monwealth. And it shall be the duty of the officer taking such oaths out of the county or corporation in which he resides, to transmit the certificate of such qualification, signed by such justice, mayor, or alderman, to the court of the county where such officer may reside, there to be entered of record by the clerk. 21. All acts and parts of acts, coming within the purview of this Repealing clause. act, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed. 22. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the Commencement. passing thereof. CHAP. 8.-An ACT for the defence of the eastern frontier of this common wealth. (Passed February 8, 1808.) cause cannon to be mounted. 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the executive Executive to of this commonwealth be, and they are hereby authorized and required, to cause to be mounted on sufficient and proper carriages, all the pieces of artillery belonging to this commonwealth, fit for service, the expense whereof shall be defrayed out of any monies in the treasury. gress being ob tained, executive to raise 8 companies of artillerists, they think it expedient. 2. And be it further enacted, That so soon as the consent of Consent of concongress shall have been obtained, and the executive shall deem it expedient, they shall cause to be raised for the service of this commonwealth, eight companies of artillerists, each company to consist of one captain, one first lieutenant, one second lieutenant, one third lieutenant, four sergeants, four corporals, two musicians, eight artificers and fifty-six privates, whose monthly pay, rations and clothing, shall be the same as is allowed by the United States. Every recruit shall be enlisted for five years, unless sooner discharged; and shall on his enlistment receive a bounty of sixteen dollars. The men enlisted to serve in the said corps, shall be able-bodied free white citizens, not less than five feet five inches high, and between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, and such as owe allegiance to no foreign power; but no person under twenty-one years of age shall be enlisted without the consent of his father, guardian or master, as the case may be. &c. to soldiers, same as in the army of the United States. 3. The compensation to be allowed for wounds or disabilities re- Compensation, ceived by any person belonging to the said corps, while in the line of his duty, in public service, shall be the same as in like cases, allowed by the United States. And every person belonging to the said corps shall take and subscribe the following oath: "I, A. B. do swear that I will be true to the commonwealth of Virginia, and will serve faithfully against all the enemies and opposers thereof, and obey the orders of the governor, and the orders of the officers set over me, according to the rules and articles of war." 4. The said corps of artillerists shall be in all respects subject to To be governed by the rules and articles of war, which have been established by congress, or by such rules as shall be by law established. the articles of war, &c. 5. The expense of raising and maintaining the said corps, shall Expense, how to be defrayed out of any money in the treasury. be defrayed. 6. The said corps shall be employed by the governor or chief To be employed at magistrate of this commonwealth, for the protection thereof, in such the discretion of manner as he shall think proper. the executive. 7. And in order that the claim which this state will have upon Executive to the general government (who are bound to provide for the common counts to be kept, 47 cause correct ac &c. Commencement. Public guard re. duced. Act repealing act repealed. defence) may be sufficiently authenticated, the executive shall cause to be kept correct accounts, supported by proper vouchers, of all the expense incurred in raising and maintaining the said companies of artillerists. S. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the passing thereof. CHAP. 9.-An ACT for the security of public property in the city of Richmond. (Passed January 19, 1808.) 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the public guard in the city of Richmond, shall be reduced to one lieutenant, one ensign, two sergeants, two corporals, two musicians and thirty pri vates. 2. The act of assembly passed on the twenty-second day of establishing guard January, one thousand eight hundred and seven, repealing the act establishing a guard in the city of Richmond, shall be, and the same is hereby repealed. Laws regulating public guard in force. Commencing clause. Duty of court where a poor house is erected. Overseers of the poor may adjourn when sufficient number to do bu siness do not meet. Repealing clause. Commencement. 3. The laws in force relative to the public guard, previous to the passage of the said recited act, are revived, except so far as respects the number thereof. In making the reduction, the executive shall retain in service, the men most fit to perform the duty, and shall have power to dismiss any officer of the said guard, when they shall deem it expedient, and commission another in his stead. 4. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the passing thereof. CHAP. 10.-An ACT to amend an act, entitled, "An act providing for the poor, and declaring who shall be deemed vagrants." (Passed January 20, 1808.) 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That in all cases where a county or corporation court have, or hereafter may provide or build a poor house, or work house, for the reception of their poor, and for the reformation of vagrants, it shall be the duty of the overseers of the poor of such county or corporation, and they are hereby required, to employ and appoint a proper person or persons, as steward or managers thereof, who shall be subject to the control and directions of such overseers, or a majority of them. 2. And be it further enacted, That if on an adjourned meeting of the overseers of the poor, in the month of September, in any year, the number required by law do not assemble, it shall be lawful for those present, to adjourn from time to time, until a sufficient number assemble to proceed to business, observing in all other respects, the regulations required by the act providing for the poor, and declaring who shall be deemed vagrants. 3. And be it enacted, That all acts and parts of acts within the purview of this act, shall be and are hereby repealed. 4. This act shall commence and be in force from the passing thereof. CHAP. 11.-An ACT altering the sessions of the court of appeals, and for other purposes. (Passed December 24, 1807.) sessions of the 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That instead of the Times of holding times appointed by law, for the sessions of the court of appeals, court of appeals the terms of the said court, shall in future be held at the following changed. times in every year, and continue the number of days hereinafter mentioned, unless the business before the said court be sooner done; the first shall commence on the first day of March, and continue twenty-seven juridical days; the second shall commence on the fifteenth day of April, and continue forty-four juridical days; and the third shall commence on the first day of October, and continue fifty-five juridical days. When any day appointed for the commencement of a term, shall be Sunday, such term shall commence on the succeeding day. attend on the first afterwards suffi 2. And be it further enacted, That if from sickness or any other Provision in case cause, a sufficient number of the judges to constitute a court, shall judges should not not attend on the first day of any term, the said court shall stand day of a term or adjourned from day to day, for ten days successively, or until a suf- cient to forni a ficient number shall attend, and if that shall not happen before four court. o'clock of the tenth day, then the court shall stand adjourned, and all suits depending therein, continued to the next court. And if during any session, after a court shall have been constituted, a sufficient number of judges to make a court do not attend, there shall be no discontinuance of the term, but the court shall stand adjourned, from day to day, till a sufficient number shall attend: Provided, That shall happen in ten days, and if it does not, then the court and all suits therein depending, shall stand adjourned to the first day of the succeeding term. 3. So much of any act or acts as is contrary to this act, shall be Repealing clause. and is hereby repealed. 4. This act shall commence in force from the passing thereof. Commencement. CHAP. 12.—An ACT to suspend the operation of the "Act concerning the public guard, and for other purposes." [Passed December 31, 1807.] public guard, sus 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the operation of Operation of the the act, entituled, "An act concerning the public guard, and for act concerning other purposes," passed on the twenty-second day of January, one pended. thousand eight hundred and seven, shall be, and the same is hereby suspended until the twentieth day of January next, any thing in the said act, or in any other act to the contrary notwithstanding. 2. This act shall commence and be in force from the passing Commencement. thereof. Slave going at large, how to be dealt with. Commencement. CHAP. 13.-An ACT to prevent further the practice of slaves going at large, or (Passed January 29, 1808.) 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That if any person shall permit his or her slave, or any slave hired by him or her, to go at large, or hire himself or herself out, it shall be lawful for any person, and it shall moreover be the duty of every sheriff, deputy sheriff, coroner and constable, of a county, and sergeant, coroner and constable of a corporation, to apprehend and carry such slave before a magistrate of the county or corporation where apprehended, and if it shall appear to the magistrate, that such slave hath been permitted to go at large, or hire himself or herself out, he shall forthwith impose on the owner of such slave, or the person permitting him or her to go at large, or hire himself or herself out, a fine not less than ten dollars, nor more than twenty dollars; or may, in his discretion, order the slave to the jail of the county or corporation, there to be safely kept until the next court, when, if it shall appear to the court, that such slave hath been permitted to go at large, or hire himself or herself out contrary to law, it shall be lawful for the said court in their discretion, and they are hereby required, either to impose on the owner of such slave, or the person permitting him or her to go at large, or hire himself or herself out as aforesaid, a fine not less than twenty dollars, nor more than fifty dollars, or order the sheriff or other officer of their county or corporation, to sell every such slave, agreeably to the law in such case made. And in every case of a fine imposed under this act, the slave shall be held in custody and liable therefor, and may be sold by order of the magistrate or court imposing the same, and in satisfaction thereof, and all incidental charges, unless the same be paid within ten days after such fine is imposed; upon payment whereof, the said slave shall be discharged. All such fines shall be for the benefit of the poor of the county or corporation wherein the same are imposed: Provided, That no sale of a slave for a fine under this act, shall convey a greater interest in such slave than is held by the person incurring the fine, unless it shall appear that the owner of such slave was privy to, or connived at, the breach of this act. 2. This act shall be in force from the first day of June next. Terms of the court changed. Chancellor may CHAP. 14.-An ACT concerning the court of chancery for the Richmond dis- (Passed January 30, 1808.) 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the first session of the superior court of chancery for the Richmond district, shall hereafter commence on the first day of February; the second session, on the first day of June; and the third session, on the first day of September in each year, and each session shall continue twenty-four juridical days, if business requires: When any of the said days shall be Sunday, such term shall commence on the succeeding day. 2. Be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall prohibit grant appeal, &c. the judge in the court of chancery of the Richmond district from granting an appeal on any judgment given in the last September 4 term, for good cause shewn, between the first day of February next and the first day of May next. issued, how re 3. All process which has issued from the said court, returnable Process which has to the first or seventeenth days of the next term, shall be returnable turnable. on the days in the month of March next, which would have been the first or seventeenth days of the session of the said court, if this act had not passed. 4. The executive shall procure a proper seal for each of the su- Executive to properior courts of chancery. cure seals for superior courts of 5. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the chancery. passage thereof. CHAP. 15.-An ACT to amend the act, entituled, " An act reducing into one the several acts for apprehending and securing runaways." (Passed February 1, 1808.) Commencement. 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That any person who Reward for appremay hereafter apprehend a runaway slave, shall be entitled to the hending runaway. reward of two dollars, and mileage as heretofore. vertise. 2. Be it further enacted, That in cases where the sheriff or ser- Sheriff how to adgeant of any county or corporation is required to advertise any runaway in the Virginia Gazette, it shall be lawful for such officer to publish such advertisement in any public newspaper most convenient for that purpose. not claim. 3. And be it further enacted, That if any runaway slave be hired How to proceed out by any sheriff or sergeant, and the owner claim not within three when owner does months, the said sheriff or sergeant shall proceed to hire the runaway out for three months more, and so on for twelve months, unless the owner sooner claim such runaway. If the owner claim not within twelve months, the sheriff or sergeant shall advertise for one month in some public newspaper the time and place of selling the said runaway. 4. All acts and parts of acts coming within the purview of this Repealing clause. act, shall be and are hereby repealed. 5. This act shall commence and be in force from the passing Commencement. thereof. CHAP. 16.-An ACT to authorize the executive to distribute arms in certain cases. (Passed February 5, 1808.) certain cases. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the governor, Executive to diswith the advice of the council of state, be and he is hereby autho- tribute arms in rized, at his discretion, to arm such portions of the militia of this commonwealth as may at any time be called into actual service, or who from their particular situation may be most exposed to invasion or insurrection, any law to the contrary notwithstanding. |
