CHAPTER V. THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. In this chapter the constitutions of the several States are not given in full, but the method of election and the tenure of office of the executive, legislative, and judicial officers; their boundaries and area; with notices of any interesting peculiarities in the constitution. To this is added a brief account of the history and present condition of each State. In this chapter the thirteen original States are arranged in geographical order. The other twenty-four States are arranged in the order in which they were admitted to the Union. NEW HAMPSHIRE. This State is bounded north by Canada East, east by Maine and the Atlantic, south by Massachusetts, and west by Vermont, from which it is separated by the Connecticut river. It contains 9,280 square miles, or 5,939,200 acres. Originally it adopted its constitution in 1784, and this has been amended at different times. By it the government of the State is vested in a governor, a council of five members, and a senate of twelve members, and a house of representatives. Every town having one hundred and fifty ratable polls chooses one representative, and one additional representative for every additional three hundred polls. All of the State officers are elected annually. No person can hold the office of governor, senator, or representative, unless he conforms to some denomination of Protestantism. The judges are appointed by the governor, with the consent of the council, and hold office during good behavior. This State has passed through many political fluctuations. It was first visited by Europeans in 1614, and a settlement was made near what is now Portsmouth. Nine years afterwards it was connected with Massachusetts as a district, and was in many points subject to the government of Massachusetts. In 1679 it was made a royal province. In 1689 it was again joined to Massachusetts. Afterwards it was for a short time connected with the colony or province of New York. In 1741 it was made a separate province or colony, and so it remained until the Revolution. The agriculture of New Hampshire is impeded by its climate; nor is its soil in general very fertile; but in many parts of the State there are excellent and productive farms. The water-powers of the State are numerous and important, and have been to a large extent utilized. There are many manufacturing towns, some of considerable magnitude. About 112,000 acres of the surface of this State are under water. MASSACHUSETTS. This State is bounded north by Vermont and New Hampshire, east by the Atlantic Ocean, south by the Atlantic, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, and west by New York. It contains 7,800 square miles, or 4,992,000 acres. The constitution of the State was originally adopted in 1780, and it has since been repeatedly changed. The government consists of a governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary, treasurer, auditor, attorney-general; an executive council of eight members, over whom the lieutenant-governor presides, and who are elected annually; a senate of forty members, and a house of representatives of two hundred and forty. All of these officers are chosen by the people. The judges are all appointed by the governor, with the consent of the council, and hold their offices during good behavior. They may be removed by impeachment; and the governor, with the consent of the council, may remove them upon the address of both houses of the legislature. Each branch of the legislature, as well as the gov ernor and council, have authority to require the opinions of the justices of the supreme judicial court upon important questions of law, and upon solemn occasions. It is supposed that navigators from Iceland, in the year 1000, wintered at a place in the south-east part of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Cabots, sailing under a patent granted by Henry VII., King of England, sailed along the eastern cost of America, and made several landings; and the English thereafter claimed the country, by the rights which accrued to them from the discoveries of the Cabots. There were many attempts at settlement along the New England coast; but we consider the first permanent settlement to have been that of colonists who arrived in the "Mayflower' on the 22d of December, 1620, at Plymouth. Most of them had already fled from persecution in England, to Holland, where they had sought religious liberty. They formed a community in Leyden, of which John Robinson was pastor, and William Brewster an elder. But their surroundings were utterly unsatisfactory; and they determined to encounter the dangers and sufferings of a long sea-voyage, which were then much greater than they would be now, and the perils of hostile savages, famine, and sickness, in a mere wilderness. We have already stated that before landing they formed and subscribed a solemn compact, which may be considered, if not the foundation, at least the beginning, of our republican constitutions. The scarcity and bad quality of their food, and their exposure to the severity of weather which they were wholly unaccustomed to, killed half their number in little more than four months, and much enfeebled the survivors; but they persisted in their purpose. There is much reason to believe that a severe pestilence, the nature of which is not known, had at that time thinned the natives along the coast of New England, and in some places almost exterminated them. But for this the colony could have hardly held their own. They were often near famishing, until 1623, when for the first time they had a plentiful harvest. In 1628 an immigration from England reached Salem, under the command of John Endicot. Large reinforcements soon followed, and Boston and neighboring towns were settled. These colonists were all Puritans; and while they made the greatest sacrifices and efforts to obtain religious freedom for themselves, there is no evidence that they acknowledged in any degree the duty of permitting religious freedom in those who differed from them. As the colony of Massachusetts rapidly grew in numbers and prosperity, it attracted the attention of England, and there were attempts to annul the original charter, under which the colonists had emigrated. Many difficulties ensued, and in 1675 began the war with the Indians, called King Philip's war, which desolated a large part of the then settled country. Of a population of about 12,000, one man in twenty had died; and of the families, one in twenty were houseless. This war was conducted without assistance from England; but as soon as it ceased, pretensions were again asserted to a mastership over the colony. When, in 1689, reports were received of the English revolution of 1688, the men of Boston, with some from the neighboring towns, rose in arms and imprisoned the royal governor and other officers. In 1692 a new charter was given, by which Plymouth was united to Massachusetts, and the jurisdiction of that colony over Maine and other colonies acknowledged. In the same year the witchcraft delusion, which had raged in many European countries and was then active in some, began in Salem and its neighborhood, and nineteen persons were executed by hanging, and one was pressed to death. The war of the Revolution began in Massachusetts, at Lexington and Concord; but from the very beginning the other colonies sympathized with and supported her, and as soon as possible all joined in efforts to achieve their independence. This State is said to be naturally the least fertile of the New England States; but skilful and laborious cultivation has much improved large tracts of land. It is estimated, however, that much less than half of the total area of the State is under cultivation. The State depends mainly, though not wholly, upon its manufactures and its commerce. In manufactures it is said to stand at the head of all the States. The water-powers afforded by the Merrimac and smaller streams are everywhere utilized to their full extent; and of late years steam-power has been profitably used, partly in aid of water-power, and in some instances by itself. RHODE ISLAND. This State is bounded north and east by Massachusetts, south by the Atlantic Ocean, and west by Connecticut. It contains 1,306 square miles, or 835,840 acres, of which less than half are improved. This State was at first embraced within the charters of Massachusetts; so, at least, it was asserted; but in 1662 a separate charter was granted, incorporating the colony of Rhode Island and Providence plantations; and under this the political institutions of the State existed and were conducted until 1843, when a new constitution was formed. By this constitution the government consists of a governor, a lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, and attorney-general, all of whom are elected by the people annually. An auditor is also elected by the assembly. The senate consists of the lieutenantgovernor, and one senator from each of the thirty-four towns in the State. The governor presides in the senate. The house of representatives consists of seventy-two members, which number cannot be exceeded. The legislature is called the general assembly; and the assent of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the general assembly is required to every bill appropriating the public money or property for local or private purposes. The judges are elected by the general assembly, the justices of the peace by the towns and city. The judges hold office until their place is declared vacant by a resolution of the general assembly. This State was founded, to its honor be it said, on the principles of entire religious liberty. Roger Williams, who maintained, both in politics and religion, opinions which did not conform to those which were held by the ruling powers of Massachusetts, was banished from that colony. They would have sent him to England; but he unexpectedly left Salem in the midst of the winter, and took refuge with the Indians, with whom he remained some months, when, with five companions, he sailed in a log canoe to the spot where he fixed |