home, except it be for treason, felony, or breach of the peace; nor shall any member be liable to answer for anything spoken in debate in either house, in any court or place elsewhere.

SEC. 15. The members of the senate and house of representatives shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I, A B, do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I have not obtained my election by bribery, or other unlawful means; and that I will give my vote on all questions that may come before me, as a senator, (or representative,) in such manner as, in my judgment, will best promote the good of this State; and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, and to the utmost of my power observe, support, and defend the constitution thereof."

SEC. 16. The general assembly shall have power to make all laws and ordinances which they shall deem necessary and proper for the good of the State, which shall not be repugnant to this constitution.

SEC. 17. They shall have power to alter the boundaries of the present counties, and to lay off new ones, as well out of the counties already laid off, as out of the other territory belonging to the State. When a new county or counties shall be laid off, out of any of the present county or counties, such new county or counties shall have their representation apportioned out of the number of the representatives of the county or counties out of which it or they shall be laid out; and when any new county shall be laid off in the vacant territory belonging to the State, such county shall have a number of representatives, not exceeding three, to be regulated and determined by the general assembly. And no money shall be drawn out of the treasury, or from the public funds of this State, except by appropriations made by law.

SEC. 18. No clergyman of any denomination shall be a member of the general assembly.

ARTICLE II.

SECTION 1. The executive power shall be vested in a governor, who shall hold his office during the term of two years, and shall be elected in the following manner:

SEC. 2. The house of representatives shall, on the second day of their making a house, in the first, and in every second year thereafter, vote by ballot for three persons; and shall make a list containing the names of the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each person; which list the speaker shall sign in the presence of the house, and deliver it in person to the senate; and the senate shall, on the same day, proceed, by ballot, to elect one of the three persons having the highest number of votes; and the person having a majority of the votes of the senators present shall be the governor.

SEC. 3. No person shall be eligible to the office of governor who shall not have been a citizen of the United States twelve years, and an inhabitant of this State six years, and who hath not attained to the age of thirty years, and who does not possess five hundred acres of land, in his own right, within this State, and other species of property to the amount of one thousand pounds sterling.

SEC. 4. In case of the death, resignation, or disability of the governor, the president of the senate shall exercise the executive powers of government until such disability be removed, or until the next meeting of the general assembly.

SEC. 5. The governor shall, at stated times, receive for his service a compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall be elected; neither shall he receive, within that period, any other emolument from the United States, or any of them, or from any foreign power. Before he enters on the execution of his office he shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will faithfully execute the office of governor of the State of Georgia, and will, to the best of my abilities, preserve, protect, and defend the said State, and cause justice to be executed in mercy therein, according to the constitution and laws of the same."

SEC. 6. He shall be commander-in-chief in and over the State of Georgia, and of the militia thereof.

SEC. 7. He shall have power to grant reprieves for offences against the State,

except in cases of impeachment, and to grant pardons, in all cases after conviction, except for treason or murder, in which cases he may respite the execution, and make a report thereof to the next general assembly, by whom a pardon may be granted.

SEC. 8. He shall issue writs of election to fill up all vacancies that happen in the senate or house of representatives, and shall have power to convene the general assembly on extraordinary occasions, and shall give them, from time to time, information of the state of the republic, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he may deem necessary and expedient.

SEC. 9. In case of a disagreement between the senate and house of representatives, with respect to the time to which the general assembly shall adjourn, he may adjourn them to such time as he may think proper.

SEC. 10. He shall have the revision of all bills passed by both houses, before the same shall become laws; but two-thirds of both houses may pass a law, notwithstanding his dissent, and, if any bill should not be returned by the governor within five days after it hath been presented to him, the same shall be a law, unless the general assembly, by their adjournment, shall prevent its return.

SEC. 11. The great seal of the State shall be deposited in the office of the secretary, and it shall not be affixed to any instrument of writing without it be by order of the governor or general assembly; and the general assembly may direct the great seal to be altered.

ARTICLE III.

SECTION 1. A superior court shall be held in each county twice in every year; in which shall be tried, and brought to final decision, all causes, civil and criminal, except such as may be subject to a Federal court, and such as may, by law, be referred to inferior jurisdiction.

SEC. 2. The general assembly shall point out the mode of correcting errors and appeals, which shall extend so far as to empower the judges to direct a new trial by jury within the county where the action originated, and which shall be final.

SEC. 3. Courts-merchant shall be held as heretofore, subject to such regulations as the general assembly may by law direct.

SEC. 4. All causes shall be tried in the county where the defendant resides except in cases of real estate, which shall be tried in the county where such estate lies, and in criminal cases, which shall be tried in the county where the crime shall be committed.

SEC. 5. The judges of the superior court and attorney-general shall have a competent salary established by law, which shall not be increased nor diminished during their continuance in office, and shall hold their commission during the term of three years.

ARTICLE IV.

SECTION 1. The electors of the members of both branches of the general assembly shall be citizens and inhabitants of this State, and shall have attained to the age of twenty-one years, and have paid tax for the year preceding the election, and shall have resided six months within the county.

SEC. 2. All elections shall be by ballot, and the house of representatives, in all appointments of State officers, shall vote for three persons; and a list of the three persons having the highest number of votes shall be signed by the speaker, and sent to the senate, which shall from such list determine, by a majority of their votes, the officer elected, except militia officers and the secretaries of the governor, who shall be appointed by the governor alone, under such regulations and restrictions as the general assembly may prescribe. The general assembly may vest the appointment of inferior officers in the governor, the courts of justice, or in such other manner as they may by law establish.

SEC. 3. Freedom of the press and trial by jury shall remain inviolate.

SEC. 4. All persons shall be entitled to the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus. SEC. 5. All persons shall have the free exercise of religion, without being obliged to contribute to the support of any religious profession but their own.

SEC. 6. Estates shall not be entailed; and when a person dies intestate, leaving a

wife and children, the wife shall have a child's share, or her dower, at her option; if there be no wife, the estate shall be equally divided among the children and their legal representatives of the first degree. The distribution of all other intestate estates

may be regulated by law.

SEC. 7. At the general election for members of assembly, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four, the electors in each county shall elect three persons to represent them in a convention, for the purpose of taking into consideration the alterations necessary to be made in this constitution, who shall meet at such time and place as the general assembly may appoint; and if two-thirds of the whole number shall meet and concur, they shall proceed to agree on such alterations and amendments as they may think proper: Provided, That after two-thirds shall have concurred to proceed to alterations and amendments, a majority shall determine on the particulars of such alterations and amendments.

SEC. 8. This constitution shall take effect, and be in full force, on the first Monday in October next, after the adoption of the same; and the executive shall be authorized to alter the time for the sitting of the superior courts, so that the same may not interfere with the annual elections in the respective counties, or the meeting of the first general assembly.

Done at Augusta, in convention, the sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, and in the year of the Sovereignty and Independence of the United States the thirteenth.

WM. GIBBONS, President.

D. LONGSTREET, Secretary.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF 1789.*

ADOPTED MAY 16, 1795.

ARTICLE I. The senate shall be elected annually on the first Monday in November until such day of election be altered by law; and shall be composed of one member from each county, to be chosen by the electors thereof.

ART. II. All elections to be made by the general assembly, shall be by joint ballot of the senate and house of representatives.

ART. III. The election of members for the house of representatives shall be annual on the first Monday in November; and shall be composed of members from each county in the following proportions: Camden, two; Glynn, two; Liberty, four; McIntosh, two; Bryan, two; Chatham, four; Effingham, two; Scriven, two; Montgomery, two; Burke, three; Richmond, two; Columbia, two; Wilkes, three; Elbert, two; Franklin, two; Oglethorpe, three; Green, three; Hancock, three; Washington, three; Warren, three.

ART. IV. At the general election for members of assembly in the year 1797, the electors of the present counties shall elect three persons to represent them in a convention for the purpose of taking into consideration the further alterations and amendments necessary to be made in the constitution, who shall meet at the town of Louisville the second Tuesday in May thereafter; a majority of the said convention shall have power to proceed to, and agree on, such alterations and amendments as they may think proper.

ART. V. The meeting of the general assembly shall be annual on the second Tuesday in January; a majority of whom shall have power to proceed to business.

ART. VI. That Louisville be the permanent seat of government; and that the governor, secretary of the State, the treasurer, the auditor, and the surveyor-general, remove their offices thereto, as soon as may be convenient, previously to the next meeting of the general assembly.

ART. VII. Article of constituted rights annexed to the constitution as amended. ART. VIII. All powers not delegated by the constitution as amended, are retained by the people.

*These amendments were framed by a convention which met at Louisville in the spring of 1795 and completed its labors May 16, 1795. ́ The amendments were not submitted to the people, but took effect on the first Monday of the following October.

CONSTITUTION OF GEORGIA-1798.*

The constitution of the State of Georgia, as revised, amended, and compiled by the convention of the State, at Louisville, on the 30th day of May, 1798.

ARTICLE I.

SECTION 1. The legislative, executive, and judiciary departments of government shall be distinct, and each department shall be confided to a separate body of magistracy; and no person or collection of persons, being of one of these departments, shall exercise any power properly attached to either of the others, except in the instances herein expressly permitted.

SEC. 2. The legislative power shall be vested in two separate and distinct branches, to wit: A senate and house of representatives, to be styled "The general assembly." SEC. 3. The senate shall be elected annually, on the first Monday in November, until such day of election be altered by law; and shall be composed of one member from each county, to be chosen by the electors thereof.

SEC. 4. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and have been nine years a citizen of the United States, and three years an inhabitant of this State, and shall have usually resided within the county for which he shall be returned, at least one year immediately preceding his election, (except persons who may have been absent on public business of this State or of the United States,) and is and shall have been possessed, in his own right, of a settled freehold estate of the value of five hundred dollars, or taxable property to the amount of one thousand dollars, within the county, for one year preceding his election, and whose estate shall, on a reasonable estimation, be fully competent to the discharge of his just debts over and above that sum.

SEC. 5. The senate shall elect, by ballot, a president of their own body.

SEC. 6. The senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit within this State; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law.

SEC. 7. The house of representatives shall be composed of members from all the counties which now are, or hereafter may be, included within this State, according to their respective numbers of free white persons, and including three-fifths of all the people of color. The actual enumeration shall be made within two years, and within every subsequent term of seven years thereafter, at such time and in such manner as this convention may direct. Each county containing three thousand persons, agreeably to the foregoing plan of enumeration, shall be entitled to two members; seven thousand, to three members; and twelve thousand, to four members; but each county shall have at least one and not more than four members. The representatives shall be chosen annually, on the first Monday in November, until such day of election be altered by law. Until the aforesaid enumeration shall be made, the several counties shall be entitled to the following number of representatives, respectively: Camden, two; Glynn, two; Liberty, three; M'Intosh, two; Bryan, one; Chatham, four; Effingham, two; Scriven, two; Montgomery, two; Burke, three; Bullock, one; Jefferson, three; Lincoln, two; Elbert, three; Jackson, two; Richmond, three; Wilkes, four; Columbia, three; Warren, three; Washington, three; Hancock, four; Greene, three; Oglethorpe, three; and Franklin, two.

SEC. 8. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-one years, and have been seven years a citizen of the United States, three

This constitution was framed by a convention which met at Louisville May 8, 1798. It was signed May 30, 1798, and went into effect on the first Monday of October of that year, without having been submitted to the people.

years an inhabitant of this State, and have usually resided in the county in which he shall be chosen one year immediately preceding his election, (unless he shall have been absent on public business of this State or of the United States,) and shall be possessed in his own right of a settled freehold estate of the value of two hundred and fifty dollars, or of taxable property to the amount of five hundred dollars within the, county, for one year preceding his election, and whose estate shall, on a reasonable estimation, be competent to the discharge of his just debts, over and above that sum. SEC. 9. The house of representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers. SEC. 10. They shall have solely the power to impeach all persons who have been or may be in office.

SEC. 11. No person holding any military commission or other appointment, having any emolument or compensation annexed thereto, under this State or the United States, or either of them, except justices of the inferior court, justices of the peace, and officers of the militia, nor any person who has had charge of public moneys belonging to the State, unaccounted for and unpaid, or who has not paid all legal taxes or contributions to the government required of him, shall have a seat in either branch of the general assembly; nor shall any senator or representative be elected to any office or appointment by the legislature, having any emoluments or compensation annexed thereto, during the time for which he shall have been elected, with the above exception, unless he shall decline accepting his seat, by notice to the executive within twenty days after he shall have been elected; nor shall any member, after having taken his seat, be eligible to any of the aforesaid offices or appointments during the time for which he shall have been elected.

SEC. 12. The meeting of the general assembly shall be annually, on the second Tuesday in January, until such day of meeting be altered by law; a majority of each branch shall be authorized to proceed to business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and compel the attendance of their members in such manner as each house may prescribe.

SEC. 13. Each house shall be the judges of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members; with powers to expel or punish, by censuring, fining, and imprisoning, or either, for disorderly behavior; and may expel any person convicted of any felonious or infamous offence; each house may punish by imprisonment, during session, any person, not a member, who shall be guilty of disrespect by any disorderly or contemptuous behavior in its presence, or who, during session, shall threaten harm to the body or estate of any member, for anything said or done in either house, or who shall assault any of them therefor; or who shall assault or arrest any witness in going to or returning therefrom, or who shall rescue any person arrested by order of either house.

SEC. 14. No senator or representative shall be liable to be arrested during his attendance on the general assembly, or for ten days previous to its sitting, or for ten days after the rising thereof, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace; nor shall any member be liable to answer for anything spoken in debate in either house, in any court or place elsewhere; but shall nevertheless be bound to answer for perjury, bribery, or corruption.

SEC. 15. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish them immediately after their adjournment; and the yeas and nays of the members on any question shall, at the desire of any two members, be entered on the journals.

SEC. 16. All bills for raising revenue or appropriating moneys shall originate in the house of representatives, but the senate shall propose or concur with amendments, as in other bills.

SEC. 17. Every bill shall be read three times and on three separate days, in each branch of the general assembly, before it shall pass, unless in cases of actual invasion or insurrection; nor shall any law or ordinance pass, containing any matter different from what is expressed in the title thereof; and all acts shall be signed by the president in the senate, and speaker in the house of representatives. No bill or ordinance which shall have been rejected by either house shall be brought in again during the session, under the same or any other title, without the consent of two-thirds of each branch.