2756. ESCHEAT, Bill concerning.—[continued].
The General Assembly
[of Virginia], though provoked by the example
of their enemies to a departure from that generosity
which so honorably distinguishes the
civilized nations of the present age, yet desirous
to conduct themselves with moderation and temper,
by an act passed * * * in 1777, took
measures for preventing * * * the property
of British subjects in this Commonwealth from
waste and destruction, by putting * * * [it]
into the hands and under the management of
commissioners, * * * so that it might be
in their power, if reasonable at some future day,
to restore to the former proprietors * * *
[its] full value.—
Escheats and Forfeitures Bill.
Ford ed., ii, 183.
(May. 1779)
