In considering this paper, the circumstances under which it was prepared should not be overlooked. Until the adoption of the federal constitution, the states were generally regarded as sovereignties, associated in a league for certain purposes not materially impairing their independent character. In these it was supposed that ambition would find its principal field. A forın of government for one of these commonwealths was to be matured, with all the care and all the precautions against well-known dangers, that could be required in the greatest and most complicated case of an independent society. The subsequent transfer to the national government of all the great attributes of sovereignty, which occasion those dangers and difficulties, has materially affected the importance of the state constitutions. With the removal of the great objects of human ambition to another sphere, it is not more difficult to form a good practical system of government for a State than for a village or a family. This must account for the easy working of all the forms which have since been adopted by the respective States of the Union, however opposite in their character, and whatever may be the soundness of the objections that can be raised against some parts of them. The agitations of the system rarely shake it deeply, because they are deadened by the stronger power brought to bear from without. Hence, the careful limitations of the executive, the legislative, and the judicial power, to be found in the constitution of Massachusetts, are to be examined as parts of a separate system, standing or falling upon its own merits, rather than as subsidiary instruments of a greater machine, in which the interests and passions of men find their ultimate point of concentration. For the purposes of science, Massachusetts must, in this case, be regarded as the type of all independent, civilized communities, to which it is designed to present a model of government adapted to secure the great ends of human society.

In the following pages the effort is made, not simply to give such a model, as ✓is supposed to have been mainly shaped by Mr. Adams, but also to trace the changes which it underwent after it left his hands. It will appear that modifications, which deserve the name of improvements, were adopted under the influence of the great practical and professional abilities freely applied to the subject in the deliberations of the convention. Moreover, the changes that have been made, in the course of seventy years that the system has been in operation, are all noted, in such a manner as to furnish a connected view of the progress of opinion under a popular form of government during that period. Upon such data as these can alone be formed any just inferences as to the perpetuity of free institutions. The subject is one which has not yet been dealt with in a truly philosophical sense in America, though it opens a wider field of analytical investigation than any other presented by its history.

In examining this part of the work it will be necessary to keep in mind, that the text is that of the Report made by the committee of the convention, and prepared for them by Mr. Adams. The passages inclosed within brackets are those

that should suit all future emergencies, and that, therefore, periodical revisions were requisite."

See the Address to the Freemen of Massachusetts, by William Gordon, in the Independent Chronicle, 4 May, 1780. The same speech was referred to by Mr. Dawes, in the Convention of 1820, who said he heard it. Journal of Debates and Proceedings, p. 194.

which were entirely erased by the convention. Those marked by Italic letters are such as underwent changes; the exact substitutes are supplied in notes to the respective places. Wherever a blank occurs, the note will indicate the words inserted in the form as finally adopted. The amendments engrafted by the later convention of 1820, as well as subsequently, under the authority created by that assembly, are appended to those sections and articles which they respectively affect.

1

THE

REPORT OF A CONSTITUTION,

OR

FORM OF GOVERNMENT,

FOR THE

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS;

Agreed upon by the Committee, -to be laid before the CONVENTION OF DELEGATES, assembled at CAMBRIDGE, on the first day of September, 1779; and continued by adjournment to the twentyeighth day of October following.

PREAMBLE.

THE end of the institution, maintenance, and administration of government is to secure the existence of the body politic; to protect it, and to furnish the individuals who compose it with the power of enjoying, in safety and tranquillity, their natural rights and the blessings of life; and whenever these great objects are not obtained, the people have a right to alter the government, and to take measures necessary for their safety, happiness, and prosperity.

The body politic is formed by a voluntary association of individuals. It is a social compact, by which the whole people covenants with each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people, that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common good. It is the duty of the people, therefore, in framing a Constitution of Government, to provide for an equitable mode of making laws, as well as for an impartial interpretation and a faithful execution of them, that every man may, at all times, find his security in them.

We, therefore, [the delegates of] the people of Massachusetts, [in general convention assembled, for the express and sole purpose of framing a constitution, or form of government, to be laid before our constituents, according to their instructions,] acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the great Legislator of the universe, in affording to this people, in the course of His providence, an opportunity of entering into an original, explicit, and solemn compact with each other, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud, violence, or surprise; 2 and of forming a new constitution of civil government for themselves and [their] posterity; and devoutly imploring His direction in a design so interesting [to them and their posterity,] - do, [by virtue of the authority vested in us by our constituents,] agree upon 5 the following DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, AND FRAME OF GOVERNMENT, AS THE CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.

4

A DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.

ART. I. All men are born [equally] free and independent, and `have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights, among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting [their] property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.

II. It is the 1 duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the SUPREME BEING, the great Creator and Preserver of the universe. And no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshipping GOD in the manner 2 most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; or, for his religious profession or sentiments; provided he doth not disturb the public peace, or obstruct others in their religious worship.

III. [Good morals being necessary to the preservation of civil society; and the knowledge and belief of the being of GOD, His providential government of the world, and of a future state of rewards and punishment, being the only true foundation of morality, the legislature hath, therefore, a right, and ought to provide, at the expense of the subject, if necessary, a suitable support for the public worship of GOD, and of the teachers of religion and morals; and to enjoin upon all the subjects an attendance upon their instructions at stated times and seasons; provided there be any such teacher on whose ministry they can conscientiously and conveniently attend.] 3

1 "right as well as the "

2 "and season"

3 This clause was not at all satisfactory to the convention. After several days spent in discussion, and the proposal of various amendments, the subject was recommitted to a committee of seven persons, with the Reverend Mr. Alden as the chairman, who reported this substitute, which was finally adopted, in an amended form, and after long debates:

"III. As the happiness of a people, and the good order and preservation of a civil government, essentially depend upon piety, religion, and morality; and as these cannot be generally diffused through a community, but by the institution of the public worship of GOD, and of public instruction in piety, religion, and morality, - therefore, to promote their happiness, and to secure the good order and preservation of their government, the people of this commonwealth have a right to invest their legislature with power to authorize and require, and the legislature shall, from time to time, authorize and require the several towns, parishes, precincts, and other bodies politic or religious societies, to make suitable provision, at their own expense, for the institution of the public worship of God, and for the support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion, and morality, in all cases where such provision shall not be made voluntarily.

"And the people of this commonwealth have also a right to, and do, invest their legislature with authority to enjoin upon all the subjects, an attendance upon the instructions of the public teachers aforesaid, at stated times and seasons, if there be any on whose instructions they can conscientiously and conveniently

attend.

"Provided, notwithstanding, that the several towns, parishes, precincts, and other bodies politic, or religious societies, shall, at all times, have the exclusive