of. And the above business shall be done in no other part of the day, except by permission of the House.

45. The unfinished business in which the House was engaged at the last preceding adjournment, shall have the preference over all other business,except the general order of the day, and no motion on any other business, except the general order of the day, shall be received without special leave of the House, until the former is disposed of.

On the question,

Shall said rules be adopted as the rules for the government of the House the present year?

It was decided in the affirmative.

On motion of Mr. Sanborn—

Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed, to extend an invitation to the reverend clergymen who are members of this body, to officiate as chaplains of the House until the close of the present session, and that prayers be offered at a quarter before 10 o'clock, A. M., upon each day of the session.

Ordered, That Messrs. Sanborn of Sanbornton, Folsom and Hogg, be the committee.

On motion of Mr Peirce of Dover

Resolved, That the House are ready to meet the Senate in convention, for the purpose of proceeding in the elections agreeably to the provisions of the constitution.

IN CONVENTION.

The Senate and House of Representatives being assembled in convention in the Representatives' Hall, for the purpose of proceeding in the elections, agreeably to the provisions of the Constitution,

Mr. Lane of the Senate, from the committee appointed to receive the returns of votes for Governor, from the several towns and districts of the State, compare and cast their numbers and report thereon, by leave, made the following

REPORT:

The committee, to whom were referred the returns of votes for Governor, report that they have compared and cast their numbers, and find the result to be as follows:

Whole number of votes returned,

45,765

The committee have found the returns generally correct, and made in proper time. But few instances have come to the notice of the committee, of informality or irregularity of proceedings. In Hampton Falls, it appears by the return, that the votes were regularly cast, sorted and counted on the day of election, and were declared at an adjourned meeting on a subsequent day. The return from Orford was not received, as appears by the certificate of the Secretary of State, until the 20th day of May-five days after the time for its reception had expired. The return was received by mail, and was post-marked the 12th. The return from Columbia was received on the 19th of May. But the committee have included the votes of these towns in the foregoing result.The votes from the town of Canterbury, being for John H. Steele 112, for Anthony Colby 75, for Daniel Hoit 13, scattering 9, are not included in the count, it not appearing by the return that the meeting was holden in any town or county. The committee, however, in rejecting these votes, would not sanction the principle that the official neglect of a returning officer is to deprive the legal voters of a town of their constitutional right of suffrage. The legislature may undoubtedly, in cases of sufficient importance, go behind the return to ascertain the facts; but in this case the committee have not deemed it necessary to go into any inquiry. From the town of Bedford no return has been received.

The committee have instructed me to report the following resolution.

CHARLES LANE, for the committee. Resolved, That John II. Steele, having received a majority of all the votes cast in the several towns and places in this State, is duly and constitutionally elected Governor of the State for the ensuing political year.

On the question,

Shall the resolution reported by said committee be adopted? It was decided in the affirmative.

On motion

The convention rose and the Senate withdrew.

IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

On motion of Mr. Boylston

Resolved, That a committee be appointed on the part of the House, with such as the Senate may join, to procure three hundred printed copies of the rules of the House, the rules of the Senate, the joint rules of the two Houses, the constitution of the United States, the constitution of the State of New Hampshire, the names of the several members of the legislature and its officers, the place of residence, boarding place and number of the seat of each member, together with a list of the standing committees in each of its branches, for the use of both branches of the legislature the present session.

Ordered, That Messrs. Boylston, Poor and Fellows, be the committee on the part of the House.

Ordered, That the clerk request the concurrence of the Senate therein.

On motion of Mr. Blaisdell of Lebanon

Resolved, That a committee of ten be appointed on the part of the House, with such as the Senate may join, to wait, upon His Excellency, John H. Steele, the Governor elect, and inform him of his election as Governor of the State of New Hampshire for the ensuing political year, and that the legislature will be ready to receive any communication he may be pleased to make. Ordered, That Messrs. Blaisdell of Lebanon, Wentworth, Frost, Demeritt of Lee, Magoon, Jones of Bradford, Baldwin, Batcheller, Summers and Williams, be the committee on the part of the House.

Ordered, That the clerk request the concurrence of the Senate therein.

The following message was received from the Senate by their clerk:

"Mr. Speaker-The Senate concur with the House of Representatives, in the passage of a resolution, appointing a committee to wait upon John H. Steele, the Governor elect, and inform him of his election, and that the legislature will be ready to receive any communication he may be pleased to make, and have on their part joined Messrs. Smith and Hale."

Mr. Blaisdell of Lebanon, from the committee, appointed to wait upon His Excellency John H. Steele, the Governor elect, and inform him of his election as Governor of the State of New

Hampshire for the ensuing political year, and that the legislature will be ready to receive any communication which he may be pleased to make, reported that they had attended to the duty assigned them, and that His Excellency replied, that he would meet the legislature in the Representatives' Hall immediately, and accept said office, and take and subscribe the oaths prescribed by the constitution, at which time he would make a communication to the legislature.

On motion of Mr. Atwood

Resolved, That the House are ready to meet the Senate in convention, for the purpose of proceeding in the elections, agreeably to the provisions of the constitution.

IN CONVENTION.

The Senate and House of Representatives being assembled in convention in the Representatives' Hall, His Excellency, John H. Steele, the Governor elect, came in, attended by the Honorable the Council, and escorted by the committees of both branches of the legislature, and manifested his acceptance of the office of Governor of this State. He then took and subscribed the oath of office before the President of the Senate and in presence of both branches of the legislature, when the Hon. Asa P. Cate, President of the Senate, declared His Excellency John H. Steele, Governor of the State of New Hampshire for the ensuing political year, and presented him with a copy of the constitu tion, as a guide in the discharge of his official duties.

His Excellency the Governor, then made to the legislature the following

ADDRESS.

Gentlemen of the Senate and

House of Representatives:is

Before proceeding to recommend to your consideration such subjects as to me appear to call for a share of your attention, suffer me to tender to you, and through you to our constituents, my heartfelt thanks for their manly and generous support. All that remains of life will be too short to enable me to repay the debt of gratitude which I owe to the citizens of New Hampshire. They have the right

to expect from me, and I have the disposition to render to them, service to the extent of my abilities; and although I never sought for or again expect or even wish to be a candidate for any public office; yet as long as life is spared or reason left to guide, I can never cease to cherish a grateful remembrance of their unexpected favors, nor cease to advocate that which I believe to be right, and openly condemn that which I believe to be wrong.

Coming as you do from all parts of the State, you are much better acquainted with the wants and wishes of the people, than it is possible for me to be. Such measures as you may see fit to take, will receive from me that consideration which their importance demands, and nothing but a strong conviction of duty will induce me to interpose any objections to the enactments which you may see fit to make. Foremost, if not paramount to all other subjects claiming a share of your attention, are our primary schools. If these are neglected or suffered to languish for the want of attention, from a wrong direction given, or inadequate support, the main corner stone of the foundation on which rests our social as well as political fabric, will be undermined. Ignorance, with all its accompanying evils, indolence, superstition, bigotry, vice and folly, will usurp the place of knowledge, virtue, benevolence and rational liberty, and our posterity will inevitably become fit subjects to be moulded into serfs for tyrants to rule over, and in the end become so far degraded as to extol as an act of liberality, the occasional distribution of a few thousands by their rulers, or rather masters, out of the many millions extorted from their own hard earnings. To avoid such results, I cannot forbear recommending to your serious consideration, the propriety, if not indispensable necessity, of providing at least, for some mode whereby an accurate knowledge of the present state of our schools shall annually be laid before the Legislature. Situated as we now are, without well authenticated facts to guide us, we are liable to be misled, even by those who are truly the friends of primary schools. That something should be done, is to my mind most clear. A beginning should be made, and to you, gentlemen, the public are anxiously looking for action.

Although there is in the minds of many a desire to have our present military system altered or amended, there are, I