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militia officer for one month, and may also fufpend or remove any regular officer in the land or fea fervice; and the governor may remove or fufpend any militia officer in purfuance of the judgment of a court-martial.

49. That all civil officers of the appointment of the governor and council, who do not hold commiffions during good behaviour, fhall be appointed annually in the third week of November; but if any of them fhall be re-appointed, they may continue to act without any new commiffion or qualification; and every officer, though not re-appointed, fhall continue to act until the perfon who fhall be appointed and commiffioned in his ftead fhall be qualified.

50. That the governor, every member of the council, and every judge and justice, before they act as fuch, fhall respectively take an oath, That he will not, through favour, affection, or partiality, vote for any perfon to office, and that he will vote for fuch perfon as in his judgement and confcience he believes moft fi: and beft qualified for the office, and that he has not made, nor will make, any promife or engagement to give his vote or interest in favour of any perfon."

51. That there be two registers of the land office, one upon the western, and one upon the eaftern fhore; that fhort extracts of the grants and certificates of the land on the weftern and eaftern shores refpectively be made in feparate books, at the public expence, and depofited in the offices of the faid registers in fuch manner as fhall hereafter be provided by the general affembly.

52. That every chancellor, judge, regifter of wills, commiffioner of the loan office, attorney general, fheriff, treasurer, naval officer, regifter of the land office, regifter of the chancery court, and every clerk of the common law courts, surveyor, and auditor of the public accounts, before he acts as fuch, fhall take an oath "that he will not directly or indirectly receive any fee or reward for doing his office of

but what is or shall be allowed by law, nor will directly or indirectly receive the profits or any part of the profits of any office held by any other perfon, and that he does not hold the fame office in truft or for the benefit of any other perfon."

53. That if any governor, chancellor, judge, regifter of wills, attorney general, regifter of the land office, register of the chancery court, or any clerk of the common law courts, treasurer, naval officer, fheriff, furveyor, or auditor of public accounts, fhall receive directly or indirectly, at any time, the profits or any part of the profits of any office held by any other perfon during his acting in the office to which he is appointed, his election, appointment, and commiffion, on conviction in a court of law, by oath of two credible witneffes, fhall be void, and he fhall fuffer the punishment for wilful and corrupt perjury, or be banished this

ftate

ftate for ever, or difqualified for ever from holding any officer place of truft or profit, as the court may adjudge.

54. That if any perfon fhall give any bribe, prefent, or reward, or any promife, or any fecurity for the payment or delivery of any money, or any other thing, to obtain or procure a vote to be governor, fenator, delegate to congrefs or affembly, member of the council, or judge, or to be appointed to any or the faid offices, or to any office of proat or truft, now created or hereafter to be? created in this ftate, the perfon giving, and the perfon receiving the fame, on conviction in a court of law, fhall be for ever dif qualified to hold any office of truft or profit in this ftate.

55. That every perfon appointed to any office of profit or trust fhall, before he enters on the execution thereof, take the following oath, to wit, "I, A. B. do fwear, That I do not hold myfelf bound in allegiance to the king of Great-Britain, and that I'willi be faithful, and bear true allegiance to the state of Maryland," and fhall alfo fubfcribe a declaration of his belief in the chriftian re ligion.

56. That there be a court of appeals, compofed of perfons of integrity and found judgment in the law, whofe judgment shall be final and conclufive in all cafes of appeal, from the general court, court of chancery, and court of admiralty: That one perfon of integrity and found judgment in the law, be appointed chancellor: That three perfons of integrity and found judgment in the law be appointed judges of the court now called the provincial court; and that the fame court be hereafter called and known by the name of The General Court; which court shall fit on the western and eastern shores for tranfacting and determining the bufinefs of the respective shores, at fuch times and places as the future legislature of this ftate fhall direct and appoint.

57. That the ftile of all laws run thus, Be it enacted, by the general affembly of Maryland: That all public commitlions and grants run thus, The ftate of Maryland, &c. and fhall be figned by the governor, and attefted by the chancellor with the feal of the ftate annexed, except military commiffions, which shall not be attefted by the chancellor, or have the feal of the state annexed: That all writs fhall run in the fame ftile, and be tefted, fealed. and figned as ufual: That all indictments fhall conclude, Against the peace, government, and dignity of the ftat.

58. That all penalties and forfeitures, heretofore going to the king or proprietary, fhall go to the ftate, fave only fuch as the general affembly may abolish or otherwise provide for.

59. That this form of government, and the declaration of rights, and no part thereof, fhall be altered, changed, or abolished, unless a bill so to alter, change, or abolish the fame, fhall pafs the general affembly, and be publifhed at least three months before a new election, and fhall be confirmed by the general affembly

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after

after a new election of delegates, in the first feffion after fuch new election; provided that nothing in this form of government which relates to the eastern fhore particularly, fhall at any time hereafter be altered unless for the alteration and confirmation thereof at leaft two thirds of all the members of each branch of the general affembly fhall concur.

60. That every bill paffed by the general affembly, when engroffed, fhall be prefented by the fpeaker of the house of delegates, in the fenate, to the governor for the time being, who fhall fign the fame, and thereto affix the great feal, in the prefence of the members of both houfes: every law fhall be recorded in the general court office of the western fhore, and in due time printed, published, and certified under the great feal, to the feveral county courts, in the fame manner as hath been heretofore ufed in this state.

This form of government was affented to, and paffed in convention of the delegates of the freemen of Maryland, begun and held at the city of Annapolis, the 14th of Auguft, A. D. 1776.

By order of the Convention,

M. TILGHMAN, Prefident.

VIR

VIRGIN 1 A.

The CONSTITUTION, or FORM of GOVERNMENT, agreed to and refolved upon by the Delegates and Representatives of the feveral Counties and Corporations of Virginia, in a GENERAL CONVENTION held at Williamsburgh, on the 6th of May, and continued by Adjournments to the 5th of July, 1776.

WVirginia, do declare the future form of government of

"E, the delegates and reprefentatives of the good people of

Virginia to be as followeth :

The legislative, executive, and judiciary departments shall be feparate and diftinct, fo that neither exercife the powers properly belonging to the other; nor fhall any perfon exercise the powers of more than one of them at the fame time, except that the juftices of the county courts fhall be eligible to either house of affembly.

The legislative fhall be formed of two diftinct branches, who, together, fhall be a complete legiflature. They fhall meet once, or oftener, every year, and fhall be called, The General Affembly of Virginia. One of thefe fhall be called, The Hufe of Delegates, and confift of two reprefentatives to be chofen for each county, and for the district of Weft-Augufta, annually, of fuch men as actually refide in and are freeholders of the fame, or duly qualified according to law, and alfo of one delegate or reprefentative to be chofen annually for the city of Williamsburgh, and one for the borough of Norfolk, and a reprefentative for each of fuch other cities and boroughs as may hereafter be allowed particular reprefentation by the legislature; but when any city or borough fhall fo decrease, as that the number of perfons having right of fuffrage therein shall have been for the space of feven years fucceffively lefs than half the number of voters in fome one county in Virginia, fuch city or borough thenceforward fhall cease to send a delegate or representative to the affembly.

The other fhall be called The Senate, and confift of twentyfour members, of whom thirteen fhall conftitute a houfe to proceed on bufinefs, for whofe election the different counties fhall be divided into twenty-four diftrics, and each county of the refpective

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diftrict, at the time of the election of its delegates, fhall vote for one fenator, who is actually a refident and freeholder within the diftrict, or duly qualified according to law, and is upwards of twenty-five years of age; and the fheriffs of each county, within five days at fartheft after the laft county election in the district, fhall meet at some convenient place, and from the poll fo taken in their respective counties, return as a fenator the man who thall have the greatest number of votes in the whole diftrict. To keep up this aflembly by rotation, the districts shall be equally divided into four claffes, and numbered by lot. At the end of one year after the general election, the fix members elected by the first divifion fhall be difplaced, and the vacancies thereby occafioned fupplied from fuch clafs or divifion,, by new election in the manner aforefaid. This rotation fhall be applied to each divifion according to its number, and continued in due order annually.

The right of fuffrage in the election of members for both houses fhall remain as exercised at prefent, and each house shall choose its own fpeaker, appoint its own officers, fettle its own rules of proceeding, and direct writs of election for the supplying intermediate vacancies.

All laws fhall originate in the house of delegates, to be approved of or rejected by the fenate, or to be amended with confent of the houfe of delegates; except money-bills, which in no inftance fhall be altered by the fenate, but wholly approved or rejected.

A governor, or chief magiftrate fhall be chofen annually, by. joint ballot of both houses, to be taken in each house respectively, depofited in the conference room, the boxes examined jointly by. a committee of each houfe, and the numbers feverally reported to them, that the appointments may be entered. (which fhall be the mode of taking the joint ballot of both houfes in all cafes) who fhall not continue in that office longer than three years fucceffively, nor be eligible until the expiration of four years after he shall have been out of that office. An adequate, but moderate falary: fhall be fettled on him during his continuance in office; and he fhall, with the advice of a council of state, exercise the executive powers of government, according to the laws of this commonwealth; and fhall not, under any pretence, exercife any power or prerogative by virtue of any law, ftatute, or custom of England: But he fhall, with the advice of the council of ftate, have the power of granting reprieves or pardons, except where the profecution fhall have been carried on by the house of delegates, or the Jaw fhall otherwife particularly direct; in which cafes no reprieve or pardon fhall be granted, but by refolve of the houfe of delegates. Either house of the general affembly may adjourn themselves refpectively. The governor fhall not prorogue or adjourn the affembly during their fitting, nor dissolve them at any time; but

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