elected and qualified; but shall not be eligible more than six years in any term of eight. 5. He shall be commander in chief of the army and navy of this state, and of the militia, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States. 6. He shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons, after conviction, except in cases of impeachment. 7. He shall at stated times receive a compensation for his services, which shall not be increased or diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected. 8. He may require information, in writing, from the officers in the executive department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices. 9. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the general assembly by proclamation, and shall state to them, when assembled, the purpose for which they shall have been convened. 10. He shall take care that the laws shall be faithfully executed. 11. He shall, from time to time, give to the general assembly information of the state of the government, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge expedient. 12. In case of his death, or resignation, or removal from office, the speaker of the senate shall exercise the office of governor until another governor shall be qualified. 13. No member of congress, or person holding any office under the United States, or this state, shall execute the office of governor. 14. When any officer, the right of whose appointment is, by this constitution, vested in the general assembly, shall, during the recess, die, or his office by other means become vacant, the governor shall have power to fill up such vacancy, by granting a temporary commission, which shall expire at the end of the next session of the legislature. 15. There shall be a seal of the state, which shall be kept by the governor, and used by him officially, and shall be called the great seal of the state of Tennessee. 16. All grants and commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the state of Tennessee, be sealed with the state seal, and signed by the governor. 17. A secretary of this state shall be appointed and commissioned during the term of four years. He shall keep a fair register of all the official acts and proceedings of the governor; and shall, when required, lay the same, and all papers, minutes, and vouchers, relative thereto, before the general assembly, and shall perform such other duties as shall be enjoined him by law. ARTICLE 3. § 1. Every freeman, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, possessing a freehold in the county wherein he may vote, and being an inhabitant of this state, and every freeman being an inhabitant of any one county in the state six months immediately preceding the day of election, shall be entitled to vote for members of the general assembly for the county in which he shall reside. 2. Electors shall, in all cases except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections, and in going to and returning from them. 3. All elections shall be by ballot. ARTICLE 4. § 1. The house of representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment. When 2. All impeachments shall be tried by the senate. sitting for that purpose, the senators shall be upon oath or af firmation. 3. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of the whole house. 4. The governor, and all civil officers under this state, shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office; but judgment in such cases shall not extend further than removal from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honour, trust, or profit, under this state. The party shall, nevertheless, in all cases, be liable to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, acording to law. ARTICLE 5. § 1. The judiciary power of this state shall be vested in such superior and inferior courts of law and equity as the legislature shall, from time to time, direct and establish. 2. The general assembly shall, by joint ballot of both houses, appoint judges of the several courts of law and equity; also an attorney or attorneys for the state, who shall hold their respective offices during good behaviour. 3. The judges of the superior court shall, at stated times, receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law; but shall not be allowed any fees or perquisites of office, nor shall they hold any other office of trust or profit under this state or the United States. 4. The judges of the superior courts shall be justices of oyer and terminer and general gaol delivery throughout the state. 5. The judges of the superior and inferior courts shall not charge juries with respect to matters of fact, but may state the testimony and declare the law. 6. The judges of the superior courts shall have power in all civil cases to issue writs of certiorari, to remove any cause, or a transcript thereof, from any inferior court of record into the superior, on sufficient cause, supported by oath or affirmation. 7. The judges or justices of the inferior courts of law shall have power, in all cases, to issue writs of certiorari, to remove any cause, or a transcript thereof, from any inferior jurisdiction, into their court, on sufficient cause, supported by oath or affirmation. 8. No judge shall sit on the trial of any cause where the parties shall be connected with him, by affinity or consanguinity, except by consent of parties. In case all the judges of the superior court shall be interested in the event of any cause, or related to all or either of the parties, the governor of the state shall, in such case, specially commission three men, of law knowledge, for the determination thereof. 9. All writs and other process shall run, in the name of the state of Tennessee; and bear test, and be signed by the respective clerks. Indictments shall conclude, against the peace and dignity of the state. 10. Each court shall appoint its own clerk, who may hold his office during good behaviour. 11. No fine shall be laid on any citizen of this state that shall exceed fifty dollars, unless it shall be assessed by a jury of his peers, who shall assess the fine at the time they find the fact, if they think the fine ought to be more than fifty dollars. 12. There shall be justices of the peace appointed for each county, not exceeding two for each captain's company, except for the company which includes the county town, which shall not exceed three, who shall hold their offices during good behaviour. ARTICLE 6. §1. There shall be appointed in each county, by the county court, one sheriff, one coroner, one trustee, and a sufficient number of constables, who shall hold their offices for two years. They shall also have power to appoint one register, and ranger for the county, who shall hold their offices during good behaviour. The sheriff, and coroner, shall be commissioned by the governor. 2. There shall be a treasurer or treasurers appointed for the state, who shall hold his or their offices for two years. 3. The appointment of all officers, not otherwise directed by this constitution, shall be vested in the legislature. ARTICLE 7. 1. Captains, subalterns, and non-commissioned officers, shall be elected by those citizens, in their respective districts, who are subject to military duty. 2. All field officers of the militia shall be elected by those citizens in their respective counties who are subject to military duty. 3. Brigadiers general shall be elected by the field officers of their respective brigades. 4. Majors general shall be elected by the brigadiers and field officers of the respective divisions. 5. The governor shall appoint the adjutant general; the majors general shall appoint their aids; the brigadiers general shall appoint their brigade majors; and the commanding officers of regiments, their adjutants and quarter masters. 6. The captains and the subalterns of the cavalry shall be appointed by the troops enrolled in their respective companies, and the field officers of the districts shall be appointed by the said captains and subalterns, provided, that whenever any new county is laid off, that the field officers of said cavalry shall appoint the captain and other officers therein, pro tempore, until the company is filled up and completed, at which time the election of the captains and subalterns shall take place as aforesaid. 7. The legislature shall pass laws exempting citizens belonging to any sect or denomination of religion, the tenets of which are known to be opposed to the bearing of arms, from attending private and general musters. ARTICLE 8. § 1. Whereas the ministers of the gospel are, by their profession, dedicated to God and the care of souls, and ought not to be diverted from the great duties of their functions; therefore, no minister of the gospel, or priest of any denomination whatever, shall be eligible to a seat in either house of the legislature. 2. No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state. ARTICLE 9. § 1. That every person who shall be chosen or appointed to any office of trust, or profit, shall, before entering on the execution thereof, take an oath to support the constitution of this state, and also an oath of office. 2. That each member of the senate and house of representaB b tives shall, before they proceed to business, take an oath or affirmation to support the constitution of this state, and also the following oath: I, A B, do solemnly swear, (or affirm) that, as a member of this general assembly, I will in all appointments vote without favour, affection, partiality, or prejudice, and that I will not propose or assent to any bill, vote, or resolution, which shall appear to me injurious to the people, or consent to any act or thing whatever that shall have a tendency to lessen or abridge their rights and privileges, as declared by the constitution of this state. 3. Any elector who shall receive any gift or reward for his vote, in meat, drink, money, or otherwise, shall suffer such punishment as the laws shall direct. And any person who shall directly or indirectly give, promise, or bestow, any such reward to be elected, shall thereby be rendered incapable, for two years, to serve in the office for which he was elected, and be subject to such further punishment as the legislature shall di rect. 4. No new county shall be established by the general assembly, which shall reduce the county or counties, or either of them, from which it shall be taken, to a less content than six hundred and twenty-five square miles. Nor shall any new County be laid off, of less contents. All new counties, as to the right of suffrage and representation, shall be considered as a part of the county or counties from which it was taken until entitled by numbers to the right of representation. No bill shall be passed into a law, for the establishment of a new county, except upon a petition to the general assembly for that purpose, signed by two hundred of the free male inhabitants within the limits or bounds of such new county prayed to be laid off. ARTICLE 10. § 1. Knoxville shall be the seat of government until the year one thousand eight hundred and two. 2. All laws and ordinances now in force and use in this territory, not inconsistent with this constitution, shall continue to be in force and use in this state, until they shall expire, be altered, or repealed by the legislature. 3. That whenever two-thirds of the general assembly shall think it necessary to amend or change this constitution, they shall recommend to the electors, at the next election for members to the general assembly, to vote for or against a convention; and if it shall appear that a majority of all the citizens of the state, voting for representatives, have voted for a convention, the general assembly shall, at their next session, call a convention, to consist of as many members as there may be in the general assembly, to be chosen in the same manner, at the |