exclusive right of regulating the internal government and police thereof.

3. That the inhabitants of Maryland are entitled to the common law of England, and the trial by jury, according to the course of that law, and to the benefit of such of the English statutes, as existed at the time of their first emigration, and which, by experience, have been found applicable to their local and other circumstances: and of such others as have been since made in England, or Great Britain, and have been introduced, used, and practised by the courts of Jaw or equity; and also to all acts of assembly, in force on the first of June, seventeen hundred and seventy-four, except such as may bave since expired, or have been, or may be, altered by acts of convention, or this declaration of rights

subject, nevertheless, to the revision of, and amendment or repeal by, the legislature of this state; and the inhabitants of Maryland are also entitled to all property derived to them from or under the charter granted by his majesty Charles I. to Cæcilius Calvert, baron of Baltimore.

4. That all persons invested with the legislative or executive powers of government, are the trustees of the public, and, as such, accountable for their conduct; wherefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted, and the public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to, reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness

of mankind.

5. That the right, in the people, to participate in the legislature, is the best security of liberty, and the foundation of all free government; for this purpose, elections ought to be free and frequent, and every man having property in, a common interest with, and an attachment to, the community, ought to have a right of suffrage.

6. That the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of government, ought to be for ever separate and distinct from each other.

7. That no power of suspending laws or the execution of laws, unless by, or derived from, the legislature, ought to be exercised or allowed.

8. That freedom of speech and debate, or proceedings, in the legislature, ought not to be impeached in any other court of judicature.

9. That a place for the meeting of the legislature ought to be fixed, the most convenient to the members thereof, and to the depository of public records; and the legislature ought not to be convened or held at any other place, but from evident necessity.

10. That for redress of grievances, and for amending, strengthening, and preserving the laws, the legislature ought to be frequently convened.

11. That every man hath a right to petition the legislature, for the redress of grievances, in a peaceable and orderly

manner,

12. That no aid, charge, tax, burthen, fee or fees, ought to he set, rated, or levied, under any pretence, without consent of the legislature.

13. That the levying taxes by the poll is grievous and uppressive, and ought to be abolished; that paupers ought not to be assessed for the support of government; but every other person in the state ought to contribute his proportion of public taxes, for the support of government, according to his actual worth, in real or personal property, within the state; yet fines, duties, or taxes, may properly and justly be imposed or laid, with political view, for the good government and benefit of the community.

14. That sanguinary laws ought to be avoided, as far as is consistent with the safety of the state; and no law to inflict cruel and unusual pains and penalties ought to be made in any case, or at any time hereafter.

15. That retrospective laws, punishing facts committed before the existence of such laws, and by them only declared criminal, are oppressive, unjust, and incompatible with liberty; wherefore, no ex post facto law ought to be made.

16. That no law to attaint particular persons of treason or felony, ought to be made in any case, or at any time hereal

ter.

17. That every freeman, for any injury done him in his person or property, ought to have remedy, by the course of the law of the land, and ought to have justice and right, freely without sale, fully without any denial, and speedily, without delay, according to the law of the land.

18. That the trial of facts were they arise is one of the greatest securities of the lives, liberties, and estates of the peuple.

19. That, in all criminal prosecutions, every man hath a right to be informed of the accusation against him; to have a copy of the indictment or charge in due time (if required) to prepare for his defence; to be allowed counsel; to be contronted with the witnesses against him; to have process for his wit

nesses: to examine the witnesses for and against him on oath: and to a speedy trial by an impartial jury, without whose unanimous consent he ought not to be found guilty.

20. That no man ought to be compelled to give evidence against himself, in a court of common law, or in any other court, but in such cases as have been usually practised in this state, or may hereafter be directed by the legislature.

21. That no freeman ought to be taken, or imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties, or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any manner destroyed, or deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land.

22. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted by the courts of law.

23. That all warrants, without oath or affirmation, to search suspected places, or to seize any person or property, are griev ous and oppressive; and all general warrants, to search suspected places, or to apprehend suspected persons, without naming or describing the place or the person in special, are illegal, and ought not to be granted.

24. That there ought to be no forfeiture of any part of the estate of any person, for any crime except murder, or treason, against the state, and then only in conviction and attainder.

25. That a weli regulated militia is the proper and natural defence of a free government.

26. That standing armies are dangerous to liberty, and ought not to be raised or kept up without the consent of the legislature.

27. That, in all cases, and at all times, the military ought to be under strict subordination to, and controul of the civil power.

28. That no soldier ought to be quartered in any house in time of peace, without the consent of the owner; and in time of war in such manner only as the legislature shall direct.

29. That no person, except regular soldiers, mariners, and mariners in the service of this state, or militia when in actual service, ought in any case to be subject to, or punishable by, martial law.

30. That the independency and uprightness of judges are essential to the impartial administration of justice, and a great security to the rights and liberties of the people; wherefore, the chancellor and judges ought to hold commissions during good behaviour; and the said chancellor and judges shall be removed for misbehaviour, on conviction in a court of law, and may be removed by the governor, upon the address of the general assembly: provided, that two-thirds of all the members of och house concur in such address. That salaries, liberal, but

not profuse, ought to be secured to the chancellor and the judges during the continuance of their commissions, in such manner, and at such times, as, the legislature shall hereafter direct, upon consideration of the circumstances of this state. No chancellor or judge ought to hold any other office, civil or military, or receive fees or perquisites of any kind.

31. That a long continuauce in the first executive department of power or trust, is dangerous to liberty; a rotation, therefore, in those departments, is one of the best securities of permanent freedom.

32. That no person ought to hold, at the same time, more than one office of profit, nor ought any person in public trust to receive any present from any foreign prince or state, or from the United States, or any of them, without the approbation of this state.

33. That, as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to him, all persons professing the Christian religion are equally entitled to protec tion in their religious liberty; wherefore, no person ought by any law to be molested in his person or estate, on account of his religious persuasion or profession, or for his religious practice; unless, under colour of religion, any man shall disturb the good order, peace, or safety of the state, or shall infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil, or religious rights: nor ought any person to be compelled to frequent or maintain, or contribute, unless on contract, to maintain any particular place of worship or any particular ministry: [yet the legislature may, in their discretion, lay a general and equal tax for the support of the Christian religion; leaving to each individual the power of appointing the payment over of the money, collected from him, to the support of any particular place of worship or minister, or for the benefit of the poor of his own denomination, or the poor in general of any particular county;] but the churches chapels, glebes, and all other property, now belonging to the Church of England, ought to remain to the Church of England for ever. And all acts of assembly lately passed, for collecting moneys for building or repairing particular churches or chapels of ease shall continue in force, and be executed, unless the legislature shall, by act, supersede or repeal the same; but no county court shall assess any quantity of tobacco, or sum of money, hereafter, on the application of any vestry-men or church-wardens; and every incumbent of the Church of England, who hath remained in his parish, and performed his duty, shall be entitled to receive the provision and support established by the act entitled "an act for the support of the clergy of the Church of England in this

province," till the November court of this present year, to be held for the county in which his parish shall lie, or partly lie, or for such time as he hath remained in his parish, and performed his duty.

34. That every gift, sale or devise of lands, to any minister, public teacher, or preacher of the gospel, as such, or to any religious sect, order, or denomination, or to or for the support, use, or benefit of, or in trust for, any minister, public teacher, or preacher of the gospel, as such, or any religious sect, order, or denomination; and every gift or sale of goods or chattels, to go in succession, or to take place after the death of the seller or donor, to or for such support, use, or benefit, and also every devise of goods or chattels, to or for the support, use, or benefit of any minister, public teacher, or preacher of the gospel, as such, or any religious sect, order, or denomination, without the leave of the legislature, shall be void, except always any sale, gift, lease, or devise of any quantity of land not exceeding two acres for a church, meeting, or other house of worship, and for a burying ground, which shall be improved, enjoyed or used only for such purpose, or such sale, gift, lease or devise, shall be void.

35. That no other test or qualification ought to be required, on admission to any office of trust or profit, than such oath of support and fidelity to this state, and such oath of office, as shall be directed by this convention or the legislature of this state, and a declaration of a belief in the Christian religion.

36. That the manner of administering an oath to any person ought to be such as those of the religious persuasion, profession, or denomination, of which such person is one, generally esteem the most effectual confirmation by the attestation of the Divine Being; and that the people called quakers, those called tunkers, and those called menonists, holding it unlawful to take an oath on any occasion, ought to be allowed to make their solemn affirmation in the manner that quakers have been heretofore allowed to affirm; and to be of the same avail as an oath in all such cases as the affirmation of quakers bath been allowed and accepted within this state instead of an oath. And further, on such affirmation, warrants to search for stolen goods, or the apprehension or commitment of offenders, ought to be granted, or security for the peace awarded, and quakers, tunkers, or menonists, ought also, on their solemn affirmation aforesaid, to be admitted as witnesses in all criminal cases [not capital.]

37. That the city of Annapolis ought to have all its rights, privileges, and benefits agreeable to its charter and the acts of assembly confirming and regulating the same, subject, never<