§3. The Judges of the Supreme Court shall, in all trials, instruct the jury in the law. They shall also give their written opinion upon any question of law whenever requested by the Governor, or by either House of the General Assem bly.

$4. The Judges of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the two Houses in grand committee. Each Judge shall hold his office until his place be declared vacant by a resolution of the General Assembly to that effect; which resolution shall be voted for by a majority of all the members elected to the House in which it may originate, and be concurred in by the same majority of the other House. Such resolution shall not be entertained at any other than the annual session for the election of public officers; and in default of the passage thereof at said session, the Judge shall hold his place as is herein provided. But a Judge of any court shall be removed from office, if, upon impeachment, he shall be found guilty of any official misdemeanor.

§ 5. In case of vacancy by death, resignation, removal from the State or from office, refusal or inability to serve, of any Judge of the Supreme Court, the office may be filled by the grand committee, until the next annual election, and the Judge then elected shall hold his office as before provided. In cases of impeachment, or temporary absence or inability, the Governor may appoint a person to discharge the duties of the office during the vacancy caused thereby.

§ 6. The Judges of the Supreme Court shall receive a compensation for their services, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

§ 7. The towns of New Shoreham and Jamestown may continue to elect their wardens as heretofore. The other towns and the city of Providence, may elect such number of justices of the peace, resident therein, as they may deem proper. The jurisdiction of said justices and wardens shall be regulated by law. The justices shall be commissioned by the Governor.

ARTICLE 11.— OF IMPEACHMENTS.

§1. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment. A vote of two-thirds of all the members elected shall be required for an impeachment of the Governor. Any officer impeached, shall thereby be suspended from office until judgment in the case shall have been pronounced.

§ 2. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate; and, when sitting for that purpose, they shall be under oath or affirmation. No person shall be convicted except by vote of two-thirds of the members elected. When the Governor is impeached, the chief or presiding justice of the Supreme Court for the time being, shall preside, with a casting vote in all preliminary questions.

§3. The Governor and all other executive and judicial officers, shall be liable to impeachment; but judgment in such cases shall not extend further than to removal from office. The person convicted, shall, nevertheless, be liable to indictment, trial, and punishment, according to law.

ARTICLE 12.- -OF EDUCATION.

§ 1. The diffusion of knowledge, as well as of virtue, among the people, being essential to the preservation of their rights and liberties, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to promote public schools, and to adopt all means which they may deem necessary and proper to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of education.

$2. The money which now is, or which may hereafter be appropriated by law for the establishment of a permanent fund for the support of public schools, shall be securely invested and remain a perpetual fund for that purpose.

§3. All donations for the support of public schools or for other purposes of education, which may be received by the General Assembly, shall be applied according to the terms prescribed by the donors.

§ 4. The General Assembly shall make all necessary provisions by law for carrying this article into effect. They shall not divert said money or fund from the aforesaid uses, nor borrow, appropriate, or use the same, or any part thereof, for any other purpose, under any pretence whatsoever.

ARTICLE 13.-ON AMENDMENTS.

The General Assembly may propose amendments to this constitution by the votes of a majority of all the members elected to each House. Such propositions for amendment shall be published in the newspapers, and printed copies of them shall be sent by the Secretary of State, with the names of all the members who shall have voted thereon, with the yeas and nays, to all the town and city clerks in the State. The said propositions shall be, by said clerks, inserted in the warrants or notices by them issued, for warning the next annual town and ward meetings in April; and the clerks shall read said propositions to the electors when

thus assembled, with the names of all the Representatives and Senators who shall nave voted thereon, with the yeas and nays, before the election of Senators and Representatives shall be had. If a majority of all the members elected to each House, at said annual meeting, shall approve any proposition thus made, the same shall be published and submitted to the electors in the mode provided in the act of approval; and if then approved by three-fifths of the electors of the State present, and voting thereon in town and ward meetings, it shall become a part of the constitution of the State.

ARTICLE 14. OF THE ADOPTION OF THIS CONSTITUTION.

§1. This constitution, if adopted, shall go into operation on the first Tuesday of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-three. The first elec tion of Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney-General, and General Treasurer, and of Senators and Representatives under said constitution, shall be had on the first Wednesday of April next preceding, by the electors qualified under said constitution. And the town and ward meetings therefore shall be warned and conducted as is now provided by law. All civil and military officers now elected, or who shall hereafter be elected, by the General Assembly, or other competent authority, before the said first Wednesday of April, shall hold their offices and may exercise their powers until the said first Tuesday of May, or until their successors shall be qualified to act. All statutes, public and private, not repugnant to this constitution, shall continue in force until they expire by their own limitation, or are repealed by the General Assembly. All charters, contracts, judgments, actions, and rights of action, shall be as valid as if this constitution had not been made. The present government shall exercise all the powers with which it is now clothed, until the said first Tuesday of May, one thousand eight hundred and forty-three, and until the government under this constitution is duly organized.

§2. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the State as if this constitution had not been adopted.

§ 3. The Supreme Court, established by this constitution, shall have the same jurisdiction as the Supreme Judicial Court at present established, and shall have jurisdiction of all causes which may be appealed to, or pending in the same; and shall be held at the same times and places, and in each county, as the present Supreme Judicial Court, until otherwise prescribed by the General Assembly. § 4. The towns of New Shoreham and Jamestown shall continue to enjoy the exemptions from military duty which they now enjoy, until otherwise prescribed by law.

Done in Convention, at East-Greenwich, this fifth day of November, eighteen hundred and forty-two.

THOMAS A. JENCKES, Secretaries.
WALTER W. UPDIKE,

JAMES FENNER, President.
HENRY Y. CRANSTON, Vice-Pres't.

CONSTITUTION OF CONNECTICUT.

PREAMBLE.

THE people of Connecticut, acknowledging, with gratitude, the good providence of God, in having permitted them to enjoy a free government, do, in order more effectually to define, secure, and perpetuate the liberties, rights, and privileges which they have derived from their ancestors, hereby, after a careful consideration and revision, ordain and establish the following constitution and form of civil government.

ARTICLE I.

Declaration of Rights.

That the great and essential principles of liberty and free government may be recognised and established, we declare:

1. That all men, when they form a social compact, are equal in

rights; and that no man, or set of men, are entitled to exclusive public emoluments or privileges from the community.

§ 2. That all political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit; and that they have at all-times an undeniable and indefeasible right to alter their form of government in such manner as they may think expedient.

§ 3. The exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination, shall for ever be free to all persons in this state, provided that the right hereby declared and established shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or to justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state.

§ 4. No preference shall be given by law to any Christian sect or mode of worship.

§ 5. Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty.

§ 6. No law shall ever be passed to curtail or restrain the liberty of speech or of the press.

§ 7. In all prosecutions or indictments for libels, the truth may be given in evidence, and the jury shall have a right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the court.

§ 8. The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions, from unreasonable searches, or seizures; and no warrant to search any place, or to seize any person or things, shall issue, without describing them as nearly as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation.

§ 9. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have a right to be heard, by himself and by counsel: to demand the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted by the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process to obtain witnesses in his favour; and in all prosecutions by indictment or information, a speedy public trial by an impartial jury. He shall not be compelled to give evidence against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, but by due course of law. And no person shall be holden to answer for any crime, the punishment of which may be death or imprisonment for life, unless on a presentment or an indictment of a grand jury; except in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger.

§ 10. No person shall be arrested, detained, or punished, except in cases clearly warranted by law.

§ 11. The property of no person shall be taken for public use, without just compensation therefor.

§ 12. All courts shall be open, and every person, for an injury done him, in his person, property, or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law, and right and justice administered without sale, denial, or delay.

§ 13. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed.

§ 14. All prisoners shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offences, where the proof is evident, or the presumption great; and the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus shall

not be suspended, unless when in case of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it; nor in any case, but by the legislature.

§ 15. No person shall be attainted of treason or felony by the legisla

ture.

§ 16. The citizens have a right, in a peaceable manner, to assemble for their common good, and to apply to those invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances, or other proper purposes, by pe tition, address, or remonstrance.

§ 17. Every citizen has a right to bear arms in defence of himself and the state.

§ 18. The military shall, in all cases, and at all times, be in strict subordination to the civil power.

§ 19. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

§ 20. No hereditary emoluments, privileges, or honours shall ever be granted or conferred in this state.

§ 21. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.

ARTICLE 2.

Of the Distribution of Powers.

The powers of government shall be divided into three distinct departments, and each of them confided to a separate magistracy, to wit;— those which are legislative, to one; those which are executive, to another; and those which are judicial, to another.

ARTICLE 3.

Of the Legislative Department.

§ 1. The legislative power of this state shall be vested in two distinct houses or branches; the one to be styled the senate, the other the house of representatives, and both together the general assembly. The style of the laws shall be: Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives in general assembly convened.

§ 2. There shall be one stated session of the general assembly, to be holden each year, alternately at Hartford and New Haven, on the first Wednesday of May, and at such other times as the general assembly shall judge necessary; the first session to be holden at Hartford; but the person administering the office of governor, may, on special emergenies, convene the general assembly at either of said places, at any other ime. And in case of danger from the prevalence of contagious diseases In either of said places, or other circumstances, the person administering the office of governor, may, by proclamation, convene said assembly at any other place in this state.

§3. The house of representatives shall consist of electors residing in towns from which they are elected. The number of representatives from each town shall be the same as at present practised and allowed. In case a new town shall hereafter be incorporated, such new town shall be entitled to one representative only and if such new town shall be made from one or more towns, the town or towns from which the same shall be made, shall be entitled to the same number of representatives as at pre.

sent allowed, unless the number shall be reduced by the consent of such town or towns.

§ 4. The senate shall consist of twelve members, to be chosen annu ally by the electors.

§ 5. At the meetings of the electors, held in the several towns in this state, in April annually, after the election of representatives, the electors present shall be called upon to bring in their written ballots for senators. The presiding officer shall receive the votes of the electors, and count and declare them in open meeting. The presiding officer shall also make duplicate lists of the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each, which shall be certified by the presiding officer; one of which lists shall be delivered to the town clerk, and the other, within three days after said meeting, shall be delivered, under seal, either to the secretary or to the sheriff of the county in which said town is situated; which list shall be directed to the secretary, with a superscription expressing the purport of the contents thereof. And each sheriff who shall receive such votes shall, within fifteen days after said meeting, deliver, or cause them to be delivered, to the secretary.

§ 6. The treasurer, secretary, and comptroller, for the time being, shall canvass the votes publicly. The twelve persons having the greatest number of votes for senators shall be declared to be elected. But, in cases where no choice is made by the electors, in consequence of an equality of votes, the house of representatives shall designate, by ballot, which of the candidates having such equal number of votes shall be declared to be elected. The return of votes, and the result of the canvass, shall be submitted to the house of representatives, and also to the senate, on the first day of the session of the general assembly, and each house shall be the final judge of the election returns and qualifications of its own members. § 7. The house of representatives, when assembled, shall choose a speaker, clerk, and other officers. The senate shall choose its clerk and other officers, except the president. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and compel the attendance of absent members in such manner, and under such penalties, as each house may prescribe.

§ 8. Each house shall determine the rules of its own proceedings, punish members for disorderly conduct, and, with the consent of twothirds, expel a member, but not a second time for the same cause; and shall have all other powers necessary for a branch of the legislature of a free and independent state.

§ 9. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the same when required by one-fifth of its members, except such parts as, in the judgment of a majority, require secrecy. The yeas and nays of the members of either house shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journals.

§ 10. The senators and representatives shall, in all cases of civil process, be privileged from arrest during the session of the general assembly, and for four days before the commencement and after the termination of any session thereof. And for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

§ 11. The debates of each house shall be public, except on such occasion as in the opinion of the house may require secrecy.