the peace and judge of the County Court. For about forty years thereafter he was president judge of that court. Whatever may have been his previous political creed, it is certain that henceforth he was one of the most decided and influential friends of the proprietaries in the province. In the disputes between the Governor and the Assembly he took an active part, and on the 23d of November 1755, he wrote to the Assembly that two thousand men were coming down to Philadelphia from Chester county to compel them to pass a militia law, a measure to which the Quaker majority were opposed. This was the first step in a struggle, of which he was the central figure, that shook the whole province, and finally required the intervention of the throne to decide.[1] During the two succeeding years a great many petitions were presented to the Assembly by citizens of Chester county charging him with tyranny, injustice, and even extortion, in the performance of the duties of his magisterial office, and asking for his removal. The names that were signed to these petitions are too numerous to be repeated here, but among them were those of some of the best people in the county. It is manifest to the impartial reader that while the haughty and aristocratic bearing of Moore doubtless gave offence, and may have at times led to arbitrary decisions, political rivalry had much to do with the complaints. In a broadside published in reply, Moore explains the circumstances of each case in detail, and says that the petitions were procured by Isaac Wayne, with whom he had had a quarrel, through spite and rancor, by “riding night and day among ignorant and weak Persons using many Persuasions and Promises.” The Assembly, after a hearing
- ↑ For a detailed account of this contest see Annals of Phoenixville, p. 45.
