of the difficulties which have surrounded others who are disposed to exert their right; the latter at least must be urged to complete, as they have formerly done, the said nominations, and to cause their Deputies to proceed upon their journey with the utmost expedition; each Province nominating not one only, but two, distinguished as first and second, as other Provinces have done, and as is already the practice with those who at the commencement had only chosen one, in virtue of the said convoking: by which means not only the inconveniences arising from sickness, absence, or any other cause which may deprive the Province of its Representative, are obviated, but by a division of their powers, there will be a greater facility in the exercise of them, in the formation of Committees, and in going through the important business which must now engage the attention of the Congress.

LII. The Deputies, whether they be one or two for each Province, shall always have equal votes: and as they are to consider themselves, as to the objects of their appointment, rather as the Representatives of the Union in general than of any Province in particular, since without the safety and well-being of the former, all efforts in favour of the latter would be null and of no effect, they shall deliberate and vote with full and absolute freedom; provided that they do not contravene the fundamental principles and compacts of this Union, that they prefer the good of all to that of their own Province in particular, and that they follow the dictates of their conscience in what it prescribes to them, even when they have instructions to the contrary. Such instructions, however, cannot be anticipated, nor can they be imagined to be given deliberately and with a perfect knowledge of their consequences. Whilst no Deputy acting with good faith shall incur any risk on account of his vote or opinion, the Provinces, nevertheless, may revoke the powers given to him whenever they please, and transfer them to another, who shall be his Substitute.

LIII. For the same reason, they shall have perfect and absolute freedom in the debates, nor can they in any other place be accused, prosecuted or tried for what they may have written or spoken in the exercise of their duties in Congress; on the contrary, they shall be free and exempt from all arrest and imprisonment, during the time of their Sessions, and on their road to and from the place of their residence, or when employed upon any commission; unless and except for some capital crime or other delinquency which is punished by infamy or the confiscation of property, for treason or secret conspiracy against the State, or for disturbing the public peace and tranquillity.

LIV. The Congress can also, for just and lawful reasons, remove any Deputy, who has rendered himself liable to such a proceeding, by his misconduct, or by such reprehensible excesses as may compromise the honour of the Body at large, the secrecy of their deliberations, or the general good and interests of the Union; and the Province which

he represents shall, without objection or excuse, deprive him of his powers and nominate another in his place.

LV. In the aforesaid cases, if the delinquencies or crimes committed by a Deputy be such as are injurious to the Union, and are subject to the cognizance of Congress; so soon as the said Deputy shall have been expelled therefrom by a formal resolution to that effect, he shall be given over to the Judicial Court of the Congress, by which he shall be tried and punished according to Law; but if it be a common crime, having no connexion with his representative functions, he shall be placed at the disposal of his Province, in order to be prosecuted at its suit.

LVI. The Deputies shall from this time henceforth continue in the exercise of their functions for the time appointed by their Provinces; but it is recommended to the latter, that, their Representatives being 2 in number, as above mentioned, each of them should be renewed annually, commencing with the earliest or first, an operation which might be effected in the next year, 1812, so that the newlyelected might all enter upon their duties, if possible, at the same time, viz., on the 1st of January, 1813.

LVII. The Congress cannot determine the important questions of: the declaration of War, or the conclusion of Peace;-the number of Troops and the sum of money to be furnished by the Provinces for the common defence, or for that of any one of them in particular;— the building or purchasing, and the arming, of Ships of War;-the conclusion of Treaties of Alliance, Commerce, Boundaries, &c., with Foreign Nations or States ;-the imposition of Taxes ;-the granting of Letters of marque and reprisal in time of Peace;-the borrowing of money upon the credit of the revenues of the United Provinces ;—the alteration of the law and value of the current money;-the admission of Foreign coin, and the fixing the value of the same;-the issue of paper money;-nor the alteration of the weights and measures in present use.

It cannot determine upon matters connected with ecclesiastical patronage or abuses, in which the supreme power of a State ought naturally to interfere;-the expulsion of a Deputy for conduct reprehensible in his private as well as in his public capacity;-the appointment of Generals in Chief or Commanders by sea and land, and Consuls and other public Agents in Foreign States;-unless with the concurrent and unanimous votes of 2-third parts of the Deputies actually present in the place of the Session of the Congress. It is equally incapable of naming and appointing the Secretaries of State, the Judges of the Supreme Court of Justice, the Commissioners, Accomptants and Treasurers of the Customs, Superintendents, Accomptants and Treasurers of Mints, Administrators and Accomptants-General of the Post-office, the Captain of its Guard, and to the other principal employments of responsibility and confidence ;

unless with the concurrent and unanimous votes of 2-thirds of the Members present, which ought to be at least 2-third parts of the number of Members resident in the place where the Congress holds its Sessions. The other questions of Government shall be decided by the majority of the said 2-third parts of concurrent and approving votes; that is to say, by 7 votes, if the said 2 concurring parts were for example 12. A less number than these 2-third parts, qualified to vote in the Congress, could only adjourn the question to another day, or debate upon the means of enforcing the attendance of the other Deputies, by the infliction of the pains and penalties provided for that purpose by the Congress itself for the due regulation of its duties and proceedings. The Deputies, therefore, shall submit to all the decisions and resolutions made and determined upon in this manner, even when contrary to their own judgment, and shall subscribe to, obey, and fulfil them: in like manner they shall be consented to by the respective Provinces, since they will have become, by the approval of the Deputies, part of the Law of the Union: the Deputies, however, shall possess the right of protest, and may even insist upon the publicity of their protests, where the nature of the question does not require secresy or reservation, in which case their votes shall be entered on the Journals; and when the cause which required secresy no longer exists, they may be published.

LVIII. The stipends, fees, or salaries of their Representatives must, for the present, be at the charge of the Provinces; until they can be provided out of the General Fund of the Congress, the number of the Representatives permanently fixed, and the powers of the Union distributed.

LIX. The exercise of these powers belongs to Congress, over all the objects within its control; but as the Judicial branch would distract much of its attention from other more important branches, such for instance as the common defence and the general welfare of the Union, the Congress shall create, from without its body, whatever Court or Courts it may think fit for the proper administration of justice; reserving the executive and legislative branches for its own management and direction, whether in its totality or by sections, according to the number of Deputies and the gravity of the matters which may occupy its attention.

LX. For the due organization of these powers, and the more punctual discharge of its duties, the Congress shall make such regulations as it may judge fit, until a definitive Constitution shall settle the details of the general government of the Union.

LXI. When the dangers by which we are now encompassed shall have been removed, the Provinces which are definitively to compose the Union consolidated, and their Population exactly known, for which object, as well as others, they have been called upon to exert their energies, and to lose no time in forwarding their Registers.

drawn up with all the accuracy and distinctness in their

basis

Grand National Convention shall be convoked this same upon of the Population, in order to establish for themselves the said Con. stitution; unless the Provinces prefer to commit this work to the Congress, subject notwithstanding to their sanction and approval.

LXII. For this purpose the materials shall be prepared, with all the prudence, discretion, and observation acquired by experience; and all Persons belonging to the Union, who are distinguished by their superior sagacity, shall be invited to offer their ideas, and enlighten their fellow Citizens, that they may become disposed towards a liberal Government.

LXIII. Prosecutions or suits at law belonging to the Congress, either for the infraction of its Laws, or any other delinquency which may come within its exclusive jurisdiction, and which Suits should be carried on at a distance from the place of its sitting, in order not to harass the litigating Parties with appeals, shall, at least in the first Instances, be heard and determined by Commissions or Delegations, and by such means as may be considered the most equitable, impartial, and the best calculated to discover the truth, and to secure the proper administration of justice; reserving always the last Instance, should the affair require such a step, for the High Court, which must hold its sittings within the immediate vicinity of Congress.

LXIV. But the Citizens of any Province shall be allowed, if they think fit, to appeal, and to carry their suits, pleas, or differences before the respective Courts of the Defendants appealed against, and to covenant so to do by the usual legal instruments and contracts, renouncing every other right to which they are entitled, and submitting to the Laws and Judges of the Country to which they have appealed; and having once made this submission or renunciation, so far as it is not prejudicial to the Union, but advantageous to the private rights of the said Citizens, they shall not be at liberty to revoke or desist from it, but shall be compelled to abide by it fully and absolutely.

LXV. They are also allowed to decide their differences by means of Arbitrators, if they consider it convenient; such Arbitrators being chosen from among the Citizens of both Provinces to which the Litigants belong, or else from out of one of them, or, indeed, of a third; subject always to the regulations and penalties made and provided thereupon, and with the express condition that no prejudice or harm can accrue therefrom to the Union.

LXVI. Neither shall any innovation be introduced into the Causes or law suits now pending in the Provincial Courts of Justice; the Citizens voluntarily submitting to, and acquiescing in, the settlement of all matters affecting their interests by the Courts in which their suits were commenced.

LXVII. The Congress shall create such subordinate Offices and Employments as may be required for the despatch of its affairs, and as experience may suggest, and shall select for the said Offices the

Citizens best qualified to fill them, in like manner as for its Judicial Courts and Commissions. It being distinctly understood that all Officers and Employés who are in the pay of the Union, cannot be, at the same time, in the service of any particular Province, nor receive any pension, fee, or present from it, either directly or indirectly: the same must be understood of the Members or Persons composing the Congress.

LXVIII. Neither can any one belonging to either of these two descriptions of Persons, receive presents, emoluments, commissions, employments, personal titles or distinctions, or hereditary honours from any Foreign Prince, King, or State; nor can the Congress grant any favours, the consequence of which would be to introduce a division of classes among the Citizens, and which could only be invented to compromise the liberty of the People. It may however reward, in some other manner, the illustrious and heroic actions by which the said Citizens may signalize themselves, but with the greatest reserve and discretion; taking care that the rewards be directed rather to the encouragement of virtue and patriotism than to the fostering of vanity and pride.

LXIX. The style and appellation of the Congress shall be that of Alteza Serenissima; that of the President, when addressed by other Authorities, or in the official Communications made by him, shall be Escelencias, as shall also be that of the Executive Power, should one be created; that of the Commissioners, or separate Members of the Congress, Ministers or Secretaries, when addressed officially, Senorias; when in their private capacity, either verbally or in writing, Merced, like every other Citizen; and that which is given by the Congress, its President, the Executive Power, Commissioners, or Individuals, to the Provincial Governments and Legislatures, Escelencia or Senoria, as may be the practice in their respective Constitutions. With respect to Foreign Governments, and other independent Governments, they shall be addressed according to usage, or by the titles which they have assumed to themselves.

LX X. The Congress shall have a limited National Guard, intended for the dignity of that Assembly, rather than for useless show and pomp, with the view of saving expense as much as possible.

LXXI. The Confederation shall have a Private Seal, with which shall be sealed Patents, Despatches, Warrants, and other official Documents requiring it: the infraction or the counterfeiting of this Seal, equally with that of the current Coin, or of any other security belonging to the Union, shall be liable to the present penalties in force, and to such in addition as may be rendered necessary by the nature and enormity of the offence.

LXXII. The Laws which in these and similar cases shall be henceforth in force in the different Courts of Justice throughout the Union, are those by which we have hitherto been governed in all such matters; provided they be not contrary to the spirit of the present