DEFINITIVE TREATY between Great-Britain and the United States of America. Published by Order of CONGRESS. NEW YORK: - Re-Printed by E. OSWALD, at the Printing- M, DCCLXXX, VI. ALL men are born equally free and indepent dent; therefore, all government of right originates from the people, is founded in confent, and inftituted for the general good. 2. All men have certain natural, essential, and inherent rights; among which are-the enjoying and defending life and liberty--acquiring, poffeffing, and protecting property--and in a word, of fecking and obtaining happiness. 155530 3: When 3. When men enter into a flate of fociety, they furrender up fome of their natural rights to that fociety, in order to infure the protection of others and, without fuch an equivalent, the furrender is void. 4. Among the natural rights, fome are in their very nature unalienable, because no equivalent can be given or received for them. Of this kind are. the rights of confcience. 5. Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship GoD according to the dictates of his own confcience and reafon; and no fubject fhall be hurt, molefted, or reftrained in his perfon, liberty, or eftate for worshipping GOD, in the manner and feafon moft agreeable to the dictates of his own confcience, or for his religious profeffion, fentiments or perfuafion; provided he does not diftub the public peace, or diflurb others in their religious worship. 6. As morality and piety, rightly grounded on evangelical principles, will give the beft and greatcft fecurity to government, and will lay in the hearts of men the ftrongeft obligations to due fubjection; and as the knowledge of thefe, is most likely to be propagated through a fociety by the inflitution of the public worship of the Deity, and of public inftruction in morality and religion; therefore, to promote thofe important purposes, the people of this flate have a right to impower, and do hereby fully impower the legislature, to authorife from time to time, the feveral towns, parishes, bodies-corporate, or religious focieties within this flate, to make adequate provifion at their own expence, for the fupport and maintenance of public proteftant teachers of piety, religion and morality: Provided notwithstanding, That the feveral towns, parishes, bodies-corporate, or. religious fotieties, fhall fhall at all times have the exclufive right of electing their own public teachers, and of contracting with them for their support and maintenance. And no perfon of any one particular religious sect or denomination, shall ever be compelled to pay towards the fupport of the teacher or teachers of another perfuafion, fect or denomination. And every denomination of Chriftians, demeaning themfelves quietly, and as good fubjects of the flate, fhall be equally under the protection of the law and no fubordination of any one sect or denomination to another, thall ever be established by law. And nothing herein fhall be underfood to affect any former contracts made for the fupport of the miniftry; but all fuch contracts fhall remain, and be in the fame ftate as if this conftitution had not been made. 7. The people of this ftate, have the fole and exclufive right of governing themselves as a free, fovereign, and independent state, and do, and forever hereafter fhall exercife and enjoy every power, jurisdiction, and right pertaining thereto, which is not, or may not hereafter be by them exprefsly delegated to the United States of America, in Congrefs affembled. 8. All power refiding originally in, and being derived from the people, all the magiftrates and officers of government are their fubftitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them. 9. No office or place whatfoever in government, fhall be hereditary-the abilities and integrity requifite in all, not being tranfmiffible to pofterity or relations. 10. Government being inftituted for the common benefit, protection, and fecurity of the whole ommunity, and not for the private intereft o emolumen, |