Statutes at Large;

BEING

A COLLECTION

OF ALL THE

LAWS OF VIRGINIA,

FROM THE

FIRST SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE,

IN THE YEAR 1619.

PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO AN ACT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF VIRGINIA, PASSED ON THE FIFTH DAY OF FEBRUARY,
ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND EIGHT.

VOLUME VII.

::

By WILLIAM WALLER HENING.

"The Laws of a country are necessarily connected with every thing be-
longing to the people of it; so that a thorough knowledge of them, and
of their progress would inform us of every thing that was most use-
ful to be known about them; and one of the greatest imperfections
of historians in general, is owing to their ignorance of law."

PRIESTLEY'S LECT. ON HIST. VOL. I. pa. 149

RICHMOND.

PRINTED FOR THE EDITOR.

AT THE FRANKLIN PRESS-MARKET BRIDGE.

....

1820.

WE JOHN M. MARTIN and WILLIAM SMITH, Members of the Executive Council of Virginia, do hereby certify that the Laws contained in the Seventh volume of HENING'S Statutes at Large, have been by us, examined and compared with the originals from which they were taken, and have been found truly and accurately printed, except as to a list of Errata to the number of thirty-nine, at the end of the volume.

Given under our hands this 23d day of June 1820.

JOHN M. MARTIN.
WILLIAM SMITH.

TO THE

Seventh Volume of the Statutes at Large.

THE Editor is now enabled to present to the public, a volume of the Statutes at Large, without the omission of a single act, either public, private, local or temporary. He has already announced his intention to publish the few acts, which were unavoidably omitted in the former volumes, in an appendix to the last volume, with a GENERAL INDEX to the whole work. Part of the materials have been obtained since the publication of the sixth volume.

The colony having, with its usual loyalty, made great exertions to aid the mother country in prosecuting the French and Indian war, much of this volume is taken up with providing the purse and the sword. Some other acts of a general nature, deserve to be particularly noticed. Such as the act providing that Tobacco debts might be paid in money, at a certain stipulated rate (a); the repeal of the act, giving a reward for Indian scalps (); an act for encouraging arts and manufactures (c); an act for better regulating the election of burgesses (d); and an act for the relief of insolvent debtors, on the principles of the bankrupt law of England; which never went into operation, it having been repealed at the next session (e).

At the end of this volume, the two important proclamations of 1754, and 1765, (from which titles to large tracts of valuable lands, on the western waters are derived,) are inserted.

In order to commence the laws of the revolution with a volume, it has been found necessary to extend this to upwards of 700 pages; more than one hundred beyond the editor's prospectus. This will be a loss to the editor, but will be attended with no additional cost to his subscribers.

WILLIAM WALLER HENING.

(a) See pa. 240, 277. (b) See pa. 241. (c) See pa. 288, 563. (d) See pa. 517. (e) See pa. 549, 643.

List of Governors of Virginia, during the period comprised in this volume.

Robert Din

widdie, esq.

ROBERT DINWIDDIE, ESQ. who had been pointed Governor sometime between 1749, and 1752, (see list of Governors prefixed to the 6th volume,) continued until the 10th of February 1758, (see proclamation book in the office of the General Court, from 1748 to 1769, pa. 207,) when Francis Fauquier, Esq. was Francis Fauappointed his successor.

quier, esq.