o decay. It is curious
that its name and some of its peculiarities should have been brought
to America, and should in one state have remained to the present day.
Some of the early settlements in Virginia were called hundreds, but
they were practically nothing more than parishes, and the name soon
became obsolete, except upon the map, where we still see, for example,
Bermuda Hundred. But in Maryland the hundred flourished and became the
political unit, like the township in New England. The hundred was the
militia district, and the district for the assessment of taxes. In the
earliest times it was also the representative district; delegates
to the colonial legislature sat for hundreds. But in 1654 this was
changed, and representatives were elected by counties. The officers
of the Maryland hundred were the high constable, the commander of
militia, the tobacco-viewer, the overseer of roads, and the assessor
of taxes. The last-mentioned officer was elected by the people, the
others were all appointed by the governor. The hundred had also its
assembly of all the people, which was in many respects like the New
England town-meeting. These hundred-meetings enacted by-laws, levied
taxes, appointed committees, and often exhibited a vigorous political
life. But after the Revolution they fell into disuse, and in 1824 the
hundred became extinct in Maryland; its organization was swallowed up
in that of the county.

[Sidenote: The hundred in Delaware]
[Sidenote: The levy court, or representative county assembly.]
In Delaware, however, the hundred remains to this day. There it
is simply an imperfectly developed township, but its relations with
the county, as they have stood with but little change since 1743,
are very interesting. Each hundred used to choose its own assessor
of taxes, and every year in the month of November the assessors from
all the hundreds used to meet in the county court-house, along with
three or more justices of the peace and eight grand jurors, and assess
the taxes for the ensuing year. A month later they assembled again,
to hear complaints from persons who considered themselves overtaxed;
and having disposed of this business, they proceeded to appoint
collectors, one for each hundred. This county assembly was known as
the "court of levy and appeal," or more briefly as the levy court.
It appointed the county treasurer, the road commissioners, and the
overseers of the poor. Since 1793 the levy court has been compo