After Governor Botetourt dissolved the General Assembly of Virginiaon May 17, 1769, the former burgesses reconvened at Anthony Hay's Raleigh Tavern and chose their former Speaker, Peyton Randolph, as "Moderator." I'm curious about the term - which the former burgesses seem to have fastened upon very quickly that afternoon. OED has references to Moderator as a presiding officer in the Scottish Kirk, a town or municipal official, and in antiquity a provincial governor -- and the Roman-era usage of provincial governor turns up in some JSTOR articles. These strike me as possible but not necessarily obvious antecedents. Am wondering whether the term Moderator as a presiding officer of a legislative body or convention etc. had any associations with civic republican or commonwealth tradition .... Jon Kukla ________________ www.JonKukla.com <http://www.jonkukla.com/> ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html