Yearly rent Quantity of | Rate of land | Total amount of value of | Amount of tax at one and a of lots.

land exclusive of lots.

half per cent.

7t. 16s. Od. 4 10 0

land.

per acre.

D.

1

201.

1000

10s.

E.

G.

60

0

18

0

So much of all and every act of assembly as comes within the purview of this act shall be and the same is hereby repealed.

CHAP. VII.

An act to carry into execution the requisition of congress upon this state for a troop of cavalry.

1. WHEREAS the United States in congress as- Troop of ea sembled, have, by their act of the twentieth of Octo- valry to be raised, purber, one thousand seven hundred and eighty six, as- suant to a signed to this state as its quota of troops to be imme- resolution of diately raised for the service of the United States, one congress. troop of light dragoons, to consist of sixty troopers, with their proper officers:

II. Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, That the governor, with the advice of the council of state, may, and he is hereby empowered and directed, to appoint a captain, lieutenant, and cornet, to command the said troop; and the said officers when so appointed, shall proceed with all dispatch to recruit sixty men by voluntary enlistment, to serve in the armies of the United States for three years, unless sooner discharged, and each trooper when enlisted, shall receive a bounty of five dollars.

III. And be it further enacted, That the governor, with the advice of the council of state, may draw upon the treasurer for as much money as may be necessary fully to carry this act into execution; which the treasurer shall pay out of the money appropriated for the payment of this state's quota of the requisition of congress of September, one thousand seven hundred and eighty five.

constitution.

CHAP. VIII.

An act for appointing deputies from this commonwealth to a convention proposed to be held in the city of Philadelphia in May next, for the purpose of revising the federal constitution.

1. WHEREAS the commissioners who assembled at Annapolis, on the fourteenth day of September last, Deputies ap for the purpose of devising and reporting the means of pointed to convention, enabling congress to provide effectually for the comfor revising mercial interests of the United States, have representthe federal ed the necessity of extending the revision of the federal system to all its defects; and have recommended that deputies for that purpose be appointed by the several legislatures, to meet in convention in the city of Philadelphia, on the second day of May next; a provision which seems preferable to a discussion of the subject in congress, where it might be too much interrupted by the ordinary business before them, and where it would besides be deprived of the valuable counsels of sundry individuals, who are disqualified by the constitution or laws of particular states, or restrained by peculiar circumstances from a seat in that assembly: And whereas the general assembly of this commonwealth, taking into view the actual situation of the confederacy, as well as reflecting on the alarming representations made from time to time by the United States in congress, particularly in their act of the fifteenth day of February last, can no longer doubt that the crisis is arrived at which the good people of America are to decide the solemn question, whether they will by wise and magnanimous efforts reap the just fruits of that independence, which they have so gloriously acquired, and of that union which they have cemented with so much of their common blood; or whether by giving way to unmanly jealousies and prejudicies, or to partial and transitory interests, they will renounce the auspicious blessings prepared for them by the revolution, and furnish to its enemies an

eventual triumph over those by whose virtue and valour it has been accomplished: And whereas the same noble and extended policy, and the same fraternal and affectionate sentiments, which originally determined the citizens af this commonwealth to unite with their brethren of the other states in establishing a federal government, cannot but be felt with equal force now, as motives to lay aside every inferior consideration, and to concur in such further concessions and provisions, as may be necessary to secure the great objects for which that government was instituted, and to render the United States as happy in peace, as they have been glorious in war:

II. Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, That seven commissioners be appointed by joint ballot of both houses of assembly, who, or any three of them, are hereby authorized as deputies from this commonwealth, to meet such deputies as may be appointed and autho'rised by other states, to assemble in convention at Philadelphia, as above recommended, and to join with them in devising and discussing all such alterations and further provisions, as may be necessary to render the federal constitution adequate to the exigencies of the union; and in reporting such an act for that purpose, to the United States in congress, as, when agreed to by them, and duly confirmed by the several states, will effectually provide for the same.

III. And be it further enacted, That in case of the death of any of the said deputies, or of their declining their appointments, the executive are hereby authorised to supply such vacancies. And the governor is requested to transmit forwith a copy of this act to the United States in congress, and to the executives of each of the states in the union.