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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1905 edition. Excerpt: ... in the possession of his lands. By the act of branding, his credit was also restored, and his disability for acting as a witness was removed.1 Indians, negroes, and mulattoes, who were given the benefit of clergy, besides being burnt in the hand, could be punished by whipping.1 Ecclesiastical And Admiralty Courts. There was one independent ecclesiastical court in the colony, which was held by the Commissary of the Bishop of London, though it was not a court in the true sense of the term. The immoralities of the clergy were the only offenses of which it took cognizance and deprivation of, and suspension from, office were the only punishments which it could impose. From this court appeals could be taken to the Court of Delegates in England.13 This was a narrower jurisdiction than that exercised by the ecclesiastical courts of England during the colonial period. The other spiritual causes which were cognizable in the English ecclesiastical courts were determined in Virginia by the regular common law courts.1 In England matrimonial and testamentary causes were tried by the spiritual courts; while in Virginia, they were heard by the regular common law courts. As has already been shown, the General Court and the county courts examined wills and gave certificates thereon, and the governor signed the orders for executing them.188 No record of absolute divorces has been found, and apparently they were not often given during the colonial period. However, divorces a mensa et thoro were granted by both the General Court and the county courts, and a marriage could be 134 Starke, 91. Blackstone, IV, 300. 133 Mercer, 54. Dinwiddie Papers, I, 384. 1,7 Hartwell, Blair, and Chilton, 49, 50. Webb, Virginia Justice, 206. Blackstone, III, ...

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