Details
PAINE, Robert Treat (1731-1814). Signer (Massachuetts). Letter signed ("Robt. Treat Paine") to Governor John Hancock, Boston, 6 June 1791. ALSO SIGNED BY INCREASE SUMNER. 3 pages, 4to, some chipping along bottom edge of second leaf.
SAVING THE JUDGES FROM THE KILLING SUMMER HEAT: "OUR HEALTH & OUR LIVES MAY BE ENDANGERED"
An interesting letter from one Massachusetts signer to another. The Massachusetts General Court adjourned the next session of the Supreme Judicial Court, scheduled to meet at Cumberland, from 5 July to 25 July. But Paine and Sumner are "apprehensive" that the measure "will be attended with great inconvenience to the Inhabitants of the County of Cumberland, as well as to the Justices of the Court; who according to the present arrangement will scarcely have time sufficient to recover from the fatigue which they must necessarily undergo, in so long a Circuit, in the hottest season of the year, & prepare for the other business of the Government, which will not be closed until the middle of November. We fear from the arduousness of the Judicial business in this Government, that our health & our lives may be endangered, as is now the unhappy situation of our Chief Justice." The chief justice at this time was Nathaniel Peaslee Sargeant (1731-1791), and Paine and Sumner were right to fear for his health, as he would die later that year, on 12 October. The petition closes by asking Governor Hancock and the legislature to repeal their resolution and allow the next session at Cumberland to proceed as originally scheduled, to spare the judges from having to work into August.
SAVING THE JUDGES FROM THE KILLING SUMMER HEAT: "OUR HEALTH & OUR LIVES MAY BE ENDANGERED"
An interesting letter from one Massachusetts signer to another. The Massachusetts General Court adjourned the next session of the Supreme Judicial Court, scheduled to meet at Cumberland, from 5 July to 25 July. But Paine and Sumner are "apprehensive" that the measure "will be attended with great inconvenience to the Inhabitants of the County of Cumberland, as well as to the Justices of the Court; who according to the present arrangement will scarcely have time sufficient to recover from the fatigue which they must necessarily undergo, in so long a Circuit, in the hottest season of the year, & prepare for the other business of the Government, which will not be closed until the middle of November. We fear from the arduousness of the Judicial business in this Government, that our health & our lives may be endangered, as is now the unhappy situation of our Chief Justice." The chief justice at this time was Nathaniel Peaslee Sargeant (1731-1791), and Paine and Sumner were right to fear for his health, as he would die later that year, on 12 October. The petition closes by asking Governor Hancock and the legislature to repeal their resolution and allow the next session at Cumberland to proceed as originally scheduled, to spare the judges from having to work into August.