And I think we may very well dispense with
the formality of such a profession upon the
test book in this State.
Mr. CLARKE. The gentleman from Som-
erset, (Mr. Jones), argues that the adoption of
my amendment will draw an invidious dis-
tinction between classes. I think it dees no
such thing; it only gives parties an option
as to what declaration they will make.
have no doubt that if my friend from Ken
(Mr. Chambers) was here to-day, he would
be found advocating, as he did in the last
Convention, the retention of this clause in
this article, and if called upon to take an
oath of office be would declare his belief in
the Christian religion. My friend from Som-
erset, (Mr. Jones), prefers the other form; and
if called upon to take the oath of office would
probably take it in that other form. Men
have their choice; but it does not follow that
because you take it in one form or the other,
that you do or do not believe in the Christian
religion. The result will be that those hold-
ing the same belief in the Christian belief will
be found on one side of the book; and the
others will be found on the other side of the
book.
Mr. STIRLING. There is no such thing
known to the records of this State as a sub-
scription to a religious oath; there is no
signature; it is a mere verbal declaration.
Mr. JONES, of Somerset. I beg the gentle-
man's pardon; you have to sign your name
to the declaration in the test book.
Mr. STIRLING. I do not think the records
will show that.
Mr. CLARKE. In the Legislature you have
to sign your name.
Mr. STIRLING. To the oath of office, but
not to the declaration of belief,
Mr. JONES, of Somerset. It is done in our
county, I know.
Mr. STIRLING. It may be so in the counties,
but it is not so in Annapolis. The universal
practice in the General Assembly is this: af-
ter the member has subscribed to the oath of
office, the presiding officer says—"You do
declare your belief in the Christian religion"
—and the only answer to that is to bow the
head.
The question was then taken upon the
amendment of Mr. CLARKE, and it was agreed
to.
The question was then taken upon the
amendment of Mr. RIDGELY, as amended, and
it was agreed to.
OATH OF ALLEGIANCE.
Mr. STIRLING. I move to farther amend
this article by inserting between the words
"than" and ''such" the words "such oath
of allegiance and fidelity to this State and to
the United States as may be prescribed by
this Constitution and;" so that the article
will read as follows:
"That no other test or qualification ought
to be required on admission to any office of |
trust or profit, than such oath of allegiance
and fidelity to this State and. to the United
States as may be prescribed by this Constitu-
tion, and such oath of office and qualification
as may be prescribed by this Constitution
by the laws of the State, and a declaration of
belief in the Christian religion; or a declara-
tion of belief in the existence of God and
in a future state of rewards and punish-
ments."
I had thought the words " oath of office"
would cover all that was necessary. But in
deference to the suggestions of members
of the Convention, I submit this amendment
to make this article more explicit, I do not
think it is absolutely necessary, but I prefer
it in order to make it more explicit.
Mr. MILLER. I move to amend the amend-
ment by striking out the word "allegiance"
and inserting the word "support," so that
it will read "such oath of support and fidel-
ity," &c.
I do not propose to make any remarks upon
the question of allegiance, because that sub-
ject is under consideration in connection with
article 4 of the bill of rights. This particu-
lar clause of the bill of rights prescribes the
test or qualification for holding office. The
amendment of the' gentleman from Baltimore
city (Mr. Stirling) proposes to raise here the
question of allegiance, which we have not
yet disposed of in connection with the fourth
article. I propose to put in the word " sup-
port" instead of "allegiance," in order to
make this article correspond with what was
originally reported in the Convention of
1850, as the article upon that subject; " that
no other test or qualification ought to be
required on admission to any office of profit
and trust, than such oath of support and
fidelity to this State and to the United
States," &c. I think that is all we ought to
require. ,
Mr. MILLER called for the yeas and nays on
his amendment, and they were ordered,
The question being then taken by yeas and
nays, on striking out the word " allegiance"
and inserting the word ''support,'' it resulted
—yeas 14, nays 42—as follows:
Yeas—Messrs. Bond, Brown, Clarke, Dail,
Duvall, Harwood, Henkle, Hodson, Horsey,
Jones of Somerset, Lansdale, Mitchell, Miller,
Morgan—14.
Nays—Messrs. Abbott, Baker, Cushing,
Daniel, Earle, Ecker, Farrow, Galloway,
Greene, Hatch, Hebb, Hopkins, Hopper, Jones
of Cecil, Keefer, Kennard, King, Larsh, Mar-
key, Mullikin, Murray, Negley, Noble, Nyman,
Parker, Ridgely, Robinette, Russell, Schlos-
ser, Scott, Smith of Carroll, Smith of Worces-
ter, Sneary, Stirling, Stockbridge, Swope,
Sykes, Thomas, Todd, Valliant, Wickard,
Wooden—42.
The amendment to the amendment was ac-
cordingly rejected.
The question then recurred upon the amend- |
