of the United States, in pursuance of the present confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a charge against the United States, for payment and satisfaction whereof the said United States and the pub lic faith are hereby solemnly pledged.

Art. 13. Every State shall abide by the determination of the United States, in Congress assembled, in all questions which by this confederation are submitted to them. And the articles of this confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them, unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislature of every State.

And whereas it hath pleased the great Governor of the world to incline the hearts of the legislatures we respectively represent in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the said articles of confederation and perpetual Union, Know ye, that we, the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the power and authority to us given for that purpose, do, by these presents, in the name and in behalf of our respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and every of the said articles of confederation and perpetual union, and all and singular the matters and things therein contained. And we do further solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents, that they shall abide by the determination of the United States, in Congress assembled, in all questions which by the said confederation are submitted to them; and that the articles thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we respectively represent, and that the Union shall be perpetual. In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our

hands, in Congress.

Done at Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, the 9th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1778, and in the third year of the Independence of America.

CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN.

The Constitution of the State of Michigan, as adopted in convention, begun and held at the capitol, in the city of Detroit, on Monday, the 11th day of May, A. D. 1835.

IN Convention, begun at the city of Detroit, on the second Monday of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five:

We, the people of the Territory of Michigan, as established by the act of Congress of the eleventh of January eighteen hundred and five, in conformity to the fifth article of the ordinance providing for the government of the territory of the United States north-west of the river Ohio, believing that the time has arrived when our present political condition ought to cease, and the right of self-government be asserted; and availing ourselves of that provision of the aforesaid ordinance of the Congress of the United States of the thirteenth day of July, seventeen hundred and eighty-seven, and the acts of Congress passed in accordance therewith, which entitled us to admission into the Union, upon a condition which has been fulfilled, do, by our delegates in convention assembled, mutually agree to form ourselves into a free and independent state, by the style and title of "The State of Michigan," and do ordain and establish the following constitution for the government of the same:

ARTICLE 1.

§ 1. All political power is inherent in the people.

2. Government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people; and they have the right at ali times to alter or reform the same, and to abolish one form of government and establish another, whenever the public good requires it.

3. No man or set of men are entitled to exclusive or separate privileges.

4. Every person has a right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of his own conscience; and no person can of right be compelled to attend, erect, or support, against his will, any place of religious worship, or pay any tithes, taxes, or other rates for the support of any minister of the gospel or teacher of religion.

5. No money shall be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of religious societies, or theological or religious seminaries.

6. The civil and political rights, privileges, and capacities of no individual shall be diminished or enlarged on account of his opinions or belief concerning matters of religion.

7. Every person may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right; and no laws shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press. In all prosecutions or indictments for libels, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury; and if it shall appear to the jury, that the matter charged as libellous is true, and was published with good motives and

for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted; and the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the fact.

8. The person, houses, papers, and possessions of every individual shall be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures; and no warrant to search any place, or to seize any person or things, shall issue without describing them, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation.

9. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.

10. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the vicinage; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favour; to have the assistance of counsel for his defence; and in all civil cases, in which personal liberty may be involved, the trial by jury shall not be refused.

11. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offence, unless on the presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases of impeachment, or in cases cognisable by justices of the peace, or arising in the army or militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger.

12. No person for the same offence shall be twice put in jeopardy of punishment; all persons shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offences, when the proof is evident or the presumption great; and the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.

13. Every person has a right to bear arms for the defence of himself and the state.

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

15. 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 prescribed by law.

16. Treason against the state shall consist only in levying war against it, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort; no person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

17. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall be passed.

18. Excessive bail shall not be required; excessive fines shall not be imposed; and cruel and unjust punishments shall not be inflicted.

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

20. The people shall have the right freely to assemble together, to consult for the common good, to instruct their representatives, and to petition the legislature for redress of grievances.

21. All acts of the legislature, contrary to this or any other article of this constitution, shall be void.

ARTICLE 2.
Electors.

§ 1. In all elections, every white male citizen above the age of twenty one years, having resided in the state six months next preceding any

election, shall be entitled to vote at such election; and every white male inhabitant of the age aforesaid, who may be a resident of the state at the time of the signing of this constitution, shall have the right of voting as aforesaid; but no such citizen or inhabitant shall be entitled to vote except in the district, county, or township, in which he shall actually reside at the time of such election.

2. All votes shall be given by ballot, except for such township officers as may, by law, be directed to be otherwise chosen.

3. 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 the same.

4. No elector shall be obliged to do militia duty on the days of election, except in time of war or public danger.

5. No person shall be deemed to have lost his residence in this state by reason of his absence on business of the United States, or of this state.

6. No soldier, seaman, or marine, in the army or navy of the United States, shall be deemed a resident of this state in consequence of being stationed in any military or naval place within the same.

ARTICLE 3.

Division of the Powers of Government.

§ 1. The powers of the government shall be divided into three distinct departments; the legislative, the executive, and the judicial; and one department shall never exercise the powers of another, except in such cases as are expressly provided for in this constitution.

ARTICLE 4.

Legislative Department.

§ 1. The legislative power shall be vested in a senate and house of representatives.

2. The number of the members of the house of representatives shall never be less than forty-eight, nor more than one hundred and the senate shall, at all times, equal in number one-third of the house of representatives, as nearly as may be.

3. The legislature shall provide by law for an enumeration of the inhabitants of this state in the years eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, and eighteen hundred and forty-five, and every ten years after the said last mentioned time; and at their first session after each enumeration so made as aforesaid, and also after each enumeration made by the authority of the United States, the legislature shall apportion anew the representatives and senators among the several counties and districts, according to the number of white inhabitants.

4. The representatives shall be chosen annually on the first Monday of November, and on the following day, by the electors of the several counties or districts into which the state shall be divided for that purpose. Each organized county shall be entitled to at least one representative; but no county hereafter organized shall be entitled to a separate representative, until it shall have attained a population equal to the ratio of representation hereafter established.

5 The senators shall be chosen for two years, at the same time and