Mr. Randolph, from the Committee appointed to inquire into the several offences of the Prisoners confined in the publick Jail, and report what, in their opinion, would be the most eligible mode of delivering them therefrom, reported, that the Committee had accordingly examined into the same, and that it appeared to them, by a certificate from the keeper of the said Jail, that he hath now in his custody Thomas Mc-Cluskeyand Elizabethhis wife, charged with burglary; Manasses McGahey, charged with murder; Benjamin Higgins, charged with robbery; Thomas Potter, charged with horse-stealing; Habakkuk Pride, charged with murder; Samuel Flanagin, charged with horse-stealing; that the said Thomas McCluskeyand Elizabethhis wife, so charged as aforesaid with burglary, and Benjamin Higgins, so as aforesaid charged with robbery, having been ready for trial at the Oyer and Terminer Court which ought to have been held in Decemberlast, and at the General Court which ought to have been held in Aprillast, and no prosecution having been carried on against them, have a right, according to ancient practice, to demand a discharge from their confinement; and that the said Elizabeth McCluskey, acting in the presence of and under the coercion of her said husband, is by law absolved from all guilt and criminality in that respect. That the proceedings of the County Court of Loudoun, in the examination of the said Manasses McGahey, so as aforesaid charged with murder, make no mention of any evidence deposed against him. That against Benjamin Higgins, charged with robbery, Habakkuk Pride, with murder, and Samuel Flanagin, with horse-stealing, no proceedings have been transmitted from the Courts of the Counties where they were respectively examined. That Thomas Potter,charged with horse-stealing, appears, by the depositions of several witnesses who were sworn upon his examination, to be innocent thereof. That it further appeared, from the deposition of Elizabeth Hultz, that Mary Howell, who is charged with murder, and now in her way from the County of Berkeley, is guilty thereof. And that they had come to several Resolutions thereupon, which he read in his place, and afterwards delivered in at the Clerk’s table, where the same were again read, as follows:

Resohed, That the said Thomas McCluskeyand Elizabethhis wife, Thomas Potter, and Benjamin Higgins, be forthwith discharged out of custody.

Resolved,That some mode of trial be adopted for the delivering of Samuel Flanagin, Manasses McGahey, Habakkuk Pride, and Mary Howell.

The first Resolution of the Committee being read a second time, was, upon the question put thereupon, agreed to by the Convention.

The subsequent Resolution of the Committee being read a second time, was, on the question put thereupon, ordered to lie on the table.

Adjourned till to-morrow, ten o’clock.

Wednesday, June 12, 1776.

The Declaration of Rights having been fairly transcribed, was read a third time, and passed, as follows, nem. con. :

1. That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

2. That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the People; that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them.

3. That Government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community;—of all the various modes and forms of Government that is best which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is most effectually secured against the danger of mal-administration;—and that, whenever any Government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right, to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the publick weal.

4. That no man, or set of men, are entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments and privileges from the community, but in consideration of publick services; which, not being descendible, neither ought the offices of Magistrate, Legislator, or Judge, to be hereditary.

5. That the Legislative and Executive powers of the State should be separate and distinct from the Judicative; and, that the members of the two first may be restrained from oppression, by feeling and participating the burdens of the people, they should, at fixed periods, be reduced to a private station, return into that body from which they were originally taken, and the vacancies be supplied by frequent, certain, and regular elections, in which all, or any part of the former members, to be again eligible, or ineligible, as the law shall direct.

6. That elections of members to serve as Representatives of the people, in Assembly, ought to be free; and that all men, having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with, and attachment to, the community, have the right of suffrage, and cannot be taxed or deprived of their property for publick uses without their own consent or that of their Representative so elected, nor bound by any law to which they have not, in like manner, assented, for the publick good.

7. That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any authority, without consent of the Representatives of the people, is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised.

8. That in all capital or criminal prosecutions a man hath a right to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the accusers and witnesses, to call for evidence in his favour, and to a speedy trial by an impartial jury of his vicinage, without whose unanimous consent he. cannot be found guilty, nor can he be compelled to give evidence against himself; that no man be deprived of his liberty except by the law of the land, or the judgment of his peers.

9. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

10. That general warrants, whereby any officer or messenger may be commanded to search suspected places without evidence of a fact committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, or whose offence is not particularly described and supported by evidence, are grievous and oppressive, and ought not to be granted.

11. That in controversies respecting property, and in suits between man and man, the ancient trial by Jury is preferable to any other, and ought to be held sacred.

12. That the freedom of the Press is one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotick Governments.

13. That a well-regulated Militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defence of a free State; that Standing Armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that, in all cases, the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.

14. That the people have a right to uniform Government; and, therefore, that no Government separate from, or independent of, the Government of Virginia,ought to be erected or established within the limits thereof.

15. That no free Government, or the blessing of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.

16. That Religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and, therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practise Christian forbearance, love, and charity, towards each other.

Richard Adams,Esq., a Delegate for the County of Henrico,laid before the Convention a Letter from Richard Randolph, Esq., bearing date the 15th of April, 1776, informing him that he should lay a complaint before the ensuing Assembly against him, respecting a report which, had prevailed, of his (the said Adams) being instrumental to a forgery’s