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DELAWARE. 



chief post as editor of that journal, when he had 

 barely attained his twenty-fourth year. He re- 

 tained that post until November, 1877, when 

 he resigned on account of ill health, with a 

 liberal pension, and was succeeded by the 

 present editor, Mr. Thomas Chenery, late Pro- 

 fessor of Arabic at Oxford. He studied law, 

 and was called to the bar at the Middle Tem- 

 ple in 1847, but never practiced that profes- 

 sion. As an editor he was eminently success- 

 ful, and under his management the " Times " 

 flourished greatly and wielded an immense in- 

 fluence. 



DELAWARE. The biennial session of the 

 Legislature of Delaware commenced on Janu- 

 ary 7th. The Senate elected Charles J. Har- 

 rington as Speaker. In the House, Swithin 

 Chandler was elected to that office. 



The most important occurrence in the first 

 part of the session was the inauguration of 

 Governor Hall, which took place on January 

 21st. It was considered as brilliant and at- 

 tractive as could be desired, the display eclips- 

 ing that of any previous occasion. A large 

 number of prominent men assembled, and the 

 military and people from all parts of the State. 

 It was estimated that there were at least 3,000 

 persons present. The account proceeds to state 

 that the members of the Legislature, number- 

 ing altogether thirty persons, and their officers, 

 formed in line, the Speakers of both Houses in 

 advance, and escorted the Governor elect, who 

 walked with the retiring Governor, to the 

 court-house, on the public square, several hun- 

 dred yards distant. The court-house is a new 

 red-brick building, three stories high. It was 

 in the second story of this building that the 

 oath was administered. Here, in advance of 

 the all-important arrival, a numerous assem- 

 blage of well-dressed people, including many 

 ladies, had gathered to do honor to the occa- 

 sion. The judges' u bench," a platform, the 

 bar, and the jurors' box had been specially re- 

 served for members of the Legislature, judges, 

 and other official personages, ladies, etc. For 

 these reserved places cards of admission in 

 limited numbers had been issued. Though 

 small, the audience was notable for its fine- 

 looking men and beautiful women. The Gen- 

 eral Assemblymen sat in the bar. Governor 

 Cochran and Secretary of State Grubb, the 

 Governor elect and Mr. Walcott, the new Sec- 

 retary of State, judiciary, members of Con- 

 gress, ex-Governors, etc., sat on the judges' 

 platform, over which was inscribed in letters 

 of evergreen the name of the new Governor. 

 In the jury-box sat Mrs. Hall, the Governor's 

 wife, his daughter, Mrs. Lister, and other 

 members of the family. Among the judges 

 on the bench were Chief Justice Joseph P. 

 Comegys, the State Chancellor, Hon. Willard 

 Saulsbury, who was formerly one of the Unit- 

 ed States Senators of Delaware, and Associ- 

 ate Justice John W. Houston. Among other 

 prominent men assisting on the occasion were 

 United States Senator Eli Saulsbury, Hon. 



James Williams, Representative of the State 

 in Congress, and Hon. E. L. Martin, elected 

 his successor to Congress ; ex-Governors James 

 Pouder and Gove Saulsbury, Adjutant-General 

 J. Park Postles, and other State officials. The 

 inauguration ceremony was very brief. Prayer 

 and benediction by legislative chaplains opened 

 and closed the proceedings. 



Among the appointments made by the Gov- 

 ernor during the year were those of Captain J. 

 Park Postles as Adjutant-General of the State, 

 and George Gray to be Attorney-General for 

 five years from October 3d. James M. Wal- 

 cott was also selected as Secretary of State by 

 the Governor. 



The Legislature consists of three Senators 

 and seven Representatives from each of the 

 three counties of the State. Both Houses are 

 entirely Democratic. In 1875 there was one 

 Republican in the Legislature, and in 1873 

 there were eight. 



An act was passed in relation to tramps. It 

 declares that any person without a home in 

 the town or hundred in which he may be found 

 wandering about, without employment and the 

 regular and visible means of living, shall be 

 deemed and taken to be a tramp, and shall be 

 dealt with accordingly. It is further made the 

 duty of the corporate officers of every city and 

 town in the State to cause every tramp, found 

 within the limits of such town, to be immedi- 

 ately arrested and put to work on the streets, 

 or other public works thereof, or to hire out 

 such tramps to private persons, and for this 

 purpose said officers may employ such over- 

 seers as may be necessary. The term of work- 

 ing them on the streets, etc., shall not exceed 

 one month, and they shall receive such wages 

 as the officers may deem just. 



A canvass of the votes for Governor by the 

 Legislature showed the following result : 



Hall's majority over Stewart, 7,807. 



A joint resolution reducing the compensa- 

 tion to the Secretary of State from $275 to 

 $200 was adopted. 



Some applications for divorce were made to 

 the Legislature, so that a joint resolution was 

 offered in the Senate to the effect that no di- 

 vorces would be granted during this session for 

 causes cognizant before the Delaware courts. 

 In asking its adoption Senator Sharpley said 

 that it was a stigma on Delaware that people 

 were justly led to remark that " marriage was 

 hard in Delaware and divorce was easy." The 

 conducting of divorce cases in the State was 

 not proper so far as the decision upon them 

 in the Legislature went. If we open the Sen- 

 ate chamber as a divorce court, said the Sena- 

 tor in concluding, we will have no less than 

 fifty cases of divorce upon our hands. 



