Page:Notes on the State of Virginia (1802).djvu/199

Rh ſhould therefore be provided for thoſe patients: but no others ſhould be admitted.

Marriages muſt be ſolemnized either on ſpecial licence, granted by the firſt magiſtrate of the county, on proof of the conſent of the parent or guardian of either party under age, or after ſolemn publication, on three ſeveral Sundays, at ſome place of religious worſhip, in the pariſhes where the parties reſide. The act of ſolemnization may be by the miniſter of any ſociety of Chriſtians, who ſhall have been previouſly licenſed for this purpoſe by the court of the county. Quakers and Menoniſts however are exempted from all theſe conditions, and marriage amongſt them is ſolemnized by the ſociety itſelf.

A foreigner of any nation, not in open war with us, becomes naturalized by removing to the ſtate to reſide, and taking an oath of fidelity: and thereupon acquires every right of a native citizen: and citizens may diveſt themſelves of that character, by declaring, by ſolemn deed, or in open court, that they mean to expatriate themſelves, and no longer be citizens of this ſtate.

Conveyances of land muſt be regiſtered in the court of the county wherein they lie, or in the general court, or they are void, as to creditors, and ſubſequent purchaſers.

Slaves paſs by deſcent and dower as lands do. Where the deſcent is from a parent, the heir is bound to pay an equal ſhare of their value in money to each of his brothers and ſiſters.

Slaves, as well as lands were entailable during the monarchy; but, by an act of the firſt republican aſſembly, all donees in tail, preſent and