VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA AT THE LITCHFIELD LAW SCHOOL. By A. J. MORRISON. The Law School at Litchfield, Connecticut, established by Judge Reeve before the Revolution and continued by Judge Gould until about 1832, was a famous log institution, and not more imposing physically than many of our 'two-room' schools now under ban. Reference is had occasionally to the fact that some Virginian or North Carolinian followed studies at the Litchfield School. It will be of interest to many people to have a full list, as accurate as possible. That given below is taken from Dwight Kilbourne's Bench and Bar of Litchfield County, published in 1909. School catalogues were not numerous before 1825. The first catalogue (apparently a general catalogue) of the Litchfield School was issued in 1828, the conspicuous Tariff year, when the Southern patronage of the school fell off sharply. Chancellor Wythe died in 1806. The trend to Litchfield began soon afterward. Of the students there from the two states, twentyone from Virginia and twenty-one from North Carolina, not many were what are called big guns in after life. We may fancy that most of them were Federalists. REBELLIOUS SONG. (From the Records of York Co., Va.) At a Court held for York County, July the 19th, 1725. Present Timson. Gent., Justices. William Robertson, Gent., attorney for our sovereign Lord King George, informs the court that Elizabeth Hansford, the wife of Thomas Hansford, did publicly sing a scandalous and opprobrious song, highly reflecting upon our said Lord the King, and also did curse and revile our said Lord the King, as in the informacon is set forth, to which she pleaded not guilty, thereupon a jury, to wit: Jones Irwin, foreman, Robert Sheild, John Robinson &c were sworn to try the issue & they haveing heard the evidence on both sides retired & being agreed on their verdict returned to the bar & delivered the same in these words: We find the deft guilty of singing the Song that is expressed in the informacon, which verdict on the mocon of the sd Attorney of our Lord the King is admitted to record, and thereupon it is considered by the court and adjudged that the Deft be fined the sum of twenty shillings for the use of our said Lord the King & ordered that the Defent & Thomas Hansford her Husband pay the same with costs als Exo. Note: Thomas Hansford mentioned in this paper was the grandson of Thomas Hansford, hanged by Sir William Berkeley in Bacon's Rebellion. CHARLES CITY CO. PETITIONS. One of the useful works done by the State Library is the arrangement of the petitions presented to the Virginia Legislature, according to Counties. A selection is made from the Charles City Co. Petitions on file in the Archives Department. PETITION AGAINST THE PAPER MONEY, 1780. To the Honble the Speaker and the rest of the Members of the house of Delegates, THE PETITION of sundry freeholders & inhabitants of Cha3 City Humbly Sheweth, That your Petitioners from the first rise of the dispute Between Great Britain and her Colonies, have been zealously and Steadily Attach'd to the American cause & on all occasions whereon their readiness to comply every demand of men and Money to support it; having in no Instance fallen short in their quota in either, But on the contrary exceeded in Many, our Zeal is not in the least abated, nor we trust will not abate, Tho we beg leave most humbly to represent to your Hon. house some grievances that we feel, and ill judged Measures that we think have been lately pursued. From what cause they have sprung we will not presume to say, tho the resolutions of both houses imposeing an oath on their members seem to point out one, but trust your Honble house will maturly and impartially consider what we shall urge, and if you find there has been errors you will correct them, and thereby give ease and content to your faithful Subjects, & again unite the whole state in the common Cause, which alone can insure peace and INDEPENDENCE— The first and ultamate wish of us all, Just before the Sittg of the last Assembly we saw some resolutions of Congress recommending it in the strongest terms to the legislatures in the American union to adopt a plan they Proposed of calling in all the Money they had Issued by taxes in the course of one year and Issuing New on funds to be by them established, which was to pay and redeem the old at the rate of one for forty. We cannot but say we thought it impossible that, that Honble body, shou'd be serious in the demand; or that if they were, it would ever be comply'd with, when we look back to the Several Solemn declarations by them made, that they would redeem their Money agreeable to the Tenor of the Bills. But were much more Surprized when we found The Assembbly of this State, who had also on three Several Occasions made the same declarations as to their quota of Money among the foremost to adopt the Plan thereby as we most humbly Apprehend violateing the public faith & Irreparably destroying the honour of the commonwealth. We look upon it as a maxim not to be Controverted by the deepest Sophisters that a Violation of Publick faith is one great Step to national ruin and we fear its dreadful effects will too soon be felt here, if you in your wisdom do not fall on some Measures to prevent it. The only Plausible reason that we have ever heard for the measure is, that the holders of the Money never could expect to receive a hard Dollar for a paper one which they had obtained for commodities at so much greater price than their real value. We will not presume to argue with you, & shall therefore only remind you, that Congress received for a very great part of this Money the commodities of the Country at their Value in Gold and Silver, and had they required a tax to have been laid Sufficient for the expenditure of the Current year, & an additional one, the produce of which to be destroyed, Advantage might have been taken of the great depretiation of the Currency and the redundancy of the Money is two or three years have been consumed, and the remainder might have been refunded so as to be paid in a number of years with much more ease and conveniency to your people than the present plan proposes. We think it impossible to comply with the Law without ruin to ourselves and families, clearly foreseeing that when we are called on for the last Payment, Money will have risen so much in Value that we shall not be able to procure it in any other manner but by the Sale of our estates which will be bought up by the Money Holders at their own Price. To prevent this we Observe the Legislature has given an alternative in Several Commodities; but it is with deep concern that we find not one of those within our reach. We hope therefore if this Bitter pill must be swallowed you will make it as palatable as Possible by |