THE PREVIOUS QUESTION.

MR. STEDMAN. I move the previous question.
Seconded by Messrs. Wyatt, Gorman, Wickes, and Heustis.

THE PRESIDENT. The question is: Shall the main question be now
put?
Carried.

from her otherwise fair features shall gradually disappear the Mongolian
blotch. Then, and only then, will her beautiful face become the mirror,
as it were, of a free, happy, homogeneous, and assimilating people.
But the shadows are lengthening. The gavel will soon be unheeded;
the hand which now holds it will soon hold it no more; and after the
uttering of a word my mission will have been accomplished. That word

THE PRESIDENT. The question is upon the adoption of the Con- has been said time and again, by all classes and conditions of society. It

stitution.

Adopted.

PRESENTATION TO THE PRESIDENT.

MR. JOHNSON. Mr. President: I am commissioned by my fraters, on the floor of this Convention, to rise to a question of privilege. It is a matter, sir, which concerns vitally the feelings of this body, and as they believe, and so I believe, yourself as the President. In its retrospect it dates back to the organization of this Convention. In its prospect it reaches forward to the approaching close of our labors, when we shall bid a long adieu to this hall and return to our respective homes. Five months and more have passed away since we came to these halls comparative strangers. Here was the young man, just from college, crowned with the fragrant benedictions of Alma Mater; the matured lawyer, the victor of many forensic triumphs, fresh from his briefs; the old statesman, still well preserved and displaying all the fire, vivacity, and intellectual acumen, of which we have heard our seniors speak aforetimes. There were others representing other professions, other pursuits, and the dignity of labor.

was whispered it may be many years ago by some one on this floor,
into the ear of some gentler being, some fond parent, some trusted mon-
itor, the bulwark of his youth. It is a word which will be uttered by
us many times to come, to wife, to child, father, mother, friend, but
always in sorrow; a word which dissolving nature, before it breathes its
last, will rally all of its energies to articulate; but all must say it, and
all must feel it. That word is: Farewell!

For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,

This pleasing anxious being e'er resigned;
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind?

It

Mr. President, I have nothing farther to say on this question of privilege. "Finis" is written on the parchment roll which contains the new Constitution; that word which has been said so often and by so many in this changing kaleidoscopic life of ours; that word which is destined to intensify the bitter sorrow of so many hearts in time to come, whether they beat in the breasts of prince or peasant, the learned or the unlearned, must now be said by the Delegates of this Convention. My fraters say, I say, we all say, FAREWELL TO MR. PRESIDENT. [Applause.] PRESIDENT HOGE. Mr. Chairman: I return to you, and the gentlemen you represent, my most grateful thanks for the kind and flattering terms in which you have caused this gift to be presented to me. overpowers me. Mr. Chairman, I hope you will believe me when I say I am essentially a modest man. [Laughter.] The terms in which you have presented this very elegant, and to me, most appropriate gift, almost destroys the power of reply. I have endeavored, in the position in which this Convention in its kindness placed me, to perform its duties faithfully, impartially, and with the honest purpose of advancing the deliberations of this body and conducting them to a successful termination. If, therefore, in the exercise of those duties, I have succeeded in winning your appropriation, I am well rewarded. I shall treasure this beautiful gift for all time. Every time I look into its pages it will bring back pleasant memories of hours that we spent together here; and when I am gone they will be handed down to my children, to remind them, in after years, that their father had merited your kind consideration and approbation. Gentlemen, we are now about to part, many of us, perhaps, to meet no more; I beg, therefore, that you will hold me in kind remembrance, and I assure you that I shall hold you all in pleasant memory. I wish you a happy return to your homes and a prosperous future. [Continued applause.]

MORE RESOLUTIONS.

In that motley group there came also one, the observed of all observ-
ers, "frisking beneath the burdens of three-score," and in his hands we
placed the gavel of command. To govern such a heterogeneous body,
to assuage their turbulence, to direct aright their efforts and aspirations,
required a man of clear head, great intellect, and moral resources, a
strong will, and I might add, an unimpaired physical constitution.
We have found you, sir, equal to the emergency. During the prev-
alence of the stormy debate, you have preserved your own equanimity
of mind and of temper. However complicated the questions which
have arisen, your thorough knowledge of parliamentary law, and your
long experience in presiding over deliberative bodies, have served you
as the thread of Ariadne served Theseus, as a means of escape from the
labyrinth. Your conservative demeanor, and gentle courtesies have
also inspired us with the most friendly sentiments. Let these mute but
learned witnesses by my side, attest the genuineness of this expression.
Here is Dickens with his touching pathos and effervescing humor, as he
tells of some new variety which he has just discovered in the genus
homo. It may be some quaint original like "Little Paul Dombey,"
some quainter still like, "Jack Bunsby," or "Captain Cuttle," or some
immaculate conception like "Agnes." Here is Motley, who discourses
learnedly about a half submerged country where William the Silent laid
the foundation of a great State. Here is our own Irving, never so
entertaining, as when, with face all aglow, he talks about the legends of
Sleepy Hollow, and the weird country of the Catskills. Here is De
Quincy, the learned opium eater, who can discount the heathen Chinese
himself in opium eating, or at least, he can describe its effects in words
of more thundering sound; and here is that brilliant essayist, Mon-
taigne, who has laid all history and personal observations under contri-
bution to "point a moral or to adorn a tale." Here is Macaulay, who
deems it not beneath the dignity of his pen to portray the changing
manners and customs of a great people, in his history of England; and
finally here, in order, Sheridan, whose oration on the charge against
Hastings, extracted from Fox that famous eulogy, All that I have
ever heard, all that I have ever read, when compared with it, dwindled
into nothing and vanished like vapor before the sun."
These learned witnesses, Mr. President, be pleased to take home with
you, and knowing your eminently social turn of mind, we have no doubt
you will give them a warm reception, and ensconce them in your best
apartments. The shapes they assume are somewhat Protean, being an
even hundred in number. So many guests at one time would ordinarily
occasion some disarrangement of a household; but your record for hos-uniform kindness throughout this tedious session. I have endeavored
pitality we have never heard questioned. Laying aside all facetious-
ness, Mr. President, I will make my meaning more apparent, which is,
that your friends in this Convention have requested me to present you,
in their name and for them, one hundred volumes of standard literary
works as a slight testimonial of their respect and regard. The arch to
Titus, the column to Trojan; but the works of Dickens, and Motley,
and Irving, and DeQuincy, and Montaigne, and Macaulay, and Sheridan,
to Mr. President. [Applause.]

We came together, many of us at least, as I said before, as strangers; I might have added, with preconceived antagonistic notions. After the constant attrition to which our views have been subjected for the last five months, I doubt not here at this late day we entertain more respect for one another, and have abated some of the overweening confidence which we had in our formulas, and in our own peculiar opinions, as constituting the only safety of the State.

The State! what shall I say of her-this beautiful land of the Occident? Long after we shall have passed away, and nothing shall remain of us but

The broken arch, the ruined wall, The chambers desolate, the portals foul, May our goodly mother, the State, survive and flourish. [Applause.] Her fresh young face was beautiful three hundred years ago, when the white sails of Drake fluttered in San Francisco Bay; still later, it retained its beauty during the gentle sway of the Mission Fathers, with their depasturing flocks; despite the Mongolian blotch it is beautiful now, with the changing colors of the orange, the olive, the grape, the waving cereals, and with the cultivated look of her proud metropolis. But it will be more beautiful when, by the adoption of the new Constitution and its practical workings, labor shall be requited for all its pains, and

Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention is hereby tendered to its several
Secretaries and Journal Clerks for the efficient and faithful manner in which they
have discharged their several duties.
Adopted unanimously.

ANOTHER PRESENTATION.

missioned by the members of this Convention to present you, as the
MR. ESTEE. Mr. President: [To the Sergeant-at-Arms.] I am com-
Sergeant-at-Arms, with a slight token of our esteem. I am instructed
to present you with this watch and chain, and I wish to remind you
that it is not presented to you so much for its real value, as that you
may, through life, bear with you a reminder that this Convention be-
lieved that you had faithfully performed your duty. [Applause].
MR. SHERWOOD. Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Conven-
tion: I accept this gift with heartfelt thanks to all the donors who
participated in it, and at the same time return to each and every mem-
ber, and to each employé of the Convention, my thanks for their
to do my duty in the position to which you elected me to the best of my
ability, and this beautiful token reminds me that my efforts have not
been in vain. I have only to say, farther, that I hope your earnest
efforts here will be duly appreciated by the people of this State, and
that the Constitution which you have framed will be adopted as the
fundamental law. [Applause].

MORE RESOLUTIONS.

1526

DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS CONS'T CONV'N.

MONDAY, Mar. 3, 1879.

MR. LARUE. I move that the thanks of this Convention be returned I can say to you, because you have said it, that I have endeavored to to the Pages and Porters of this Convention. Adopted.

MR. MURPHY. I would like to have thanks returned to everybody and everything-except President Hayes. [Laughter.]

MR. WINANS. Mr. President: I am requested by the Porters of this Convention to present to you this beautiful golden gavel as a token of

their esteem.

MR. VAN VOORHIES. I move that the thanks of this Convention be returned to the "silent members."

THE PRESIDENT. The resolution is unanimously adopted. [Laughter.]

ADJOURNMENT SINE DIE.

THE PRESIDENT. Gentlemen: I am now about to perform the last official act of my position, and before doing so I wish to express my thanks for the confidence which you have reposed in me, and for the manner in which you have assisted me in performing its arduous duties.

perform the duties impartially, with the sole view of aiding you in your
deliberations, and bringing them to a happy termination. I will leave
these halls without a single unkind feeling towards any member of this
body. The duties assigned to you by the people of this State, were cer-
tainly of the greatest importance, more so, perhaps, than any which
devolve upon the citizen-the framing of a new Constitution for the
government of a great State, perhaps for a long term of years. That
you have performed your duties most faithfully, most honestly, I can
bear testimony. [Applause.] Whatever else may be said, the truth of
that assertion cannot be denied. You have done your work, and it
remains now to be submitted to the people, and whatever may be the
result if it be the judgment that your work is good, or that it is ill, we
must be satisfied. Gentlemen, my last duty now is to declare this Con-
stitutional Convention adjourned sine die. [Applause.]
At one o'clock and fifteen minutes P. M. the Convention stood ad-
journed sine die.

INDEX TO PROCEEDINGS.