persons who have been, or may be, convicted of infamous crimes.

3. Laws shall be made for ascertaining by proper proofs, the citizens who shall be entitled to the right of suffrage, hereby established.

4. All elections by the citizens shall be by ballot, except for such town officers, as may by law be directed to be otherwise chosen.

ARTICLE 3.

§ 1. The executive power shall be vested in a governor. He shall hold his office for two years; and a lieutenant governor shall be chosen at the same time, and for the same term.

2. No person, except a native citizen of the United States, shall be eligible to the office of governor, nor shall any person be eligible to that office, who shall not be a freeholder, and shall not have attained the age of thirty years, and have been five years a resident within the state; unless he shall have been absent during that time, on public business of the United States, or of this state.

3. The governor and lieutenant governor shall be elected at the times and places of choosing members of the legislature. The persons respectively having the highest number of votes for governor, and lieutenant governor shall be elected; but in case two or more shall have an equal and the highest number of votes for governor, or for lieutenant governor, the two houses of the legislature shall, by joint ballot, choose one of the said persons, so having an equal and the highest number of votes, for governor or lieutenant governor.

4. The governor shall be general and commander in chief of all the militia, and admiral of the navy of the state. He shall have power to convene the legislature, (or the senate only,) on extraordinary occasions. He shall communicate, by message to the legislature at every session, the condition of the state; and recommend such matters to them as he shall judge expedient. He shall transact all necessary business with the officers of government, civil and military. He shall expedite all such measures as may be resolved upon by the legislature, and shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed. He shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation, which shall neither be increased or diminished, during the term for which he shall have been elected.

5. The governor shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons after conviction, for all offences, except treason and cases of impeachment. Upon convictions for treason, he shall have power to suspend the execution of the sentence, until the case shall be reported to the legislature at its next meeting; when the legislature shall either pardon, or direct the execution of the criminal, or grant a farther reprieve.

6. In case of the impeachment of the governor or his removal from office, death, resignation, or absence from the state, the powers and duties of the office shall devolve upon the lieutenant governor, for the residue of the term, or until the governor absent or impeached, shall return or be acquitted. But when the governor shall, with the consent of the legislature, be out of the state in time of war, at the head of a military force thereof, he shall still continue commander in chief of all the military force of the state.

7. The lieutenant governor shall be president of the senate, but shall have only a casting vote therein. If, during a vacancy of the office of governor, the lieutenant governor shall be impeached, displaced, resign, die, or be absent from the state, the president of the senate shall act as governor, until the vacancy shall be filled, or the disability shall cease.

ARTICLE 4.

§ 1. Militia officers shall be chosen, or appointed, as follows: Captains, subalterns, and non-commissioned officers, shall be chosen by the written votes of the members of their respective companies. Field officers of regiments, and separate battalions, by the written votes of the commissioned officers of the respective regiments, and separate battalions. Brigadier generals, by the field officers of their respective brigades. Major generals, brigadier generals, and commanding officers of regiments or separate battalions, shall appoint the staff officers of their respective divisions, brigades, regiments, or separate battalions.

2. The governor shall nominate, and, with the consent of the senate, appoint, all major generals, brigade inspectors, and chiefs in the staff departments, except the adjutants general and commissary general. The adjutant general shall be appointed by the governor.

3. The legislature shall, by law, direct the time and manner of electing militia officers, and of certifying their elections to the governor.

4. The commissioned officers of the militia shall be commissioned by the governor; and no commissioned officer shall be removed from office, unless by the senate, on the recommendation of the governor, stating the grounds on which such removal is recommended, or by the decision of a court martial, pursuant to law. The present officers of the militia shall hold their commissions, subject to removal, as before provided.

5. In case the mode of election and appointment of militia officers hereby directed, shall not be found conducive to the improvement of the militia, the legislature may abolish the same, and provide by law for their appointment and removal,

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if two-thirds of the members present in each house, shall concur therein.

6. The secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer, attorney general, surveyor general, and commissary general, shall be appointed as follows: The senate and assembly shall each openly nominate one person for the said offices respectively: after which, they shall meet together, and if they shall agree in their nominations, the person so nominated shall be appointed to the office for which he shall be nominated. If they shall disagree, the appointment shall be made by the joint ballot of the senators and members of assembly. The treasurer shall be chosen annually. The secretary of state, comptroller, attorney general, surveyor general, and commissary general, shall hold their offices for three years, unless sooner removed by concurrent resolution of the senate and assembly.

7. The governor shall nominate, by message, in writing, and, with the consent of the senate, shall appoint all judicial officers, except justices of the peace, who shall be appointed in manner following, that is to say: The board of supervisors in every county in this state, shall, at such times as the legislature may direct, meet together: and they, or a majority of them so assembled, shall nominate so many persons as shall be equal to the number of justices of the peace, to be appointed in the several towns in the respective counties. And the judges of the respective county courts, or a majority of them, shall also meet and nominate a like number of persons: and it shall be the duty of the said board of supervisors, and judges of county courts, to compare such nominations, at such time and place, as the legislature may direct; and if, on such comparison, the said boards of supervisors and judges of county courts, shall agree in their nominations, in all or in part, they shall file a certificate of the nominations in which they shall agree, in the office of the clerk of the county: and the person or persons named in such certificates, shall be justices of the peace; and in case of disagreement in whole, or in part, it shall be the farther duty of the said boards of supervisors and judges, respectively, to transmit their said nominations, so far as they disagree in the same, to the governor, who shall select from the said nominations, and appoint so many justices of the peace, as shall be requisite to fill the vacancies. Every person appointed a justice of the peace, shall hold his office for four years, unless removed by the county court, for causes particularly assigned by the judges of the said court. And no justice of the peace shall be removed, until he shall have notice of the charges made against him, and an opportunity of being heard in his defence.

8. Sheriffs, and clerks of counties, including the register, and clerks of the city and county of New York, shall be chosen by the electors of the respective counties, once in every three

years, and as often as vacancies shall happen. Sheriffs shall hold no other office, and be ineligible for the next three years after the termination of their offices. They may be required by law to renew their security, from time to time: and in default of giving such new security, their offices shall be deemed vacant. But the county shall never be made responsible for the acts of the sheriff. And the governor may remove any such sheriff, clerk, or register, at any time within the three years for which he shall be elected, giving to such sheriff, clerk, or register a copy of the charge against him, and an opportunity of being heard in his defence, before any removal shall be made.

9. The clerks of courts, except those clerks whose appointment is provided for in the preceding section, shall be appointed by the courts of which they respectively are clerks; and district attorneys, by the county courts. Clerks of courts, and district attorneys, shall hold their offices for three years, unless sooner removed by the courts appointing them.

10. The mayors of all the cities in this state shall be appointed annually by the common councils of their respective cities.

11. So many coroners as the legislature may direct, not exceeding four in each county, shall be elected in the same manner as sheriffs, and shall hold their offices for the same term, and be removable in like manner.

12. The governor shall nominate, and, with the consent » of the senate, appoint masters and examiners in chancery; who shall hold their offices for three years, unless sooner removed by the senate, on the recommendation of the governor. The registers, and assistant registers, shall be appointed by the chancellor, and hold their offices during his pleasure.

13. The clerk of the court of oyer and terminer, and general sessions of the peace, in and for the city and county of New York, shall be appointed by the court of general sessions of the peace in said city, and hold his office during the pleasure of said court; and such clerks and other officers of courts, whose appointment is not herein provided for, shall be appointed by the several courts; or by the governor, with the consent of the senate, as may be directed by law.

14. The special justices, and the assistant justices, and their clerks, in the city of New York, shall be appointed by the common council of the said city; and shall hold their offices for the same term that the justices of the peace, in the other counties of this state, hold their offices, and shall be removable in like manner.

15. All officers heretofore elective by the people shall continue to be elected; and all other officers, whose appoint

ment is not provided for by this constitution, and all officers, whose offices may be hereafter created by law, shall be elected by the people, or appointed, as may by law be directed.

16. Where the duration of any office is not prescribed by this constitution, it may be declared by law; and if not so declared, such office shall be held during the pleasure of the authority making the appointment.

ARTICLE 5.

§ 1. The court for the trial of impeachments, and the correction of errors, shall consist of the president of the senate, the senators, the chancellors, and the justices of the supreme court, or the major part of them: but when an impeachment shall be prosecuted against the chancellor, or any justice of the supreme court, the person so impeached shall be suspended from exercising his office, until his acquittal: and when an appeal from a decree in chancery shall be heard, the chancellor shall inform the court of the reasons for his decree, but shall have no voice in the final sentence; and when a writ of error shall be brought, on a judgment of the supreme court, the justices of that court shall assign the reasons for their judgment, but shall not have a voice for its affirmance or reversal.

2. The assembly shall have the power of impeaching all civil officers of this state for male and corrupt conduct in office, and high crimes and misdemeanors: but a majority of all the members elected shall concur in an impeachment. Before the trial of an impeachment, the members of the court shall take an oath or affirmation, truly and impartially to try and determine the charge in question, according to evidence: and no person shall be convicted, without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend further than the removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honour, trust, or profit under this state; but the party convicted shall be liable to indictment and punishment, according to law.

3. The chancellor, and justices of the supreme court, shall hold their offices during good behaviour, or until they shall attain the age of sixty years.

4. The supreme court shall consist of a chief justice and two justices, any of whom may hold the court.

5. The state shall be divided, by law, into a convenient number of circuits, not less than four nor exceeding eight, subject to alteration, by the legislature, from time to time, as the public good may require; for each of which a circuit judge shall be appointed, in the same manner, and hold his office by the same tenure, as the justices of the supreme court; and who shall possess the powers of a justice of the supreme court at chambers, and in the trial of issues joined in the