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5. This constitution shall be submitted to the people for ratifi. cation at the election for delegates on the first Monday of May next. Each qualified voter shall express his assent or dissent to the constitution, by directing the managers of said election to write opposite to his name on the poll-book, either the words " constitutionor no constitution.And in case the time of election for delegate be changed to any other day than the first Monday of May next, then the judges or clerks of the county courts, respectively, shall appoint managers to hold an election on the said first Monday of May, for ratification of the constitution ; and said

managers shall conduct said election in the manner provided by the laws of the Territory respecting elections, and make return of the result of such vote forthwith, by depositing the original poll-book in the clerk's office of their counties respectively, and by transmitting a certificate of the result to the president of the convention, who shall forthwith make proclamation of the same; and in case the constitution be ratified by the people, and immediately after official information shall have been received that Congress have approved the constitution and provided for the admission of Florida, the president of this convention shall issue writs of election to the proper officers in the different counties, enjoining them to cause an election to be held for governor, representative in Congress, and members of the general assembly, in each of their respective counties. The election shall be held on the first Monday after the lapse of sixty days following the day of the date of the president's proclamation, and shall take place on the same day throughout the state. The said election shall be conducted according to the then existing election laws of the Territory of Florida : provided, however, that in case of the absence or disability of the president of the convention to cause the said election to be carried into effect, the secretary of this convention shall discharge the duties hereby imposed upon the president; and, in case of the absence or disability of the secretary, a committee consisting of five, to wit: Leigh Reed, George T. Ward, James D. Westcott, jr., Thomas Brown, and Leslie A. Thompson, or a majority of them, shall discharge the duties herein imposed on the secretary of the convention; and the members of the general assembly, so selected, shall assemble on the fourth Monday

thereafter, at the seat of government. The governor, representative in Congress, and members of the general assembly, shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices immediately after their election under the provisions of this constitution, and shall continue in office in the same manner, and during the same pe. riod, they would have done had they been elected on the first Monday in October.

6. The general assembly shall have power, by the votes of two-thirds of both houses, to accede to such propositions as may be made by the Congress of the United States upon the admission of the state of Florida into the national confederacy and union, if they shall be deemed reasonable and just, and to make declaration of such assent, by law; and such declaration, when made, shall be binding upon the people and the state of Florida as a compact; and the governor of the state of Florida shall notify the president of the United States of the acts of the general assembly relating thereto; and, in case of declining to accede to such propositions, or any part thereof, the general assembly shall instruct the senators and representative of the state of Florida in Congress to procure such modification or alteration thereof as may be deemed reasonable and just, and assent thereto, subject to the ratification of the general assembly, by law, as aforesaid.

7. The courts of this state shall never entertain jurisdiction of any grants of land in the Floridas made by the King of Spain, or by his authority, subsequent to the twenty-fourth day of January, eighteen hundred and eighteen; nor shall the said courts receive as evidence, in any case, certain grants said to have been made by the said King of Spain in favor of the Duke of Alagon, the Count Punon Rostro, and Don Pedro de Vargas, or any title derived from either of said grants, unless with the express assent of the Congress of the United States.

Done in convention, held in pursuance of an act of the governor

and legislative council of the Territory of Florida, entitled, “ An act to call a convention for the purpose of organizing a state government," passed thirtieth day of January, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, and approved second February, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight.

In witness whereof, the undersigned, the president of said convention, and delegates representing the people of Florida, do hereunto sign our names, this eleventh day of January, anno Domini eighteen hundred and thirty-nine, and of the independence of the United States of America the sixty-third year; and the secretary of said convention doth countersign the

same.

ROBERT RAYMOND REID, President.

WALKER ANDERSON,
JOHN L. MCKINNON,
DANIEL G. MCLEAN,
STEPHEN J. ROCHE,
E. ROBBINS,

COSAM EMIR Bartlett,
THOMAS BALTzell,
SAMUEL C. Bellamy,
ALFRED L. WOODWARD,
RICHARD H. LONG,
RICHARD C. ALLEN,
BANKS MEACHAM,
JOHN W. MALONE,
GEORGE T. WARD,
W. WYATT,

JAMES D. WESTCOTT, JR.,

LEIGH READ,

A. BELLAMY,

JOHN N. PARTRIDGE,

WILLIAM BUNce,

JOSHUA KNOWLES, Secretary.

E. CARRINGTON CABELL,
J. MCCANTS,
JOHN C. McGehee,
JOSEPH B. WATTS,
WILLIAM B. HOOKER,
WILSON BROOKS,
GEORGE E. McClellan,
JOHN F. WEBB,
I. GARRISON,
E. K. WHITE,
A. W. CRICHTON,
OLIVER WOOD,
WILLIAM HADDOCK,
JOSE SIMEON SANCHEZ,
EDWIN T. JENCkes,

DAVID LEVY,

W. H. WILLIAMS,

WILLIAM MARVIN,

J. B. BROWN,
EDMUND BIRD.

I certify that the foregoing is a true copy from the original.

JOSHUA KNOWLES, Secretary.

CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF TEXAS,

ADOPTED IN CONVENTION, AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN, 1845.

We, the people of the republic of Texas, acknowledging with

gratitude the grace and beneficence of God in permitting us to make a choice of our form of government, do, in accordance with the provisions of the joint resolution for annexing Texas to the United States, approved March first, one thousand eight hundred and forty-five, ordain and establish this constitution.

ARTICLE FIRST.

Bill of Rights. That the general, great, and essential principles of liberty and

free government may be recognized and established, we declare that

Sec. 1. All political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit ; and they have at all times the unalienable right to alter, reform, or abolish their form of government, in such manner as they may think expedient.

Sec. 2. All freemen, when they form a social compact, have equal rights; and no man, or set of men, is entitled to exclusive, separate, public emoluments or privileges, but in consideration of public services.

Sec. 3. No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust in this state.

Sec. 4. All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences; no man shall be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent; no human authority ought, in any case whatever, to control or interfere with the rights of conscience in matters of religion, and no

preference shall ever be given by law to any religious societies or modes of worship. But it shall be the duty of the legislature to pass such laws as shall be necessary to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of their own mode of public worship.

SEC. 5. Every citizen shall be at liberty to speak, write, or publish his opinions on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that privilege; and no law shall ever be passed curtailing the liberty of speech or of the press.

SEC. 6. In prosecutions for the publication of papers investigating the official conduct of officers, or men in a public capacity, or where the matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be given in evidence. And in all indictments for libels, the jury shall have a right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the court, as in other cases.

SEC. 7. The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions, from all unreasonable seizures or searches; and no warrant to search any place, or to seize any person or thing, shall issue, without describing them as near as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation.

SEC. 8. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have a speedy public trial, by an impartial jury; he shall not be compelled to give evidence against himself; he shall have the right of being heard by himself or counsel, or both; shall be confronted with the witnesses against him, and shall have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and no person shall be holden to answer for any criminal charge, but on indictment or information, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or offences against the laws regulating the militia.

SEC. 9. All prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for capital offences, when the proof is evident or the presumption great; but this provision shall not be so construed as to prohibit bail after indictment found, upon an examination of the evidence by a judge of the supreme or district court, upon the return of the writ of habeas corpus, returnable in the county where the offence is committed.

SEC. 10. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not

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