THE STATE RECORDS OF NORTH CAROLINA. PUBLISHED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE TRUS- OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. COLLECTED AND EDITED BY WALTER CLARK, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA. VOL. XXIV. LAWS 1777-1788 NASH BROTHERS, GOLDSBORO, N. C. Q97516 الا کا 1124 PREFATORY NOTES. This collection of the Laws of the State is of unusual historical interest, as it affords a view of the labors of the patriots of 1776, who, amid the clash of arms and in the throes of rebellion, went steadily forward in establishing civil government on a just and enduring basis. In July, 1774, the inhabitants of the Cape Fear District met in general meeting and appointed a committee to address the people of each county and recommended that they appoint deputies to attend a Provincial Congress or Convention. This appeal gave rise to committees in the several counties, which later became "Committees of Safety," and entirely supplanted the old system of government, while the Provincial Congress took the place of the General Assembly. In December, 1776, a State Constitution was adopted and the first General Assembly of the State was elected under its provisions, and met in April, 1777. New laws were now to be enacted in conformity with the provisions of the State Constitution. Already two parties had made their appearance, dividing the Patriot leaders into contending factions. The principal subjects on which there was a divergence of opinion were those relating to the administration of the law. Eventually there was a court system adopted, which engaged the best powers of James Iredell, and in the preparation of which Archibald Maclaine also seems to have had a hand. Dr. Kemp P. Battle, in his address on the "History of the Supreme Court," says that this law is essentially a copy of the Act of 1767. He adds: "The codifiers of the Revised Statutes of 1836 give the credit to the unknown author of the Court Law of 1767, but an inspection of the Act of 1746 shows that its authors should have equal praise." of By the Convention or Congress of December, 1776, quite a number persons were appointed commissioners to prepare bills to be passed into laws, and the fruits of their labors are manifest in the laws embraced in this volume-"laws which have received repeated encomiums for the ability and skill and accuracy with which they are drawn." Indeed, the records of those times, in every department of public action, bear ample testimony to the very superior merit of our North Carolina statesmen and legislators. In this volume will be found of special interest the laws by which the State raised its quota of men and means to carry on the war, and the difficult phases pro 92358 |