The Laws of a country are necessarily connected with every thing belonging 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 useful to be known about them; and one of the greatest imperfections of historians in general, is owing to their ignorance of law." PRINTED FOR THE EDITOR, BY R. & W. & G. BARTOW 1823. We, Robert G. Scott, William Selden and William Robertson, members of the Executive Council of Virginia, do hereby certify, that the laws contained in the second volume of HENING's Statutes at Large, have been, by us, examined and compared with a copy as corrected by the certificate of the examiners heretofore appointed, from which they were taken, by Robert G. Scott and William Selden from page 17 to page 30 inclusive; by Robert G. Scott and William Robertson from page 31 to page 505 inclusive, and by Robert G. Scott and William Selden from page 506 to the end, and we have found the pages respectively examined by us, truly and accurately printed, except as to the following list of errata to the number of seven. Given under our hands this 10th day of September, 1825. ROBERT G. SCOTT, Pa, 56, 1. 5 from bottom, for "our of out" read "out of our." 66 89, 5 for "" quartnernes" read " quarter nes." 214, 7 66 for "county" read "country." 232, 13 from bottom, insert "it" between "care" and hath." 474, 4 for "pay" read "paying." THE first volume of this work brings down the laws to the termination of the commonwealth of England, in May 1660.-This volume commences with the first session after the restoration of Charles II; and besides the acts of October, 1660, and March, 1660-1, which are prior to Purvis's printed collection, it contains all the laws to be found in that collection, with the addition of all those which had been omitted, including the laws passed during Bacon's opposition to the government, and under his immediate influence. On comparing the printed laws in Purvis, with MSS. of the same date, which are of undoubted authenticity, it was discovered that many entire laws were omitted in that collection; that whole sentences. were left out in others, and that innumerable typographical errors had been suffered to pass unnoticed, which totally varied the sense. These errors had been so generally copied into the revisals of 1733, 1752 and 1769, that it became necessary to give "Various Readings" at the bottom of the page. (a) The opinion heretofore entertained that Purvis's collection was the first revisal of our laws which appeared in print, has been found, on examination, to be incorrect. The revisal of 1661-2, was sent to London to be printed ;(b) and, long before the publication of Purvis, (which was between the years 1684 and 1687 (c) it was referred to by the printed laws. (d) Although the acts in this volume commence with those of OcroBER, 1660, which was the FIRST year of the ACTUAL REIGN of Charles II, yet, in conformity with the English chronology, which takes no notice of the existence of the commonwealth, they are here dated as of the 12th of Charles II.(e) The first care of the assembly, after the restoration, was to provide for a new edition of their laws, with a view to adapt them to the change which had taken place in the government. This work was confided to Col. Francis Morrison, and Henry Randolph, clerk of the house of burgesses, by a resolution which passed at the session of March, 1660-1.(f) These revised laws were compiled (a) See note to pages 41, 42, (d) See p. 189, 247. (b) See p. 147. (c) See preface to vol. 1, p. v. |