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the eleventh section of the first article, and shall at all times be regarded as the first general assembly under the amended constitution.

5. The governor who shall be elected in October, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, shall be inaugurated on the third Tuesday in January, eighteen hundred and thirty-nine; to which time the present executive term is hereby extended.

6. The commissions of the judges of the supreme court who may be in office on the first day of January next shall expire in the following manner:-The commission which bears the earliest date shall expire on the first day of January, anno domini one thousand eight hundred and forty-two: the commission next dated shall expire on the first day of January, anno domini one thousand eight hundred and forty-five: the commission next dated shall expire on the first day of January, anno domini one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight: the commission next dated shall expire on the first day of January, anno domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one: and the commission last dated shall expire on the first day of January, anno domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.

7. The commissions of the president judges of the several judicial districts, and of the associate law judges of the first judicial district, shall expire as follows:-The commissions of one-half of those who shall have held their offices ten years or more, at the adoption of the amendments to the constitution, shall expire on the twenty-seventh day of February, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine: the commission of the other half of those who shall have held their offices ten years or more, at the adoption of the amendments to the constitution, shall expire on the twenty-seventh day of February, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two: the first half to embrace those whose commissions shall bear the oldest date. The commissions of all the remaining judges who shall not have held their offices for ten years at the adoption of the amendments to the constitution, shall expire on the twenty-seventh day of February next after the end of ten years from the date of their commissions.

8. The recorders of the several mayors' courts, and other criminal courts in this commonwealth, shall be appointed for the same time and in the same manner as the president judges of the several judicial districts: of those now in office, the commission oldest in date shall expire on the twenty-seventh day of February, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, and the others every two years thereafter according to their respective dates: those oldest in date expiring first.

9. The legislature, at its first session under the amended constitution, shall divide the other associate judges of the state into four classes. The commissions of those of the first class shall expire on the twenty-seventh day of February, eighteen hundred and forty: of those of the second class on the twenty-seventh day of February, eighteen hundred and forty-one of those of the third class on the twenty-seventh day of February, eighteen hundred and forty-two: and of those of the fourth class, on the twentyseventh day of February, eighteen hundred and fortythree. The said classes, from the first to the fourth, shall be arranged according to the seniority of the commissions of the several judges.

10. Prothonotaries, clerks of the several courts, (except of the supreme court,) recorders of deeds, and registers of wills, shall be first elected under the amended constitution, at the election of representatives, in the year eighteen hundred and thirty-nine, in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

11. The appointing power shall remain as heretofore, and all officers in the appointment of the executive department shall continue in the exercise of the duties of their respective offices until the legislature shall pass such laws as may be required by the eighth section of the sixth article of the amended constitution, and until appointments shall be made under such laws; unless their commissions shall be superseded by new appointments, or shall sooner expire by their own limitations, or the said offices shall become vacant by death or resignation, and such laws shall be enacted by the first legislature under the amended constitution.

12. The first election for aldermen and justices of the

peace shall be held in the year eighteen hundred and forty, at the time fixed for the election of constables. The legislature, at its first session under the amended constitution, shall provide for the said election, and for subsequent similar elections. The aldermen and justices of the peace now in commission, or who may in the interim be appointed, shall continue to discharge the duties of their respective offices until fifteen days after the day which shall be fixed by law for the issuing of new commissions, at the expiration of which time their commissions shall expire.

In testimony that the foregoing is the amended constitution of Pennsylvania, as agreed to in convention, we, the officers and members of the convention, have hereunto signed our names, at Philadelphia, the twenty-second day of February, anno domini one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, and of the independence of the United States of America the sixty-second.

JOHN SERGEANT, President.

(Attest) S. SCHоCH, Secretary..

GEORGE L. FAUSS, }

Assistant Secretaries.

AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE 5, SECTION 2.

ADOPTED IN 1850.

The

THE judges of the supreme court, of the several courts of common pleas, and of such other courts of record as are or shall be established by law, shall be elected by the qualified electors of the commonwealth in the manner following, to wit: The judges of the supreme court, by the qualified electors of the commonwealth at large. president judges of the several courts of common pleas and of such other courts of record as are or shall be established by law, and all other judges required to be learned in the law, by the qualified electors of the respective districts over which they are to preside or act as

judges. And the associate judges of the courts of common pleas by the qualified electors of the counties respectively. The judges of the supreme court shall hold their offices for the term of fifteen years, if they shall so long behave themselves well, (subject to the allotment hereinafter provided for, subsequent to the first election :) The president judges of the several courts of common pleas, and of such other courts of record as are or shall be established by law, and all other judges required to be learned in the law, shall hold their offices for the term of ten years, if they shall so long behave themselves well : The associate judges of the courts of common pleas shall hold their offices for the term of five years, if they shall so long behave themselves well: all of whom shall be commissioned by the governor, but for any reasonable cause which shall not be sufficient grounds of impeachment, the governor shall remove any of them on the address of two-thirds of each branch of the legislature. The first election shall take place at the general election of this commonwealth next after the adoption of this amendment, and the commissions of all the judges who may be then in office shall expire on the first Monday of December following, when the terms of the new judges shall commence. The persons who shall then be elected judges of the supreme court shall hold their offices as follows: one of them for three years, one for six years, one for nine years, one for twelve years, and one for fifteen years; the term of each to be decided by lot by the said judges, as soon after the election as convenient, and the result certified by them to the governor, that the commissions may be issued in accordance thereto. The judge whose commission will first expire shall be chief justice during his term, and thereafter each judge whose commission shall first expire shall in turn be the chief justice, and if two or more commissions shall expire on the same day, the judges holding them shall decide by lot which shall be the chief justice. Any vacancies happening by death, resignation, or otherwise, in any of the said courts, shall be filled by appointment by the governor, to continue till the first Monday of December succeeding the next general election. The judges of the supreme court and

the presidents of the several courts of common pleas shall, at stated times, receive for their services an adequate compensation, to be fixed by law, which shall not be diminished. during their continuance in office, but they shall receive no fees or perquisites of office, nor hold any other office of profit under this commonwealth, or under the government of the United States, or any other state of this Union. The judges of the supreme court during their continuance in office shall reside within this commonwealth, and other judges during their continuance in office shall reside within the district or county for which they were respectively elected.

CONSTITUTION OF VIRGINIA.

BILL OF RIGHTS.

[PASSED JUNE 12, 1776.]

ADOPTED WITHOUT ALTERATION BY THE CONVENTION OF 1829-30, AND READOPTED WITH AMENDMENTS BY THE CONVENTION OF 1850-51.

A Declaration of Rights made by the Representatives of the good people of VIRGINIA, assembled in full and free Convention, which rights do pertain to them and their posterity as the basis and foundation of government.

1. THAT all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

2. That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them.

3. That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community: of all the various modes and

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