WHEREAS, the inhabitants in the upper part of Berkeley County are become so numerous, (and daily increasing) that it is absolutely necessary to establish a parish, and build a church and chapels for the convenience of the said inhabitants, we therefore humbly pray his most sacred Majesty that it may be enacted,

I. And be it enacted, by his Excellency the Right Honorable Lord Charles Greville Montagu, Captain-General, Governor and Commander-in-chief in and over his Majesty's Province of South Carolina, by and with the advice and consent of his Majesty's Council and the Commons House of Assembly of the said Province, and by the authority of the same, That immediately from and after the passing of this Act, a parish shall be laid out and established in Berkeley County aforesaid, in the following manner, (that is to say,) by running a line from the plantation of Garrard Neilson, on Santee River, inclusive, to the place where the new road leading from the plantation of Tacitus Gaillard, Esq. to the road leading from Charlestown to Orangeburgh, intersects the line that divides the parish of St. George's, Dorchester from St. James, Goose Creek, and from thence to continue on the said line until it intersects the Four Hole Creek the second time, thence following the said creek till it intersects the South-east bounds of Orangeburgh township, and from thence along the bounds of the said township to the southward, and where that line reaches Edisto River up the course of the said river until the North-west boundary of the said township, from the river, a North-east course along the line of the township until it joins the South-west bounds of Amelia township, and from thence a North-east course till it reaches Beaver Creek; and that the said parish shall hereafter be called and known by the name of St. Matthew's, and the inhabitants thereof shall and may use, exercise and enjoy all the rights, privileges and immunities that the inhabitants of any other parish do or can use, exercise or enjoy by the laws of this Province.

II. And be it also enacted by the authority aforesaid, That a church. chapel and parsonage house shall be built at such places, within the bounds of the said parish, as the major part of the commissioners hereafter named shall order and direct; and also, that a chapel shall be built at such place, within the bounds of the said parish, as the major part of the commissioners hereafter last named shall order and direct.

III. And be it also enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the rector or minister of the said parish for the time being, shall officiate in the said church and chapels alternately, and shall be elected and chosen in the same manner as the rectors or ministers of the several other parishes in this Province are elected and chosen, and shall have yearly paid to him and his successors for ever, the same salary as is appointed for the rector or minister of any other parish in this Province, (the parishes of St. Philip's and St. Michael's excepted) out of the fund appropriated or to be appropriated for payment of the salaries of the clergy of this Province; and the public treasurer for the time being is hereby authorized and required to pay the same under the like penalties and forfeitures, as for not paying the salaries due to the other rectors or ministers of the several other parishes in this Province; and the said rector or minister of the said parish shall have and enjoy all and every such privileges and advantages, and be under such rules, laws and restrictions as the rectors or ministers of the other parishes in this Province have and enjoy, or are subject and liable unto.

IV. And be it also enacted by the authority aforesaid, That Benjamin Farar, Colonel William Thompson, William Heatley, Thomas Platt, Tacitus Gaillard, Thomas Sabb, John Bordell, John Caldwell, Robert Whitton, William Flood, John McNichol, be, and they are hereby appointed, commissioners or supervisors for the building of the new church, chapel and parsonage house in the said parish of St. Matthew's, exclusive of that part of the parish called Orangeburgh township; and that Gavin Pou, Captain Christopher Rowe, Samuel Rowe, William Young and Andrew Govan, or a majority of them, be, and they are hereby appointed, commissioners or supervisors for building the chapel in that part of the parish called Orangeburgh township, and they or the major part are fully authorized and impowered to purchase a glebe for the said parish, and to take subscriptions, and to receive and gather, collect and sue for all such sum or sums of money as any pious and well disposed person or persons shall give and contribute for the purposes aforesaid ; and in case of the death, absence or refusing to act of any of the said commissioners, the church-wardens and vestry of the said parish of St. Matthew's, for the time being, shall and may nominate and appoint another person or persons to be commissioner or commissioners in the room or place of such so dead, absent or refusing to act, as to the said church-wardens and vestry shall seem meet, which commissioner or commissioners, so to be nominated and appointed, shall have the same powers and authority for putting this Act in execution, to all intents and purposes, as the commissioners herein named.

V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That after the dissolution of the present General Assembly, the inhabitants of the parish of St. James, Goose Creek, qualified by law for that purpose, (who heretofore by law chose four members to represent them in General Assembly) shall hereafter choose and elect three members and no more, to represent them in General Assembly, any law, statute or usage to the contrary notwithstanding; and that the inhabitants of the said parish of St. Matthew's, qualified by law for that purpose, shall always hereafter choose and elect one member to represent them in General Assembly; and that writs for the electing the said members to serve in the General Assembly for each of the said parishes, shall be issued in the same manner and at the same time as for the several other parishes in this Province, according to the directions of the Act to ascertain the manner and form of electing members to represent the inhabitants of this Province in the Commons House of Assembly, and to appoint who shall be deemed and adjudged capable of choosing or being chosen members of the said House.

VI. And be it also enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the new road leading from the ferry of Tacitus Gaillard, Esq. to the road leading from Charlestown to Orangeburgh, shall be, and is hereby declared to be, a public road, and shall be worked upon and kept in repair by the inhabitants of each parish through which the said road runs, in the same manner as all other public roads in this Province are; and that the commissioners hereinbefore appointed, shall also be commissioners of and for the said road, and all other roads in the said parish of St. Matthew's, and shall have the same powers and authority as any commissioners of the high roads in this Province have; and in case any of the said commissioners shall die or refuse to act, the remaining commissioners shall from time to time choose one or more commissioner or commissioners in the room of him or them so dying or refusing to act; and he or they so chosen shall have the same powers and authority as the said other commissioners.

In the Council Chamber, the 12th day of April, 1768.

P. MANIGAULT, Speaker.
Assented to: C.G.MONTAGU.