refore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in actions of
slander occasioned by the wife, as aforesaid, after judgment passed for
the damages, the woman shall be punished by ducking; and if the slander
be so enormous as to be adjudged at a greater damage than five hundred
pounds of tobacco, then the woman to suffer a ducking for each five
hundred pounds of tobacco against the husband adjudged, if he refuse to
pay the tobacco." A ducking-stool had been already established in each
county.

The anniversary both of the birth and the restoration of Charles the
Second was established as a holiday. The navigation act was now enforced
in Virginia, and in consequence the price of tobacco fell very low,
while the cost of imported goods was also augmented. An act prohibiting
the importation of luxuries seems to have been negatived by the
governor. It was ordered that "no person shall trade with the Indians
for any beaver, otter, or any other furs, unless he first obtain a
commission from the governor." This act gave great offence to the
people; it was in effect conferring on the governor an indirect monopoly
of the fur-trade. By a still more high-handed measure the governor and
council were empowered to lay taxes for the ensuing three years, unless
in the mean time some urgent occasion should necessitate the calling
together of the assembly. Thus taxation was dissevered from
representation; the main safeguard of freedom was given to the
executive. Major John Bond, a magistrate in Isle of Wight County, was
disfranchised for "factious and schismatical demeanors." He had
repeatedly been returned as one of the burgesses of his county during
the Commonwealth of England. An act making provision for a college,
appears to have remained a dead letter; other acts equally futile,
passed at ensuing sessions, frequently recur. The assembly ventured to
declare that the king's pardon did not extend to a penalty incurred for
planting tobacco contrary to law.

Colonel William Clayborne, secretary of state, was displaced by Thomas
Ludwell, commissioned by the king. Colonel Francis Morrison and Henry
Randolph, clerk of the assembly, were appointed revisers of the laws.
Beverley[254:A] says that Morrison made an abridgement of the laws. In
this revised code the common law of England is, for the first time,
expressly adopted, being spoken of as "those excellent and oft-refined
laws of England."[254:B] But it has been seen that Magna Charta had be