Abridgment of the public permanent laws of Virginia : the repealing clauses in the several laws which have them are reducible to a few forms and are alike in general : to prevent the swelling of the book unnecessarily and yet to give at the same time the operative words of every law, reference is made at the close of every law to the form of repeal as it is set forth verbatim in the appendix : every act passed on or after October 19, 1792 is to be understood to contain the following clause of commencement "This act shall commence in force from and after the passing thereof," unless its commencement shall be particularly expressed to be on a different day or in a different form : those acts which passed before the 19th of October 1792 and commence their operation on a different day from the day of their passing, will be specified : the date prefixed to each law is the day on which it passed.