tatives of the Congress of the United States, which shall be formed, respectively, of contiguous counties, cities and towns, be compact, and include, as nearly as may be, an equal number of population.

SEC. 14. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of invasion or rebellion, the public safety may require it. The General Assembly shall not pass any bill of attainder, or any ex post facto law, or any law impairing the obligation of contracts, or any law, whereby private property shall be taken for public uses without just compensation, or any law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press. No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever, nor shall any man be enforced, restrained, molested or burthened in his body or goods, or otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and the same shall in nowise affect, diminish or enlarge their civil capacities. And the General Assembly shall not prescribe any religious test whatever, or confer any peculiar privileges or advantages on any sect or denomination, or pass any law requiring or authorizing any religious society, or the people of any district within this Commonwealth, to levy on themselves or others any tax for the erection or repair of any house of public worship, or for the support of any church or ministry, but it shall be left free to every person to select his religious instructor, and to make for his support such private contract as he shall please.

SEC. 15. No law shall embrace more than one object, which shall be expressed in its title; nor shall any law be revived or amended with reference to its title, but the act revived or the section amended shall be re-enacted and published at length.

SEC. 16. The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, judges, and all others offending against the State, by maladminis

tration, corruption, neglect of duty, or other high crime or misdemeanor, shall be impeachable by the House of Delegates, and be prosecuted before the Senate, which shall have the sole power to try impeachment. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation, and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of twothirds of the members present. Judgment, in case of impeachment, shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold or enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the Commonwealth; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law. The Senate may sit during the recess of the General Assembly for the trial of impeachment.

SEC. 17. The General Assembly shall not grant a charter of incorporation to any church or religious denomination, but may secure the title to church property to an extent to be limited by law.

SEC. 18. No lottery shall hereafter be authorized by law; and the buying, selling or transferring of tickets or chances in any lottery shall be prohibited.

SEC. 19. No new county shall be formed with an erea of less than six hundred square miles; nor shall the county or counties from which it is formed be reduced below that erea; nor shall any county having a population less than ten thousand, be deprived of more than one-fifth of such population; nor shall a county, having a larger population, be reduced below eight thousand. But any county, the length of which is three times its mean breadth, or which exceeds fifty miles in length, may be divided at the discretion of the General Assembly. In all general elections the voters in any county, not entitled to separate representation, shall vote in the same election district.

SEC. 20. The General Assembly shall confer on the courts the power to grant divorces, change the names of persons, and direct the sale of estates belonging to infants and other

persons under legal disabilities, but shall not by special legislation, grant relief in such cases, or in any other case of which the courts or other tribunals may have jurisdiction. SEC. 21. The General Assembly shall provide for the annual registration of births, marriages and deaths.

SEC. 22. The manner of conducting and making returns of elections, of determining contested elections, and of filling vacancies in office, in cases not specially provided for by this Constitution, shall be prescribed by law; and the General Assembly may declare the case in which any office shall be deemed vacant, where no provision is made for that purpose in this Constitution.

ARTICLE VI.

JUDICIARY DEPARTMENT.

SECTION. 1. There shall be a Supreme Court of Appeals, Circuit Courts, and County Courts. The jurisdiction of these tribunals, and the judges thereof, except so far as the same is conferred by this Constitution, shall be regulated by law.

COURT OF APPEALS.

SEC. 2. The Supreme Court of Appeals shall consist of five judges, any three of whom may hold a court. It shall have appellate jurisdiction only, except in cases of habeas corpus, mandamus and prohibition. It shall not have jurisdiction in civil cases where the matter in controversy, exclusive of costs, is less in value or amount than five hundred dollars, except in controversies concerning the title or boundaries of land, the probate of a will, the appointment or qualification of a personal representative guardian, committee or curator; or concerning a mill, roadway, ferry or landing; or the right of a corporation or of a county to levy tolls or taxes, and except in cases of habeas corpus, mandamus and prohibition, or the constitutionality of a law:

Provided, That the assent of a majority of the judges elected to the court shall be required, in order to declare any law null and void by reason of its repugnance to the Federal Constitution, or to the Constitution of this State.

SEC. 3. Special Courts of Appeals, to consist of not less than three, nor more than five judges, may be formed of the judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals and of the Circuit Courts or any of them, to try any cases on the docket of said court, in respect to which a majority of the judges thereof may be so situated as to make it improper for them to sit on the hearing of the same and also to try any cases on the said docket which cannot be otherwise disposed of with convenient dispatch.

SEC. 4. When a judgment or decree is reversed or affirmed by the Supreme Court of Appeals, the reasons therefor shall be stated in writing and preserved with the records of the case.

SEC. 5. The judges shall be chosen by the joint vote of the two Houses of the General Assembly, and shall hold their office for a term of twelve years; they shall, when chosen, have held a judicial station in the United States, or shall have practiced law in this or some other State for five years.

SEC. 6. The officers of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be appointed by the said court, or by the judges thereof in vacation. Their duties, compensation and tenure of office shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 7. The Supreme Court of Appeals shall hold its sessions at two or more places in the State, to be fixed by law.

SEC. 8. At every election of a Governor, an AttorneyGeneral shall be elected by the qualified voters of this Commonwealth. He shall be commissioned by the Governor, perform such duties and receive such compensation as may be prescribed by law, and shall be removable in the manner prescribed for the removal of judges.

CIRCUIT COURTS.

SEC. 9. The State shall be divided into sixteen judicial circuits, as follows:

1. the counties of Norfolk, Princess Anne, Nansemond, Isle of Wight, Southampton, Surry and the city of Norfolk shall constitute the first circuit.

2. The counties of Sussex, Greensville, Brunswick, Prince George, Dinwiddie, Nottoway, Chesterfield and the city of Petersburg shall constitute the second circuit.

3. The counties of Mecklenburg, Lunenburg, Charlotte, Amelia, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Buckingham and Cumland, shall constitute the third circuit.

4. The counties of Halifax, Pittsylvania, Henry, Patrick, Franklin and the town of Danville shall constitute the fourth circuit.

5. The counties of Bedford, Campbell, Amherst, Appomattox, Nelson, and the city of Lynchburg shall constitute the fifth circuit.

6. The counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Culpeper, Goochland, Madison, Greene and Orange shall constitute the sixth circuit.

7. The county of Henrico and the city of Richmond shall constitute the seventh circuit.

8. The counties of Accomac, Northampton, York, Elizabeth City, Warwick, James City, New Kent, Charles City and the city of Williamsburg shall constitute the eighth circuit.

9. The counties of Lancaster, Northumberland, Matthews, Middlesex, Gloucester, King William, Essex, and King and Queen shall constitute the ninth circuit.

10. The counties of Westmoreland, Spotsylvania, Caroline, Hanover, Stafford, King George, Richmond and Louisa shall constitute the tenth circuit.

11. The counties of Loudoun, Fauquier, Fairfax, Prince William, Rappahannock and Alexandria shall constitute the eleventh circuit.