of votes for each, which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate: the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such a majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately by ballot the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.

2. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice President, shall be the Vice President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice President: a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.

3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the United States.

NOTE.-At the fourth presidential election, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr were the democratic candidates for President and Vice President. By the electoral returns they had an even number of votes. In the House of Representatives, Burr, by intrigue, got up a party to vote for him for President; and the House was so divided that there was a tie. A contest was carried on for several days, and so warmly, that even sick members were brought to the House on their beds. Finally one of Burr's adherents withdrew, and Jefferson was elected by one majority-which was the cccasion of this twelfth article.

THE first settlement in Maine was made in Bristol, on the east side of the Damariscotta River, at Pemaquid Point. This State was originally granted by James I. to the Plymouth Company, by whom it was transferred to Mason and Gorges, in 1624. The territory was afterwards purchased by Massachusetts for £1,250, who obtained a confirmation of the charter in 1691. This State, formerly the District of Maine, became independent of Massachusetts in 1820, and adopted its Constitution.

Area of Maine, 28,920 square miles-3000 sq. m. having been taken from it by the treaty at Washington, by which the boundary between the United States and Great Britain was settled. Population, in 1850, 583,088.

CONSTITUTION.

WE the people of Maine, in order to establish justice, ensure tranquillity, provide for our natural defense, promote our common welfare, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of liberty, acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity so favorable to the design; and imploring his aid and direction in its accomplishment, do agree to form ourselves into a free and independent State, by the style and title of the State of Maine, and do ordain and establish the following Constitution for the government of the same:

ARTICLE I.

Declaration of Rights.

SEC. 1. All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain natural, inherent, and unalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.

2. All power is inherent in the people: all free governments are founded in their authority, and instituted for their benefit: they have, therefore, an inalienable and indefeasible right to institute government, and to alter, reform, or totally change the same, when their safety and happiness require it.

3. All men have a natural and inalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, and no one shall be hurt, molested, or restrained in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshiping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience, nor for his religious professions or sentiments, provided he does not disturb the public peace, nor obstruct others in their religious worship;-and all persons demeaning themselves peaceably, as good members of the State, shall be equally under the protection of the laws, and no subordination nor preference, of any one sect or denomination to another, shall ever be established by law, nor shall any religious test be required as a qualification for any office or trust under this State; and all religious societies in this State, whether incorporate or unincorporate, shall at all times have the exclusive right of electing their public teachers, and contracting with them for their support and maintenance.

4. Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of this liberty. No laws shall be passed regulating or restraining the freedom of the press; and, in prosecutions for any publication respecting the official conduct of men in public capacity, or the qualifications of those who are candidates for the suffrages of the people, or where the matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be given in evidence; and in all indictments for libels, the jury, after having received the direction of the court, shall have a right to determine, at their discretion, the law and the fact.

5. The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions from unreasonable searches and seizures; and no warrant to search any place, or seize any person or thing, shall issue without a special designation of the place to be searched, and the person or thing to be seized, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation.

6. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have a right to be heard by himself and his counsel, or either, at his election: to

demand the nature and cause of the accusation, and have a copy thereof:

To be confronted by the witnesses against him:

To have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor: To have a speedy, public, and impartial trial; and, except in trials by martial law or impeachment, by a jury of the vicinity. He shall not be compelled to furnish or give evidence against himself, nor be deprived of his life, liberty, property, or privileges, but by judgment of his peers, or the law of the land.

7. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases of impeachment, or in such cases of offences as are usually cognizable by a justice of the peace, or in cases arising in the army or navy, or in the militia when in actual service, in time of war or public danger. The Legislature shall provide by law a suitable and impartial mode of selecting juries; and their usual number and unanimity, in indictments and convictions, shall be held indispensable.

8. No person for the same offence shall be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.

9. Sanguinary laws shall not be passed; all penalties and punishments shall be proportioned to the offence; excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel nor unusual punishments inflicted.

10. All persons, before conviction, shall be bailable except for capital offences, where the proof is evident, or the presumption great; and the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

11. The Legislature shall pass no bill of attainder, ex post facto law, nor law impairing the obligation of contracts, and no attainder shall work corruption of blood nor forfeiture of estate.

12. Treason against this State shall consist only in levying war against it, adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or confession in

open court. 13. The laws shall not be suspended, but by the Legislature or its authority.

14. No person shall be subject to corporeal punishment under military law, except such as are employed in the army or navy, or in the militia when in actual service, in time of war, or public danger.

15. The people have a right, at all times, in an orderly and peaceable manner, to assemble and consult upon the common good, to give instructions to their representatives, and to request of either department of the government, by petition or remonstrance, redress of their wrongs and grievances.

16. Every citizen has a right to keep and bear arms for the common defense; and this right shall never be questioned.

17. No standing army shall be kept up in time of peace, without the consent of the Legislature; and the military shall, in allcases, and at all times, be in strict subordination to the civil power.

18. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner or occupant, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

19. Every person, for an injury done him in his person, reputation, property, or immunities, shall have remedy by due course of law; and right and justice shall be administered freely and without sale, completely and without denial, promptly and without delay.

20. In all civil suits, and in all controversies concerning property, the parties shall have a right to a trial by jury, except in cases where it has heretofore been otherwise practised: the party claiming the right may be heard by himself and his counsel, or either, at his election.

21. Private property shall not be taken for public uses without just compensation; nor unless the public exigencies require it.

22. No tax or duty shall be imposed without the consent of the people, or their representatives in the Legislature.

23. No title of nobility or hereditary distinction, privilege, honor, or emolument, shall ever be granted or confirmed; nor shall any office be created, the appointment to which shall be for a longer time than during good behavior.

24. The enumeration of certain rights shall not impair nor deny others retained by the people.

ARTICLE II.

Electors.

SEC. 1. Every male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, excepting paupers, persons under guardianship, and Indians not taxed, having his residence established in this State for the term of three months next preceding any election, shall be an elector for Governor, senators, and representatives. in the town or plantation where his residence is so established, and the elections shall be by written ballot. But persons in the military, naval, or marine service of the United States, or this State, shall not be considered as having obtained such established residence by being stationed in any garrison, barrack, or military place, in any town or plantation: nor shall the residence of a student at any seminary of learning entitle him to the right of suffrage in the town or plantation where such seminary is established.

2. Electors shall, in all cases except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest on the days of election, during their attendance at, going to, and returning therefrom.

3. No elector shall be obliged to do duty in the militia on any day of election, except in time of war or public danger.