blishment of Turnpike Roads, and § A Table of Fines, Forfeitures, Penal- A Compilation of the several Acts concerning the Mutual Assurance Society against Fire on Buildings, Acts and Resolutions of a general ties, and Amercements; designating such as are to the use of the Com- lessening the County Levy; such as belong to Individuals; and such as 111059 I DO hereby certify, that I examined, in conjunction with William Mung the proof sheets, as they came from the press, of the CONTINUATION OF REVISED CODE OF Laws, comprised in this volume, except from page (105 page (120) inclusive, of the Appendix No. IX. printed during his una void absence from Richmond; which edition has been published by Samuel I ea jun. pursuant to an act of the General Assembly, passed on the 7th day of ant 1807, entituled, "An Act authorising Samuel Pleasants, jun. to publish a collec of certain Public Laws of this Commonwealth, and for other purposes;" tha have carefully compared this edition of the acts with the original laws containe the several sessions acts, from which they were selected, and have found them be truly and accurately printed, except with the variations herein after mention which took place during the absence of Mr. Munford, with whom I examined abovementioned pages after his return. In some few instances, where unimport typographical errors had occurred in the sessions acts, particularly in those 1802 and 1803, they have been corrected by a reference to the Inrolled Bills. The variations above alluded to are the following: Page (108) of the Appendix No. IX. ch. 18, sect. 1, line 8, for "thefor read therefore. Page (117) line 10 from the to for " disability," read inability. Page (118) ch. 29, sect. 1, line 17, for " Suthamptor read Southampton. Given under my hand, at Richmond, this 2nd of September, 1808. WILLIAM WALLER HENING. I DO hereby certify, that I examined, in conjunction with William Walle Hening, the proof sheets, as they came from the press, of the cONTINUATION C THE REVISED CODE OF LAWs, comprised in this volume, except sixteen page of the Appendix No. IX. being from page (105) to page (120) inclusive, whic were printed during my absence from Richmond, and examined after my return that I have carefully compared this edition with the original printed acts o Assembly, of the several sessions, from which its materials were selected, and have found the work truly and accurately printed, except as to the variations mentioned in Mr. Hening's certificate. In some instances, typographical errors in the sessions acts have been corrected by a reference to the Inrolied Bills. Given under my hand, at Richmond, this 2nd day of September, 1808. WILLIAM MUNFORD.. IN N a government emanating from the people, whose will, expressed in the form of laws, is the only sovereign, it must necessarily follow, that those laws will be numerous. If a doubt exist with respect to the meaning of a statute, which cannot be re noved by the judges according to settled rules of interpretation, or, if it be defecove, the explanation in the one case, or the amendment in the other, can' oal bade by the legislative authority, vested in the representatives of the peoplo Net so, in a despotic government, where the will of the prince, supplies the defects of the law, and his dictum is regarded as the law itself. Yet, strange as it may appear, how often have we heard the concise code of Frederick of Prussia extolled as a model worthy of imitation! How often has a wish been expressed by some of those living under our free government, that our code of laws should be assimilated to his! Is there a man who, upon serious reflection, would consent to give up his liberty with his volumes of laws, and become a slave that he might be governed by a concise code? Would he be willing to exchange the right of selfgovernment for a despotism? Such would be the effect of yielding to a system of legislation which substitutes the will of an individual for the voice of the people. That spirit of liberty which caused thousands of our ancestors to migrate to this western world, was very early manifested in their laws. And, notwithstanding the restrictions imposed by the British government on the colonial legislatures, and the severe conflicts which frequently arose, respecting the prerogative of the kings of England, and the rights of the people of America, in matters of selfgovernment, the legislature of Virginia, lost no opportunity in providing a code of laws adapted to the situation of the country. From the year 1619, when the first legislature met in Virginia, to the present time, our laws have been various and complicated. This produced the necessity of having frequent revisals; some of which, being made before any printing presses were introduced in America, have remained till this day in manuscript. Those in print are, Purvis's collection, published in London, (supposed in the year 1682,) and the editions of 1733, 1752, 1769, 1785, 1794, and 1803. In some of those collections all the acts relating to the same subject were consolidated into single bills, by a committee of revisors, and re-enacted by the legislature: but in others, there was a mere compilation of the acts of a public nature then in force. The last revisal of our laws, came down to the end of the session of 1801; since which period, a variety of public acts of great importance have been passed. These form in the present collection, ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO CHAPTERS, which are dispersed through the different sessions acts. When it is considered, that upwards of one thousand magistrates in Virginia, appointed within the last four years, have been but partially furnished with those sessions acts, and that none of them have the aid of a complete and general INDEX, the utility and even necessity of this compilation must be obvious. But the continuation of the Revised Code, so far as it respects a collection of the acts of a public and permanent nature, is far from being the most valuable part of the publication. The appendices at the end of the volume, it is believed, will be found to contain matter of equal importance with that in the body of the work; which additional matter, is the more valuable, as it has hitherto been of more difficult access. |