of residence, is prescribed. Testimonials of good moral character are required.

The forms of special pleading are preserved. The practice conforms to that of the English courts, as nearly as the difference of our institutions will admit. Perhaps, taken as a whole, it is less vitiated by the corruptions introduced to gratify the popular prejudices against lawyers and legal technicalities, than that of almost any other state.

A negro, Indian, or mulatto, is not allowed to be a witness in any court, or in any case, against a white person. Persons having one fourth part negro blood, are adjudged to be mulattoes. The right of suffrage, and of holding office, and the duties of citizenship, such as serving on juries, in the militia, &c., are confined to whites. A person bringing a slave into this state, for the purpose of setting him free, must, under a heavy penalty, enter into bond, conditioned, that such manumitted slave shall not become chargeable to the public as a pauper. Every colored person coming into the state to reside, must file documentary evidence of his freedom in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which he may reside, and give bond, with security, for his maintenance and good behavior. Failure to comply with these regulations, subjects the party to be considered and treated as a runaway slave. In conse-. quence of these salutary arrangements, this state has not become a retreat for runaway slaves, or free

negroes.

A penitentiary has lately been built, and the criminal code has been so altered, as to substitute, in a

variety of cases, the discipline of the penitentiary system for the punishments heretofore inflicted.

The proceedings formerly had, under the common law writ of habeas corpus, are now regulated by statute. The act is long and somewhat special, setting forth a variety of cases in which the writ may issue, and specifying, particularly, the proceedings

under it.

Aliens may take and hold real estate, by descent or purchase; may alienate or transmit the same to their heirs, or have dower, in the same manner as citizens.

Divorces are granted by the courts of chancery; and the facility with which they may be obtained under our laws, is quite as great as is desirable. Besides the ordinary causes, habitual drunkenness, extreme and repeated cruelty, or absence for two years, on the part of either party, is esteemed a sufficient ground of divorce. Marriages have been dissolved, in many instances, by the legislature of this and other states; but there can be little question that such acts are wholly nugatory. The marriage contract is a civil contract, which not only subjects the contracting parties to certain duties and liabilities, but affects their property, and reaches, in its consequences, to their descendants. The legislature cannot violate the obligation of a contract; and however this constitutional maxim may have been construed, in passing laws to regulate a whole class of existing contracts, as in the enacting of stay laws, &c., or in cases where the operation of a statute has been indirect, there can hardly be a doubt as to the illegality

of annulling, by law, a contract between individuals, which in itself is legal. The proceeding is, besides, ex parte, commenced on the application of one of the contracting parties, without notice to the other, and without evidence, except such as is furnished by the applicant; and the legislature, which is prohibited from performing any judicial functions, except in a few specified cases, thus adjudicates upon the most important rights of the citizen.

The several acts to restrain and punish gambling, are very severe; and have co-operated with public opinion, to render this detestable vice decidedly unpopular.

Persons who have been engaged in dueling, as principals, seconds, or accessories, are disqualified from holding any office of profit, trust, or emolument, civil or military; besides being punishable for murder, if death ensues within one year from the time of the duel.

The state is divided into counties; every county is, by its proper officers, a corporation, with ample powers to collect a revenue, transact business, and maintain suit. There is no organization of townships, or parishes, for civil purposes. Under a general law, towns or villages containing not less than one hundred and fifty inhabitants, may become incorporated, by their own act, by consent of two-thirds of the white male inhabitants.

The county commissioners are ex officio overseers of the poor; but the law creating them such, is, practically, a dead letter. There is, in fact, no system of poor laws. The state of society in this country, has

not yet indicated a necessity for any provision for the support of paupers. At some of the towns bordering on the large navigable rivers, where indigent strangers are frequently, in consequence of sickness, the destruction of a boat, or other accident, thrown ashore under circumstances requiring relief, the inhabitants have been obliged to call on the county courts for aid; but these exceptions have been few.

General elections are held biennally, on the first Monday in August. For this purpose, the counties are divided, by the county commissioners, into any convenient number of "election precincts," or districts, not more than eight in each county; three judges, having the qualifications of voters, are appointed by the county commissioners, in each district; and the judges appoint two clerks at each precinct. The polls are kept open for one day only; the people vote viva voce. Every white male inhabitant, of full age, having resided in the state six months, may

vote.

Every male inhabitant is required to labor upon the public roads three days in each year, or to pay one dollar in lieu of each day's labor required. Male inhabitants, owning property worth more than one hundred dollars, may be called upon for a further contribution, in labor or money, in proportion to the value of their property.

No system of public schools has yet been organized. An act of the legislature is in existence, authorizing the sale of the sixteenth, or school section of land, in any township in which the people shall signify their assent, in the manner prescribed by

the law; but it is not supposed, that the sales under this law will be numerous, or that any general movement in favor of education will result from it. The messages of the governors, and the proceedings of the legislature, contain such frequent allusions to the subject of education, as to show, that those who are best acquainted with public sentiment, consider it a popular topic. We suppose that there is no one subject on which the public voice would be as unanimous, as it would be in favor of a cheap, general, and practical system of primary schools.

Several attempts have been made to appropriate the school fund, and to bring into existence a system of common schools, none of which have proved effective. There is a decided wish to act on this important subject, but there are insuperable objections to any premature action. The population is so thinly scattered at present, as to render it difficult to organize any system which shall disseminate its benefits even to a majority of those who need them. But the greatest obstacle to any beneficial action, at this ime, arises from the want of an accurate knowledge of details, in relation to the fiscal and the practical parts of such a system. A connected plan of instruction, to embrace the whole of a state, is a vast, and somewhat complicated machine; and it cannot be expected, that those who have never witnessed the operation of such a system, should be able to understand its bearings, or to devise the best measures for its adoption. The legislature acts wisely in delaying this great measure, until the necessary information can be collected.

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