lives, shall descend or vest as in case of natural death; and if any person shall be killed by casualty, there shall be no forfeiture by reason thereof.

Sec. XX. The citizens have a right, in a peaceable manner, to assemble together, for their common good, and to apply to those invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances, or other proper purposes, by petition, address or

remonstrance.

Sec. XXI. The right of citizens to bear arms, in defence of themselves and the state, shall not be questioned.

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

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

Sec. XXIV. The legislature shall not grant any title of nobility or hereditary distinction, nor create any office the appointment to which shall be for a longer term than during good behaviour. [See 1 Peters. 546.]

Sec. XXV. Emigration from the state shall not be prohibited.

Sec. XXVI. To guard against transgressions of the higher powers which we have delegated, WE DECLARE, that every thing in this article is excepted out of the general powers of government, and shall for ever remain inviolate.

ARTICLE X.

OF AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.

Any amendment or amendments to this constitution may be proposed in the senate or house of representatives, and if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each house, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on their journals, with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and the secretary of the commonwealth shall cause the same to be published three months before the next election, in at least one newspaper in every county in which a newspaper shall be published; and if in the legislature next afterwards chosen such proposed amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each house, the secretary of the commonwealth shall cause the same again to be published in manner aforesaid, and such proposed amendment or amendments shall be submitted to the people in such manner and at such time, at least three months, after being so agreed to by the two houses as the legislature shall prescribe; and if the people shall approve and ratify such amendment or amend. ments by a majority of the qualified voters of this state voting thereon, such amendment or amend. ments shall become a part of the constitution; but no amendment or amendments shall be submitted to the people oftener than once in five years; Provided, that if more than one amendment be submitted, they shall be submitted in D

such manner and form, that the people may vote for or against each amendment separately and distinctly.

SCHEDULE.

That no inconvenience may arise from the alterations and amendments in the constitution of this commonwealth, and in order to carry the same into complete operation, it is hereby declared and ordained, That,

Section I. All laws of this commonwealth in force at the time when the said alterations and amendments in the said constitution shall take effect, and not inconsistent therewith, and all rights, actions, prosecutions, claims, and contracts as well of individuals as of bodies corporate, shall continue as if the said alterations and amendments had not been made.

Sec. II. The alterations and amendments in the said constitution shall take effect from the first day of January, eighteen hundred and thirtynine.

Sec. III. The clauses, sections, and articles of the said constitution, which remain unaltered, shall continue to be construed and have effect as if the said constitution had not been amended.

Sec. IV. The general assembly which shall convene in December, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, shall continue its session, as heretofore, notwithstanding the provision in the eleventh section of the first article, and shall at all times be

regarded as the first general assembly under the amended constitution.

Sec. V. The governor who shall be elected in October, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, shall be inaugurated on the third Tuesday in January, eighteen hundred and thirty-nine, to which time the present executive term is hereby extended.

Sec. VI. The commissions of the judges of the supreme court, who may be in office on the first day of January next, shall expire in the following manner : The commission which bears the earli est date shall expire on the first day of January, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and forty-two; the commission next dated shall expire on the first day of January, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and forty-five; the commission next dated shall expire on the first day of January, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight; the commission next dated shall expire on the first day of January, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one ; and the commission last dated shall expire on the first day of January, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.

Sec. VII. The commissions of the president judges of the several judicial districts and of the associate law judges of the first judicial district shall expire as follows: The commissions of onehalf of those who shall have held their offices ten years or more at the adoption of the amendments to the constitution, shall expire on the twenty-seventh day of February, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine; the commissions of the other half of those who shall have held their of

fices ten years or more at the adoption of the amendments to the constitution, shall expire on the twenty-seventh day of February, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two; the first half to embrace those whose commissions shall bear the oldest date. The commissions of all the remaining judges who shall not have held their offices for ten years at the adoption of the amendments to the constitution shall expire on the twenty-seventh day of February next after the end of ten years from the date of their commissions.

Sec. VIII. The recorders of the several mayors' courts, and other criminal courts in this commonwealth, shall be appointed for the same time, and in the same manner, as the president judges of the several judicial districts; of those now in office, the commission oldest in date shall expire on the twenty-seventh day of February, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, and the others every two years thereafter according to their respective dates. Those oldest in date expiring first.

es.

Sec. IX. The legislature at its first session under the amended constitution, shall divide the other associate judges of the state into four classThe commissions of those of the first class shall expire on the twenty-seventh day of February, eighteen hundred and forty; of those of the second class on the twenty-seventh day of February, eighteen hundred and forty-one; of those of the third class on the twenty-seventh day of Febru ary, eighteen hundred and forty-two; and those of the fourth class on the twenty-seventh day of February, eighteen hundred and forty-three. The said classes from the first to the fourth shall be