OF A PUBLIC AND PERMANENT NATURE, AS ARE NOW IN FORCE; WITH A TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED THE DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, AND CONSTITUTION, OR FORM OF GOVERNMENT. PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO AN ACT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, INTITULED, "AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE REPUBLICATION OF THE LAWS OF THIS COMMONWEALTH," PASSED ON THE TWENTYEIGHTH DAY OF DECEMBER, ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND NINETY-TWO. RICH M O N D : Printed by Augustine Davis, Printer for the Commonwealth, 1794. 1776. gillate for us in all cases whatsoever: By plundering our feas, ravaging our coafts, burning our towns, and destroying the lives of our people : By inciting insurrections of our fellowsubjects, with the allurements of forfeiture and confifcation: By prompting our negroes to rife in arms among us, those very negroes, whom, by an inhuman use of his negative, he hath refused us permiffion to exclude by law: By endeavouring to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undiftinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions of existence: By transporting at this time, a large army of foreign mercenaries, to complete the works of death, defolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumftances of cruelty and perfidy unworthy the head of a civilized nation: By answering our repeated petitions for redress with a repetition of injuries: And finally, by abandoning the helm of government, and declaring us out of Former go his allegiance and protection. By which several acts of misrule, the government of this country, as formerly exercised under the crown of Great-Britain, is totally diffolved. vernment dif folved II. WE therefore, the Delegates and Representatives of the good people of Virginia, having maturely confidered the premises, and viewing with great concern the deplorable Another des condition to which this once happy country must be reduced, unless some regular adequate mode of civil polity is speedily adopted, and in compliance with a recommendation of the General Congress, do ordain and declare the future form of government of Virginia to be as followeth: III. THE Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary departments, shall be separate and diftinct, so that neither exercise the powers properly belonging to the other; nor shall any perfon exerci. the powers of more than one of them at the fame time, except that the Juftices of the county courts shall be eligible to either House of Assembly. IV. THE Legislative shall be formed of two distinct branches, who, together, shall be a complete Legiflature. They shall meet once or oftener, every year, and shall be called the General Affembly of Virginia. Legiflative, an exception. Legislative formed of two General Af sembly, shall meet every year, once or Softener to be called the which, V. ONE of these shall be called the House of Delegates, and consist of two Representatives to be chofen for each county, and for the district of West Augusta, annually, of such men as actually refide in and are freeholders of the fame, or duly qualified according to law, and also one Delegate or Representative to be chofen annually for the city of Williamsburg, and one for the borough of Norfolk, and a Representative for each of fuch other cities and boroughs as may hereafter be allowed particular representation by the Legiflature; but when any city or borough shall so decrease as that the number of persons having right of fuffrage therein shall have been for the space of seven years successively less than right to reprehalf the number of voters in some one county in Virginia, such city or borough thence- fentation shall forward shall cease to fend a Delegate or Representative to the Affembly. VI. THE other shall be called the Senate, and confist of twenty-four members, of whom thirteen shall constitute a House to proceed on business, for whose election the different counties shall be divided into twenty-four districts, and each county of the refpective district, at the time of the election of its Delegates, shall vote for one Senator, who is actually a refident and freeholder within the district, or duly qualified according to law, and is upwards of twenty-five years of age; and the sheriffs of each county, within five days at farthest after the last county election in the district, shall meet at some convenient place, and from the poll so taken in their respective counties return as a Senator the man who shall have the greatest number of votes in the whole district. To keep up this Affembly by rotation, the districts shall be equally divided into four classes, and numbered by lot. At the end of one year after the general election, the fix members elected by the first division shall be displaced, and the vacancies thereby occafioned supplied from such class or division, by new election, in the manner aforesaid. This rotation shall be applied to each division, according to its number, and continued in due order annually. VII. THAT the right of fuffrage in the election of members of both Houses shall remain as exercised at present, and each House shall choose its own Speaker, appoint its own officers, settle its own rules of proceeding, and direct writs of election for fupplying inter mediate vacancies. VIII. ALL laws shall originate in the House of Delegates, to be approved or rejected by the Senate, or to be amended with the consent of the House of Delegates, except money bills, which in no instance shall be altered by the Senate, but wholly approved or rejected. B and for what porations ceafe. ber of mem of what numbers the other, called the Sefift, and how chofen. nate, shall con they shall be Each House may choose its Speaker and officers, and issue writs for fupplying va cancies. Laws thailori ginate in the House of De legates, but bills, amenda if not money bie by the Se nate. |