1838] 



FARMERS- REGISTER. 



715 



trees, passed in 1656, and which had been revived 



at the |)rcvious Ptvsion, was;, at this, re-oiiar.ted at 

 lengtli, with heavier penalties and this additional 

 provision. 



'' ,tnd be it further enacted that for the eticou- 

 rairo.ment of all persons that shall endeavour to 

 make silke, there sliaihe allowed in the |)ublique 

 levy 10 any one ibr every pound ol" wound silke 

 he shall make liliy pounds ol' tobacco to be raised 

 in the publique levy and paid in the county or 

 countyes where they dwell that make it." — p. 122. 



The next act was designed to encourage the 

 building of vessels, and the manulacture of salt. 



" For encouragement of building vessels in this 

 country and the (jromoting ot" trade: Bee it en- 

 acted that whosoever shall build a vessell oC any 

 burthen decked and fitted to goe to sea, shall lor 

 every tunn burthen the said vessell shall containe, 

 receive upon proolii ol" her being soe built ffilty 

 pounds of tobacco out of the publique levj'. 



" Whereas Colonel Edmund Scarborough hath 

 to his perticuler charge but to the infinite good of 

 the country erected a salt worke l()r which he hath 

 received deserved thaid<s of the last assembly, 

 This assembly for his greater encouragement have 

 thought filt to grant him the use ol" the mony 

 raised this yeare out of the two shillings per hogs- 

 head* in Northampton county with condition that 

 he make repayment of the same to those the as- 

 sembly shall alioti it the next yeare in salt at two 

 shillings six pence per bushell, and soap at 



" jJnd be it farther enacted that after the first 

 ■of September 1663, noe master of ship, barque or 

 vessell or any person merchant or trader shall 

 bring in any salt into the. county of Northampton 

 under the penalty of confiscatinir his ship, barque 

 or vessell, and goods to the end that he and others 

 may be encouraged in their industrious endeavours 

 to promoie the good ol" the country." — p. 122. 



The provisions of the next act, to encourage the 

 manufacture of leather, are even ludicrous, for the 

 minuteness and yet palpable insufficiency of the 

 details. 



" Bee it also enacted that according to the ffifth 

 act of assembly 1660, there be erected in each 

 county at the charge of the county one or more 

 tanhouses, and they provide tanners, curryers and 

 shoomakers, to lanne, curry and make the hides of 

 the country into leather and shoes, and that the 

 person intrusted with the oversight of the work- 

 men, and manage! ng the trade doe allow to the 

 inhabitants of the county for every dry hide they 

 bring at the rate of two pounds of tobacco per 

 pound, and sell them shoos at thirty pounds of to- 

 bacco plaine shoos, five pounds of" tobacco lor 

 wooden heels and ffrench falls of the size 

 largest sizes, and twenty pounds of tobacco 

 per pair for the smaller shoos, and the count}' lad- 

 ing herein to be fined five thousand pounds of to- 

 bacco."— p. 123. 



By the following act, free trade in general is 

 again permitted : 



* 'Hundred' in Purvis, 'hogshead' in Northumber- 

 land MS. 



" Bee it enacted that ffree trade be allowed to all 



the inhabitants of this country to buy and sell at 

 their best advantage, and that all acts concerning 

 ingrossing, be from henceforth repealed and made 

 voj'd ; Provided always that noe jierson or per- 

 sons shall have any comerce or trade with any 

 Indians for Beaver, Otter or any other fi^urres ex- 

 cept those commissionated by the governor." 

 p. 124. 



Yet, the two next acts to these are flagrant vio- 

 lations of free trade; the one renewing and enforc- 

 ing the prohibition to export wool, hides, and iron, 

 and the other to prohibit the exportation of any 

 money, above the sum of"forty shillings. — pp. 124-5. 



" Whereas oftentimes many brabling women 

 often slander and scandalize their neighbours for 

 which their poore husbands are often brought into 

 chargeable and vexatious suites, and caste in greate 

 damages : Bee it therefore enacted by the authu- 

 rHy aforesaid, that in actions oi' slander occasion- 

 ed by the wile as aforesaid after judgment passed 

 lor the damages the woman shalbe punished by 

 ducking; and if the slander be soe enormous as 

 10 be adjudged at a greater damage then five 

 hundred pounds of tobacco then the woman to 

 sufi'er a ducking for each five hundred pounds of 

 tobacco (a) adjudged against the husband if he 

 refuse to pay the tobacco." — p. 166. 



The following first part of an act, too long to be 

 copied entire, is a curious exhibition of the then 

 prevailing ideas as to the most proper mode to in- 

 duce the building of a town. A striking instance 

 of the feebleness of legislation, when opposed to 

 nature, is presented in the fate of the town of 

 "James Citlie," for the durable construction of 

 which so much care and such strong compulsory 

 measures were here used. Not a single house of 

 the town now remains standing, nor even one brick 

 upon another, except in the ruins of the old church- 

 steeple, and the wall of the adjacent church-yard. 



"Whereas his sacred majestie by his instruc- 

 tions hatli enjoyned us to build a towne, to which 

 though our own conveniences of profit and secu- 

 ritie might urge us, yett encouraged by his ma- 

 jesties royall commands, to which in dutie wee are 

 all bound to yeild a most readie obedience, this 

 grand assembly taking into their serious conside- 

 ration the best meanes of effecting it have in re- 

 lerence thereto enacted. 



First. That a towne be built at James Cilty 

 as being the most convenient place in James 

 River, andjalreadie best fitted for the entertainment 

 of workmen that must be employed in the work. 



That the towne to be built shall consist of" thir- 

 ty-two houses, each house to be built with brick, 

 lorty fool long, twenty fijot wide, within the walls, 

 to be eighteen foote high above the ground, the 

 walls to be two brick thick to the water table, and 

 a brick and a halfe thick above the water table to 

 the roofe, the roofe to be fif"teen foote pitch and to 

 be covered with slate or tile. 



(a) The words 'then the woman to suffer a ducking 

 for each five hundred pounds of tobacco,' not in Nor- 

 thumberland MS. 



