the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to the people of the said United States, and their posterity,-Do, in the name and behalf of the people of this State, hereby assent to and ratify the said Constitution.

'Done in Convention, the 23d day of May, in the year of our Lord, 1788, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the twelfth.

'And Whereas, It is essential to the preservation of the rights reserved to the several States, and the freedom of the people, under the operations of a General Government, that the right of prescribing the manner, time, and places of holding the elections to the Federal Legislature, should be forever inseparably annexed to the sovereignty of the several States,-This Convention doth declare, that the same ought to remain, to all posterity, a perpetual and fundamental right in the local, exclusive of the interference of the General, Government, except in cases where the Legislatures of the States shall refuse or neglect to perform and fulfil the same, according to the tenor of the said Constitution. This Convention doth also declare, that no section or paragraph of the said Constitution warrants a construction, that the States do not retain every power not expressly relinquished by them, and vested in the General Government of the Union.

'Resolved, That the General Government of the United States ought never to impose direct taxes, but where the moneys arising from the duties, imposts, and excise, are insufficient for the public exigencies, nor then until Congress shall have made a requisition upon the States to assess, levy and pay, their respective proportions of such requisitions; and in case any State shall neglect or refuse to pay its proportion, pursuant to such requisition, then Congress may assess and levy such State's proportion, together with interest thereon, at the rate of six per centum per annum, from the time of payment prescribed by such requisition.

'Resolved, That the third section of the sixth article ought to be amended by inserting the word "other" between the words "no" and "religious."

'Resolved,. That it be a standing instruction to all such Delegates as may hereafter be elected to represent this State in the General Government, to exert their utmost abilities and influence to effect an alteration of the Constitution, conformably to the foregoing resolutions.

'Done in Convention, the 23d day of May, in the year of our Lord, 1788, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the twelfth."

NEW HAMPSHIRE.-In Convention of the Delegates of the People of the State of New Hampshire, June the 21st, 1788.

'The Convention, having impartially discussed and fully considered the Constitution for the United States of America, reported to Congress by the Convention of Delegates from the United States of America, and submitted to us by a resolution of the General Court of said State, passed the 14th day of December last past, and acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe in affording the people of the United States, in the course of His providence, an opportunity, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud or surprise, of entering into an explicit and solemn Compact with each other, by assenting to and ratifying a new Constitution, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity,-Do, in the name and behalf of the people of the State of New Hampshire, assent to and ratify the said Constitution for the United States of America. And as it is the opinion of this Convention, that certain amendments and alterations in the said Constitution would remove the fears and quiet the apprehensions of many of the good people of this State, and more effectually guard against an undue administration of the Federal Government,-the Convention do, therefore, recommend that the following amend

1 Elliot's Debates, Vol. 1, p. 325.

I

285. i

ments and provisions be introduced in the said Constitution:

I. That it be explicitly declared that all powers not expressly and particularly delegated by the aforesaid Constitution, are reserved to the several States, to be by them. exercised.

II. That there shall be one representative to every thirty thousand persons, according to the census mentioned in the Constitution, until the whole number of representatives amounts to two hundred.

'III. That Congress do not exercise the power vested in them by the fourth section of the first article, but in case when a State shall neglect or refuse to make the regulations therein mentioned, or shall make regulations subversive of the right of the people to a free and equal representation in Congress; nor shall Congress in any case make regulations contrary to a free and equal representation.

'IV. That Congress do not lay direct taxes, but when the moneys arising from impost, excise, and their other resources, are insufficient for the public exigencies; nor then, until Congress shall have first made a requisition upon the States to assess, levy, and pay, their respective proportions of such requisition, agreeably to the census fixed in the said Constitution, in such way and manner as the Legislature of the State shall think best; and in such case, if any State shall neglect, then Congress may assess and levy such State's proportion, together with the interest thereon, at the rate of six per cent. per annum, from the time of payment prescribed in such requisition.

'V. That Congress shall erect no company of merchants with exclusive advantages of commerce.

'VI. That no person shall be tried for any crime, by which he may incur an infamous punishment, or loss of life, until he first be indicted by a grand jury, except in such cases as may arise in the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.

'VII. All common law cases, between citizens of different States, shall be commenced in the common law courts

of the respective States, and no appeal shall be allowed to the Federal court, in such cases, unless the sum or value of the thing in controversy amount to three thousand dollars.

'VIII. In civil actions, between citizens of different States, every issue of fact, arising in actions at common law, shall be tried by jury, if the parties, or either of them, request it.

'IX. Congress shall at no time consent that any person, holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall accept any title of nobility, or any other title or office, from any king, prince, or foreign state.

'X. That no standing army shall be kept up in time of peace, unless with the consent of three-fourths of the members of each branch of Congress; nor shall soldiers, in time of peace, be quartered upon private houses, without the consent of the owner.

'XI. Congress shall make no law touching religion, or to infringe the rights of conscience.

'XII. Congress shall never disarm any citizen, unless such as are or have been in actual rebellion.

'And the Convention do, in the name and in behalf of the people of this State enjoin it upon their representatives in Congress, at all times, until the alterations and provisions aforesaid have been considered, agreeably to the fifth article of the said Constitution, to exert all their influence, and use all reasonable and legal methods, to obtain a ratification of the said alterations and provisions, in such manner as is provided in the article.

'And that the United States, in Congress assembled, may have due notice of the assent and ratification of the said Constitution by this Convention, it is Resolved, That the assent and ratification aforesaid be engrossed on parchment, together with the recommendation and injunction aforesaid, and with this resolution; and that John Sullivan, Esqr., President of the Convention, and John Langdon, Esqr., President of the State, transmit the same, countersigned by the Secretary of the Convention, and the Sec

2 85. k.

retary of State, under their hands and seals, to the United States in Congress assembled."

VIRGINIA. We, the Delegates of the people of Virginia, duly elected in pursuance of a recommendation from the General Assembly, and now met in Convention, having fully and freely investigated and discussed the proceedings. of the Federal Convention, and being prepared as well as the most mature deliberation hath enabled us, to decide thereon,-Do, in the name and behalf of the people of Virginia, declare and make known, that the powers granted under the Constitution, being derived from the people of the United States, may be resumed by them, whensoever the same shall be perverted to their injury or oppression, and that every power not granted thereby remains with them, and at their will; that therefore no right, of any denomination, can be cancelled, abridged, restrained, or modified, by the Congress, by the Senate or House of Representatives, acting in any capacity, by the President, or any department or officer of the United States, except in those instances in which power is given by the Constitution for those purposes; and that, among other essential rights, the liberty of conscience, and of the press, cannot be cancelled, abridged, restrained, or modified, by any authority of the United States. With these impressions, with a solemn appeal to the Searcher of all hearts for the purity of our intentions, and under the conviction that whatsoever imperfections may exist in the Constitution ought rather to be examined in the mode prescribed therein, than to bring the Union into danger by a delay with a hope of obtaining amendments previous to the ratification,-We, the said Delegates, in the name and in behalf of the people of Virginia, do, by these presents, assent to and ratify the Constitution recommended, on the 17th day of September, 1787, by the Federal Convention, for the Government of the United States, hereby announcing to all those whom it may concern, that the said Constitution

1 Elliot's Debates, Vol. 1, pp. 325-327.