ROYCE. ] GENERAL REMARKS. 375 
elected by the general council for a term of four years, and none but 
native born citizens were eligible to the office. The chief was required 
to visit each district of the nation at least once in two years, to keep 
himself familiarized with the condition and necessities of the country. 
His approval was also required to all laws, and, as in the case of our 
own Government, the exercise of the veto power could be overcome 
only by a two-thirds majority in both houses of the national legislature. 
An executive council of three members besides the assistant principal 
chief was also to be elected by the joint vote of the two houses for the 
period of one year. 
The judicial functions were vested in a supreme court of three judges 
and such circuit and inferior courts as the general council should from 
time to time prescribe, such judges to be elected by joint vote of the 
general council. 
Ministers of the gospel who by their profession were dedicated to 
the service of God and the care of souls, and who ought uot therefore 
to'be diverted from the great duty of their function, were, while en- 
gaged in such work, declared ineligible to the office of principal chief 
or to a seat in either house of the general council. Any person deny- 
ing the existence of a God or a future state of rewards and punishments 
was declared ineligible to hold any office in the civil department of the 
nation, and it was also set forth that (religiou, morality, and knowledge 
being necessary to good government, the preservation of liberty, and 
the happiness of mankind) schools and the means of education should 
forever be encouraged in the nation. 
Under this constitution elections were regularly held and the fune- 
tions of government administered until the year 1830, when the hostile 
legislation of Georgia practically paralyzed and suspended its fur- 
ther operation. Although forbidden to hold any more elections, the 
Cherokees maintained a semblance of their republican form of govern- 
ment by tacitly permitting their last elected officers to hold over and 
recognizing the authority and validity of their official actions. This 
embarrassing condition of affairs continued until their removal west of 
the Mississippi River, when, on the 6th of September, 1839, they, in con- 
junction with the “ Old Settlers,” adopted a new constitution, which in 
substance was a duplicate of its predecessor. 
This removal turned the Cherokees back in the calendar of progress 
and civilization at least a quarter of a century. The hardships and 
exposures of the journey, coupled with the fevers and malaria of a rad- 
ically different climate, cost the lives of perhaps 10 per cent. of their 
total population. The animosities and turbulence born of the treaty of 
1835 not only occasioned the loss of many lives, but rendered property 
insecure, and in consequence diminished the zeal and industry of the 
entire community in its accumulation. A brief period of comparative 
quiet, however, was again characterized by an advance toward a 
higher civilization. Five years after their removal we find from the 
report of their agent that they are again on the increase in popula- 
