Deprived temporarily of his principal livelihood, Mercer set out to
write an _Abridgment of the Laws of Virginia_. The task completed, he
petitioned the General Court on April 23, 1735, for "leave to Print an
Abridgment compil'd by him of all the Laws of this Colony & to have the
benefit of the Sale thereof." On the same day he petitioned for a
renewal of his license, which was granted with the exception of the
right to practice in Prince William, where he was to remain _persona non
grata_ generally thereafter.[67]
Soon after these events his brother-in-law and old acquaintance, George
Mason, drowned. Mercer was designated co-guardian of 10-year-old George
Mason IV, who came to live at Marlborough. Young George later grew up to
be the master of Gunston Hall and, as the author of the Virginia Bill of
Rights, to stand among the intellectuals whose ideas influenced the
Revolution and the framing of the Constitution. In these formative
years, young George Mason surely must have been affected by the strong
legal mind and cultivated tastes of his uncle.[68]
On October 14, 1737, the _Virginia Gazette_ carried the following
advertisement:
_This Day is Published_
An Exact Abridgment of the Laws of VIRGINIA, in Force and Use, to
this present time. By
John Mercer.
At long last, after innumerable delays, the _Abridgment_ was in print.
From a financial point of view it was a conspicuous failure. Too few
Virginians, apparently, were sufficiently interested to buy it.