to be excused from military duty. Mr. Y. said he had as much sympathy for Quakers as any body, but he believed that that sympathy had been wrought up to such a pitch in their favour, that we were going farther than the nature of the case would admit. The sum which they were called on to pay annually, was trifling. It never had exceeded four dollars, and as to their sacrificing so much, by having property sold, he believed that was a mistake; it was generally bid off by a friend, who afterwards was willing to restore it and to receive back his money. He was anxious that the constitution should be so organized as to operate equally on all classes; the present plan would render the militia system very unequal, unless those who are exempted from personal service can be compelled to pay an equivalent. Is it not as hard to call on other young men, when they come of proper age to enter the ranks, and demand that they equip themselves and appear upon the parade; and if they do not comply with the command, fine them, and if they are not able to pay a fine, imprison them? We are told that these men are excluded from the right of suffrage. Who does it? They do it themselves, by not complying with the requisitions of the law, as other citizens do. Mr. Y. was perfectly willing to excuse them from bearing arms, but must insist that they pay an equivalent, and no more. In the time of war, they are excused from going to the field of battle; whilst others are compelled to turn out, and risk their lives to protect them and their families at home-and will they not pay an equivalent for this, to enable us to protect their own fire-sides? By this proposition, not only Quakers are to be exempted, but a hundred other sects may spring up, and with the same propriety claim an exemption.

After a few remarks from Mr. Briggs, the question on striking out was taken by ayes and noes, and decided in the negative, as follows:

NOES.-Messrs. Bacon, Barlow, Beckwith, Birdseye, Brinkerhoff, Burroughs, Carpenter, Case, Child, D. Clark, R. Clarke, Clyde, Cramer, Dubois, Duer, Dyckman, Eastwood, Edwards, Fairlie, Fenton, Ferris, Hallock, Hees, Hogeboom, Howe, Humphrey, Hunt, Hunter, Hunting, Hurd, King, Lan sing, Lawrence, Lefferts, P. R. Livingston, M'Call, Millikin, Moore, Munro, Nelson, Park, Paulding, Pike, Porter, ice, Pumpelly, Radcliff, Reeve, Richards, Rockwell, Root, Rose, Rosebrugh, Ross, Russell, Sage, Sanders, N. Sanford, R. Sandford, Schenck, Seely, Sharpe, Sheldon, R. Smith, Stagg, Starkweather, Steele, I. Sutherland, Swift, Sylvester, Tallmadge, Taylor, Ten Eyck, Townley, Townsend, Tripp, Tuttle, Van Fleet, Van Horne, Van Vechten, Verbryck E. Webster, Wendover, Wheaton, Wheeler, Woods, Woodward, Wooster, Young.-88.

AYES-Messrs. Baker, Briggs, Carver, Collins, Dodge, Fish, Frost, Huntington, Jones, Kent, Pitcher, Rhinelander, Rogers, Seaman, I. Smith, Spen cer, Van Buren, J. R. Van Rensselaer, S. Van Rensselaer, E. Williams, N. Williams, Yates-28.

The section then passed as amended.

MR. BIRDSEYE offered the following substitute to the fifteenth section, which was stricken out this morning :

"Entails shall never be revived in this state; no rights of primogeniture shall be established by law, other than what may consist with the existing statute of descents; no privileged orders shall exist; and no class of men shall ever be subjected to any peculiar disability on account of their religion, profession, or employment."

Mr. B. went into a full explanation and defence of the principles contained in his proposition. He alluded to the provisions in the constitutions of other states, disqualifying and disfranchising a part of the community, in consequence of their religious belief, professions, &c. and hoped our constitution would avoid all disabilities of this kind.

Messrs. VAN VECHTEN and SPENCER opposed the substitute, as containing provisions wholly unnecessary. On the subject of permitting clergymen to hold civil offices, they both concurred in believing it was incompatible with their ecclesiastical functions.

MR. BIRDSEYE made a few remarks in reply, when the question on the substitute was taken and lost.

MR. YATES then moved to abolish the thirty-ninth article of the present constitution, prohibiting clergymen from holding military or civil offices, and assigned his reasons for the motion.

Some discussion took place between Messrs. Young and Birdseye, in which the opinion of President Nott was alluded to, when the question was taken by ayes and noes, and decided in the negative by all the members present, excepting Messrs. Birdseye, Briggs, Burroughs, Kent, Pitcher, Russell, R. Sandford, Van Ness, Ward, and Yates, who voted in the affirmative.

The fifteenth section, (relative to writs of habeas corpus,) passed without amendment.

The sixteenth section, (relative to the privileges of trial by jury,) was read. THE CHIEF JUSTICE moved to strike out the words "assault and battery and breaches of the peace." Carried.

MR. BIRDSEYE moved to strike out all that part of the section down to the word "jury," which not being seconded, the question was taken on the whole section, as amended, and carried.

The eighteenth section, (relative to criminal prosecutions,) was stricken out, as being unnecessary.

The seventeenth section, (relative to the liberties of speech and of the press, and to prosecutions for libels,) was read.

CHIEF JUSTICE SPENCER made a few remarks on the section, in which he alluded to sentiments attributed to him in his absence, which he took this opportunity to disclaim. He felt it his duty to make this explanation of his motives.

MR. DUER replied, and moved to strike out the words "or indictments," and to insert the words "civil or criminal," before the word "prosecutions," so as to permit the truth to be given in evidence, both in civil and criminal prosecutions.

Some discussion took place between Messrs. Spencer and Duer, in which the former opposed, and the latter supported the amendment, when Mr. D. withdrew his motion, and the question was taken on the first part of the section down to the word "press," and was carried.

On the remainder of the section, (relative to prosecutions for libels,) Mr. VAN BUREN called for the ayes and noes, which were then taken, and the question decided in the affirmative, as follows:

AYES-Messrs. Bacon, Baker, Barlow, Beckwith, Birdseye, Breese, Briggs, Brinkerhoff, Brooks, Buel, Burroughs, Carver, Case, Child, D. Clark, R. Clarke, Clyde, Collins, Cramer, Day, Dubois, Duer, Dyckman, Eastwood, Edwards, Fairlie, Fenton, Ferris, Fish, Frost, Hallock, Hees, Hogeboom, Howe, Humphrey, Hunt, Hunting, Huntington, Hurd, Jones, King, Knowles, Lansing, Lawrence, Lefferts, A. Livingston, P. R. Livingston, M⭑Call, Millikin, Moore, Munro, Nelson, Park, Paulding, Pike, Pitcher, Porter, Price, Pumpelly, Radcliff, Reeve, Richards, Rockwell, Rogers, Root, Rose, Rosebrugh, Ross, Russell, Sage, Sanders, N. Sanford, R. Sandford, Schenck, Seaman, Seely, Sharpe, Sheldon, I. Smith, R. Smith, Stagg, Starkweather, Steele, D. Southerland, I. Sutherland, Swift, Tallmadge, Taylor, Ten Eyck, Townley, Townsend, Tripp, Tuttle, Van Buren, Van Fleet, Van Horne, Van Ness, S. Van Rensselaer, Van Vechten, Verbryck, Ward, E. Webster, Wendover, Wheaton, Wheeler, Woods, Woodward, Wooster Yates, Young-110.

NAYS-Messrs. Dodge, Hunter, Kent, Rhinelander, Spencer, Sylvester, J. R. Van Rensselaer, E. Williams, N. Williams-9.

The nineteenth section, (securing persons in their houses, papers, effects, &c.) was read.

MR. VAN BUREN moved to strike out the section, as being unnecessary. Carried.

On suggestion of Mr. Root, the twentieth section, (requiring the militia to be in strict subordination to the civil power,) was expunged.

The question on the whole report, as amended, was then put and carried, as follows:

I. That the state shall be divided into eight districts, to be called senate districts, each of which shall choose four senators.

The first district to consist of the counties of Suffolk, Queens, Kings, Richmond, and New-York.

The second district to consist of the counties of Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster, and Sullivan.

The third district to consist of the counties of Greene, Columbia, Albany, Bens selaer, Schoharie, and Schenectady.

The fourth district to consist of the counties of Saratoga, Montgomery, Hamilton, Washington, Warren, Clinton, Essex, Franklin, and St. Lawrence.

The fifth district to consist of the counties of Herkimer, Oneida, Madison, Oswego, Lewis and Jefferson.

The sixth district to consist of the counties of Delaware, Otsego, Chenango, Broome, Cortland, Tompkins, and Tioga.

The seventh district to consist of the counties of Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Ontario.

The eighth district to consist of the counties of Steuben, Livingston, Monroe, Genesee, Niagara, Erie, Allegany, Cattaragus, and Chautauque.

And as soon as the senate shall meet after the first election to be held in pursuance of this provision, they shall cause the senators to be divided, by lot, into four classes of eight in each, and so that every district shall have one senator of each class, the classes to be numbered one, two, three, and four; and the seats of the first class shall be vacated at the end of the first year, of the second class at the end of the second year, of the third class at the end of the third year, of the fourth class at the end of the fourth year, and so on continually, in order that one senator be annually elected in each senate district.

Provided, That no person shall be eligible to the office of senator who shall not have attained the age of thirty years, and been five years a resident of this state, and who shall not, at the time of his election, be seized of a freehold estate in his own right within this state of the value of one thousand dollars over and above all debts and incumbrances charged thereon.

II. That a census of the inhabitants of the state be taken under the direction of the legislature, in the year 1825, and at the end of every ten years thereafter; and that the said districts shall be so altered by the legislature at the first session after the return of every census, that each senate district shall contain, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, paupers and persons of colour not taxed, which districts shall remain unaltered until the return of an. other census. Provided, That every district shall at all times consist of contiguous territory, and that no county shall be divided in the formation of a senate district. III. That the number of the members of assembly shall be fixed at one hundred and twenty-eight, and shall never exceed that number; and that the same shall be apportioned among the several counties of the state, as nearly as may be accord. ing to the number of inhabitants in each county, excluding aliens, paupers, and persons of colour not taxed, which apportionment shall remain unaltered until the return of another census: Provided, That every county heretofore established and separately organized shall be entitled to one member. And that in future no new county shall be erected, unless its population shall entitle it to a member. IV. Any bill may originate in either house of the legislature; and bills passed by one house may be amended by the other.

V. The members of the legislature, shall receive a compensation for their servi ces, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the public treasury; but no increase of the compensation shall take effect, during the year in which it shall have been made. And no law shall be passed, increasing the wages of the legislature, beyond the sum of three dollar, per day, unless by a majority of all the members elected to both branches of the legislature; and unless it shall be limited as to its continance, to two years after the passage thereof, and the yeas and nays shall be taken thereon, and entered on the journals.

VI. No members of the legislature shall receive any civil appointment from the governor and senate or from the legislature, during the term for which he shall have been elected."

VII. No person being a member of congress, or holding any judicial or milita ry office, under the United States shall hold a seat in the legislature. And if any person shall, while a member of the legislature, be elected to congress, or appointed to any office, civil or military, under the government of the United States, his acceptance thereof shall vacate his seat.

VIII. That the power of impeachment, be vested in a majority of the members of assembly elected; and that all officers, holding their offices during good

behaviour, may be removed by joint resolution of the two houses of the legisla ture: Provided, That two thirds of all the members elected to the assembly, and a majority of all the members elected to the senate concur therein.

IX. That the assent of two thirds of the members elected in each branch of the legislature, shall be requisite to every bill appropriating the public monies or property for local or private purposes, or creating or renewing the charters of any. body politic or corporate, for any purpose whatsoever.

X. That the proceeds of all lands belonging to this state, and of all lands that may bereafter be acquired by the state, (except such parts thereof as may be reserved or appropriated to public use, or ceded to the United States,) which shall hereafter be sold or disposed of; together with the fund, denominated the common school fund, shall be and remain a perpetual fund; the interest of which shall be inviolably appropriated and applied to the support of common schools throughout this state; and that the rates of toll, not less than those agreed to by the canal commissioners, and set forth in their report to the legislature of the twelfth of March, one thousand eight hundred and twentyone, shall be imposed on, and collected from all parts of the navigable communications between the great western and northern lakes, and the Atlantic ocean, which now are, or hereafter shall be made and completed: And the said tolls, together with the duties on the manufacture of all salt, within the then western district of this state, as established by the act of the fifteenth of April, one thousand eight hundred and seventeen; and the duties on goods sold at auction, excepting therefrom the sum of thirty-three thousand five hundred dollars, otherwise appropriated, in and by the said act; and the amount of the revenue, established by the act of the legislature of March 30th, 1821, in lieu of the tax upon steam boat passengers; shall be, and remain inviolably appropriated, and applied to the completion of the canals, and to the payment of the interest, and reimbursement of the capital of the money already borrowed, or which hereafter shall be borrowed, to make and complete the navigable communication aforesaid. And that neither the right of tolls, on the said navigable communications, nor the duties on the manufacture of salt as aforesaid; nor the duties on goods sold at auction aforesaid; as established by the act of the legislature, passed April 15, 1817; nor the amount of the revenue established by the act of the legislature, of March 30, 1820, in lieu of the tax upon steam-boat passengers; shall be reduced or diverted, at any time before the full and complete payment of the principal and interest of the money borrowed or to be borrowed, as aforesaid. And it is further provided, that neither the salt springs, with as much land contiguous thereto as is necessary for the manufacture of salt, nor any part of the said canals, nor any section thereof, be sold or disposed of to any individual, or body politic or corporate whatever, but the same shall be and remain the property of this state.

XI. That no lottery shall hereafter be authorised in this state, and the legislature shall pass laws to prevent the sale of all lottery tickets within this state, except in lotteries already provided for by them.

XII. That the thirtieth article of the constitution of this state ought to be abolished.

XIlI. That the fortieth article of the constitution ought also to be abolished; and that instead thereof the following be adopted:

"The militia of this state shall, at all times hereafter, be armed and disciplined, and in readiness for service; but that all such inhabitan's of this state, of any religious denomination whatever, as from scruples of conscience may be averse to bearing arms, shall be excused therefrom, by paying to the state an equivalent in money; the legislature shall provide by law for the collection of such equiva lent, to be estimated according to the expense in time and money, of an ordinary able bodied militia man."

XIV. That the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. XV. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, except in cases of impeachment, and in cases of the militia when in actual service, and the land and naval forces in time of war, or which this state may keep with the consent of congress, in time of peace, and in cases of pettit larceny, under the regulation of the legislature, unless on presentment or indictment of a grand jury; nor hall any person be subject, for the same offence, to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall he be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

XVI. Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right; and no law shall ever be passed to curtail or restrain the liberty of speech, or of the press. In all prosecutions or indictments for libels, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury; and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libellous was published with good motives, and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted; and the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the fact.

THE APPOINTING POWER.

The Convention then proceeded to the consideration of the report on the appointing power, which was read by sections.

The first seven sections were respectively passed, as follows:

MILITIA OFFICERS.

That appointments and selections for offices in the militia ought to be directed, by the constitution, to be made in the manner following, viz.

1. Captains, subalterns, and non-commissioned officers, by the written votes of the members of their respective companies.

2. Field officers of regiments, and separate battalions, by the written votes of the commissioned officers of the respective regiments and separate battalions.

3. Brigadier generals, by the field officers of their respective brigades.

4. Major generals, brigadier generals, and commanding officers of regiments or separate battalions, to appoint the staff officers of their respective divisions, bri. gades, regiments, or separate battalions.

5. The governor to nominate, and, by and with the consent of the senate, to appoint all major generals.

6. The adjutant general shall be appointed by the governor.

7. That it shall be the duty of the legislature to direct, by law, the time and manner of electing militia officers, and of certifying the officers elected to the go

vernor.

The eighth section was then read as follows:

VIII. That in case the electors of captains, subalterns, or field officers of brigades, regiments, or battalions, shall neglect or refuse to make such election after being notified, according to law, the governor shall appoint suitable persons to fill the vacancies thus occasioned.

A discussion ensued thereon, between Messrs. Root and Van Buren, in which the former was in favour of striking it out, and the latter explained the reasons for retaining it.

MR. BROOKS made some remarks in explanation of the section, when the question thereon was taken by ayes and noes, and decided in the affirmative, as follows:

AYES-Messrs. Bacon, Beckwith, Birdseye, Breese, Briggs, Brooks, Buel, Child, Clyde, Collins, Dodge, Duer, Dyckman, Eastwood, Edwards, Fish, Hallock, Howe, Hunter, Lansing, Lawrence, Lefferts. M'Call, Moore, Munro, Paulding, Pitcher, Porter, Pumpelly, Rhinelander, Rogers, Rosebrugh Russell, Sage, R. Smith, Spencer, Stagg, Sylvester, Tallmadge, Ten Eyck Van Buren, Van Fleet, Van Ness, J. R. Van Rensselaer, Van Vechten, Verbryck, Ward, Wendover, Wheaton, Wheeler, E. Williams, N. Williams, Woodward, Yates, -54.

NOES-Messrs. Barlow, Brinkerhoff, Carver, Dubois, Ferris, Frost, Hogeboom, Humphrey, Hunting, Huntington, Hurd, Jones, Kent, King, Knowles, P. R. Livingston, Millikin, Nelson, Park, Pike, Radcliff. Richards, Root, Ross, Sanders, N. Sanford, R. Sandford, Schenck, Seaman, Seely, Sharpe, Sheldon, I. Smith, Starkweather, Swift, Taylor, Townsend, Tripp, Tuttle, Van Horne, E. Webster, Woods, Wooster, Young-44.

The ninth section also passed without amendment, as follows:

IX. That all the commissioned officers of militia shall be commissioned by the governor.