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trust, by any of the officers aforesaid, shall be deemed and taken to be a resignation of his said office; and judges of the courts of common pleas shall hold no other office, under the government of this commonwealth, the office of the justice of the peace and militia officers excepted.

Art 9. If, at any time hereafter, any specific and particular amendment or amendments to the constitution be proposed, in the general court, and agreed to by a majority of the senators, and two thirds of the members of the house of representatives present and voting thereon, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on the journals of the two houses, with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and referred to the general court then next to be chosen, and shall be published; and if in the general court then next chosen, as aforesaid, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by a majority of the senators and two thirds of the members of the house of representatives present and voting thereon; then it shall be the duty of the general court to submit such proposed amendment or amendments to the people; and if they shall be approved and ratified by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon, at meetings legally warned and holden for that purpose, they shall become part of the constitution of this commonwealth

Resolved, That the above recited articles of amendment, shall be enrolled on parchment, and deposited in the secretary's office, as a part of the constitution and fundamental laws of this commonwealth, and published in immediate connexion therewith, in all future editions of the laws of this commonwealth, printed by public authority. And in order that the said amendments may be promulgated and made known to the people of this commonwealth without delay,

it is further

Resolved, That his excellency, the governor, be, and he hereby is authorized and requested to issue his proclamation, reciting the articles aforesaid; announcing that the same have been duly adopted and ratified by the people of this, commonwealth, and become a part of the constitution thereof; and requiring all magistrates, officers civil and military, and all the citizens of this commonwealth, to take notice thereof, and govern themselves accordingly.'

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Now, therefore, I, John Brooks, governor of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, by virtue of the authority to e given by the resolution last above written, do issue this

my proclamation, and I do hereby announce, that the several articles aforesaid have been duly ratified and adopted by the people of this commonwealth, and have become a part of the constitution thereof. And all magistrates, officers civil and military, and all the citizens of the commonwealth, are required to take notice thereof, and govern themselves accordingly.

Given at the council chamber in Boston, the day and year first above written, and in the forty-fifth year of the independence of the United states.

By his excellency the governor,

JOHN BROOKS,

Alden Bradford, Secretary.

God save the commonwealth of Massachusetts!

CONSTITUTION OF

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

The Constitution of New Hampshire, as altered and amended by a convention of delegates, held at Concord, in said state, by adjournment, on the second Wednesday of February, 1792.

PART 1.

BILL OF RIGHTS.

Article 1. All men are born equally free and independent: Therefore, all government, of right, originates from the people, is founded in consent, and instituted for the general good.

2. All men have certain natural, essential, and inherent rights-among which are the enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing, and protecting property: and, in a word, of seeking and obtaining happiness.

3. When men enter into a state of society, they surrender up some of their natural rights to that society, in order to ensure the protection of others; and without such an equivalent the surrender is void.

4. Among the natural rights, some are in their very nature unalienable, because no equivalent can be given or received for them. Of this kind are the rights of conscience.

5. Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and reason; and no person shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshipping God in the manner most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience, or for his religious profession, sentiments, or persuasion; provided he doth not disturb the public peace, or disturb others in their religious worship.

6. As morality and piety, rightly grounded on evangelical principles, will be the best and greatest security to governmont, and will lay, in the hearts of men, the strongest obli

gations to due subjection; and as the knowledge of these is most likely to be propagated through a society, by the institution of the public worship of the Deity, and of public instruction in morality and religion; therefore, to promote these important purposes, the people of this state have a right to impower, and do hereby fully impower, the legislature, to authorize, from time to time, the several towns, parishes, bodies corporate, or religious societies, within this state, to make adequate provision, at their own expense, for the support and maintenance of public protestant teachers of piety, religion, and morality:

Provided, notwithstanding, That the several towns parishes, bodies corporate, or religious societies. shall at all times have the exclusive right of electing their own public teachers, and of contracting with them for their support and maintenance. And no person, of any one particular religious sect or denomination, shall ever be compelled to pay towards the support of the teacher or teachers of another persuasion, sect, or denomination.

But this shall not be construed to free persons from the obligations of his own contract, on his pretence of changing his religious persuasion after making the contract

And whenever a minister is settled by any incorporated town or parish, any person dissenting shall have liberty, either at the meeting, or previous to the ordination of the minister, or within one month after the vote obtained for his settlement, to enter his dissent with the town or parish clerk against paying, or contributing towards the support of the said minister; and all minors who, after such settlement, shall come of age, and all inhabitants of such town or parish who are absent from the same at the time of such meeting or settlement, and all persons who, after such settlement move into such town or parish to reside, shall have three months from the time of their coming of full age, returning into town, or moving into, reside as aforesaid, respectively, to enter their dissent, with the town or parish clerk, as aforesaid.

And all persons who do not enter their dissent, as aforesaid, shall be bound by the major vote of such town or parish; and it shall be considered as their voluntary contract;but all persons who enter their dissent, as aforesaid, shall not be bound by the vote of such town or parish, or considered a party to such contract, or in any way be compelled to contribute towards the support of the minister; nor sha!!

any person be compelled to contribute towards the support of the minister, who shall change from the sect or denomination of which he professed to be when he settled, to any other persuasion, sect, or denomination.

And every denomination of Christians, demeaning themselves quietly, and as good citizens of the state, shall be equally under the protection of the law: and no subordination of any one sect or denomination to another, shall ever be established by law.

And nothing herein shall be understood to affect any former contracts made for the support of the ministry; but all such contracts shall remain, and be in the same state, as if this constitution had not been made.

7. The people of this state have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent state; and do, and for ever hereafter shall, exercise and enjoy every power, jurisdiction, and right, pertaining thereto, which is not, or may not hereafter be, by them expressly delegated to the United States of America in congress assembled.

8. All powers residing originally in, and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government, are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them.

9. No office or place whatsoever, in government, shall be hereditary-the abilities and integrity requisite in all, not being transmissible to posterity or relations.

10. Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men: therefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted, or public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right out to, reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.

11. All elections ought to be free, and every inhabitant of the state, having the proper qualifications, has an equal right to elect, and be elected, into office.

12. Every member of the community has a right to be protected by it, in the enjoyment of his life, liberty, and property; he is therefore bound to contribute his share to

expense of such protection, and to yield his personal

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