Chap. 7. 



POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 



109 



PRESENT CONSTITUTION. 



DECLARATIO.N OF UIGHTS. 



or denomination of men wlialever. — do, by virtue 

 of uudioriiy vested in u.s, Ijv our consliluents, or- 

 dain, declare, and es;i\l)lish, the followiiii; declara- 

 tion of rijjhls, ani frame of government, to be 

 the Constitution of this Co.mmo.vwealtii, 

 anil 10 remain in I'orce therein, forever, unaltered, 

 f.xcept in such articles, as shall, hereafter, on ex- 

 perience, be found to require improvement, and 

 which shall, by the same authority of the people, 

 fairly deleiia'cd, as thi^ frame of government di- 

 recis, be amended or improved, for the more ef- 

 fectual obtaining and securing the great end and 

 design of all government, herein before mentioned. 



CONSTITUTION. 

 Part I. Declaration of Rights. 



I. That all men are born equally 

 free and independent, and have certain 

 natural, inherent, and inalienable rights, 

 anion if which, are the enjoying and de- 

 fending life and libcrt}', acquiring, posses- 

 sing, and protecting property, and pursu- 

 ing and obtaining happiness, and safety; — 

 therefore, no male person, born in this 

 country, or brought from oversea, ouijht 

 to be holden, by law, to serve any per- 

 son, as a servant, slave, or apprentice, 

 after he arrives to the age of twenty-one 

 years, nor female, in like manner, after 

 she arrives to the age of eiarhteen years, 

 unless they are bound by their own con- 

 sent after they arrive to such ao-e, or 

 bound by law for the payment of debts, 

 damagt^s, fines, costs, or the like. 



II. That private property ought to be 

 subservient to public uses, when neces- 

 sity requires it ; nevertheless,' whenever 

 any person's property is taken for the use 

 of the public, tlie owner ouo-ht to receive 

 an equivalent in money. 



III. That all men have a natural and 

 inalienable right to worship Almighty 

 God, according to the dictates of -"their 

 own consciences and understandings, as 

 in their opinion shall be regulated by the 

 word of God ; and that no man ought to, 

 or of right can be compelled to attend any 

 religious worship, or erect or support any 

 place of worship, or maintain any minis- 

 ter, contrary to the dictates of his con- 

 science ; nor can any man be justly depri- 

 ved or abridged of any civil right, as a citi- 

 zen, on account of his religious sentiments, 

 or peculiar mode of religious worship ; 

 and that no authority can, or ought to be 

 vested in, or assumed by, any power 

 whatever, that shall in any case inter- 

 fere with, or in any manner control the 

 rights of conscience, in the free exercise 

 of religions worship : nevertheless, every 

 sect or denomination of christians ought 

 to observe the Sabbath or Lord's dav, and 

 keep up some sort of religious worship, 

 which to them shall seem most agreeable 

 to the revealed will of God. 



IV. Every person within this state ought 

 to find a certain remedy,byhavingrecourse 

 to the laws, for all injuries or wrono-s, 

 which he may receive in his person, prop- 

 erty, or character : he ouglit to obtain 

 right and justice freely, and without be- 

 ing obliged to purchase it; completely, 

 and without any denial ; promptlj', and 

 without delay, conformably to the laws. 



V. That the people of this state, by 

 their legal representatives, have the sole, 

 inherent and e.\clusive right of governing 

 and regulating the internal police of the 

 same. 



VI. That all power being originally 

 inherent in, and consequontlv derived 

 from, the people ; therefore, all officers 

 of government, whether legislative or 

 executive, are their trustees and servants, 

 and at all times, in a legal way, account- 

 able to them. 



VII. That government is, or ought to 

 be, instituted for the common benefit, 

 protection, and security of the people, 

 nation, or community, and not for the 

 particular emolument or advantage of any 

 single man, family, or set of men, who are 

 a part only of that community ; and that 

 the community hath an indtiliitable, in- 

 alienable, and indefeasible right to reform 

 or alter government, in such manner as 

 shall be, by that community, judo-ed most 

 conducive to the public weal. 



VIII. That all elections ought to be 

 free, and without corruption, and that all 

 freemen, having a suiHcientevident com- 

 mon interest with, and attacliment to, 

 the community, have a right to elect and 

 be elected into office, agreeably to the reg- 

 ulations made in this constitution. 



IX. That every member of society hath 

 a right to be protected in the enjoyment 

 of life, liberty, and property, and there- 

 fore is bound to contribute his proportion 

 towards the expense of that protection, 

 and yield his personal service when ne- 

 cessary, or an equivalent thereto ; but no 

 part oi' any person's property can be just- 

 ly taken from him, or applied to public 

 uses, without his own consent, or that of 

 the representative body of the freemen ; 

 nor can any man, who is conscientiously 

 scrupulous of bearing arms, be j ustly com- 

 pelled thereto, if he will pay such equiv- 

 aJent; nor are the people bound by any 

 law but such as they have in like manner 

 assented to, for their common good. And, 

 previous to any law being made to raise 

 a tax, the purpose for which it is to be 

 raised ought to appear evident to the le- 

 gislature to be of more service to the com- 

 munity, than the money would be if not 

 collected. 



X. That in all prosecutions for criminal 



