208 PRECEDENTS FOR THE AMENDMENTS. 1777, Vermont, I., 10; New York, Preamble. 1780, Massachusetts, Declaration of Rights, X., XII., XV. 1784, New Hampshire, I., 15, 16, 20, 21. 1786, Vermont, I., 11. Amendments by Ratifying Conventions: 1787, Pennsylvania, McMaster and Stone, 421, 461. 1788, Massachusetts, No. 6. Journal, 84. Maryland, No. 2. Elliot, II., 550. North Carolina, No. 8. Doc. Hist. II., page 267. p. 661. (10) The exceptions here or elsewhere, in the Constitution, made in favor of particular rights, shall not be construed to diminish the just importance of other rights retained by the people, or, as to enlarge the powers delegated by the Constitution; but either as actual limitations of such powers, or, as inserted merely for greater caution. Precedents: State Constitutions: 1776, Pennsylvania, Sec. 46. 1780, Massachusetts, Part I., IV. 1784, New Hampshire, Bill of Rights, VII. Amendments by Ratifying Conventions: 1787, Pennsylvania, McMaster and Stone, No. I., p. 562. 1788, Massachusetts, Journal, 83. Maryland, No. I,, Elliot, II., 550. South Carolina, Doc. Hist. II., p. 139. New Hampshire, No. I., in Doc. Hist. II., p. 142. Virginia, No. 17, Elliot, III., 661. North Carolina, No. 1, Doc. Hist. II., p. 270. V. (Amending Art. I., Sec. 10, by inserting this clause be tween Clauses 1 and 2): Precedents: No State shall violate the equal rights of conscience, or the freedom of the press, or the trial by jury in criminal cases. State Constitutions: 1776, North Carolina, VII., VIII., IX., XII., XIII., XIV., XV., XIX. Virginia, 8, 11, 12, 16. PRECEDENTS FOR THE AMENDMENTS. 209 Maryland, XVII., XVIII., XIX., XX., XXI., XXIII. Delaware, 29. Pennsylvania, 25, 35. 1777, Georgia, LVI., LXI. Vermont, I., 3, 14, 15, 10, 12, 13. 1780, Massachusetts, Declaration of Rights, II., X., XIV., XVI. 1784, New Hampshire, I., 4, 5, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22. 1786, Vermont, I., 3, 11, 14, 15. 1789, Georgia, IV., 3, 5. Amendments by Ratifying Conventions: 1787, Pennsylvania, McMaster and Stone, No. 1, p. 421; No. 1, p. 461. 1788, South Carolina, Res. 3, in Doc. Hist. II., p. 140. New Hampshire, No. 11, in Doc. Hist. II., p. 143. Virginia, Declaration of Rights proposed, No. 20. Robertson, 473, or Elliot, III., 659. North Carolina, Declaration of Rights, No. 20, Doc. Hist. II., p. 268. VI. (Amending Art. III., Sec. 2, by adding to Clause 2): But no appeal to such court shall be allowed where the value in controversy shall not amount to dollars; nor shall any fact triable by jury, according to the course of common law, be otherwise re-examinable than may consist with the principles of common law. Precedents: Amendments by Ratifying Conventions: 1787, Pennsylvania, McMaster and Stone, No. 2, on p. 421; No. 2, p. 461. 1788, Massachusetts, No. 7. Journal, 84, or Elliot, II., 177. Maryland, Nos. 3 and 4. Elliot, II., 550. Doc. Hist. II., p. 143. VII. (Amend by striking out all of Clauses 3, Sec. 2, Art. III., and substitute): (1) The trial of all crimes (except cases of impeachment and cases arising in the land or naval forces, or the militia when on actual service, in time of war or public danger) shall be by an impartial jury of freeholders of the vicinage, with the requisite of unanimity for conviction, of the right of chal 210 PRECEDENTS FOR THE AMENDMENTS, Precedents: lenge, and other accustomed requisites; and in all crimes punishable with loss of life or member, presentment by a grand jury shall be an essential preliminary, provided that in cases of crimes committed within any county which may be in possession of an enemy, or in which a general insurrection may prevail, the trial may by law be authorized in some other county of the same State, as near as may be to the seat of the offence. State Constitutions: 1776, Pennsylvania, IX.; Maryland, XIX., XX., XXI., XXIV.; Virginia, 8. 1777, Vermont, I., 10, 13. 1780, Massachusetts, Declaration of Rights, XII., XIII., XV. 1784, New Hampshire, I., 14, 15, 16. Amendments by Ratifying Conventions: 1787, Pennsylvania, McMaster and Stone, 461. 1788, Massachusetts, No. 6. Maryland, Nos. 2, 3, 5. p. 142-3. Journal, 84. Elliot, II., 550. in Doc. Hist. II., etc., Virginia, Declaration of Rights proposed, No. 8, 10, 11, Elliot, III., 658; Amend. No. 15. Id. 661. North Carolina, Declaration of Rights pro posed, Nos. 8, 10, 11; Amend. No. 16. Doc. Hist. II., etc., pp. 271-3. (2) In cases of crimes committed within any county, the trial may by law be in such county as the laws shall have prescribed. In suits at common law, between man and man, the trial by jury, as one of the best securities to the rights of the people, ought to remain inviolate. Precedents: State Constitutions: 1776, Pennsylvania, 25. 1777, Georgia, LXI. 1789, Georgia, IV., 3, 17. Amendments by Ratifying Conventions: 1787, Pennsylvania, McMaster and Stone, No. 2, p. 421; No. 2, p. 461. 1788, Massachusetts, No. 8. Journal, 84. PRECEDENTS FOR THE AMENDMENTS. Maryland, No. 2. Elliot, II., 550. 211 New Hampshire, No. 8, in Doc. Hist. II., etc. Virginia, Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11, of Declaration of North Carolina, Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, of Dec- VIII. (Amend by inserting immediately after Art. VI, as new Art. VII., the following): (1) The powers delegated by this Constitution are appropriated to the departments to which they are respectively distributed: so that the Legislative Department shall never exercise the powers vested in the Executive or Judicial, nor the Executive exercise the powers vested in the Legislative or Judicial, nor the Judicial exercise the powers vested in the Legislative or Executive Departments. Precedents: State Constitutions: 1776, New Jersey, XX.; Maryland, VI.; North Carolina, I., 37. 1777, Georgia, I. 1780, Massachusetts, Part I., XXX. 1784, New Hampshire, I., 37. Amendments by Ratifying Conventions: 1787, Pennsylvania, McMaster and Stone, No. 12, p. 423; No. 12, p. 463. 1788, Virginia, Declaration of Rights, No. 5. Elliot, III. 659. North Carolina, Declaration of Rights, No. 5, in Doc. Hist. II., etc., p. 267. (2) The powers not delegated by this Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively. Precedents: State Constitutions: See note to Amendment IV., 10, supra. Amendments by Ratifying Conventions: 1787, Pennsylvania, McMaster and Stone, No. 15, on p. 423; No. 11, on p. 463. See note to Amendment IV., 10, supra. 212 JEFFERSON'S OPINION OF WILSON. bill of decided, Jefferson had stated his objections to it in a letter to Madison.1 It was "the omission of rights providing clearly and without the aid of sophism for freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing armies, restriction of monopolies, the eternal and unremitting force of the habeas corpus laws, and trials by jury in all matters of fact triable by the laws of the land and not by the laws of nations." That the Constitution,—as Wilson had told the people of Philadelphia, was "itself a bill of rights," seemed to Jefferson "surety a gratis dictum, the reverse of which might just as well be said;" and "opposed by strong inferences from the body of the instrument." He wished "with all his soul," that the first nine conventions would accept the Constitution, and thus secure the good it contained; but the four latest conventions, whichever they might be, 1 Commenting on the Constitution, Jefferson wrote: "I will now tell you what I do not like. First, the omission of a Bill of Rights providing clearly and without the aid of sophism for freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing armies, restriction of monopolies, the eternal and unremitting force of the habeas corpus laws, and trials by jury in all matters of fact triable by the laws of the land and not by the laws of nations. To say as Mr. Wilson does (referring to Wilson's speech at the State House, Philadelphia, in defence of the Constitution: See Pennsylvania and the Federal Constitution, McMaster and Stone, 9, 252-254), that a Bill of Rights was not necessary, because all is reserved in the case of the General Government, which is not given, while, in the particular ones, all is given which is not reserved, might do for the audience to which it was addressed, but it is surely a gratis dictum, the reverse of which might just as well be said; and it is opposed by strong inferences from the body of the instrument." Jefferson to Madison, Paris, December, 1787, Works, II, 329. See also his letter to Priestly, June 19, 1802, stating what he had to do with making the Constitution. Works. (Ford's Ed.) VIII, 159. |