George Broome of George Town and County of Washington humbly represents—That your Petitioner being unapprised of the full Extent and Import of the Law directing and requiring Licenses to be obtained for retailing spirituous Liquors on the Race Ground—but conceiving the only thing really essential to be the payment of the Money required by Law for such License—did on the first day of the Races last fall pay to the Clerk of the County the sum of Money required by Law for said License.—That the Clerk of the County did then inform your petitioner that an order from the Magistrate of said County was necessary before the License could be granted but your Petitioner conceiving that by the payment of the License Money he had complied with the substantial part of the Law and conceiving an order from the Magistrate as only Matter of Form did proceed to sell without producing to the Clerk such Order—Your petitioner conceived himself free from any penal Liability until the last Court when he was presented for selling Liquors without a License and during the present Term finding that his payment of the License Money was not a legal Justification he submitted his Case to the Honorable Court who could not do otherwise than fine him the sum fixed by Law that is to say Twenty pounds and the Costs—

Your Petitioner is well known to have a Wife and Family—that he is without property and destitute of any Support except that derived from his personal Labour and Exertions—and he is totally unable to pay the Amount of the Fine and Costs and its Exaction must eventuate in the Ruin and Misery of himself and Family—And inasmuch as he could have had no View of defrauding the public but fully paid the sum required by Law he prays your Excellency to remit to him the Fine and Costs incurred and to save him and his Family from that Ruin which otherwise is inevitable and as in Duty bound he will pray &ca—