havior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.

SEC. 8. The members of the general assembly shall receive for their services a salary, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the public treasury; but no act increasing such salary shall take effect until after the end of the term for which the members of the House of Delegates voting thereon were elected; and no senator or delegate, during the term for which he shall have been elected, shall be appointed to any civil office of profit under the commonwealth, which has been created, or the emoluments of which have been increased during such term, except offices filled by election by the people.

SEC. 9. Bills and resolutions may originate in either of the two houses of the general assembly, to be approved or rejected by either, and may be amended by either house, with the consent of the other.

SEC. 10. Each house of the general assembly shall keep a journal of its proceedings, which shall be published from time to time, and the yeas and nays of the members of either house, on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. No bill shall become a law until it has been read on three different days of the session in the house in which it originated, unless two-thirds of the members in that house shall otherwise determine.

SEC. 11. The members of the general assembly shall, in all cases except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the sessions of their respective houses; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place. They shall not be subject to arrest, under any civil process, during the session of the general assembly, nor for fifteen days next before the convening, and after the termination of each

session.

SEC. 12. The whole number of members to which the state may at any time be entitled in the House of Representatives of the United States, shall be apportioned, as nearly as may be, amongst the several counties, cities and towns of the state, according to their population.

SEC. 13. In the apportionment, the state shall be divided into districts, corresponding in number with the representatives to which it may be entitled in the House of Representatives of the congress of the United States, which shall be formed, respectively, of contiguous counties, cities and towns; be compact, and include, as nearly as may be, an equal number of population.

SEC. 14. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of invasion or rebellion, the public safety may require it. The general assembly shall not pass any bill of attainder, or any ex post facto law, or any law impairing the obligation of contracts, or any law, whereby private property shall be taken for public uses without just compensation, or any law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press. No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever, nor shall any man be enforced, restrained, molested or burthened in his body or goods, or otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and the same shall in nowise affect, diminish or enlarge their civil capacities. And the general assembly shall not prescribe any religious test whatever, or confer any peculiar privileges or advantages on any sect or denomination, or pass any law requiring or authorizing any religious society, or the people of any district within this commonwealth, to levy on themselves or others any tax for the erection or repair of any house of public worship, or for the support of any church or

ministry, but it shall be left free to every person to select his religious instructor, and to make for his support such private contract as he shall please.

SEC. 15. No law shall embrace more than one object, which shall be expressed in its title, nor shall any law be revived or amended with reference to its title, but the act revived or the section amended, shall be re-enacted and published at length.

SEC. 16. The governor, lieutenant-governor, judges, and all others offending against the state, by maladministration, corruption, neglect of duty, or other high crime or misdemeanor, shall be impeachable by the House of Delegates, and be prosecuted before the Senate, which shall have the sole power to try impeachment. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation, and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. Judgment, in case of impeachment, shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold or enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the commonwealth; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law. The Senate may sit during the recess of the general assembly for the trial of impeachment.

SEC. 17. The general assembly shall not grant a charter of incorporation to any church or religious denomination, but may secure the title to church property to an extent to be limited by law.

SEC. 18. No lottery shall hereafter be authorized by law; and the buying, selling or transferring of tickets or chances in any lottery, shall be prohibited.

SEC. 19. No new county shall be formed with an area of less than six hundred square miles; nor shall the county or counties from which it is formed be reduced below that area; nor shall any county having a population less than ten thousand, be deprived of more than one-fifth of such population; nor shall a

county, having a larger population, be reduced below eight thousand. But any county, the length of which is three times its mean breadth, or which exceeds fifty miles in length, may be divided at the discretion of the general assembly. In all general elections, the voters in any county, not entitled to separate representation, shall vote in the same election district.

SEC. 20. The general assembly shall confer on the courts the power to grant divorces, change the names of persons, and direct the sale of estates belonging to infants and other persons under legal disabilities, but shall not, by special legislation, grant relief in such cases, or in any other case of which the courts or other tribunals may have jurisdiction.

SEC. 21. The general assembly shall provide for the annual registration of births, marriages and deaths. SEC. 22. The manner of conducting and making returns of elections, of determining contested elections, and of filling vacancies in office, in cases not specially provided for by this constitution, shall be prescribed by law; and the general assembly may declare the cases in which any office shall be deemed vacant, where no provision is made for that purpose in this constitution.

SEC. 23. The legislature shall have power to provide for the government of cities and towns, and to establish such courts therein as may be necessary for the administration of justice.

SEC. 24. The general assembly shall have power, by a two-third vote, to remove disabilities incurred under clause third, section one, article third of this constitution, with reference to duelling.

NOTE.-For Schedule in act for submission to the people of amendments to this Article, vide Acts 1875-6, page 92.

ARTICLE VI.

Judiciary Department.

SEC. 1. There shall be a supreme court of appeals, circuit courts, and county courts. The jurisdiction of these tribunals, and the judges thereof, except so far as the same is conferred by this constitution, shall be regulated by law.

SEC. 2. The supreme court of appeals shall consist of five judges, any three of whom may hold a court. It shall have appellate jurisdiction only, except in cases of habeas corpus, mandamus and prohibition. It shall not have jurisdiction in civil cases where the matter in controversy, exclusive of costs, is less in value or amount than five hundred dollars, except in controversies concerning the title or boundaries of land, the probate of a will, the appointment or qualification of a personal representative, guardian, committee or curator; or concerning a mill, roadway, ferry or landing; or the right of a corporation or of a county to levy tolls or taxes, and except in cases of habeas corpus, mandamus and prohibition, or the constitutionality of a law: Provided, That the assent of a majority of the judges elected to the court shall be required, in order to declare any law null and void by reason of its repugnance to the federal constitution, or to the constitution of this state.

SEC. 3. Special courts of appeals, to consist of not less than three nor more than five judges, may be formed of the judges of the supreme court of appeals and of the circuit courts, or any of them, to try any cases on the docket of said court, in respect to which a majority of the judges thereof may be so situated as to make it improper for them to sit on the hearing of the same; and also to try any cases on the