Resolved, That this Convention will immediately resolve itself into a Committee on the said Ordinance.

The Convention accordingly resolved itself into the said Committee; and after some time spent therein, Mr. President resumed the chair, and Mr. Cary reported, that the Committee had, according to order, had under their consideration the said Ordinance, and had gone through the same, and made several Amendments thereto, which he read in his place, and afterwards delivered in at the Clerk’s table, where the same were again twice read, and agreed to.

Ordered, That the said Ordinance, together with the several Amendments, be fairly transcribed, and read a third time.

The Orders of the Day, for a call of the Convention, for the Convention to resolve itself into a Committee on the state of the Colony, and on the Ordinance for amending an Ordinance intituled An Ordinance for raising and imbodying a sufficient force for the defence and protection of this Colony, and for other purposes therein mentioned, being read,

Ordered, That the same be put off till to-morrow.

Adjourned till to-morrow, nine o’clock.

Thursday, July 4, 1776.

Mr. Cary, from the Committee of the whole Convention, reported, according to order, the Amendments to the Ordinance to lay off the Colony into Districts for choice of Senators, which he read in his place, and afterwards delivered in at the Clerk’s table, where the same were again twice read, and agreed to.

Ordered, That the said Ordinance, together with the Amendments, be fairly transcribed, and read a third time.

Resolved, That the Treasurer pay to the several Members of the last House of Burgesses the usual allowance for their attendance on the 15th of October, 1775, the 7th of March, and the 6th of May last, and for travelling to and from the City of Williamsburgh.

Resolved, That the Treasurer be at liberty to exchange the Treasury Notes emitted pursuant to the Ordinances of Convention for the old Treasury Notes with such persons as may be desirous of exchanging the same.

Resolved, That the Delegates of this Commonwealth to the General Congress apply to that Assembly for leave to export Provisions from hence in order to procure Salt for the people of Virginia, it being yet uncertain whether a sufficiency of that necessary article can be procured from the works erected for making it, or by the importation allowed from Bermuda, and that the Governour be desired to take the most prudent caution, with the advice of the Privy Council, for preventing any abuse of the permission, in case it be granted, either by an excess of the quantity exported, or by its falling into the hands of the enemy.

The Convention then, according to the Order of the Day, resolved itself into a Committee on the Ordinance for amending an Ordinance intituled An Ordinance for raising and imbodying a sufficient force for the defence and protection of this Colony, and for other purposes therein mentioned; and after some time spent therein, Mr. President resumed the chair, and Mr. Wythe reported, that the Committee had, according to order, had under their consideration the said Ordinance, and had gone through the same, and made several Amendments thereto, which he read in his place, and afterwards delivered in at the Clerk’s table, where the same were again twice read, and agreed to.

Ordered, That the said Ordinance, together with the several Amendments, be fairly transcribed, and read a third time.

An Ordinance to lay off the Colony into Districts for choice of Senators, and for ascertaining their wages, having been fairly transcribed, was read a third time, and the blanks therein filled up.

Resolved, That the said Ordinance do pass, and that the title thereof be An Ordinance to arrange the Counties in Districts for electing Senators, and to ascertain their Wages.*

Resolved, That William Russell, Arthur Campbell, and Thomas Madison, of Fincastle, Edmund Winston, of Bedford, John Bowyer and John May, of Botetourt, Samuel McDowell, of Augusta, John Harvie, of Albemarle, Abraham Hite, of Hampshire, Charles Simms, of West-Augusta, James Wood, of Frederick, Hugh lnnes, of Pittsylvania, Paul Carrington, of Charlotte, and Bennett Goode and Joseph Speed, of Mecklenburgh, Esquires, be, and they are hereby, appointed Commissioners to collect, take, and commit to writing, the evidence on behalf of this Government against the several persons pretending to claim Lands within the territory and limits of Virginia under deeds and purchases from the Indians; and the said Commissioners, or any two or more of them, are for that purpose empowered to summon and call before them any witness or witnesses, at such times and places as they shall appoint, giving the claimers under such Indian deeds and purchases respectively, his or their agent or agents, at least twenty days’ notice thereof, in writing, and to administer an oath to any such witness or witnesses, and also attend the examination of such witnesses as shall be produced in support of such claims, to cross examine them, and see that their evidence is fairly taken: all the charge whereof, together with liberal allowance to the said Commissioners for their trouble therein, shall be defrayed by the publick.

An Ordinance to amend an Ordinance intituled An Ordinance for establishing a mode of punishment for the enemies of America in this Colony, having been fairly transcribed, was read a third time, and the blanks therein filled up.

Resolved, That the said Ordinance do pass, †

*An Ordinance to arrange the Counties in Districts for electing Senators, and to ascertain their Wages.

For the regular election of Senators to this Convention, at the time the same shall be adjourned to, and that the people may be more equally represented in that branch of the Legislature:

Be it ordained by the Delegates of the Counties and Corporations of VIRGINIA, now met in Convention, and it is hereby ordained by the authority thereof, That the Counties of Accomack and A orthampton shall form one District; the Counties of Princess Anne, Norfolk, and Nansemond, one other District; the Counties of Isle-of-Wight, Surry, and Prince George, one other District; the Counties of Dinwiddie, Southampton, and Sussex, one other District; the Counties of Brunswick, Lunenburgh, and Mecklenburgh, one other District; the Counties of Charlotte, Halifax, and Prince Edward, one other District; the Counties of Chesterfield, Amelia, and Cumberland, one other District; the Counties of Buckingham, Albemarle, and Amherst, one other District; the Counties of Pittsylvania and Bedford, one other District; the Counties of Botetourt and Fincastle, one other District; the Counties of Elizabeth-City, Warwick, and York, one other District; the Counties of Charles-City, James-City, and New-Kent, one other District; the Counties of Henrico, Goochland, and Louisa, one other District; the Counties of Hanover and Caroline, one other District; the Counties of East-Augusta and Dunmore, one other District; the Counties of Gloucester and Middlesex, one other District; the Counties of Essex, King William, and King and Quetn, one other District; the Counties of Lancaster, Richmond, and Northumberland, one other District; the Counties of Westmoreland, Stafford, and King George, one other District; the Counties of Spottsylvania, Orange, and Culpepper, one other District; the Counties of Prince William and Fairfax, one other District; the Counties of Loudoun and Fauauier, one other District; the Counties of Frederick, Berkeley, and Hampshire, one other District; and West-Augusta one other District: for every one of which Districts one Senator shall be chosen by the persons qualified to vote for Delegates, who shall be summoned for that purpose by the Sheriffs, or where there is no such officers, hy the Clerks of the Committees of Observation and Inspection, to meet at the Court-Houses of their respective Counties, or, where there are no Court-Houses, at some other convenient places, on the second Tuesday in September for the First District; on the second Thursday in August for the Second and Fourth Districts; on the first Thursday in August for the Third, Sixteenth, and Nineteenth Districts; on the first Monday in August for the Eighteenth District; on the fifth Thursday in August for the Sixth District; on the first Friday in August for the Seventh District; on the first Monday in September for the Fifth, Eighth, Thirteenth, and Twenty-First Districts; on the fourth Thursday in August for the Ninth and Eleventh Districts; on the first Tuesday in September for the Tenth, Fifteenth, and Twenty-Fourth Districts; on the first Wednesday in September for the Twelfth District; on the third Thursday in August for the Twentieth District; on the second Monday in August for the Seventeenth District; on the second Monday in September for the Twenty-Second District; on the second Tuesday in September for the Twenty-Third District; and on the second Tuesday in August for the Fourteenth District. And the Sheriffs and Clerks of each District, having taken the polls in the manner heretofore used in the election of Burgesses, shall, within ten days afterwards, meet together, and return as a Senator the man who shall have the greatest number of votes, certifying their own votes in case each candidate shall have an equal number.

And for supplying vacancies in this Convention, by death and disqualification of any Delegates thereof, Be it further ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the President of this Convention shall issue warrants to the Sheriffs of those Counties, the Delegates whereof are or shall be dead or disqualified, for the election of other Delegates in their room.

And be it further orduined by the authority aforesaid, That each and every Senator shall be allowed the like number of travelling days, and the same wages, as are or shall by law be established for Burgesses or Delegates coming to, attending on, and returning from, the General Assembly.

†An Ordinance to amend an Ordinance intituled An Ordinance for establishing a mode of punishment for the enemies of America in this Colony,

Whereas an Ordinance intituled An Ordinance for establishing a mode of punishment for the enemies of America in this Colony is defective, and inadequate to the purposes thereby intended: For amendment thereof,