wealth, pursuant to an act of the General Court, passed on the sixteenth day of June, in the year aforesaid, submitted certain articles of amendment of the constitution to the people, for their ratification and adoption and whereas it appears by a certificate of the committee of the said Convention, that the following articles of amendment, so submitted as aforesaid, have been ratified and adopted by the people, in the manner directed by the said Convention, and have thereby become a part of the constitution of this Commonwealth, to wit:

ARTICLE THE FIRST.

If any bill or resolve shall be objected to, and not approved by the governor; and if the General Court shall adjourn within five days after the same shall have been laid before the governor for his approbation, and thereby prevent his returning it with his objections, as provided by the constitution; such bill or resolve shall not become a law, nor have force as such.

ARTICLE THE SECOND.

The General Court shall have full power and authority to erect and constitute municipal or city governments, in any corporate town or towns in this Commonwealth, and to grant to the inhabitants thereof, such powers, privileges and immunities, not repugnant to the constitution, as the General Court shall deem necessary or expedient for the regulation and government thereof; and to prescribe the manner of calling and holding public meetings of the inhabitants, in wards or otherwise, for the election of officers under the constitution, and the manner of returning the votes given at such meetings: Provided, that no such government shall be erected or constituted in any town not containing twelve thousand inhabitants; nor unless it be with the consent, and on the application of a majority of the inhabitants of such town, present and voting thereon, pursuant to a vote at a meeting duly warned and holden for that purpose and provided also, that all by-laws, made by such municipal or city government, shall be subject, at all times, to be annulled by the General Court.

ARTICLE THE THIRD.

Every male citizen of twenty-one years of age and upwards, (excepting paupers and persons under guardianship) who shall have resided within the Commonwealth one year, and within the town or district in which he may claim a right to vote, six calendar months, next preceding any election of governor, lieutenant governor, senators or representatives, and who shall have paid, by himself or his parent, master or guardian, any state or county tax, which shall, within two years next preceding such election, have been assessed upon him in any town or district of this Commonwealth; and also every citizen who shall be by law exempted from taxation, and who shall be in all other respects qualified as above mentioned, shall have a right to vote in such election of governor, lieutenant governor, senators and representatives, and no other person shall be entitled to vote in such elections.

ARTICLE THE FOURTH.

Notaries public shall be appointed by the governor, in the same manner as judicial officers are appointed, and shall hold their offices during seven years, unless sooner removed by the governor, with the consent of the council, upon the address of both houses of the Legislature.

In case the office of secretary or treasurer of the Commonwealth shall become vacant from any cause during the recess of the General Court, the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, shall nominate and appoint, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law, a competent and suitable person to such vacant office, who shall hold the same, until a successor shall be appointed by the General Court.

Whenever the exigencies of the Commonwealth shall require the appointment of a commissary general, he shall be nominated, appointed and commissioned in such manner as the Legislature may by law prescribe.

All officers commissioned to command in the militia, may be removed from office in such manner as the Legislature may, by law, prescribe.

ARTICLE THE FIFTH.

In the elections of captains and subalterns of the militia, all the members of their respective companies, as well those under, as those above the age of twenty-one years, shall have a right to vote.

ARTICLE THE SIXTH.

Instead of the oath of allegiance prescribed by the Constitution, the following oath shall be taken and subscribed by every person chosen or appointed to any office, civil or military, under the government of this Commonwealth, before he shall enter upon the duties of his office, to wit:

"I, A. B., do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and will support the constitution thereof. So help me God."

Provided, that when any person shall be of the denomination called Quakers, and shall decline taking said oath, he shall make his affirmation in the foregoing form, omitting the word "swear" and inserting instead thereof the word "affirm," and omitting the words "So help me God," and subjoining instead thereof, the words, "This I do, under the pains and penalties of perjury."

ARTICLE THE SEVENTH.

No oath, declaration or subscription, excepting the oath prescribed in the preceding article, and the oath of office, shall be required of the governor, lieutenant governor, counsellors, senators or representatives, to qualify them to perform the duties of their respective offices.

ARTICLE THE EIGHTH.

No judge of any court in this Commonwealth, (except the court

of sessions) and no person holding any office under the authority of the United States, (postmasters excepted) shall at the same time hold the office of governor, lieutenant governor or counsellor, or have a seat in the senate or house of representatives of this Commonwealth; and no judge of any court in this Commonwealth, (except the court of sessions) nor the attorney general, solicitor general, county attorney, clerk of any court, sheriff, treasurer and receiver general, register of probate, nor register of deeds, shall continue to hold his said office after being elected a member of the Congress of the United States and accepting that trust; but the acceptance of such trust, by any of the officers aforesaid, shall be deemed and taken to be a resignation of his said office; and judges of the courts of common pleas shall hold no other office under the government of this Commonwealth, the office of justice of the peace and militia offices excepted.

ARTICLE THE NINTH.

If at any time hereafter any specific and particular amendment or amendments to the constitution be proposed in the General Court, and agreed to by a majority of the senators and two thirds of the members of the house of representatives present and voting thereon; such proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on the journals of the two houses, with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and referred to the General Court then next to be chosen, and shall be published; and if, in the General Court next chosen as aforesaid, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by a majority of the senators and two thirds of the members of the house of representatives present and voting thereon, then it shall be the duty of the General Court to submit such proposed amendment or amendments to the people, and if they shall be approved and ratified by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon, at meetings legally warned and holden for that purpose, they shall become part of the constitution of this Commonwealth.

Resolved, That the above recited articles of amendment shall be enrolled on parchment, and deposited in the secretary's office as a part of the constitution and fundamental laws of this Commonwealth, and published in immediate connection therewith, in all future editions of the laws of this Commonwealth, printed by public authority. And in order that the said amendments may be promulgated and made known to the people of this Commonwealth without delay, it is further

Resolved, That his excellency the governor be, and he hereby is authorized and requested to issue his proclamation, reciting the articles aforesaid; announcing that the same have been duly adopted and ratified by the people of this Commonwealth, and become a part of the constitution thereof; and requiring all magistrates, officers civil and military, and all the citizens of this Commonwealth, to take notice thereof and govern themselves accordingly."

And accordingly, his excellency Governor Brooks issued his proclamation promulgating the amendments, as follows:

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.

By his Excellency JOHN BROOKS, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

A PROCLAMATION

For promulgating the Amendments to the Constitution.

WHEREAS Sundry resolutions passed the Legislature on the fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, in the words following, viz. :

[The resolves of the Legislature, with the adopted amendments, are here cited in the proclamation.]

Now, therefore, I, JOHN BROOKS, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, by virtue of the authority to me given by the resolution last above written, do issue this, my proclamation, and I do hereby announce, that the several articles aforesaid have been duly ratified and adopted by the people of this Commonwealth, and have become a part of the constitution thereof. And all magistrates, officers, civil and military, and all the citizens of the Commonwealth, are required to take notice thereof and govern themselves accordingly.

Given at the council chamber at Boston, the day and year first above written, and in the forty-fifth year of the independence of the United States. JOHN BROOKS.

By his Excellency the Governor.

ALDEN BRADFORD, Secretary.

God save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts !

CONSTITUTION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

PREAMBLE.

The end of the institution, maintenance and administration of government, is to secure the existence of the body politic; to protect it; and to furnish the individuals who compose it with the power of enjoying, in safety and tranquillity, their natural rights and the blessings of life: and whenever these great objects are not obtained, the people have a right to alter the government, and to take measures necessary for their safety, prosperity and happiness.

The body politic is formed by a voluntary association of individuals; it is a social compact, by which the whole people covenants with each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people, that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common good. It is the duty of the people, therefore, in framing a constitution of government, to provide for an equitable mode of making laws, as well as for an impartial interpretation, and a faithful execution of them; that every man may, at all times, find his security in them.

We, therefore, the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the great Legislator of the universe in affording us, in the course of his providence, an opportunity, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud, violence or surprise, of entering into an original, explicit, and solemn compact with each other; and of forming a new constitution of civil government, for ourselves and posterity; and devoutly imploring his direction in so interesting a design, do agree upon, ordain and establish, the following Declaration of Rights, and Frame of Government, as the CONSTITUTION of the COMMONWEALTH of MASSACHUSETTS.

PART THE FIRST.

A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

ART. I. All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and inalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.

It is the right as well as the duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the SUPREME BEING, the great creator and preserver of the universe. And no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for