Page:The Federal and state constitutions v5.djvu/296

2822 No person shall hold more than one lucrative office under the State at the same time: Provided, That officers in the militia, justices of the peace, commissioners of public charities, and commissioners appointed for special purposes shall not be considered officers within the meaning of this section.

Done in convention at Raleigh the sixteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States the ninety-second. President. Secretary. 



We, the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for the preservation of the American Union, and the existence of our civil, political and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those blessings to us and our posterity, do for the more certain security thereof, and for the better government of this State, ordain and establish this Constitution:

That the great, general and essential principles of liberty and free government may be recognized and established, and that the relations of this State to the Union and Government of the United States, and those of the people of this State to the rest of the American people, may be defined and affirmed, we do declare:

That we hold it to be self-evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, the enjoyment of the fruits of their own labor, and the pursuit of happiness.

That all political power is vested in, and derived from, the people; all government of right originates from the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole.

That the people of this State have the inherent, sole and exclusive right of regulating the internal government and police thereof, and of altering and abolishing their constitution and form of government whenever it may be necessary for their safety and happiness; but every such right should be exercised in pursuance of law, and consistently with the Constitution of the United States.

That this State shall ever remain a member of the American Union; that the people thereof are a part of the American Nation; that there is no right on the part of the State to secede, and that all attempts, from whatever source or upon whatever pretext, to dissolve