of Arkansas ratified it April 6th, 1868; the legislature of Florida ratified it June 9th, 1868; the legislature of Louisiana ratified it July 9th, 1868; and the legislature of Alabama ratifled it July 13th, 1868:

Now, therefore, be it known, that I, WILLIAM H. SEWARD, secretary of state of the United States, in execution of the aforesaid act, and of the aforesaid concurrent resolution of the 21st of July, 1868, and in conformance thereto, do hereby direct the said proposed amendment to the constitution of the United States to be published in the newspapers authorized to promulgate the laws of the United States, and I do hereby certify, that the said proposed amendment has been adopted in the manner hereinbefore mentioned by the st .tes specified in the said concurrent resolution, namely: The states of Connecticut, New Hampshire, Tennessee, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, New York. Ohio, Illinois, West Virginia, Kansas, Maine, Nevada, Missouri, Indiana, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania,, Michigan, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Iowa, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, and also by the legislature of the state of Georgia; the states thus specified being more than three-fourths of the states of the United States.

And I do further certify, that the said amendment has become valid to all intents and purposes, a part of the constitution of

the United States.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the department of state to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and [L. S.] sixty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-third.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

SECTION 2.

The congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The following is the certificate of the secretary of state of the United States, announcing the ratification of the foregoing article:

HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State of the United States:

TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS MAY COME, GREETING : KNOW YE, That the congress of the United States, on or about the twenty-seventh day of February, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, passed a resolution in the words and figures following, to wit:

"A Resolution proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

66 Resolved, By the senate and house of representatives of the United States of America, in congress assembled (two-thirds of both houses concurring), That the following article be proposed to the legislatures of the several states as an amendment to the constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by threefourths of said legislatures, shall be valid as part of the constitution, namely:"

(See Article XV, above.)

And, further, that it appears from official documents on file in this department, that the amendment to the constitution of the United States, proposed as aforesaid, has been ratified by the legislatures of the states of North Carolina, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Maine, Louisiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New York, New Hampshire, Nevada, Vermont, Virginia, Alabama, Missouri, Miss issippi, Ohio, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Nebraska, and Texas; in all, twenty-nine states: And, further, that the states whose legislatures have so ratified the said proposed amendment constitute three-fourths of the whole number of states in the United States;

And, further, that it appears, from an official document on file in this department, that the legislature of the state of New York has since passed resolutions claiming to withdraw the said ratification of the said amend ment which had been made by the legislature of that state, and of which official notice had been filed in this department;

And, further, that it appears, from an official document on file in this department, that the legislature of Georgia has, by resolution, ratified the said proposed amendment:

Now, therefore, be it known, that I, HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of state of the United States, by virtue and in pursuance of the second section of the act of congress approved the twentieth day of April, in the year eighteen hundred and eighteen, entitled An act to provide for the publication of the laws of the United States, and for other purposes,' do hereby certify, that the amendment aforesaid has become valid to all intents and purposes as part of the constitution of the United States.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the department of state to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and [L. S.] seventy, and of the Independence of the United States the ninety-fourth. HAMILTON FISH.

THE

CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

Adopted November 3, 1846.

ARTICLE I.

SECTION 1. No person to be disfranchised.

SEC. 2. Trial by jury.

SEC. 3. Religious liberty.

SEC. 4. Writ of habeas corpus.

SEC. 5. Bail, fines.

SEC. 6. Grand jury.

SEC. 7. Private property-Private roads.

SEC. 8. Freedom of speech and of the press.
SEC. 9. Two-third bills.

SEC. 10. Right of petition-Divorces-Lotteries.
SEC. 11. Right of property in lands-Escheats.

SEC. 12. Feudal tenures abolished.

SEC. 13. Allodial tenure.

SEC. 14. Certain leases invalid.

SEC. 15. Fines and quarter sales abolished.

SEC. 16. Sale of lands.

SEC. 17. Old colony laws and acts of the legislature-Common law - Commissioners to be appointed - their duties.

SEC. 18. Grants of land since 1775-Prior grants.

ARTICLE II.

SECTION 1. Qualification of voters-Freehold required for man of color.

SEC. 2. Persons excluded from right of suffrage.

SEC. 3. Certain employments not to affect residence of voters.
SEC. 4. Laws to be passed.

SEC. 5. Election to be by ballot.

ARTICLE III.

SECTION 1. Legislativo powers.

SEC. 2. Senate, number of-Assembly, number of.

SEC. 3. State divided into thirty-two senatorial districtsboundaries thereof - Board of supervisors of the city of New York to divide the county into four senate districts - Certificate, etc., to be filed.

SEC. 4. Census to be taken in 1855, and every ten years-Senate districts, how altered.

SEC. 5. Members of Assembly, how apportioned and chosenBoards of supervisors in certain counties to divide the same into Assembly districts - Description of Assembly districts to be filed-Contents of Assembly districts-Legislature to re-apportion members of Assembly-Each county entitled to one member-Hamilton county.

SEC. 6. Pay of members Speaker.

SEC. 7. No member to receive an appointment.

SEC. 8. Persons disqualified from being members.

SEC. 9. Time of election fixed.

SEC. 10. Powers of each house.

SEC. 11. Journals to be kept.

SEC. 12. No member to be questioned, etc.

SEC. 13. Bills may originate in either house.

SEC. 14. Enacting clause of bills.

SEC. 15. Assent of a majority of all the members required, etc.
SEC. 16. Restriction as to private and local bills.

SEC. 17. Local legislative powers conferred on boards of supervisors.

ARTICLE IV.

SECTION 1. Executive power, how vested.

SEC. 2. Requisite qualifications of Governor.

SEC. 3. Time and manner of electing Governor and Lieutenant-
Governor.

SEC. 4. Duties and power of Governor-His compensation.
SEC. 5. Pardoning power vested in the Governor.

SEC. 6. Powers of Governor to devolve on Lieutenant-Gov

ernor.

SEC. 7. Requisite qualifications of Lieutenant-Governor-To be President of the Senate, and to act as Governor in certain

cases.

SEC. 8. Compensation of Lieutenant-Governor in certain cases. SEC. 9. Bills to be presented to the Governor for signature - If returned by him with objections, how disposed of- Bills to be returned within ten days.

ARTICLE V.

SECTION 1. State officers, how elected and terms of office. SEC. 2. State Engineer and Surveyor, how chosen and term of office.

SEC. 3. Canal Commissioners, how chosen and terms of office. SEC. 4. Inspectors of State Prisons, how elected and terms of office.

SEC. 5. Commissioners of the Land Office-Commissioners of the Canal Fund-Canal Board.

SEC. 6. Powers and duties of Boards, etc.

SEC. 7. Treasurer may be suspended by Governor.
SEC. 8. Certain offices abolished.

ARTICLE VI.

SECTION 1. Impeachment-Assembly has power of - Effect of judgment.

SEC. 2. Court of Appeals -Judges how chosen-Appointment of clerk.

SEC. 3. Vacancies in office of judge of Court of Appeals; how filled.

SEC. 4. Causes pending in Court of Appeals to be referred to Commissioners of Appeals.

SEC. 5. Commissioners of Appeals-Vacancies how filledChief Commissioner to be appointed.

SEC. 6. Supreme Court-Jurisdiction-Justices-Judicial Districts, number of justices in; may be altered without increasing number.

SEC. 7. Terms of Supreme Court.

SEC. 8. Judge or Justice may not sit in review of decisions made by him, etc.

SEC. 9. Vacancy in office of Justice of Supreme Court, how filled.

SEC. 10. Judges of Court of Appeals, or Justices of Supreme Court, to hold no other office.

SEC. 11. Removals - Proceedings in relation to.

SEC. 12. City Courts.

SEC. 13. Justice of Supreme Court or Judges of City Courts, how chosen- Term of office-Restriction as to age.