PROCEEDINGS of CONVENTION.
1776.
the address of the general assembly, provided that two
thirds of all the members of each house concur in
such address. That salaries liberal, but not profuse, ought to be
secured to the chancellor and the judges,
during the continuance of their commissions, in such manner and at such
time as the legislature shall hereafter
direct, upon consideration of the circumstances of this state. No
chancellor or judge ought to hold
any other office civil or military, or receive fees or perquisites of any
kind.
31. That a long continuance in the first executive
departments of power or trust, is dangerous to liberty,
a rotation therefore in those departments is one of the best securities
of permanent freedom.
32. That no person ought to hold at the same time
more than one office of profit, nor ought any person
in public trust to receive any present from any foreign prince, or state,
or from the United States, or
any of them, without the approbation of this state.
33. That as it is the duty of every man to worship
God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to
him, all persons professing the christian religion are equally entitled
to protection in their religious liberty,
wherefore no person ought by any law to be molested in his person or estate
on account of his religious
persuasion or profession, or for his religious practice, unless under colour
of religion any man shall disturb
the good order, peace or safety of the state, or shall infringe the laws
of morality, or injure others in their
natural, civil or religious rights; nor ought any person to be compelled
to frequent or maintain, or contribute,
unless on contract, to maintain, any particular place of worship, or any
particular ministry; yet
the legislature may, in their discretion, lay a general and equal tax for
the support of the christian religion,
leaving to each individual the power of appointing the payment over of
the money collected from
him, to the support of any particular place of worship or minister, or
for the benefit of the poor of his
own denomination, or the poor in general of any particular county; but
the churches, chapels, glebes,
and all other property now belonging to the church of England, ought to
remain to the church of England
for ever. And all acts of assembly lately passed for collecting monies
for building or repairing
particular churches or chapels of ease, shall continue in force and be
executed, unless the legislature shall
by act supersede or repeal the same; but no county court shall assess any
quantity of tobacco or sum of
money hereafter, on the application of any vestrymen or churchwardens;
and every incumbent of the
church of England, who hath remained in his parish and performed his duty,
shall be entitled to receive the
provision and support established by the act, entitled, An act for the
support of the clergy of the church of
England in this province, till the November court of this present year
to be held for the county in which his
parish shall lie, or partly lie, or for such time as he hath remained in
his parish and performed his duty.
34. That every gift, sale, or devise of lands,
to any minister, public teacher, or preacher of the gospel,
as such, or to any religious sect, order or denomination, or to or for
the support, use or benefit of, or in trust
for, any minister, public teacher, or preacher of the gospel, as such,
or any religious sect, order, or denomination;
and every gift or sale of goods or chattels, to go in succession, or to
take place after the death
of the seller or donor, to or for such support, use or benefit; and also
every devise of goods or chattels to,
or to or for the support, use or benefit of, any minister, public teacher,
or preacher of the gospel, as such,
or any religious sect, order or denomination, without the leave of the
legislature, shall be void; except always
any sale, gift, lease or devise, of any quantity of land not exceeding
two acres, for a church, meeting,
or other house of worship, and for a burying ground, which shall be improved,
enjoyed or used, only for
such purpose, or such sale, gift, lease or devise, shall be void.
35. That no other test or qualification ought
to be required on admission to any office of trust or profit,
than such oath of support and fidelity to this state, and such oath of
office, as shall be directed by this convention,
or the legislature of this state, and a declaration of a belief in the
christian religion.
36. That the manner of administering an oath to
any person ought to be such as those of the religious
persuasion, profession or denomination of which such person is one, generally
esteem the most effectual
confirmation, by the attestation of the Divine Being. And that the
people called quakers, those called
dunkers, and those called menonists, holding it unlawful to take an oath
on any occasion, ought to be
allowed to make their solemn affirmation in the manner that quakers have
been heretofore allowed to affirm,
and to be of the same avail as an oath, in all such cases as the affirmation
of quakers hath been allowed
and accepted within this state instead of an oath. And further, on
such affirmation warrants to
search for stolen goods, or the apprehension or commitment of offenders,
ought to be granted, or security
for the peace awarded; and quakers, dunkers, or menonists,
ought also, on their solemn affirmation
as aforesaid, to be admitted as witnesses in all criminal cases not capital.
37. That the city of Annapolis ought to have all
its rights, privileges and benefits, agreeable to its
charter, and the acts of assembly confirming and regulating the same; subject
nevertheless to such alterations
as may be made by this convention, or any future legislature.
38. That the liberty of the press ought to be
inviolably preserved.
39. That monopolies are odious, contrary to the
spirit of a free government, and the principles of commerce,
and ought not to be suffered.
40. That no title of nobility or hereditary honours
ought to be granted in this state.
41. That the subsisting resolves of this and the
several conventions held for his colony, ought to be in
force as laws, unless altered by this convention, or the legislature of
this state.
42. That this declaration of rights, or the form
of government to be established by this convention, or
any part of either of them, ought not be altered, changed or abolished,
by the legislature of this state,
but in such manner as this convention shall prescribe and direct.
Agreeable to the order of the day, the convention
resolved itself into a committee of the whole, to consider
further of the form of government for this state; Mr. T. Wright in the
chair. After some time
spent therein, Mr. President resumed the chair, and Mr. Wright reported,
that the committee had, according
to order, taken into consideration the form of government for this state,
and had come to several
resolutions thereon, which they had directed him to report, which he read
in his place, and afterwards delivered
them in at the table, where they were again read, and are as follow:
The CONSTITUTION and FORM of GOVERNMENT.
1. THAT the legislature consist
of two distinct branches, a senate, and a house of delegates, which
shall be styled The General Assembly of Maryland.
2. That the house of delegates
shall be chosen in the following manner: All freemen, residents of
this
state, above twenty-one years of age, having a freehold of fifty acres
of land in the county in which they
offer to vote, or having property in this state above the value of thirty
pounds current money, and having
resided in the county in which they offer to vote one whole year next preceding
the election, shall have a
right of suffrage in the election of delegates for such county; and all
freemen so qualified shall, on the first
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