the people shall give in their votes, whether the number of representatives shall be increased or diminished, and if a majority of votes are in favor thereof, it shall be the duty of the next legislature thereafter to increase or diminish the number by the rule hereinafter prescribed," shall not be a part of the constitution; but one hundred and fifty-one representatives shall be apportioned according to the

rule in this constitution.

ARTICLE V.

[*The annual meeting of the legislature shall be on the second Wednesday of May, in each year; and the governor and other state officers elected for the political year commencing on the first Wednesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-five, shall hold their offices till the second Wednesday of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-six.]

ARTICLE VI.

The credit of the state shall not be directly or indirectly loaned in

any case.

The legislature shall not create any debt or debts, liability or liabilities, on behalf of the state, which shall singly, or in the aggregate, with previous debts and liabilities hereafter incurred at any one time, exceed three hundred thousand dollars, except to suppress insurrection, to repel invasion, or for purposes of war; but this amendment shall not be construed to refer to any money that has been, or may be deposited with this state by the government of the -United States, or to any fund which the state shall hold in trust for any Indian tribe.

ARTICLE VII.

The constitution of this state is amended in the fifth section of the first part of the fourth article, by striking out the words, "a majority of all the," and inserting instead thereof, the words, "the highest number of," and by striking out the words "a majority" where they again occur in the same section, and inserting instead thereof, the words "the highest number;" also in the first amendment to the constitution of this state, by striking out the words "a majority of all the," and inserting instead thereof, the words "the highest number of."

ARTICLE VIII.

The annual meeting of the legislature shall be on the first Wednesday of January, in each year; and the governor and other state officers elected for the political year commencing on the second Wednesday of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, shall hold their offices till the first Wednesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.

Annulled. See 8th Amendment.

NEW HAMPSHIRE was first visited by Europeans in 1614. The first settlement was made at Dover and Portsmouth in 1623, three years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, under a charter to F. Gorges, from James I. The early inhabitants were greatly annoyed by the Indians, and, in their repeated wars with them, suffered more than any other of the colonies. This colony was twice united with that of Massachusetts. The final separation took place in 1741, when the boundaries of the two colonies were settled. New Hampshire publicly declared itself independent of Massachusetts, June 15th, 1776, and in December, of the same year, framed a temporary form of government. The first Constitution was adopted in 1784. This State was admitted into the Union in 1788. Its present Constitution was adopted in 1792. Area, 9,280 square miles. Population, in 1850, 317,864.

CONSTITUTION.

ART. 1. All men are born equally free and independent: Therefore, all government, of right, originates from the people, is founded in consent, and instituted for the general good.

2. All men have certain natural, essential, and inherent rightsamong which are, the enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; and, in a word, of secking and obtaining happiness.

3. When men enter into a state of society, they surrender up some of their natural rights to that society, in order to ensure the protection of others; and without such an equivalent the surrender is void.

4. Among the natural rights, some are in their very nature unalienable, because no equivalent can be given or received for them. Of this kind are the rights of conscience.

5. Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God, according to the dictates of his own conscience and reason: and no person shall be hurt, molested, or restrained in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshiping God in the manner most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience, or for his religious profession, sentiments, or persuasion; provided he doth not disturb the public peace, or disturb others in their religious worship.

6. As morality and piety, rightly grounded on evangelical principles, will give the best and greatest security to government, and will lay, in the hearts of men, the strongest obligations to due subjection; and as the knowledge of these is most likely to be propagated through a society by the institution of the public worship of the Deity, and of public instruction, in morality and religion; therefore, to promote these important purposes, the people of this State have a right to empower, and do hereby fully empower, the Legislature, to authorize, from time to time, the several towns, parishes, bodies corporate, or religious societies, within this State, to make adequate provision, at their own expense, for the support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion, and morality:

Provided, notwithstanding, That the several towns, parishes, bodies corporate, or religious societies, shall at all times have the exclusive right of electing their own public teachers, and of contracting with them for their support and maintenance: And no person, of any one particular religious sect or denomination, shall ever be compelled to pay towards the support of the teacher or teachers of another persuasion, sect, or denomination.

And every denomination of Christians, demeaning themselves quietly, and as good citizens of the State, shall be equally under the protection of the law and no subordination of any one sect or de nomination to another, shall ever be established by law.

And nothing herein shall be understood to affect any former contracts made for the support of the ministry; but all such contracts shall remain, and be in the same state, as if this Constitution had not been made.

7. The people of this State have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent State;

and do, and forever hereafter shall, exercise and enjoy every power, jurisdiction, and right, pertaining thereto, which is not, and may not hereafter be, by them expressly delegated to the United States of America in Congress assembled.

8. All power residing originally in, and being derived from the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them.

9. No office or place whatsover, in government, shall be hereditary-the ability and integrity requisite in all not being transmissible to posterity or relations.

10. Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men: therefore, whenever the ends of the government are perverted, or public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to, reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.

11. All elections ought to be free, and every inhabitant of the State, having the proper qualifications, has an equal right to elect, and be elected, into office.

12. Every member of the community has a right to be protected by it, in the enjoyment of his life, liberty, and property; he is therefore bound to contribute his share to the expense of such protection. and to yield his personal service when necessary, or an equivalent. But no part of a man's property shall be taken from him, or applied to public uses, without his own consent, or that of the representative body of the people. Nor are the inhabitants of this State controlable by any other laws than those to which they, or their representative body, have given their consent.

13. No person who is conscientiously scrupulous about the lawfulness of bearing arms, shall be compelled thereto, provided he will pay an equivalent.

14. Every citizen of this State is entitled to a certain remedy, by having recourse to the laws, for all injuries he may receive in his person, property, or character; to obtain right and justice freely, without being obliged to purchase it; completely, and without denial, promptly, and without delay, conformable to the laws.

15. No person shall be held to answer for any crime or offence, until the same is fully and plainly, substantially and formally, described to him nor be compelled to accuse or furnish evidence against himself. And every person shall have a right to produce all proofs that may be favorable to himself; to meet the witnesses against him face to face; and to be fully heard in his defense, by himself and counsel. And no person shall be arrested, imprisoned, despoiled, or deprived of his property, immunities, or privileges, put out of the protection of the law, exiled, or deprived of his