USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Springfield > Colonial justice in western Massachusetts, 1639-1702; the Pynchon court record, an original judges' diary of the administration of justice in the Springfield courts in the Massachusetts Bay Colony > Part 8
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In July, after an attack on Brookfield, a party from Springfield pursued the invaders northward and rescued several captives. Pynchon, requesting instructions, advised a small garrison for the town. Discovery of traces of hostile Indians near Deerfield led to pro- posals for a constant scout and an allowance for the fortification of the town.81 In August 1694 Pynchon and two other commissioners of Massachusetts were present in Albany when Governor Fletcher entered into a treaty with the Five Nations, Pynchon noting that this was "a very hard service in my age." On the same trip he was con- sulted by the New York Governor and Council regarding defense measures.82
In December 1694, Pynchon wrote Secretary Addington request- ing advice concerning the continuance of garrisons at Deerfield and Brookfield, being "loath upon my owne head to discharge them, least If any thing fel out not wel, I should deservedly be Blamed." In March 1694/5 a garrison of Connecticut men was withdrawn from
79 1 Sheldon, Hist. Deerfield 238; 7 Acts and Res. Prov. Mass. Bay 382. See 30 Mass. Archives 335a for a July 26, 1693 letter from Governor Phips to Governor Fletcher.
80 1 Sheldon, Hist. Deerfield 240, 243- 244, 246-247; 7 Acts and Res. Prov. Mass. Bay 382.
81 7 ibid. 389-390. For a detailed ac- count by Pynchon of the pursuit see ibid.
395-398. See also Quabaug, 1669-1910 52- 54.
82 7 Acts and Res. Prov. Mass. Bay 440- 441, 444-445; 2 Conn. Archives, War Co- lonial 236a; Wraxall, An Abridgment of The Indian Affairs (ed. C. H. McIlwain, 1915) 25-27. See also the Reverend Benja- min Wadworth's Journal in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. (4th ser.) 102-110.
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INTRODUCTION
Deerfield after ten weeks and Pynchon was compelled to furnish a garrison; the withdrawal led to an acrimonious exchange of letters between Lieutenant Governor Stoughton of Massachusetts and John Allyn, Secretary of the Connecticut Council.83
On December 12, 1695, having been called out of bed by news of a war party near Northfield, Pynchon quickly had Captain Colton and twenty-four troopers moving up the east bank of the Connecti- cut. On August 21 some Deerfield inhabitants, who in the words of Pynchon were "in a sense in the enemy's Mouth almost, and are often and so continually pecked at," were ambushed with one fa- tality. Vigorous pursuit proved futile, but, upon Pynchon's applica- tion, a garrison force was again supplied by Connecticut. In Sep- tember Pynchon sent further reinforcements to Deerfield when an Indian attack threatened.84
Pynchon's labors in defense of the western frontier had virtually ended by the autumn of 1695. In November 1696 he petitioned the Governor and the General Court for "a meete Compensation for his Past and already chearful service hithertoe in this time of War," set- ting forth his services at length. Almost a year later he was allowed ten pounds for his "extraordinary service and expenses with the regiment under his command, lying frontier to the enemy." 85
When, in July 1698, two settlers were killed by Indians at Hat- field and two others taken captive, Pynchon in a blistering letter to Governor Bellomont of New York laid the blame on their "counter- feit friends," the Scagadacooks, accusing them of having a hand in all the Indian outrages in the Valley since 1688, But Bellomont took no effective action to curb these Indians.86
Pynchon played little part in Queen Anne's War. However, in June 1702 upon a report by Pynchon and Samuel Partrigg that some French were ranging the Hampshire woods and hunting with the Indians, the Council ordered that all civil and military make strict search and cause the strangers to be apprehended and sent down to Boston to give an account of themselves to the governor. In July the Council advised that the Governor write Pynchon to send his Lieu- tenant Colonel to Deerfield to view and have repaired the fortifica- tions, covering the work with a scout out of other towns, and to per-
83 43 Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc. 505-506; 7 Acts and Res. Prov. Mass. Bay 460-464; 2 Mass. Archives 227a, 230, 232-233, 2342; 3 Conn. Archives, War Colonial 1a, 2a, ga-b, 4a, 5, 7a.
84 1 Sheldon, Hist. Deerfield 247-253, 259; 7 Acts and Res. Prov. Mass. Bay 486; 4 Pub. Rec. Col. Conn. 149; 5 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. (5th ser.) 430.
85 7 Acts and Res. Prov. Mass. Bay 165, 570-571. A good example of Pynchon's in- terest in the election of militia officers is a December 5, 1690 letter to Joseph Haw- ley in 36 Mass. Archives 242.
86 CSP, Col., 1697/8, #822, IV. See also ibid. pp. 431-432, 439-440; 7 Acts and Res. Prov. Mass. Bay 605-606; 4 Doc. Rel. Col. Hist. N.Y. 364-367.
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JOHN PYNCHON
form the same task at Brookfield. A list of the militia and civil officers of the province, compiled in December 1702, shows Pynchon as colonel of the Hampshire regiment, mustering over 800 soldiers.87
When John Pynchon died "about sun-rise" on January 17, 1702/3, probably at the age of seventy-seven, he had outlived most of his contemporaries, being characterized by one diarist as "an old man and full of days." His wife had died a few years earlier; his second son, Joseph, a physician in Boston, had died unmarried in 1682; his daughter Mary, married to Josiah Whiting, also predeceased him; two children had died in infancy. His only surviving child was John, Jr., who had become a merchant in Boston and later removed to Springfield. Final settlement of Pynchon's estate was not made until 1737 when it was valued at £8,446/16/6 of which only £165/ 18/2 consisted of personalty.88
While the funeral sermon delivered by Solomon Stoddard, a well- known Northampton minister, is largely couched in generalities studded with classical allusions, the following passages constitute a fitting eulogy:
Observe, That God has removed one that has been along while Serv- iceable. That has been improved about Publick Service for above Fifty Years: he has been Serviceable unto the Country in General, and in spe- cial among our selves. He hath had the principal management of our Military Affairs, and our Civil Affairs; and laboured much in the setling of most of our Plantations, has managed things with Industry, Providence and Moderation. He has been careful in time of War and as there has been occasion, has been a Peace Maker among us, and helpfull in com- posing differences: he has discountenanced Rude and Vicious Persons, bearing his Testimony against Them.
It is to be feared that we shall feel the sorrowful effects of his re- moval a long while . .. He was honourable and had great influence upon men in Authority abroad, and upon the People at home, and had more experience by far, than any other among us.89
87 CSP, Col. 1702, #607, 696; ibid, 1702- 03, #30, V; 1 Sheldon, Hist. Deerfield 284. 88 Record of the Pynchon Family 6-7; 6 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. (5th ser.) 73; "Diary of John Marshall of Braintree," 14 Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc. (2nd ser.) 22; photostatic copies of Hampshire County
Probate Court Records at Connecticut Valley Historical Museum.
89 Stoddard, Gods Frown in the Death of Usefull Men. Shewed in a Sermon Preached at the Funeral of the Honour- able Colonel John Pynchon Esq. Who de- ceased January the 17th, 1702/3. (1703) .
IV. Elizur Holyoke and Samuel Chapin
A S already noted, a portion of the Record was kept in the hand of Elizur Holyoke. Born in Tamworth, Warwickshire, about fifteen miles northeast of Birmingham, and educated in England, in 1637 or 1638, when about twenty years old, Holyoke accompa- nied his father, Edward Holyoke, to New England and settled on a farm at Rumney Marsh, near Chelsea. Termed by Eliot "Mr. Pyn- chon's ancient friend," the older Holyoke was apparently a farmer of good estate who served as deputy for several terms during the 1640's, and in May 1650 was chosen deputy for Springfield.1
The first mention of Elizur Holyoke is his marriage to William Pynchon's daughter Mary on November 20, 1640, at which time he was granted lands at Springfield. His first appearance in the Record is as a juror in January 1641/2.2 In January 1642/3 and in May 1645 he was on town committees to view and to allot lands; in September 1646 he was chosen a selectman for the ensuing year and in May 1651, constable. He was sworn a freeman April 13, 1648.3
Holyoke first assumed judicial duties in October 1652 when, as noted, the General Court empowered Pynchon, Holyoke, and Chapin as commissioners for the government of the inhabitants of Springfield and then continued to act under successive commissions until May 1665. After this date Holyoke, until his death on Febru- ary 5, 1675/6, sat as an associate on the County Court for Hamp- shire.4 He was chosen recorder for the commissioners in March 1660, and an entry in the Registry of Probate supplemental material notes
1 1 Burt, Hist. Springfield 590; Morris, "Elizur Holyoke," 1 Papers and Proc. Conn. Valley Hist. Soc. 62; Rep. Rec. Comm. Roxbury Land and Church Rec. (2nd ed., 1884) 74; 2 Rec. Mass. Bay 1, 22, 33, 186, 238; 4 ibid. (Part I) 2. Edward Holyoke and other patentees of lands on the Piscataqua put themselves under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts colony in June, 1641. 1 Doc. and Rec. Prov. N.H. 155-157. He was appointed to assist in holding courts at Salem in May 1643. 2
Rec. Mass. Bay 35. A scholar and writer in the field of religious doctrines, he pub- lished in London in 1658 a substantial work entitled The Doctrine of Life, or of Mans Redemption.
2 1 Burt, Hist. Springfield 590; Rec. 17.
3 1 Burt, Hist. Springfield 170, 179-180, 185, 218; Rec. 24.
4 4 Rec. Mass. Bay (Part II) 148; Pynchon Waste Book for Hampshire 25, 30, 36, 37, 46, 54, 65, 70, 83, 94, 106, 112.
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HOLYOKE AND CHAPIN
that on September 25, 1660 he was "chosen and appointed Recorder for this Court and County." Apparently he was recorder for the County Court until his death. In 1665/66, he became clerk of the writs for Springfield when Chapin declined the office.5
During his period of judicial tenure Holyoke also held legislative office, being chosen deputy for Springfield eleven times between 1656 and 1675 (in some cases for only one session) . He was elected select- man for Springfield nine times between February 1660/1 and Feb- ruary 1673/4.6 In November 1656 he was chosen recorder or clerk of the town in John Pynchon's absence, in which capacity he served during the period 1661-76. Between 1663 and 1673 Holyoke was frequently chosen to carry up to shire meetings the sealed votes of the freemen of Springfield for nomination of assistants and choice of county treasurer and associates on the County Court. Once he was chosen moderator of a town meeting.7
In a number of instances Holyoke was commissioned by the Gen- eral Court to act with others in matters relating to the settlement and pacification of the western frontier of the colony. Several on which he served with John Pynchon have been noted. In October 1663 Holyoke and David Wilton were authorized to lay out the bounds of a grant of lands to Major General Dennison near Northampton and Hadley. In May 1664 he and two others were designated to set- tle a grant of lands to Indians near Quabaug. In October 1669 he was one of seven empowered to determine what lands at Hadley be- longed to the several ministers, and four years later one of three di- rected to report on a petition of the inhabitants of Swampfield.8
Holyoke, like John Pynchon, was on a number of ad hoc commit- tees concerned with various Springfield town matters. He served on several committees concerned with the settlement of Woronoco, and on one charged with laying out lands granted Westfield by the Gen- eral Court. In February 1661/2 Holyoke, Pynchon, and Timothy Cooper constituted a committee to consider settling the towns of western Massachusetts into a county. He was also on committees to dispose of town lands, to examine the accounts of the selectmen, to make rates, and to obtain a minister for the town. During 1656-57 he sometimes filled in for the minister on the Sabbath.9 Other scat- tered committees on which Holyoke served dealt with such matters
5 Rec. 86; 1 Hamp. Cty. Probate Ct. Rec. 3.
6 4 Rec. Mass. Bay (Part I) 255, 416; 4 ibid. (Part II) 2, 331, 448, 551; 5 ibid. 2, 42; 1 Burt, Hist. Springfield 26-28.
7 1 ibid. 46-47, 251; Rec. 321 ff .; 2 Burt, Hist. Springfield 119.
8 4 Rec. Mass. Bay (Part II) 96-97, 109, 322, 446-447, 459; 5 ibid. 22; 2 Burt, Hist. Springfield 107.
9 1 Burt, Hist. Springfield 218, 247, 250, 256, 261-262, 278, 281-282, 297-298, 307, 309; 2 ibid. 83.
6 2
INTRODUCTION
as a new meeting house, a claim against the town, poor relief, the lo- cation and maintenance of highways, and treating with the Indians. As town recorder he might be charged with drafting petitions to the General Court on matters such as inequitable county rates and im- posts.10
Although Holyoke was commissioned an ensign in 1653, a lieu- tenant in 1657, and later appears as captain in the records, he played no important role in King Philip's War or in earlier defensive meas- ures.11
Holyoke's income was derived largely from farming his substan- tial land holdings in and around Springfield, but he also owned lands near Lynn and Reading received from his father. Through his wife he had an interest in a sawmill which in March 1663/4 was conveyed to John Pynchon in settlement of a debt. Judging from the fact that he was chosen recorder for several bodies and from the manner in which the duties of such offices were performed, he must have been a person of some education and intellectual accomplishments. His fa- ther, in leaving all his books and manuscripts to Elizur, significantly noted that "he onely cann make use of them." 12
The last of the four persons prominent in the early administra- tion of justice at Springfield is Samuel Chapin, better known to pos- terity as Deacon Chapin. Baptized in October 1598 in the parish church of Poignton, Devonshire, he married in February 1623/4 and probably came to New England in 1635 with his father and family. At Roxbury, where he settled and engaged in agricultural pursuits, he was a member of the church and became a freeman on June 2, 1641.13
Chapin first appears in the Springfield records in January 1642/3 when he, with Holyoke, Henry Smith, and three others, was author- ized to lay out lands on the west side of the River. He may have been elected a Deacon soon after his arrival but is not designated as such in the town records until 1649/50. In May 1645 he and Holyoke were on a committee to apportion planting grounds to each home lot and on another to make allotments of lands. He was one of the first se-
10 1 ibid. 144, 282, 302; 2 ibid. 85-86, 110, 114. For a committee settlement of the claims of certain Indians to lands east of the river see Wright, Indian Deeds 89- 91. For the petition to the General Court from the inhabitants of Springfield, Feb- ruary 2, 1668/9, protesting the require- ment of payment of imposts in specie see 9 N. Eng. Hist. and Gen. Reg. 86-87.
11 4 Rec. Mass. Bay (Part I) 135, 314.
12 For an abstract of Edward Holyoke's
will, dated December 25, 1658, see 9 N. Eng. Hist. and Gen. Reg. 345-346. Mary Pynchon Holyoke died October 26, 1657. For the sawmill see Morris, Elizur Holyoke 65; 1 Burt, Hist. Springfield 322; 2 ibid. 22.
13 1 Chapin Book of Genealogical Data (comp. G. W. Chapin, 1924) 1; H. M. Chapin, Life of Deacon Samuel Chapin of Springfield (1908) 12-14.
6 9
HOLYOKE AND CHAPIN
lectmen chosen in 1644 and continued in that capacity until October 1652, when he resigned to become a commissioner. In 1661 and in 1664 he was again chosen a selectman. Chapin, along with John Pyn- chon and Holyoke, continued to act as a commissioner under suc- cessive commissions until May 1665. While Chapin attended the first few sessions of the County Court for Hampshire, he was never elected an associate.14
The first reference to Chapin found in the Record is on Decem- ber 21, 1643, as a juror in Merick v. Ashley. On February 13, 1643/4 he was sworn constable in the place of John Leonard who was re- moved for swearing to a lie in the evidence he gave on review of the above action. He apparently continued in the office until March 12, 1645/6 when James Bridgeman was sworn constable. In 1648 and 1649 Henry Smith and Chapin were chosen to seal up the votes of the freemen for magistrates and to send them to the deputy from Roxbury representing Springfield at the General Court.15 As already noted he was on committees appointed by the General Court in con- nection with the settlement of Northampton and Hadley. In the Springfield hierarchy around 1650 Chapin probably ranked next after William Pynchon, Henry Smith, and Elizur Holyoke.
Deacon Chapin served on many ad hoc committees. In Septem- ber 1652 he was on the committee which treated with the Reverend Moxon for the purchase of his house and lands; twice he was on com- mittees concerned with securing a minister for the town; and in 1656-57 was one of several charged with administering to the spiri- tual needs of the town in the absence of a minister. In the period 1665-67 he was on several committees charged with poor relief. In 1659 and 1662/3 the seating arrangement in the meeting house was ordered by Chapin and the selectmen.16 In 1661/2 he was on a com- mittee with two others for altering certain lots; later he was on a com- mittee charged with the distribution of town lands and a committee on highways. In August 1665 he was a commissioner for the town to join with the selectmen in making the county rate. In 1669/70 and upon two subsequent occasions Chapin and one other were charged with examining the selectmen's accounts. These were the last appoint- ments for the Deacon who died on November 11, 1675.17
At Springfield, Chapin, like Holyoke, was principally engaged in farming. Nothing is known of his education or of his activities in England, but on the basis of his "educated hand" and his phraseol-
14 Chapin, Life 17; 1 Burt, Hist. Spring- field 26-27, 144, 179-180.
15 Rec. 22-24; 1 Burt, Hist. Springfield 178.
18 1 ibid. 125-127, 146-147, 222, 247,
250, 254, 256, 261-262, 359; 2 ibid. 85- 86.
17 1 ibid. 292, 310, 315, 323-324; 2 ibid. 68, 104, 111, 119; Chapin, Life 37; 38 N. Eng. Hist. and Gen. Reg. 121.
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INTRODUCTION
ogy in drafting legal documents such as deeds, he may have had some legal training.18
Holyoke and Chapin, although less enterprising and aggressive than John Pynchon, were able public servants. The Record indicates this competence extended to the exercise of judicial functions.
18 2 Burt. Hist. Springfield 22-24. See also Chapin, Life 48-49.
V. The Massachusetts Bay Judicial System
I N general, descriptions of the judicial system of seventeenth- century Massachusetts Bay display a marked disregard for its juris- dictional complexity and ad hoc qualities. While the General Court, the Court of Assistants, and the County Courts have received treat- ment by commentators, little attention has been paid to the jurisdic- tion, under the First Charter, of a single magistrate, two magistrates, or persons vested with magistratical powers, of the commissioners for ending small causes, of the special commissions for western Massa- chusetts and the eastern regions, of the Associate Courts and Com- missioner Courts, of the selectmen of the towns, and of various mis- cellaneous courts. Similarly, little interest has been shown in the lower jurisdictional levels of the judicial establishment under the Second Charter. In addition, the changes wrought by Dudley and Andros are far from clear in their application to the lower levels.
This discussion of the Massachusetts judicial system provides the background necessary to a proper understanding of the relation of the courts held at Springfield, as reflected in the Record, to the Mas- sachusetts Bay judicial establishment. It also serves to indicate the statutory jurisdiction conferred upon such courts from time to time. The treatment is divided into three periods: the period of the First Charter (1639-1686) ; the intercharter period (1686-1692) ; and the period of the Second Charter (1692-1702) .
1639-1686. THE FIRST CHARTER
At the time of the first entry in the Record, in February 1638/9, the Massachusetts Bay judicial system had attained, in the main, the form which was continued until superseded in June 1686 by the courts set up by the President and Council for New England. At the apex of the judicial hierarchy was the General Court, consisting of the governor, deputy governor, assistants, and deputies. Below the General Court was the Court of Assistants which consisted of the governor, deputy governor, and the assistants. Below this court were
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INTRODUCTION
the several Inferior Quarter Courts, which later evolved into the County Courts. Below the Inferior Quarter Courts were the magis- trates (assistants) who exercised limited jurisdiction in the town in which they resided and the commissioners for ending small causes in certain towns in which no magistrate resided. In addition, the select- men of the several towns were given judicial and quasi-judicial powers in certain narrow areas.
General Court
The General Court, the only body specifically granted judicial powers in the charter, exercised original jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, and also review jurisdiction over the acts of the Court of Assistants and, to a lesser extent, of the County Courts and other in- ferior tribunals.1 Its original jurisdiction was rarely set forth in the laws. Similarly, its amorphous jurisdiction upon petition or review was seldom specifically defined by order or law.2
Several self-imposed jurisdictional limitations were not strictly adhered to so that the General Court continued to exercise original jurisdiction in civil causes from time to time.3 However, in numerous cases petitioners were directed to pursue their remedies at law or to apply to an inferior court for relief or the matter was referred to an inferior court to hear and determine. In others, petitions were re- ferred to County Courts to hear and report back to the General Court or to the Court of Assistants.4 The General Court also heard cases, largely civil, transferred from the Court of Assistants in which the magistrates had refused to accept a jury verdict,5 and even cases of disagreement between bench and jury in the County Courts and other inferior courts." While normally appellate recourse from the inferior courts was to the Court of Assistants, in a few cases the Gen- eral Court reviewed directly judgments of the inferior courts.7
1 1 Rec. Mass. Bay 17.
2 Cf. Col. Laws Mass., 1660 122 and Lib- erty No. 36, ibid. 41. On the controversy concerning the right of appeal to the King in Council, see J. H. Smith, Appeals to the Privy Council from the American Planta- tions (1950) 45-51, 54-58, 60-62. For the relative judicial roles of the magistrates and the deputies, see Howe and Eaton, "The Supreme Judicial Power in the Col- ony of Massachusetts Bay," 20 N. Eng. Quart. 291.
3 2 Rec. Mass. Bay 16; 4 ibid. (Part I) 184; Laws and Liberties Mass. 51. See also the committee appointed in May, 1653 to attempt to restrict the General Court's
jurisdiction in small matters. 4 Rec. Mass. Bay (Part I) 134.
4 3 ibid. 400; 4 ibid. (Part I) 262, 282, 285, 412-414; 5 ibid. 39.
5 3 ibid. 197, 329, 400-401, 405-406, 413; 4 ibid. (Part I) 73, 145, 193, 212, 269; 4 ibid. (Part II) 47, 89, 93, 293, 308-309, 340-341.
6 4 ibid. (Part I) 14, 132, 174, 295, 318, 331, 394; 4 ibid. (Part II) 539.
7 4 ibid. (Part I) 97, 111, 174, 217-220, 247; 4 ibid. (Part II) 17, 26, 80, 85, 453- 454; 5 ibid. 252. Cf. 4 ibid. (Part I) 189 where the General Court would not as- sume jurisdiction in a case on appeal to the Court of Assistants and ibid. 194 where
MASSACHUSETTS JUDICIAL SYSTEM 67
The General Court might also grant an appeal from a County Court to the Court of Assistants,8 grant a bill of review or new hear- ing below,9 allow a suit or review in forma pauperis in an inferior court,10 remit or abate fines, or direct inferior courts therein, or oth- erwise mitigate punishment and issue pardons.11 A recalcitrant in the lower courts might be ordered to appear before the General Court.12
The General Court, in its judicial capacity, played relatively lit- tle part in the administration of justice in western Massachusetts. Mention has already been made of its role in the censure of William Pynchon and in the witchcraft cases of Mary and Hugh Parsons. Its connection with another serious offense reported to have been com- mitted at Northampton appears in a May 22, 1656 entry to the fol- lowing effect:
Whereas the Court hath bin informed that Robert Bartlett, of North- wottuck, alias Northampton, hath committed a great misdemeanor, in at- temptinge to force the wife of one Smyth of the same towne, and some re- port that he did force the said Smyths wife, this Court doth therfore order Mr. John Pynchon, and Mr. Elitzur Hollioke to heare the case, and ex- amine the wittnesses, and if they judg the case capitall, then to cause the offendor to be forthwith sent to the prison at Boston, to answer the same at the next Court of Assistants, whither all the testemonyes and examina- tions are to be sent, and the wittnesses required to appeare at the said Court; but if it be only found by them a misdemeanor, in that case they shall bind over the said Bartlett to the County Court at Cambridge, in October next, with suffycient securitie, to answer for his offence, and cause all the testemonyes and examinations in the case to be sent to the clarke of the said Court, sealed up, and the Court doth hereby give full powre to the said commissioners, by warrent, to send for partyes, and make full process in the case for the fulfilling of this order.13
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