living in places unincorporated (qualified as aforesaid) who shall be assessed to the support of government by the assessors of an adjacent town, shall have the privilege of giving in their votes for counsellors and senators, in the town where they shall be assessed, and be notified of the place of meeting by the selectmen of the town where they shall be assessed for that purpose accordingly.

III. And that there may be a due convention of senators on the last Wednesday in May, annually, the governor, with five of the council, for the time being, shall, as soon as may be, examine the returned copies of such records; and fourteen days before the said day he shall issue his summons to such persons as shall appear to be chosen by a majority of voters, to attend on that day, and take their seats accordingly; provided, nevertheless, that, for the first year, the said returned copies shall be examined by the president and five of the council of the former constitution of government; and the said president shall, in like manner, issue his summons to the persons so elected, that they may take their seats, as aforesaid.

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IV. The senate [however] shall be the final judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of their own members, and shall, on the said last Wednesday in May, annually, determine and declare who are elected by each district to be senators, by a majority of votes. And, in case there shall not appear to be the full number of senators returned, elected by a majority of votes for any district, the deficiency shall be supplied in the following manner, namely: - The members of the house of representatives, and such senators as shall be declared elected, shall take the names of twice the number of senators wanting, from those who shall be found to have the highest number of votes in such district, and not elected;1 and out of these shall elect, by ballot, a number of senators sufficient to fill up the vacancies in such district. And in this manner all such vacancies shall be filled up in every district of the commonwealth; and in like manner all vacancies in the senate, arising by death, removal out of the state, or otherwise, shall be supplied as soon as may be after such vacancies shall happen.

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V. Provided, nevertheless, that no person shall be capable of being elected as a senator, who is not [of the Christian religion, and] seised in his own right of a freehold within this commonwealth, of the value of three hundred pounds at least, and who has not been an inhabitant of this commonwealth for the space of seven his election, and

years, [three of which] immediately preceding 5 in the district for which he shall be chosen.

VI. The senate shall have power to adjourn themselves, provided such adjournments do not exceed two days at a time.

VII. The senate shall choose its own president, appoint its own officers, and determine its own rules of proceeding[s].

VIII. The senate shall be a court, with full authority to hear and determine all impeachments made by the house of representatives, against any officer or officers of the commonwealth, for misconduct and maladministration in their offices. But previous to the trial of every impeachment, the members of the senate shall respectively be sworn, truly and impartially to try and determine the charge in question, according to evidence. Their judgment, however, shall not extend farther than to removal

1 "such persons as shall be found to have the highest number of votes in such district, and not elected, amounting to twice the number of senators wanting, if there be so many voted for;"

2 Extract from the Journal. "Moved and seconded, That the word 'Protestant' be inserted in lieu of the word 'Christian,' which, being put, passed in the negative.

"The question was then put upon the paragraph, so far as it takes up the qualification of religion. The same was rejected, and the words of the Christian religion and' voted to be expunged."

from office, and disqualification to hold or enjoy any place of honor, trust, or profit under this commonwealth. But the party so convicted shall be, nevertheless, liable to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to the laws of the land.

SECTION III.

House of Representatives.

I. THERE shall be in the legislature of this commonwealth a representation of the people annually elected, and founded in 2 equality.

II. And, in order to provide for a representation of the citizens of this commonwealth, founded upon the principle of equality, every corporate town, containing one hundred and fifty ratable polls, may elect one representative. Every corporate town, containing three hundred and seventy-five ratable polls, may elect two representatives. Every corporate town, containing six hundred ratable polls, may elect three representatives; and proceeding in that manner, making two hundred and twentyfive ratable polls the mean increasing number for every additional representative.

[And forever, hereafter, the least number of ratable polls necessary to entitle a corporate town to elect one representative, when increased by the addition of a number equal to half the said least number, shall be the mean increasing number of ratable polls for every additional representative any corporate town may elect.

And, to prevent hereafter the house of representatives from becoming unwieldy, and incapable of debating and deliberating, by the great additions it would continually receive from the increasing settlement and population of this commonwealth, no corporate town shall, from and after the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and ninety, be entitled to elect one representative, unless it shall contain two hundred ratable polls; nor to elect two representatives, unless it shall contain five hundred ratable polls; nor to elect three representatives, unless it shall contain eight hundred ratable polls; and so proceeding in that manner, making, by the aforesaid rule, three hundred ratable polls the mean increasing number for every additional representative. And every tenth year, from and after the said year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and ninety, and until such time as the number of representatives which may be elected for this commonwealth shall not exceed the number of two hundred, the least number of ratable polls which, at that time, any corporate town must contain to entitle it to elect one representative, shall be increased by the addition of fifty; and the least number aforesaid, thus increased by the said addition, shall be the number of ratable polls any corporate town must contain to entitle it to elect one representative; and the number of representatives any corporate town may elect shall be regulated accordingly, by the rules aforesaid.

The freeholders and other inhabitants of this commonwealth, qualified to vote for representatives, living in corporate towns, which, severally, shall contain a less number of ratable polls than is necessary to entitle them, respectively, to elect one representative, shall, nevertheless, have a right to associate with some town or towns adjoining, for the election of representatives; and, in such cases, the voters thus united, shall have a right to elect the same number of representatives as they would have done were they inhabitants of one corporate town; which representatives may be elected out of either of the associated towns, indifferently. And the legislature shall, from time to time, determine what towns shall thus associate, the manner of the association, and the method and manner of calling and conducting the meetings of the associated towns for the election of representatives.] 1

1 The subject of representation seems to have exercised the skill of the convention more than any other portion of the instrument, and it has remained a difficulty from the beginning to this time. The problem has been to unite with the popular and just principle of the representation of townships, a ratio of tolerable equality, and a limitation of numbers sufficient for practical legislation. Instead of the passage inclosed within brackets, the convention of 1780 adopted the following proviso:

"Provided, neverthelesss, that each town now incorporated, not having one hundred and fifty ratable polls, may elect one representative; but no place shall hereafter be incorporated, with the privilege of electing a representative, unless there are within the same one hundred and fifty ratable polls.

"And the house of representatives shall have power, from time to time to imIII. The members of the house of representatives shall be chosen by written votes; (and no person shall be qualified or eligible to be a member of the said house, unless he be of the

pose fines upon such towns as shall neglect to choose and return members to the same, agreeably to this constitution.

"The expenses of travelling to the general assembly, and returning home, once in every session, and no more, shall be paid by the government out of the public treasury, to every member who shall attend, as seasonably as he can, in the judgment of the house, and does not depart without leave."

The check here imposed upon an excess of members, consisted in the necessity laid upon the respective towns to pay their own representatives. This answered very well in all but high party times, when the evil was sure to be felt. But dissatisfaction with it existed on other grounds. It was found so much more easy and convenient to draw the means of payment from the common treasury of the state, that most persons of influence favored the inclination of the towns to shift the burden. Yet the desire to make this change was counteracted by the difficulty of finding a good substitute. The convention of 1820 attempted the experiment, and recommended an article to the people, but it was rejected. The legislatures of 1835 and 1836 proposed another, which received their assent, and now makes the twelfth article of amendments:

"Art. 12. In order to provide for a representation of the citizens of this commonwealth, founded upon the principles of equality. a census of the ratable polls in each city, town, and district of the commonwealth, on the first day of May, shall be taken, and returned into the secretary's office, in such manner as the legislature shall provide, within the month of May, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, and in every tenth year thereafter, in the month of May, in manner aforesaid; and each town or city, having three hundred ratable polls at the last preceding decennial census of polls, may elect one representative; and for every four hundred and fifty ratable polls, in addition to the first three hundred, one representative more.

"Any town having less than three hundred ratable polls shall be represented thus, the whole number of ratable polls, at the last preceding decennial census of polls, shall be multiplied by ten, and the product divided by three hundred, and such town may elect one representative as many years within ten years as three hundred is contained in the product aforesaid.

"Any city or town having ratable polls enough to elect one or more representatives, with any number of polls beyond the necessary number, may be represented as to that surplus number, by multiplying such surplus number by ten, and dividing the product by four hundred and fifty; and such city or town may elect one additional representative as many years within ten years as four hundred and fifty is contained in the product aforesaid.

"Any two or more of the several towns and districts may, by consent of a majority of the legal voters, present at a legal meeting in each of said towns and districts, respectively, called for that purpose, and held previous to the first day of July, in the year in which the decennial census of polls shall be taken, form themselves into a representative district, to continue until the next decennial census of polls, for the election of a representative or representatives; and such district shall have all the rights, in regard to representation, which would belong to a town containing the same number of ratable polls.

"The governor and council shall ascertain and determine, within the months of July and August, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, according to the foregoing principles, the number of representatives