October  2, 1704,  and  November  6,  1705,  the
Supreme  Court  was  composed  of  a  chief
justice  and  one  associate  justice,  Mompesr
son  and  Pinhorne.  Judge  Field,  in  his
"  Provincial  Courts  of  New  Jersey,"  says
that  they  "  were  the  only  judges  during  the
administration  of  Lord  Cornbury."  These
two  gentlemen  were  certainly  on  the  bench
during  all  that  period,  which  terminated  in
1708  ;  but  the  records  of  the  Supreme  Court
show  that  on  November  6,  1705,  two  asso-
ciate judges  were  appointed,  and  that  on
November  6,  1706,  another  associate  jus-
tice was  appointed,  showing  that  the  number
of  justices  was  not  confined  to  two.  To  what
number  the  judges  composing  the  Supreme
Court  were  limited  does  not  appear  in  the
ordinance  of  Cornbury  of  1 704,  nor  in  the


202


HISTOKY  OF  CAMDEN  COUNTY,  NEW  JEKSEY.
ordinance  of  Hunter,  of  1714,  nor  in  the
ordinance  of  Burnet,  of  1724,  1725  and
1728.  That  this  court  was  limited  to  a
chief  justice  and  two  associates  until  1798
cannot  be  doubted.  In  that  year  it  was  made,
by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  con-
sist of  a  chief  justice  and  three  associate
justices.  On  the  10th  of  March,  1806,  this
act  was  repealed  and  the  number  of  associate
justices  was  reduced  to  two.  In  1838  the
number  was  increased  to  four,  in  1855  it
was  increased  to  six,  and  in  1875  to  eight.
