper part of Exchange street, in 1816, and the center of a new court-house was erected on its site the same year. In 1831 two wings were added, each about twenty feet in width, and projecting a little beyond the line of the front, to enlarge the public offices and to furnish jury rooms and lobbies up-stairs. The addition gave an improved appearance to the front, and it was a well proportioned and beautiful building, furnishing convenient and safe apartments for the courts, the public offices, and the municipal court of the city.3 This too, after a quarter of a century of use, had to give place to modern improvement. In 1858 the city concluded to erect upon the lot of land owned principally by the county, a structure which would furnish all needed accommodations for the public offices of the city, ample rooms for the courts, and county uses, and at the same time apartments sufficiently spacious to receive the legislature and executive government of Maine, if it should please them at any time to hold their

This building was fifty-four feet by fifty, and was crowned with a belfry; the erection was superintended by Stephen Longfellow, Esq., then clerk of the court.

2 The building was sold to the Union Society of christians, who occupied it until 1827, when they sold it; it now stands in Green street, and is occupied as a soap and candle manufactory, by John Hull. Its form is unchanged.

3 The original dimensions of the building were sixty by fifty feet, two stories high and built of brick; the front was finished by a pediment, supported by six columns and pilasters and surmounted by a belfry, on the spire of which was a nicely adjusted pair of scales to indicate what ought to be going on below. The building committee were Richard Hunnewell, Barrett Potter, and Albert Newhall; the whole cost including the additions, was twenty-three thousand dollars.

sessions in Portland. The lot was then covered by the courthouse of 1831, a wooden building occupied by city offices, the county jail, and jailer's dwelling-house. On the 31st of March, 1858, the county commissioners and the city government, by their committee, entered into an indenture, by which the county leased to the city for the term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years, at a nominal rent, the lot of land on the northerly side of Congress street, bounded north-easterly by Myrtle street, and south-westerly by land of Nicholas Emery, with all the buildings standing thereon. As a consideration for the grant, the city were to provide accommodations for the county courts and offices, during the time of constructing the new building; and during the term of the lease, were to furnish all rooms necessary for the use of the courts and of the county, free of charge, and keep the same in good repair. A plan of a suitable structure was procured, to be built of brick on a basement of granite, at an estimated cost of eighty thousand dollars. The next city council, under the mayoralty of Jedediah Jewett, essentially altered the design first proposed, purchased an additional lot of land, enlarged the plan, provided for a dome, and changed the material of the front from brick to the Albert sandstone, procured in the Bay of Fundy.

The plan and alterations were designed and drawn by the architect, James H. Rand of Boston, who superintended the construction; the change involving a large additional expense. The whole cost of the building which was finished in 1862, including furnishing and the Emery lot of land, for which seven thousand dollars was paid by the county, was two hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars.

Before the revolution, the jail stood on Middle street, where the market-house now is; it was a small building thirty-three feet by eighteen; this was taken down in 1799, and the jailor's house was removed to Federal street. The jail, which stood in the rear of the present court-house, was erected in 1799, under the superintendence of John Park of Groton, Massachu