One of the thirteen original United States. The name was given to the colony in honor of Queen Elizabeth. In 1606, James I. granted granted let ters patent for planting colonies in Virginia The government prescribed was that each should have a council, consisting of thirteen persons, ap pointed by the king, to govern and order all mat- ters according to laws and instructions given them by the king. There was also a council in England, of thirteen persons, appointed by the crown to have the supervising, managing. and direction of ali matters that should concern the government of the colonies. This charter was followed by royal in- structions dated the 20th November, 1606. See 1 Hening, Va. Stat. 76, 571. Under this charter a set- tlement was made at Jamestown in 1607, by the first colony. Upon the petition of the company, s new charter was granted by king James, on the May, 1609, to the treasurer and company of the first (or southern) colony for the further enlargement and explanation of the privileges of that company. 1 Hening, Stat. 80. This charter granted to the company in absolute property the lands extending from Cape or Point Comfort (at the mouth of James River) along the sea-coast two hundred miles to the northward, and from the same point along the sea-coast two hun- dred miles to the southward, and up into the land throughout, from sea to sea, west and northwest, and, also, all islands lying within one hundred miles of the coast of both seas of the precinct afore- said. A new council in England was established, with power to the company. to fill all vacancies therein by election. On the 12th of March. 1611, king James granted a third charter to the first company, enlarging its domain so as to include all islands within three hun- dred leagues from its borders on the coast of either sea. In 1612, a considerable proportion of lands previously held and cultivated in common was divided into three-acre lots and a lot appropriated in absolute right to each individual. Not long afterwards, fifty acres were surveyed and delivered to each of the colonists. In 1618, by a change of the constitution of the colony, burgesses elected by the people were made a branch of the legislature. Up to this time the settlement had been gradually in- creasing in number, and in 1694, upon a writ of quo warranto, a judgment was obtained dissolving the company and revesting its power in the crown. In 1651 the plantation of Virginia came, by formal act, under the obedience and government of the commonwealth of England, the colony, however, still retaining its former constitution. A new charter was to be granted, and many important privileges were secured. In 1680 a change was made In the colonial government, divesting the burgesses of the exercise of judicial power in the last resort, as had before that time been practised by that body and allowing appeals from judgments of the general courts, composed of the governor and council, to the king in council, where the matter in controversy exceeded the value of £800 sterling. Marshall, Col. 163; 1 Campb. 887. By the treaty of 1763, all the conquests made by the French in North America, including the terr tory east of the Mississippi, were ceded to Great Britain. The constitution of the colonial government of Virginia seems never to have been precisely fired and accurately adjusted in any written memorials that are now accessible. The powers exercised by the burgesses varied at different periods. The periods of their election and the length of time they continued in office it is difficult to ascertain from the records of colonial history, and the qualifics- tions of voters to elect them varied much at differ- ent periods. See Rev. Code 88, Leigh's note: 1 Burk, App. 1. On the 12th of June, 1776, a declaration of rights pertaining to the people, as a basis and foundation of government, was adopted by the con vention. This declaration still remains a part of the Virginia Code. On the 29th of June, 1776, Vir ginia adopted a constitution by a unanimous vote of the convention. The Articles of Confederation were not finally adopted by congress until the 15th of November, 1777, and were adopted, subject to the ratification of the states. These articles were laid before the Virginia Assembly on the 9th of December, 1777, and on the 15th unanimously as sented to. In compliance with the recommenda- tion of congress, by a resolution of September 6, 1780, Virginia, by an act passed the 2d of January, 1781, proffered a cession of her weste western lands. The cession was finally completed and accepted in 174 Virginia as early as 1785 prepared to erect Ken- tucky into a state, and this was finally affected in June, 1792. The state constitution framed and adopted by Virginia in 1776 gave way to a second that was framed in convention, adopted by the people, and went into operation in 1890. This second constitu- tion was superseded by a third, which was framed in convention of 1851, and, being adopt