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advantage: how much more should those properties be respected which emanate from an especial gift which Heaven concedes to those who are endowed with what is called talent.

The Commission is of opinion that general and uniform Plans and Regulations should be prescribed for Education; it being indispensable, that, to all the Inhabitants of the Republick, the means of Instruction be afforded; because such is their indisputable right; and it is equally important to the State, that the Fathers of the Country exert themselves especially towards this object; taking care that Schools of Primary Instruction be established in the smallest Village, and a well organized University, for the study of the Sciences, in the Capital of each Department.

The surest means of establishing a Government is an obedience to the Fundamental Laws, by which it is constituted. All would be useless, and it were better that the People neither dictate their Laws, nor labour to establish Institutions, unless they respect them. On this most important point, the preservation and aggrandizement of the Republick, or its total ruin, depends, without reference to the disgrace which would attach to an unsuccessful attempt to accomplish the wishes of a People, placed in the rank of a free Nation. By lessening the force of any of the Fundamental Laws, the first basis will be laid for the demoralization of the People; it is the duty, therefore, of the National Representatives, to enquire above all into any infractions of the Constitution, and not to suffer Offenders to escape from the responsibility which should attach to them; it is equally the duty of every Citizen to claim the fulfilment of the Charter of his Liberties, as it is that of every Publick Officer to invoke the Supreme Being to witness his fidelity to the Constitution before he enters upon his Functions: but if, unfortunately, in return for the most noble trust confided to Man, we discover in him infamous perfidy, let him at least know, not only that he has forfeited Publick opinion, but that he has insulted the Divinity itself.

We close the Project with this special Declaration of the principal Social and Individual Rights; because, although they are described in the preceding observations, yet it appears proper that they should be collected together, in order that their importance may be the more strongly inculcated; that, by being frequently read, they may excite the meditation of the Citizens; and that the People, being made acquainted with the immediate results of their connection with the social ties, may seek to obtain their Rights: and, as it may be difficult for them to comprehend the Laws which guarantee them, that they may be enabled to distinguish when their Civil Liberty, Security, and Property are attacked.

The Commission has thus concluded the great work which Congress had entrusted to their hands. Any ambiguity which may be found in the Project of the Constitution may be explained by this

Discourse, the true meaning of which is entirely in conformity therewith. In the progress of this Analysis, our fears and distrust have been already indicated, and we now express to Congress the perplexity which has constantly agitated us, being, on the one hand, bound not to depart from its sworn basis, and, on the other, not to withhold our observations on the real situation of the Republick; the essence of the Project being thus directed to a determinate point, the Commission has not been at liberty to propose Regulations which might have been at variance with it, but which, if not the most correct, would at least have hastened the completion of its task.

It is for experience, the instructor of Legislators, to decide on the merits of this Analysis; for which purpose it is declared that the present Constitution shall remain subject to the ratification or amendment of a General Congress, composed of Deputies from all the Provinces already free, and of those which may not be in the occupation of the Enemy at the conclusion of the War. Heaven grant that the People may receive this Code with the same warmth of feeling, as that which has actuated the first Representatives of Peru in the formation of it, in order to ensure that Liberty for which they fight, for which so much blood is now being spilt, with which, in short, the People are as yet unacquainted, but which they desire, and can procure for themselves, despising the semblance of it, which subtle Tyrants would present to them. If the Peruvians, at whose express and spontaneous desire Congress is assembled, for the purpose of constituting and giving to the Nation a form of Government, will recognize its labours, Peru will be then in progress towards a glorious Liberty, for it will have begun to value its own work, the most natural expression of its Sovereign will.

Chamber of the Commission, Lima, 14th June, 1823.
TORIBIO RODRIGUEZ.

HIPOLITO UNANUE.

JUSTO FIGUEROLA.

CARLOS PEDEMONTE.
JOSE SANCHEZ CARRION.

JOSE GREGORIO PAREDEZ. FRAN. J. MARIATEGUI.

POLITICAL CONSTITUTION OF PERU.

DECREE of Congress, relative to the Publication of the Constitution of Peru.-17th November, 1823. (Translation.)

DON JOSE BERNARDO TAGLE, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLICK OF PERU, &c. &c.

WHEREAS the Sovereign Congress has been pleased to decree as follows:

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THE CONSTITUENT CONGRESS OF PERU.

ART. I. It shall not be lawful for any one to publish the Political

Constitution of the Republick, unless he have previously received from the Government, authority and permission for that purpose, in writing, which shall be stated either in the title-page, or at the end, of all the printed copies of the same.

II. The printed Copies, prior to their being sold or distributed, shall be shewn to the Officer or Officers whom the Government shall have made responsible for examining them, in order to prevent the introduction of any, the least, corruption or alteration in the Text thereof. III. Any Printer violating the preceding injunctions, shall forfeit all the copies he may have printed, and his Printing-office shall be under sequestration for 3 months.

IV. Any Person importing Copies printed out of the Republick, shall, previous to their sale or distribution, deliver them to the Government, for the purpose specified in Article II. and the permission granted to him for circulating them, if they be found correct, shall be inserted in the Official Gazette.

V. If the Importer, Merchant, or other Person, proceed to sell or distribute Copies, without complying with the Regulations in the preceding Article, he shall forfeit the whole of the Copies, and also be fined at the discretion of the Government.

VI. The Executive Power and the other Authorities of the Cities, Towns, and Communities of the Republick, shall be held responsible for the circulation of Copies of the Constitution, printed out of the Republick, in which the Text shall, in the least, have been corrupted or altered.

VII. The present Decree shall form the Preamble in all the Copies of the first edition of the Constitution, and also in those which may hereafter be printed in the Republick.

You will take notice hereof, and adopt the measures necessary for its fulfilment, by ordering it to be printed, published, and circulated. Given in the Hall of Congress, Lima, November the 17th, 1823. 4th and 2d of the Republick.

MANUEL SALAZAR Y BAQUIJANO, PRESIDENT.
MANUEL MUELLE, Deputy Secretary.

MIGUEL OTERO, Deputy Secretary.

Therefore, let it be executed, watched over, and complied with in all its parts, by whomsoever it may concern. The Minister of State of the Department of Government is charged with its fulfilment. Given at Lima, the 17th November, 1823. 4th and 2d of the Republick.

JOSE BERNARDO TAGLE.

By order of His Excellency, JUAN DE BERINdoaga.

DECREE of Congress, relative to the Promulgation of, and Swearing to, the Constitution of Peru.-11th November, (Translation.)

1823.

DON JOSE BERNARDO TAGLE, PRESIDENT OF THE RE

PUBLICK, &c. &c. &c.

WHEREAS the Sovereign Congress has been pleased to decree as follows:

The Constituent Congress of Peru, considering that the promulgation of, and the Oath taken to, the Political Constitution which it has sanctioned, will commence a new epoch in the annals of the Independence and Liberty of the People, inasmuch as without a Fundamental Law it is impossible to secure these Sacred Rights, and, reflecting that such august Acts ought to be performed with all the solemnity which their importance demands, has thought proper to decree as follows:

I. In the Publick Sitting on the 13th Instant, after the Constitution shall have been sworn to by all the Deputies of Congress, the President of the Republick shall present himself in the Hall of its Sittings, at 10 o'clock in the morning, when the Oath to the Constitution shall be administered to him in the following form:

"Do you swear, by God, to defend the Roman Catholick, Apostolick, Religion, without admitting the exercise of any other in the Republick?"-"YES, I SWEAR IT."

"Do you swear to watch over, and cause to be watched over, the Political Constitution of the Peruvian Republick, which has been decreed and sanctioned by the Constituent Congress, as likewise all the Laws of the Senate: and that you will neither encroach upon the National Representation, nor attack the inviolability of its Members, to the insult of the People represented by them?”—“YES, I SWEAR IT."

"Do you swear to conduct yourself properly and faithfully in the discharge of the trust with which the Nation has invested you, to promote by every means the interests of the Nation, and to respect its Political Liberty, as well as the individual and social rights of all the Peruvians; that you will not require obedience to be paid to what is in opposition thereto, but, that on the contrary, whatever is at variance with what you have sworn to shall be null and void?"—"YES, I SWEAR IT."

"If you so conduct yourself, may God reward you, but if you fail, may He call you to account for it, and may the Nation make you responsible in conformity with the Laws!"

II. The Ceremonies which are to precede and follow this Act, will be specified in the particular Order which is to be issued to the Executive Power.

III. On Thursday the 20th instant, the Constitution shall be solemnly proclaimed in this Capital, as the Seat and Residence of the

Supreme Government; and the Executive Power shall see to this Ceremony being performed with all the pomp and majesty which the Act requires, and shall fix upon such spots as are most convenient for its being proclaimed in a clear and audible manner.

IV. The Government and all the Civil, Ecclesiastical, and Military. Authorities, as well as all the Corporations of the Capital, shall, in full dress, attend this Proclamation, which shall be made by the Minister of State of the Department of Government.

V. On the day following the Proclamation, the principal Civil and Military Authorities shall present themselves at the Palace of the Government, when the Oath shall be administered to them, respectively, in the following form:

"Do you swear, by God and by the Holy Gospels, to keep and cause to be kept, the Political Constitution of the Peruvian Republick, sanctioned by the Constituent Congress, and to be true to the Government?"-"YES, I SWEAR IT."

"If you so conduct yourself, &c."

VI. The Authorities, or Inferior Functionaries of Tribunals, the Ecclesiastical Chapters, Universities, Religious Communities, Colleges, and all the other Corporations of the Republick, shall take the Oath, before the Heads, Prelates, or Superiors of their Departments respectively, in the following form:

"Do you swear, by God and by the Holy Gospels, to watch over the Political Constitution, &c."

Those who superintend any Jurisdiction shall be sworn in the form prescribed by the preceding Article.

VII. A Mass of Thanksgiving, and Te Deum, shall be performed in the Cathedrals, Universities, Religious Communities, and Colleges, after the Chapters, and the other Bodies above mentioned, shall have been sworn to the Constitution.

VIII. When the Cities, Towns, and Communities, receive the Act of the Constitution, (the Bearer of which must be a Military Officer) such publick demonstration of joy shall be made as may be consistent with the circumstances of the Place, to celebrate the arrival of The Great Charter, which guarantees the Liberties of the Country. The Civil Power of each Community shall proceed to the boundary to receive the Act of the Constitution, the Chief Magistrate shall proceed with it to the Town-house, and therein deposit the same, in front of which a Guard shall be placed, wherever a Garrison is stationed.

IX. The Head of the Province shall, without delay, in concert with the Civil Power, fix the day for proclaiming the Constitution in suitable places, agreeably to the Form prescribed in the 3d and 4th Articles, adapting the Ceremony to the particular Place; after having caused the Act to be verified, in the Capital of the Department, and Province of his Jurisdiction.

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