ade to mitigate the severity of punishment by an amendment of the law
of "benefit of clergy." This law was a law of Parliament which had
come down from earlier ages of the Church. Under that law an
ecclesiastical person, either priest or monk, who was charged with a
felony could not be tried by a civil court but was delivered up to the
bishop of his diocese for trial in an ecclesiastical court.

By the end of the sixteenth century Parliament had amended the benefit
of clergy law so that every free male who could read and write, upon
conviction of a first offense of felony might plead "benefit of
clergy", and upon showing that he could read a verse of Scripture, have
the penalty remitted. He was then burned in the hand with a hot iron so
that the scar thereby made would be evidence against him if he should
plead benefit of clergy a second time.

The benefit of clergy law was early written into the Virginia code and
continued in that code until after the Revolution. Harsh as was the law
it showed a real effort to ameliorate still harsher laws, and it saved
the lives in England and America of many thousands of first offenders.
The first verse of the fifty-first Psalm was so frequently presented to
be read by some convicted man or boy that it became known as the "neck
verse" because it saved a life; and many a kindly official taught a
'teen-age boy that verse so that he could "read" it when it was
presented to him.

One of the earliest records of the General Court of Virginia contains
the following entry under date January 4, 1628/29:

William Reade, aged thirteen or fourteen years, convicted of
manslaughter, when the verdict was read, and William Reade
asked what he had to say for himself, that he ought not to
die, demanded his clergy, whereupon he was delivered to the
Ordinary.

There were many such instances. In Virginia the Governor was the
Ordinary and as such had authority to accept the boy's plea, have him
read the "neck verse," and thereby permit him to go free "after the
burning."

The severity of the laws influenced the courts in many parts of England
to permit or sentence an offender to escape death by going to one of
the American colonies, and it became the custom to sentence convicted
criminals to serve for a period of years in an American colony as an
indentured servant. A great number of such "convicts" were sent to
Virginia because of the constant demand there for indentured s