ant to the provisions of this Constitution, except when herein otherwise directed, shall commence on the day of the date of their respective commissions; but no commission for any office shall bear date prior to the expiration of the term of the incumbent of said office.

ARTICLE VIII.-General Provisions.

1. The Secretary of State shall be ex-officio an auditor of the accounts of the Treasurer, and, as such, it shall be his duty to assist the Legislature in the annual examination and settlement of said accounts, until otherwise provided by law.

2. The seal of the State shall be kept by the Governor or person administering the Government, and used by him officially, and shall be called the great seal of the State of New Jersey.

3. All grants and commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the State of New Jersey, sealed with the great seal, signed by the Governor, or person administering the Government, and countersigned by the Secretary of State, and shall run thus: "The State of New Jersey to greeting." All writs shall be in the name of the State; and all indictments shall conclude in the following manner, viz.: "against the peace of this State, the government and dignity of the same."

4. This Constitution shall take effect and go into operation on the second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-four."

ARTICLE IX.-Amendments.

Any specific amendment or amendments to the Constitution may be proposed in the Senate or General Assembly, and if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each of the two houses, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on their journals, with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and referred to the Legislature then next to be chosen, and shall be published for three months previous to making such choice, in at least one newspaper of each county, if any be published therein; and if in the Legislature next chosen, as aforesaid, such proposed amendment or amendments, or any of them, shall be agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each house, then it shall be the duty of the Legislature to submit to such proposed amendment or amendments; or such of them as may have been agreed to as aforesaid by the two Legislatures, to the people, in such manner and at such time, at least four months after the adjournment of the Legislature, as the Legislature shall prescribe; and if the people, at a special election to be held for that purpose only, shall approve and ratify such amendment or amendments, or any of them, by a majori ty of the electors qualified to vote for members of the Legislature voting thereon, such amendment or amendments, so approved and ratified, shall become part of the Constitution; provided, that if more

than one amendment be submitted, they shall be submitted in such manner and form that the people may vote for or against each amendment separately and distinctly; but no amendment or amendments shall be submitted to the people by the Legislature oftener than once in five years.

ARTICLE X-Schedule.

That no inconvenience may arise from the change in the Constitution of this State, and in order to carry the same into complete operation, it is hereby declared and ordained, that—

1. The common law and the statute laws now in force, not repugnant to this Constitution, shall remain in force until they expire by their own limitation, or be altered or repealed by the Legislature; and all writs, actions, causes of such action, prosecutions, contracts, claims, and rights of individuals, and of bodies corporate, and of the State, and all charters of incorporations, shall continue, and all indictments which shall have been found, or which may hereafter be found, for any crime or offence committed before the adoption of this Constitution, may be proceeded upon as if no change had taken place. The several courts of law and equity, except as herein otherwise provided, shall continue with the like powers and jurisdiction as if this Constitution had not been adopted.

2. All officers now filling any office or appointment, shall continue in the exercise of the duties thereof, according to their respective commissions or appointments unless by this Constitution it is otherwise directed.

3. The present Governor, Chancellor, and Ordinary or SurrogateGeneral, and Treasurer of this State, shall continue in office until successors elected or appointed under this Constitution shall be sworn or affirmed into office.

4. In case of the death, resignation, or disability of the present Governor, the person who may be Vice-President of the Council at the time of the adoption of this Constitution shall continue in office, and administer the government, until a Governor shall have been elected and sworn or affirmed into office under this Constitution.

5. The present Governor, or in case of his death, or disability to act, the Vice-President of Council, together with the present members of the Legislative Council and Secretary of State shall constitute a board of State canvassers, in the manner now provided by law, for the purpose of ascertaining and declaring the result of the next ensuing election for Governor, members of the House of Representatives, and electors of the President and Vice-President.

6. The returns of the votes for Governor, at the said next ensuing election shall be transmitted to the Secretary of State, the votes counted, and the election declared, in the manner now provided by law in the case of the election of electors of President and VicePresident.

7. The election of clerks and surrogates in those counties where the term of office of the present incumbent shall expire previous to the general election of eighteen hundred and forty-five, shall be held at the general election next ensuing the adoption of this Constitution; the result of which election shall be ascertained in the manner now provided by law for the election of sheriffs.

8. The elections for the year eighteen hundred and forty-four shall take place as now provided by law.

9. It shall be the duty of the Governor to fill all vacancies in office happening between the adoption of this Constitution and the first session of the Senate, and not otherwise provided for; and the commissions shall expire at the end of the first session of the Senate, or when a successor shall be elected or appointed and qualified.

10. The restriction of the pay of members of the Legislature, after forty days from the commencement of the session, shall not be applied to the first Legislature convened under this Constitution.

11. Clerks of counties shall be clerks of the inferior courts of common pleas and quarter sessions of the several counties, and perform the duties, and be subject to the regulations now required of them by law, until otherwise ordained by the Legislature.

12. The Legislature shall pass all laws necessary to carry into effect the provisions of the Constitution.

PENNSYLVANIA was first settled by the Swedes in 1638, who purchased the territory from the natives, but they were conquered by the Dutch in 1654. At the time the English took New Netherland, in 1664, the Dutch possessions on the Delaware river fell into their hands, and for several years were subject to the Governor of New York. In 1681, Pennsylvania was granted by Charles II. to William Penn, a member of the Society of Friends, in consideration of the services of his father as British Admiral. In 1682, Penn disposed of some 20,000 acres to a company of Friends for £400 sterling. A colony of 2000 came over about this time, and settled in Philadelphia. The State was governed by deputies, appointed by the proprietors, until the commencement of the Revolutionary War. Penn died in 1718, leaving his interests in Pennsylvania as an inheritance to his children. Their claim was eventually purchased by the commonwealth for £130,000 sterling. In 1768, Mason and Dixon's line was drawn to mark the boundary between this State and Maryland; and, in 1784, the north-western portion of this State, not being included in the former purchase, was bought of the Indians. The first Constitution was adopted in 1776, the second in 1790, and the present one in 1838.

Area, 46,000 sq. m. Pop., in 1850, 2,311,681.

Philadelphia is the most important city in Pennsylvania, and next to New York in the Union, with a population of 220,423. It is marked for its regularity and beauty. This city was the seat of the General Government from 1776 to 1800, when it was removed to Washington. Among its many public buildings is the old State House, in Chesnut street, erected 1735. In this Congress sat when Independence was declared, and here the Convention assembled that framed the Constitution of the United States. The room in which they sat is carefully preserved as it was. The original bell, cast many years before the Declaration, still hangs in the tower, and bears this interesting inscription: "Proclaim liberty throughc ut the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof."-Levit. xxv. 10

CONSTITUTION.

We, the People of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, ordain and establish this Constitution for its government.

ARTICLE I.

Sec. 1. The Legislative power of this commonwealth shall be vested in a General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

2. The representatives shall be chosen annually, by the citizens of the city of Philadelphia, and of each county respectively, on the second Tuesday of October.

3. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained the age of twenty-one years, and have been a citizen and inhabitant of the State three years next preceding his election, and the last year thereof an inhabitant of the district in and for which he shall be chosen a representative, unless he shall have been absent on the public business of the United States or of this State.

4. Within three years of the first meeting of the General Assembly, and within every subsequent term of seven years, an enumeration of the taxable inhabitants shall be made in such manner as shall be directed by law. The number of representatives shall at the several periods of making such enumeration, be fixed by the Legislature, and apportioned among the city of Philadelphia and the seve ral counties, according to the number of taxable inhabitants in each; and shall never be less than sixty nor greater than one hundred. Each county shall have at least one representative, but no county hereafter created shall be entitled to a separate representation until a sufficient number of taxable inhabitants shall be contained within it to entitle them to one representative, agreeably to the ratio which shall then be established.

5. The senators shall be chosen for three years by the citizens of Philadelphia and of the several counties, at the same time, in the same manner, and at the same places where they shall vote for representatives.

6. The number of senators shall, at the several periods of making the enumeration before mentioned, be fixed by the Legislature, and apportioned among the districts formed as hereinafter, directed according to the number of taxable inhabitants in each; and shall never be less than one-fourth, nor greater than one-third of the number of representatives.

7. The senators shall be chosen in districts, to be formed by the Legislature; but no district shall be so formed as to entitle it to elect more than two senators, unless the number of taxable inhabitants in any city or county shall, at any time, be such as to entitle it to elect more than two, but no city or county shall be entitled to elect