XXIV. A well regulated Militia is the proper, natural, and sure defence of a State.

XXV. Standing armies are dangerous toLiberty, and ought not to be raised, or kept up, without the consent of the Legislature.

XXVI. In all cases, and at all times, the military ought to be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.

XXVII. No soldier, in time of peace, shall be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner; and in time of war, such quarters ought not to be made but by the civil magistrate, in a manner ordained by the Legislature.

XXVIII. No subsidy, charge, tax, impost, or duty, shall be established, fixed, laid or levied, under any pretext whatsoever, without the consent of the people, or their representatives in the Legislature, or authority derived from that body.

XXIX. The power of suspending the laws, or the execution of them, ought never to be exercised, but by the Legislature, or by authority derived therefrom, to be exercised in such particular cases only as the Legislature shall expressly provide for.

XXX. The freedom of deliberation, speech, and debate, in either House of the Legislature, is so essential to the rights of the people, that it cannot be the foundation of any action, complaint, or prosecution, in any other Court or place whatsoever.

XXXI. The Legislature shall assemble for the redress of public grievances, and for making such laws as the public good may require.

XXXII. The people have a right, in an orderly and peaceable manner, to assemble and consult upon the common good, give instructions to their Representatives, and to request of the Legislative Body, by way of pe tition or remonstrance, redress of the wrongs done them, and of the grievances they suffer.

XXXIII. No Magistrate, or Court of Law, shall de-. mand excessive bail or sureties, impose excessive fines, or inflict cruel or unusual punishments.

XXXIV. No person can, in any case, be subjected

to

to law martial, or to any pains or penalties by virtue of that law, except those employed in the army or navy, and except the militia in actual service, but by authority of the Legislature.

XXXV. It is essential to the preservation of the rights of every individual, his life, liberty, property and character, that there be an impartial interpretation of the laws and administration of justice. It is the right of every citizen to be tried by Judges as impartial as the lot of humanity will admit. It is therefore not only the best policy, but for the security of the rights of the people, that the Judges of the Supreme Judicial Court should hold their offices so long as they behave well; subject, however, to such limitations, on account of age, as may be provided by the Constitution of the state; and that they should have honourable salaries, ascertained and established by standing laws.

XXXVI. Economy being a most essential virtue in all States, especially in a young one, no pension shall be granted, but in consideration of actual services; and such pensions ought to be granted with great caution, by the Legislature, and never for more than one year at a time.

XXXVII. In the government of this State, the three essential powers thereof, to wit, the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial, ought to be kept as separate from, and independent of, each other, as the nature of a free government will admit, or as is consistent with that chain of connection that binds the whole fabric of the Constitution in one indissoluble bond of union and amity.

XXXVIII. A frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of the Constitution, and a constant adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, industry, frugality, and all the social virtues, are indispensibly necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty and good government; the people ought, therefore, to have a particular regard to all those principles in the choice of their Officers and Representatives: And they have a right to require of their law-givers and magistrates, an exact and constant observance of them, in the formation and execution of the laws necessary for the good adminstration of government.

PART II.

FORM OF GOVERNMENT.

THE people inhabiting the territory formerly called. the Province of New-Hampshire, do hereby solemnly and mutually agree with each other, to form themselves into a free, sovereign, and independent Body-Politic, or State, by the name of the State of New-Hampshire. GENERAL COURT.

The Supreme Legislative Power, within this State, shall be vested in the Senate and House of Representatives, each of which shall have a negative on the other.

The Senate and House shall assemble every year on the last Wednesday of October, and at such other times as they may judge necessary; and shall dissolve, and be dissolved, seven days next preceding the said last Wednesday of October; and shall be stiled THE GENERAL COURT OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE.

The General Court shall forever have full power and authority to erect and constitute Judicatories and Courts of Record, or other Courts, to be holden in the name of the State, for the hearing, trying, and determining, all manner of crimes, offences, pleas, processes, plaints, actions, causes, matters, and things whatsoever, arising or happening within this State, or between or concerning persons inhabiting or residing, or brought within the same, whether the same be criminal or civil, or whether the crimes be capital, or not capital, and whether the said pleas be real, personal, or mixed; and for the awarding and issuing execution thereon. To which Courts and Judicatories, are hereby given and granted, full power and authority, from time to time, to administer oaths or affirmations, for the better discovery of truth in any matter in controversy, or depending before them.

And farther, full power and authority are hereby given and granted to the said General Court, from time to time, to make, ordain and establish, all manner of wholesome and reasonable orders, laws, statutes, ordinances, directions, and instructions, either with penalties, or without, so as the same be not repugnant or

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contrary to this Constitution, as they may judge för the benefit and welfare of this State, and for the governing and ordering thereof, and of the subjects of the same, for the necessary support and defence, of the government thereof; and to name and settle annually, or provide by fixed laws for the naming and settling, all civil officers within this State; such officers excepted, the election and appointment of whom are hereafter in this form of government otherwise provided for; and to set forth the several duties, powers, and limits, of the several civil and military officers of this State, and the forms of such oaths or affirmations as shall be respectively administered unto them,for the execution of their several offices and places, so as the same be not repugnant or contrary to this Constitution; and also to impose fines, mulcts, imprisonments, and other punishments; and to impose and levy proportional and reasonable assessments, rates, and taxes, upon all the inhabitants of, and residents within the said State; and upon all estates within the same; to be issued and disposed of by warrant, under the hand of the Governor of this State for the time being, with the advice and consent of the Council, for the public service, in the necessary defence and support of the government of this State, and the protection and preservation of the subjects thereof, according to such acts as are, or shall be, in force within the same.

And while the public charges of government, or any part thereof, shall be assessed on polls and estates in the manner that has heretofore been practised; in order that such assessments may be made with equality, there shall be a valuation of the estates within the State taken anew once in every five years at least, and as much oftener as the General Court shall order.

No member of the General Court shall take fees, be of counsel, or act as advocate, in any cause before either branch of the Legislature; and upon due proof thereof, such member shall forfeit his seat in the Legisla

The doors of the galleries, of each house of the Legislature, shall be kept open to all persons who be

have decently, except when the welfare of the State, in the opinion of either branch, shall require secrecy. SENATE.

THE Senate shall consist of thirteen members, who shall hold their office for one year, from the last Wednesday of October next ensuing their election.

And that the State may be equally represented in the Senate, the Legislature shall, from time to time, divide the State into thirteen districts, as nearly equal as may be without dividing towns and unincorporated places; and in making this division, they shall govern themselves by the proportion of public taxes paid by the said districts, and timely make known to the inhabitants of the State the limits of each district.

The freeholders and other inhabitants of each district, qualified as in this Constitution is provided, shall annually give in their votes for a Senator, at some meeting holden in the month of March.

The Senate shall be the first branch of the Legislature; and the Senators shall be chosen in the following manner, viz. Every male inhabitant, of each town, and parish with town privileges, and places unincorporated, in this State, of twenty-one years of age and upwards, excepting paupers, and persons excused from paying taxes, at their own request, shall have a right, at the annual or other meetings of the inhabitants of said towns and parishes, to be duly warned and holden annually forever in the month of March, to vote in the town or parish" wherein he dwells, for the Senators in the county or district whereof he is a member.

Provided nevertheless, That no person shall be capable of being elected a Senator, who is not seized of a freehold estate, in his own right, of the value of two hundred pounds, lying within this State, who is not of the age of thirty years, and who shall not have been an inhabitant of this State for seven years immediately preceding his election, and at the time thereof he shall be an inhabitant of the district for which he shall be chosen.

And every person, qualified as the Constitution provides, shall be considered an inhabitant for the purpose

of