I. WHEREAS, Many inconveniences attend the upper inhabitants of the county of Fairfax, by reason of the large extent of the said county, and their remote situation from the court-house, and the said inhabitants have petitioned this present general assembly that the said county may be divided:  Be it, therefore, enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority of the same, That from and after the 1st day of July next ensuing the said county of Fairfax be divided into two counties, that is to say:  All that part thereof, lying above Difficult-run, which falls into Patowmack river, and by a line to be run from the head of the same run, a straight course, to the mouth of Rocky run, shall be one distinct county, and called and known by the name of Loudoun:  And all that part thereof below the said run and course, shall be one other distinct county, and retain the name of Fairfax.

II.  And for the due administration of justice in the said county of Loudoun, after the same shall take place:  Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That after the first day of July a court for the said county of Loudoun be constantly held by the justices thereof, upon the second Tuesday in every month, in such manner as by the laws of this colony is provided, and shall be by their commission directed.

III.  Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be constructed to hinder the sheriff or collector of the said county of Fairfax, as the same now stands entire and undivided, from collecting and making distress for any public dues, or officers fees, which shall remain unpaid by the inhabitants of the said county of Loudoun at the time of its taking place; but such sheriff or collector shall have the same power to collect or distrain for such dues and fees, and shall be answerable for them in the same manner as if this act had never been made, any law, usage, or custom to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.

IV.  And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the court of the said county of Fairfax shall have jurisdiction of all actions and suits, both in law and equity, which shall be depending before them at the time the said division shall take place; and shall and may try and determine all such actions and suits, and issue process and award execution in any such action or suit in the same manner as if this act had never been made, any law, usage, or custom to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.

V. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That out of every hundred pounds of tobacco, paid in discharge of quit rents, secretary’s, clerk’s, sheriff’s, surveyor’s, or other officers fees, and so proportionably for a greater or lesser quantity, there shall be made the following abatements or allowances to the payer, that is to say: