Page:Guatimala or the United Provinces of Central America in 1827-8.pdf/192

Rh From the period of the publication of the basis on which the new government was to be founded, the constituent assembly continued its sittings, and on the twenty-second of November, 1824, presented its constitution. This document consists of two hundred and eleven articles, and is divided into sections and chapters.

Article 1. Declares the people of the Federal Republic of Central America sovereign and independent.

Article 11. States thc religion of the republic to be that of the Catholic Apostolic Roman Church, to the exclusion of the public exercise of any other.

Article 12. Declares the republic to be at sacred asylum for every stranger, and the country of all those who wish to reside in its territory.

Article 13. Pronounces every man free in the republic, and declares he cannot be a slave who takes refuge under the laws, nor be a citizen who traffics in slaves.

Articles 14 to 22. Relate to the rights of citizenship.

Articles 23 to 54. Regulate the election of different officers.

Articles 55 to 68. Refer to the organization of the legislative, and declare the intention to build a Federal Capital as soon as circumstances will permit.