another, ratify the said amendments, they shall be valid to all intents and purposes as parts of this constitution. No convention shall be called but by the authority of the people: and an unexceptionable mode of making their sense known will be for them at a [special election on the third Tuesday of May in any year] to vote by ballot for or against a convention, as they shall severally choose to do; and if thereupon it shall appear that a majority of all the citizens in the state, having right to vote for representatives, have voted for a convention, the general assembly shall accordingly at their next session call a convention, to consist of at least as many members as there are in both houses of the legislature, to be chosen in the same manner, at the same places, and at the same time that representatives are by the citizens entitled to vote for representatives, on due notice given for one month, and to meet within three months after they shall be elected. [The majority of all the citizens in the state having right to vote for representatives shall be ascertained by reference to the highest number of votes cast in the state at any one of the three general elections, next preceding the day of voting for a convention, except when they may be less than the whole number of votes voted both for and against a convention, in which case the said majority shall be ascertained by reference to the number of votes given on the day of voting for or against a convention; and whenever the general assembly shall deem a convention necessary, they shall provide by law for the holding of a special election for the purpose of ascertaining the sense of the majority of the citizens of the state entitled to vote for represen⚫ tatives.]

SCHEDULE.

THAT no inconveniences may arise from the amendments of the constitution of this state, and in order to carry the same into complete ope ration, it is hereby declared and ordained as follows:

§ 1. The offices of the present senate and representatives shall not be vacated by any amendment of the constitution made in this convention, nor otherwise affected, except that the terms of the representatives and the terms of the senators which will expire on the first Tuesday of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, are hereby extended to the second Tuesday of November in that year: and the terms of the senators which will expire on the first Tuesday of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirtythree, are hereby extended to the second Tuesday of November in that year: And the terms of the senators which will expire on the first Tuesday of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four are hereby extended to the second Tuesday of November in that year.

The general assembly shall meet on the first Tuesday of January next, and shall not be within the amended provision respecting biennial sessions, which biennial sessions shall commence with the session of the general assembly on the first Tuesday of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.

§ 2. The offices of the present sheriffs and coroners shall not be vacated by any amendment to the constitution made in this convention, nor otherwise affected, except that the term of office of the sheriff of Sus

sex county is hereby extended to the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, and until a successor be duly qualified: and on the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, shall be the first election for sheriff in Sussex county under this amended constitution. And the term of the present coroner for Sussex county is hereby extended to the second Tuesday of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, and until a successor shall be duly qualified; and on the said last mentioned day shall be the first election for coroner in Sussex county under this amended constitution.

The terms of the present sheriffs and coroners for Kent county and New Castle county are hereby extended to the second Tuesday of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirtythree, and until successors to them respectively be duly qualified; and on or after the first Tuesday of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, the governor shall have power to appoint a sheriff and a coroner for New Castle county, and a sheriff and coroner for Kent county, to continue in office until the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, and until successors to them respectively be duly qualified. And on the said last mentioned day shall be the first election for sheriff and for coroner in New Castle county and in Kent county under this amended constitution, unless a vacancy happen in the office of sheriff' or coroner of New Castle or Kent county, or of coroner for Sussex county before the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two; in which case an election shall be held on that day for a sheriff or coroner under this amended constitution, in place of the sheriff or coroner whose office had become

vacant.

§ 3. The first election for representatives under this amended-constitution shall be held on the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two; which shall be the commencement of biennial elections. At this election one senator shall be chosen in each county for four years. Also at the biennial election to be held in the several counties on the second Tuesday of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, two senators shall be chosen in each county for four years each. But as the term of one senator in each county will expire on the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, when no election will be held, to provide for this special case, a senator shall be chosen in each county, at the election held on the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two for one year, to succeed the senator for such county whose term will expire on the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirtythree, and to continue in office until the second Tuesday in November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, when two senators shall be chosen in each county as afore-provided.

§ 4. The term of office of the present governor shall not be vacated nor extended by amendment made to the constitution in this convention; but the said office shall continue during the original term thereof;

but the ninth and fourteenth sections of the third article of this constitution shall be immediately in force as amended. An election for governor shall be held on the second Tuesday of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.

§ 5. This constitution as amended, so far as shall concern the judicial department, shall commence and be in operation from and after the third Tuesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two. All the courts of justice now existing shall continue with their present jurisdiction, and the chancellor and judges and the clerks of the said courts shall continue in office until the said third Tuesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two; upon which day the said courts shall be abolished, and the offices of the said chancellor, judges, and clerks shall expire. All writs of error and appeals and proceedings which, on the third Tuesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, shall be depending in the high court of errors and appeals, and all the books, records, and papers of said court shall be transferred to the court of errors and appeals established by this amended constitution; and the said writs of errors, appeals, and proceedings shall be proceeded in, in the said court of errors and appeals, to final judgment, decree, or other determination.

All suits, proceedings, and matters which, on the third Tuesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirtytwo, shall be depending in the supreme court, or court of common pleas, and all books, records, and papers of the said courts shall be transferred to the superior court established by this amended constitution, and the said suits, proceedings, and matters shall be proceeded in to final judgment or determination in the said superior court. All indictments, proceedings, and matters which, on the third Tuesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, shall be depending in the court of general quarter sessions of the peace and jail delivery, shall be transferred to and proceeded in to final judgment and determination in the court of general sessions of the peace and jail delivery established by this amended constitution, and all books, records, and papers of said court of general quarter sessions of the peace and jail delivery shall be transferred to the said court of general sessions of the peace and jail delivery. All suits, proceedings, and matters which, on the third Tuesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, shall be depending in the court of chancery or in the orphans' court, and all records, books, and papers of said courts respectively, shall be transferred to the court of chancery or orphans' court respectively, established by this amended constitution, and the said suits, proceedings, and matters shall proceed in to final decree, order, or other determination.

§ 6. The register's courts and justices of the peace shall not be affected by any amendments of the constitution made in this convention; but the said courts and the terms of office of registers and justices of the peace shall remain the same as if said amendments had not been made. § 7. The general assembly shall have power to make any law neces sary to carry into effect this amended constitution.

§ 8. The provision in the twentieth section of the sixth article of this amended constitution (being the thirteeth section of the sixth article of the original constitution) of limitation of writs of error, shall have rela

tion to, and take date from, the twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, the date of said original constitution.

§ 9. The governor shall have power to issue writs of election to supply vacancies in either house of the general assembly that have happened or may happen.

§ 10. It is declared that nothing in this amended constitution gives a writ of error from the court of errors and appeals to the court of oyer and terminer or court of general sessions of the peace and jail delivery, nor an appeal from the court of general sessions of the peace and jail delivery.

The acts of the general assembly, increasing the number of justices of the peace, shall remain in force until repealed by the general assembly; and no office shall be vacated by the amendment to this constitution, unless the same be expressly vacated thereby, or the vacating the same is necessary to give effect to the amendments.

Done in convention, the second day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, and of the independence of the United States of America, the fifty-sixth. In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names.

Thomas Adams,
John Caulk,
John M. Clayton,
Peter L. Cooper,
Thomas Deakyne,
Edward Dingle,
Wm. Dunning,

John Elliott,

James Fisher,

William Hall,

Thomas W. Handy,
John Harlan,
Charles H. Haughey,
Hughitt Layton,

CHARLES POLK, President.

James C. Lynch,
James B. Macomb,
Joseph Maull,
Elias Naudian,
William Nickolls,
Samuel Radcliff,
John Raymond,
George Read, Jr.
Henry F. Rodney,
James Rogers,
William Seal,
P. Spruance, Jr.
Wm. D. Waples,

(Attest,) W. P. BROBSON, Secretary.

CONSTITUTION OF MARYLAND,

ADOPTED IN CONVENTION, WHICH ASSEMBLED AT THE CITY OF ANNAPOLIS ON THE FOURTH DAY OF NOVEMBER, EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY, And adjourneD ON THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF MAY, EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE.

THE DECLARATION OF RIGHTS.

WE, the people of the state of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty, and taking into our serious consideration the best means of establishing a good constitution in this state, for the sure foundation and more permanent security thereof, declare :

Article 1. That all government of right originates from the people, is founded in compact only, and instituted solely for the good of the whole; and they have at all times, according to the mode prescribed in this constitution, the unalienable right to alter, reform, or abolish their form of government, in such manner as they may deem expedient.

Art. 2. That the people of this state ought to have the sole and exclusive right of regulating the internal government and police thereof.

Art. 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 on the fourth day of July, seventeen hundred and seventysix, and which, by experience, have been found applicable to their local and other circumstances, and have been introduced, used, and practised by the courts of law or equity, and also of all acts of assembly in force on the first Monday of November, eighteen hundred and fifty, except such as may have since expired, or may be altered by this constitution, 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 the First, to Cæcilius Calvert, Baron of Baltimore.

Art. 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 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.