411]           The Maryland Constitution of 1864.              65

out distinction to make a declaration of belief either in the
Christian religion, or in the existence of God, and in a
future state of rewards and punishments.¹⁰⁵ Article 40
added to the provision for the liberty of the press a clause
making a person responsible for the abuse of this right.¹⁰⁶
Article 43 declared the encouragement of a judicious sys-
tem of general education to be among the duties of the
Legislature, and Article 45 prohibited only the Legislature
from altering the Constitution except in the manner pre-
scribed or directed. This left to the people the inalienable
right of changing their form of government and thus con-
formed to Article 2, as modified in the manner stated
above.¹⁰⁷

To sum up, it should be said that the changes in the
"Declaration of Rights," as given above, show first a de-
cided movement toward an increase in the civil liberty of
the individual by the abolition of slavery, the vesting of
final sovereignty in the people, and the broadening of the
religious test in an oath or affirmation. Secondly, there
was a somewhat counter tendency toward strong centrali-
zation of power in the National Government, and also an
entire submission to and approval of the war policy of
President Lincoln.

The Constitution itself, in establishing a form of govern-
ment for the State of Maryland as contrasted with the pre-
vious document of 1850-1, shows a number of interesting
changes, which were in part the immediate results of the
Civil War, and in part caused by a growing spirit of pro-
gress in the state, which was at times reflected in the Con-
vention, where provisions were suggested which would
have been years in advance of the average opinion of the
people. In considering these various changes the order of

¹⁰⁵ Proc., 165-6; Deb., i, 371-82.

¹⁰⁶ Proc., 167-9, 172-3; Deb., i, 393-400 (articles "39" and "45"
[46] combined into Article "40"—Proc., 434).

¹⁰⁷ See pp. 62-63.

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