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mit the most flagrant with as little compunction as they do the lightest offenses. For the same reason, a multitude of sanguinary laws is both impolitic and unjust, the true design of all punishments being to reform, not to exterminate, mankind.

Art. 19. Every subject hath a right to be secure from all unreasonable searches and seizures of his person, his houses, his papers, and all his possessions. Therefore, all warrants to search suspected places or arrest a person for examination or trial, in prosecutions for criminal matters, are contrary to this right, if the cause or foundation of them be not previously supported by oath or affirmation, and if the order, in a warrant to a civil officer, to make search in suspected places, or to arrest one or more suspected persons, or to seize their property, be not accompanied with a special designation of the persons or objects of search, arrest, or seizure; and no warrant ought to be issued but in cases and with the formalities prescribed by law.

Art. 20. In all controversies concerning property and in all suits between two or more persons, except in cases in which it has been heretofore otherwise used and practiced, and except in cases in which the value in controversy does not exceed one hundred dollars and title of real estate is not concerned, the parties have a right to trial by jury; and this method of procedure shall be held sacred, unless, in cases arising on the high seas and such as relate to mariners' wages, the Legislature shall think it necessary hereafter to alter it.

Art. 21. In order to reap the fullest advantage of the inestimable privilege of trial by jury, great care ought to be taken that none but qualified persons should be appointed to serve; and such ought to be fully compensated for their travel, time, and attendance.

Art. 22. The liberty of the press is essential to the security of freedom in a State; it ought, therefore, to be inviolably preserved.

Art. 23. Retrospective laws are highly injurious, oppressive, and unjust. No such laws, therefore, should be made, either for the decision of civil causes or the punishment of offenses.

Art. 24. A well-regulated militia is the proper, natural, and sure defense of a State.

Art. 25. Standing armies are dangerous to liberty, and ought not to be raised or kept up without the consent of the Legislature.

Art. 26. In all cases and at all times the military ought to be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.

Art. 27. No soldier in time of peace shall be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; and in time of war such quarters ought not to be made but by the civil magistrate, in a manner ordained by the Legislature.

Art. 28. No subsidy, charge, tax, impost, or duty shall be established, fixed, laid, or levied, under any pretext whatsoever, without the consent of the people or their representatives in the Legislature, or authority derived from that body.

Art. 29. The power of suspending the laws or the execution of them ought never to be exercised but by the Legislature, or by authority derived therefrom, to be exercised in such particular cases only as the Legislature shall expressly provide for.

Art. 30. The freedom of deliberation, speech, and debate in either house of the Legislature is so essential to the rights of the people, that it cannot be the foundation of any action, complaint, or prosecution in any other court or place whatsoever.

Art. 31. The Legislature shall assemble for the redress of public grievances and for making such laws as the public good may require.

Art. 32. The people have a right, in an orderly and peaceable manner, to assemble and consult upon the common good, give instructions to their representatives, and to request of the legislative body, by way of petition or remonstrance, redress of the wrongs done them, and of the grievances they suffer.

Art. 33. No magistrate or court of law shall demand excessive bail or sureties, impose excessive fines, or inflict cruel or unusual punishments.

Art. 34. No person can in any case be subjected to law martial or to any pains or penalties by virtue of that law, except those employed in the army or navy, and except the militia in actual service, but by authority of the Legislature.

Art. 35. It is essential to the preservation of the rights of every individual, his life, liberty, property, and character, that there be an impartial interpretation of the laws and administration of justice. It is the right of every citizen to be tried by judges as impartial as the lot of humanity will admit. It is, therefore, not only the best policy, but for the security of the rights of the people, that the judges of the Supreme Judicial

Court should hold their offices so long as they behave well, subject, however, to such limitations on account of age as may be provided by the Constitution of the State; and that they should have honorable salaries, ascertained and established by standing laws.

Art. 36. Economy being a most essential virtue in all States, especially in a young one, no pension should be granted but in consideration of actual services; and such pensions ought to be granted with great caution by the Legislature, and never for more than one year at a time.

Art. 37. In the government of this State, the three essential powers thereof-to wit, the legislative, executive, and judicial— ought to be kept as separate from, and independent of, each other as the nature of a free government will admit or as is consistent with that chain of connection that binds the whole fabric of the Constitution in one indissoluble bond of union and amity.

Art. 38. A frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of the Constitution, and a constant adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, industry, frugality, and all the social virtues, are indispensably necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty and good government. The people ought, therefore, to have a particular regard to all those principles in the choice of their officers and representatives; and they have a right to require of their law-givers and magistrates an exact and constant observance of them in the formation and execution of the laws necessary for the good administration of government.

PART SECOND.

Form of Government.

Article 1. The people inhabiting the territory formerly called The Province of New Hampshire do hereby solemnly and mutually agree with each other to form themselves into a free, sovereign, and independent body politic, or State, by the name of The State of New Hampshire.

General Court.

Art. 2. The supreme legislative power within this State shall be vested in the Senate and House of Representatives, each of which shall have a negative on the other.

Art. 3. The Senate and House shall assemble biennially, on the first Wednesday of (January) and at such other times as they may judge necessary, and shall dissolve and be dissolved seven days next preceding the said first Wednesday of (January) biennially, and shall be styled the General Court of New Hampshire. Art. 4. The General Court shall forever have full power and authority to erect and constitute judicatories and courts of record or other courts, to be holden in the name of the State, for the hearing, trying, and determining all manner of crimes, offenses, pleas, processes, plaints, actions, causes, matters and things whatsoever, arising or happening within this State, or between or concerning persons inhabiting or residing or brought within the same, whether the same be criminal or civil, or whether the crimes be capital or not capital, and whether the said pleas be real, personal, or mixed, and for the awarding and issuing execution thereon, to which courts and judicatories are hereby given and granted full power and authority, from time to time, to administer oaths or affirmations for the better discovery of truth in any matter in controversy or depending before them.

Art. 5. And, further, full power and authority are hereby given and granted to the said General Court, from time to time, to make, ordain, and establish all manner of wholesome and reasonable orders, laws, statutes, ordinances, directions, and instructions, either with penalties or without, so as the same be not repugnant or contrary to this Constitution, as they may judge for the benefit and welfare of this State and for the governing and ordering thereof and of the subjects of the same, for the necessary support and defense of the government thereof; and to name and settle biennially, or provide by fixed laws for the naming and settling of, all civil officers within this State, such officers excepted the election and appointment of whom are hereafter in this form of government otherwise provided for; and to set forth the several duties, powers, and limits of the several civil and military officers of this State, and the forms of such oaths or affirmations as shall be respectively administered unto them for the execution of their several offices and places, so as the same be not repugnant or contrary to this Constitution; and also to impose fines, mulets, imprisonments, and other punishments; and to impose and levy proportional

and reasonable assessments, rates, and taxes upon all the inhabitants of, and residents within, the said State, and upon all estates within the same, to be issued and disposed of by warrant, under the hand of the Governor of this State for the time being, with the advice and consent of the Council, for the public service, in the necessary defense and support of the government of this State and the protection and preservation of the subjects thereof, according to such acts as are or shall be in force within the same. Provided, that the General Court shall not authorize any town to loan or give its money or credit, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of any corporation having for its object a dividend of profits, or in any way aid the same by taking its stock or bonds.

Art. 6. And, while the public charges of government or any part thereof shall be assessed on polls and estates in the manner that has heretofore been practiced, in order that such assessments may be made with equality, there shall be a valuation of the estates within the State taken anew once in every five years, at least, and as much oftener as the General Court shall order.

Art. 7. No member of the General Court shall take fees, be of counsel, or act as advocate in any cause before either branch of the Legislature; and upon due proof thereof, such member shall forfeit his seat in the Legislature.

Art. 8. The doors of the galleries of each house of the Legislature shall be kept open to all persons who behave decently, except when the welfare of the State, in the opinion of either branch, shall require secrecy.

House of Representatives.

Art. 9. There shall be, in the Legislature of the State, a representation of the people, biennially elected, and founded upon the principles of equality; and, in order that such representation may be as equal as circumstances will admit, every town, or place entitled to town privileges, and wards of cities having six hundred inhabitants by the last general census of the State, taken by authority of the United States or of this State, may elect one representative; if eighteen hundred such inhabitants, may elect two representatives; and so proceeding in that proportion, making twelve hundred such inhabitants the mean

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