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347 in declaring it as our deliberate opinion that the course pursued by the legislature of last year in filling the vacancies in the Senate & choosing Councillors was imperiously called for by the occasion & fully justified by the provisions of the constitution. We may also add that in consequence of the course adopted by the presiding officer of the Senate of last year none of the four gentlemen elected to fill the vacancies in that body voted on the final passage of a single act or resolve passed by the last legislature so that if it were as clear that the cause pursued in filling the vacancies was unconstitutional as we deem it clear that it was constitutional it is apparent there are no such great & serious doubts as to the constitutionality of these acts & resolves as this Bill asserts. We feel ourselves therefore constrained to say we believe in our consciences this act has been got up & carried through not because it contains as it professes any healing qualities or because it is calculated to allay doubts which are supposed to exist or that it will be efficacious for any useful purposes - it looks to other objects to be effected but of which we may not be permitted here to speak. It establishes a precedent pregnant with evils innumerable & mischiefs which cannot be too deeply deprecated be every virtuous citizen. It inflicts as we believe a wound on the character & honor of the State which years will not heal. From the example thus set future Demagogues who may happen to have an ascendancy in our Legislature may take occasion through a general law thrust into our statute book to collect & condense their political grievances & throw obloquy & contempt on their predecessors & this our statute book will become to a certain extent a common Server through which the party effusions of the day will be transmitted down to posterity. Joshua Lord Samuel Emery Edward E. Bourne John Sanborn David Fernald Richard Shapleigh Th. Fillebrown Lemuel Crabtree John Manchester Joseph Adams Benja. Folsom Elijah L. Hamlin Ebenezer Meigs