the people; and the Governor and Council were to put them in execution.

The Governor and Council were appointed by the King, and the Assembly chosen by the people.

Afterwards the Governor had a more extensive power put into his hands, so that his assent in all affairs became absolutely necessary; yet was he still bound to act by advice of Council in many things.

Until the rebellion in 1676, the Governor had no power to suspend the Councillors, nor to remove any of them from the Council-Board. Then a power was given him of suspending them, but with proviso, that he gave substantial reasons for so doing; and was answerable to his Majesty for the truth of the accusation.

Then also this model of a government by a Governor, Council and Assembly, was confirmed to them with a farther clause, that if the Governor should happen to die, or be removed, and no other person in the country nominated by the Crown to supply his place, then the President, or eldest Councellor, with the assistance of any five of the Council, should take upon him the administration of the government; all which are authorised by commission and instructions to the Governor.

Before the year 1680, the Council sat in the same House with the Burgesses of Assembly, much resembling the model of the Scotch Parliament; and the Lord Colepeper taking advantage of some disputes among them, procured the Council to sit apart from the Assembly; and so they became two distinct Houses, in imitation of the two Houses of Parliament in England: the Lords and Commons; and so is the Constitution at this day. (1705-22.)

And such substantially the Constitution of our Colony continued to be until the period of the revolution, when, on the discontinuance of assemblies, in consequence of

the withdrawal and subsequent hostilities of Lord Dunmore, in 1774-75, it became necessary to provide some other body in their place, competent to the discharge of the ordinary business of the government, and to the calling forth the powers of the State for the maintenance of our opposition to Great Britain, and Conventions were therefore introduced, consisting of two delegates from each county, meeting together and forming one house, on the plan of the former House of Burgesses, to whose places they succeeded. These were at first chosen anew for every particular session. But in March 1775, they recommended to the people to choose a Convention which should continue in office for one year. This was done accordingly in April 1775, and in the July following that Convention passed an ordinance providing for the election of delegates in the month of April annually.

Under this ordinance, at the annual election in April 1776, a Convention for the year was elected, which met soon afterwards, on the 6th of May, 1776, in the old Capitol, in the city of Williamsburg, and proceeding at once to consider the extraordinary state of the country, on the 15th of that month, adopted a resolution instructing the delegates representing the colony in the General Congress to move that body to declare the United Colonies free and independent States, &c., and another appointing a committee to prepare and report a Declaration of Rights, and "a Plan of Government which should be most likely to maintain peace and order in this Colony, and secure substantial and equal liberty to the people." The Committee, accordingly, prepared and reported a Declaration of Rights, which was fully discussed, and finally adopted on the 12th of June following; and subsequently a Plan of Government, which also was amply discussed, and on the 29th of

the same month, unanimously adopted as the Constitution of the State.

By this instrument it was provided, that the Legislature should, thenceforth consist of two houses, meeting once or oftener every year, and forming a General Assembly; the one called the House of Delegates, composed of two delegates representing each county, annually chosen by such citizens as possessed a small freehold as then defined by law; (together with a single delegate from the city of Williamsburg, and another from the borough of Norfolk, elected according to their charters ;) and the other called the Senate, composed of 24 members, chosen every four years, by the same electors, the several counties being distributed into as many senatorial districts for the purpose. All laws were to originate in the House of Delegates, the Senate to approve or reject them, or to amend them with the consent of the House of Delegates. and not otherwise. Money-bills, however, were not to be altered by the Senate, in any manner whatever, but to be simply approved or rejected. The Executive power was vested in a Governor elected annually by joint ballot of the Legislature, but only eligible for three years in seven; with a Privy Council or Council of State, to aid him in the discharge of his duties, consisting of eight members, elected by the Legislature, two of whom should be removed by joint ballot of both Houses of Assembly at the end of every three years, and be ineligible for the three next. The Judiciary department was to consist of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals, and General Court, Judges in Chancery, &c., and the County Courts already established, with such others as should be established by the Legislature from time to time-all Judges to hold their offices during good behaviour, and to be absolutely independent in the discharge of their duties. Besides the Governor, and Privy

Councillors, the Judges of the Superior Courts, and most of the executive officers, were appointed by the General Assembly, as were also the delegates to Congress for some time.

Such was this important instrument, manifestly framed in a wise, cautious, and conservative spirit, with a due regard to all the lights of experience, and with a just veneration for all that was truly valuable in our ancient institutions; with such changes only as had become necessary and proper in the new state of things that had grown up out of the troubles of the times. In short, our fathers, in establishing this Constitution, seem to us to have followed. the example of our English ancestors at the period of the revolution of 1688-so warmly and justly commended by Burke. "We wished," says he, " at the period of the revolution, and do now wish, to derive all we possess as an inheritance from our fathers. Upon that body and stock of inheritance, we have taken care not to inoculate any scion alien to the nature of the original plant. All the reformations we have hitherto made have proceeded upon the principle of reverence to antiquity; and I hope, nay I am persuaded, that all those which possibly may be made hereafter will be carefully formed upon analogical precedent, authority and example."

SELECT SENTENCES.

The light which we have gained was given us not to be ever staring on, but by it to discern onward things more remote from our knowledge.-Milton.

If no use is made of the labors of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge.-Johnson.

PATRICK HENRY AND JOHN RANDOLPH.

We find that the article we published in our last number, entitled "Reminiscences of Patrick Henry," (written by the Rev. Dr. Alexander, of Princeton,) has been read with much interest by some of our readers. One of these, a friend in Charlotte, writes: "I have read your last number with great interest. It was well-timed to introduce the tract of Dr. Alexander on the character of Henry, which posterity will require to be vouched by something more than Mr. Wirt's life of him. Since reading the article, I have made some inquiries about his last speech, and will mention that Dr. Alexander errs in making him speak from the court-house steps, as he actually spoke from the steps of the tavern. But Dr. A. is clearly right about Mr. Randolph's speech which was very short, and hardly worthy of the compliment paid to it by the clown who was looking on; as stated in the Memoir of Dr. Rice. I have heard the late Col. Carrington, who was the opposing candidate for Congress, declare again and again, that Randolph spoke but very little, and mainly to the purport that, as Henry was once, so he was then. The man in the crowd who threw up his arm was named John Harrey, who was a hard horse in his day. Some of the people, to get him out of the way, told him his horse was loose, but Harrey would not move. I learn this from Dr. A. of our county, who was present at the time."

On reading this note, we have turned to the passage in the Memoir of Dr. Rice to which it refers, and which contains, we see, that gentleman's reminiscence of the last speech of Patrick Henry and the first of John Randolph, as reported by the author of the Memoir, as follows:

"On one of these occasions, more particularly, as I re