USA > Rhode Island > The Dorr war; or, The constitutional struggle in Rhode Island > Part 31
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ARTICLE XIV. Of the Adoption of this Constitution.
SECTION I. This constitution, if adopted, shall go into operation on the first Tuesday of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-
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APPENDIX D.
three. The first election of governor, lieutenant - governor, secretary of state, attorney - general, and general treasurer, and of senators and representatives under said constitution, shall be had on the first Wednesday of April next preceding, by the electors qualified under said constitution. And the town and ward meetings therefor shall be warned and conducted as is now pro- vided by law. All civil and military officers now elected, or who shall here- after be elected, by the general assembly, or other competent authority, before the said first Wednesday of April, shall hold their offices and may exercise their powers until the said first Tuesday of May, or until their successors shall be qualified to act. All statutes, public and private, not repugnant to this constitution, shall continue in force until they expire by their own limi- tation, .or are repealed by the general assembly. All charters, contracts, judgments, actions and rights of action shall be as valid as if this constitu- tion had not been made. The present government shall exercise all the powers with which it is now clothed, until the said first Tuesday of May, one thousand eight hundred and forty - three, and until the government under this constitution is duly organized.
SEC. 2. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the state as if this constitution had not been adopted.
SEC. 3. The supreme court, established by this constitution, sliall have the same jurisdiction as the supreme judicial court at present established, and shall have jurisdiction of all causes which may be appealed to, or pend- ing in the same; and shall be held at the same times and places, and in each county, as the present supreme judicial court, until otherwise prescribed by the general assembly.
SEC. 4. The towns of New Shoreliani and Jamestown shall continue to enjoy the exemptions from military duty which they now enjoy, until other- wise prescribed by law.
Done in convention, at East Greenwich, this fifth day of November, A. D., one thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
JAMES FENNER, President. HENRY Y. CRANSTON, L'ice-Pres't.
THOMAS A. JENCKES, WALTER W. UPDIKE, Secretaries.
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ARTICLES OF AMENDMENT.
ADOPTED NOVEMBER, IS54.
ARTICLE I.
It shall not be necessary for the town or ward clerks to keep and transmit to the general assembly a list or register of all persons voting for general officers; but the general assembly shall have power to pass such laws on the subject as they may deem expedient.
ARTICLE II.
The governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall hereafter exclusively exercise the pardoning power, except in cases of im- peaeliment, to the same extent as such power is now exercised by the gen- eral assembly.
ARTICLE III.
There shall be one session of the general assembly, holden annually, commeneing on the last Tuesday in May, at Newport, and an adjournment from the same shall be holden annually at Providence.
ADOPTED AUGUST, 1864. ARTICLE IV.
Eleetors of this state who in time of war, are absent from the state, in the actual military service of the United States, being otherwise qualified, shall have a right to vote in all elections in the state for eleetors of president and vice - president of the United States, representatives in congress, and general officers of the state. The general assembly shall have full power to provide
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APPENDIX D.
by law for carrying this article into effect; and until such provision shall be made by law, every such absent elector on the day of such elections, may deliver a written or printed ballot, with the names of the persons voted for thereon, and his christian and surname, and his voting residence in the state, written at length on the back thereof, to the officer commanding the regiment or company to which he belongs; and all such ballots, certified by such commanding officer to have been given by the elector whose name is written thereon, and returned by such commanding officer to the secretary of state within the time prescribed by law for counting the votes in such elections, shall be received and counted with the same effect as if given by stich elector in open town, ward, or district meeting: and the clerk of each town or city, until otherwise provided by law, shall, within five days after any such election, transmit to the secretary of state a certified list of the names of all such electors on their respective voting lists.
ADOPTED APRIL 7, 1886.
ARTICLE V.
The manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors to be used as a beverage shall be prohibited. The general assembly shall provide by law for carrying this article into effect.
ARTICLE VI.
All soldiers and sailors of foreign birth, citizens of the United States, who served in the army or navy of the United States froin this state in the late civil war, and who were honorably discharged from such service, shall have the right to vote on all questions in all legally organized town, district or ward meetings, upon the same conditions and under and subject to the same restrictions as native born citizens.
ADOPTED APRIL 4, 188S.
ARTICLE VII.
SECTION 1. Every male citizen of the United States of the age of twenty- one years who has had his residence and home in this state for two years,
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THE DORR WAR.
and in the town or city in which he may offer to vote six months next preceding the time of his voting, and whose name shall be registered in the town or city where he resides on or before the last day of December, in the year next preceding the time of his voting, shall have a right to vote in the election of all civil officers and on all questions in all legally organized town or ward meetings: Provided, that no person shall at any time be allowed to vote in the election of the city council of any city, or upon any proposition to impose a tax, or for the expenditure of money in any town or city, unless he shall within the year next preceding have paid a tax assessed upon his property therein, valued at least at one hundred and thirty-four dollars.
SEC. 2. The assessors of each town and city shall annually assess upon every person, who, if registered, would be qualified to vote, a tax of $1, or such sum as with his other taxes shall amount to $1, which tax shall be paid into the treasury of such town or city and be applied to the support of public schools therein : Provided, that such tax assessed upon any person who has performed military duty, shall be remitted for the year he shall perform such duty; and said tax assessed upon any mariner for any year while he is at sea, or upon any person who by reason of extreme poverty is unable to pay said tax, shall upon application of such mariner or person be remitted. The general assembly shall have power to provide by law for the collection and remission of said tax.
SEC. 3. This amendment shall take in the constitution of the state, the place of sections 2 and 3 of article II, "Of the qualification of electors," which said sections are hereby annulled.
ADOPTED JUNE 20, 1889.
ARTICLE VIII.
Article V. of the amendments to the constitution of this state is hereby annulled.
ADOPTED NOVEMBER 8, 1892. ARTICLE IX.
- SECTION I. Hereafter the general assembly may provide by general law for the creation and control of corporations : Provided, however, that 110 cor-
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APPENDIX D.
poration shall be created with the power to exercise the right of eminent domain, or to acquire franchises in the streets and highiways of towns and cities, except by special act of the general assembly upon a petition for the same, the pendency whereof shall be notified as may be required by law.
SEC. 2. This amendment shall take in the constitution of the state the place of section 17 of article IV., "Of the legislative power," and shall be deemed to be in amendment of said section and article.
ADOPTED NOVEMBER 28, 1893.
ARTICLE X.
SECTION I. In all elections held by the people for state, city, town, ward or district officers, the person or candidate receiving the largest number of votes cast shall be declared elected.
SEC. 2. This amendment shall take in the constitution of the state the place of section 10 of article VIII, "Of elections," which said section is hereby annulled.
APPENDIX E.
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* THE DORRIAD.
THE ATTACK ON THE ARSENAL.
T \H' impatient chief looked on with ire, Blanched was his cheek, but tenfold fire Was flashing in his eye. He threw his martial cloak aside, And, waddling up-he meant to stride -- "Give me the torch," with fury cricd, "And, d- it, let me try !" He seized the match with eager hand, While backward his brave soldiers stand; Three times he waved it in the air,
The cursed Algerines to scare, And bid them all for death prepare ; Then down the glowing match - rope thrust, As though he'd have the cannon burst. Had they not put the ball in first, It very likely would.
But, hark! what sounds astound the ear? Why turns each hero pale with fear? What blanches every lip with fright? What makes cach "General" look so white? And e'en the Governor looks not quite As easy as a Governor might.
The mingled toll of twenty bells, The solemn note of warning tells; And through the ranks the word has past,
* By Henry B. Anthony. Providence Journal, Jan. 7 and 13, 1843 ; May 22, 1892. S. S. Rider & Brother, 1870.
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APPENDIX E.
"The ALGERINES have come at last ! They're turning out in every street, Their tyrant swords we soon shall meet. Already in the torches' glare, Their bayonets gleam in MARKET SQUARE. WEYBOSSET trembles 'neath their tread, Thro' WESTMINSTER their ranks are spread ; And all SOUTH MAIN and BENEFIT, With spears and flashing swords are lit. The INFANTRY are on the route, The NATIONAL, CADETS are out, And those all - fired MARINES, about Two hundred men, all tall and stout. Nor PROVIDENCE alone is stirred - Far down the BAY the news is heard. GREENWICH hath sounded the alarms; NEWPORT and BRISTOL are in arıns. The KENTISH GUARDS, that know not fear,
And half of WARREN's half way here. From PAPOOSE - SQUAW the platoons pour, From NOOSENECK HILL, from SAUKET'S SHORE, From MONTHAUP's grassy side. And if we linger here till light, From ALUM POND to KINGSTON HEIGHT, Will pour one living tide. Down LOUISQUISETT's stony steeps,
Where dark MOSHASSUCK slowly creeps, The note of warning peals; From swift PAWTUXET's fartliest floods, And next we'll know, all HELBURN WOODS Will be upon our heels."
Enough was said, enoughi was heard, They needed not another word. Away, like frightened sheep, they ran, And save himself, they cried, who can. Foremost to start, swiftest to run, Was the brave band of BUFFINGTON. Their gallant leader was not there; Saltpetre he could never bear,
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THE DORR WAR.
While all was safe, there was not one More fiercely brave than BUFFINGTON. No other Captain talked so loud, No otlier Captain stepped so proud; And had you seen him at the head Of his bold volunteers, you'd said That if the State withstood his arms, At least the hen - roosts stood no chance; What could the yeomen from their farms,
When such a knight took up his lance? But when he heard the firelock click, He suddenly was taken sick ;
And when he found with grape they'd loaded, His valor all at once exploded.
As pauses in the upper air The carrier pigeon, just let fly, And circling for a moment there, Starts home with never - erring eye, So DISPEAU paused; but not in doubt If he should run or he should stay ; But only paused till he found out The quickest and the shortest way. Then, straight as ever pigeon darted,
He turned, and for his home he started,
Down the steep hill rolled like a bucket, Nor stopped until he reached Pawtucket. His men had sworn not to desert Their gallant leader, come what miglit, And when they saw how he "cut dirt," True to their oath, they joined the flight. Like hunted deer they flew O'er Christian Hill, down BROADWAY's height And ATWELL'S AVENUE. If some few chanced to lag beliind,
The fault was in their legs and wind.
When the "INVINCIBLES" turned tail, The other corps began to quail, And looked which way to fly.
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APPENDIX E. 1
The " HARMONIOUS REPTILES" turned about, The " PASCOAG RIPGUTS " joined the rout, With Glocester's chosen chivalry. Up looked the "JOHNSTON SAVAGES," (For they had thrown upon the ground Their carcasses at the first sound Of "fire," and shut up both their eyes.) Some on all fours and some upright, They joined in the disastrous flight.
Of all the leaders who went forth To eourt the dangers of that night, CARTER alone and HORACE PEARCE Remained until the morning light. But where, you'll ask, was PARMENTER? And where was BURRINGTON? From honor's post did BAILEY stir ? Did JOHN S. HARRIS run? Where was the eloquent JOHN A. ? Where was the mighty DUTEE J .? And say, did LEVI run away ?
Vain questions ! seek not, Algerine, The motives of such men to seall. Know that great patriots seldom mean To share the dangers that they plan. Enough for them to point the way And leave the rest to meaner clay. These men, in the beginning, saw They were for council, not for war. They kept within their proper sphere, And never went to danger near Enough to run away. Too well they loved the people dear, Not to regard their servants' fate. They saved themselves to save the State, And kept out of the fray. Yet doubt not that they were as bold, As those whose warlike deeds I've told, And had they been as frightened, would Have run as fast as they.
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THE DORR WAR.
Far from this seene of fearful strife,
The DOCTOR passed his quiet life.
For though the Algerines he spurned, For though with patriot fire he burned, And in the battle, to be won, He longed to take the foremost part, Yet ill, he knew, the healing art Could spare her favorite son. Around his brow the laurel green Was tainted by no battle breath, He never harmed an Algerine, Unless lie physieked him to death.
Peaceful the triumphs of his name,
And beer and hot drops all his fame!
Anxious the DOCTOR spent that night, And anxious spent the day,
For well he knew the hour of fight Had eome and passed away. But if the "people " in their might, Had risen from the fray, Or scattered, in inglorious flight, They crushed and broken lay,
He knew not, and his manly heart
Longed in their fate to bear a part, Whatever it might be, Whether their triumph he should sing, Or their defeat bewail. While thus he stood, a man rushed in,
Fresli from the battle's dust and din,
"News from the 'people's' eause I bring, This paper tells the tale." A light on JOHN A.'s visage sped ; He snatched the paper, but he read Defeat instead of vietory. Trembling with fear, despair and rage,
He shook aloft the damp NEW AGE, And shouted Soverinnity. Run, DISPEAU, run; down, GOVERNOR, down, Were the last words of DOCTOR BROWN.
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APPENDIX E.
THE CHEPACHET CAMPAIGN.
T WHERE'S gathering on Rhode Island's shore; There's mustering on each hill ; From every plain her yeomen pour ; Spears every valley fill. The people, rousing in their might, Are arined for vengeance and for fight ; And woe unto the Algerine, Whose luckless neck may stand between The people and their right.
/ On Diamond Hill the beacon - light Is blazing fierce and high ; The answering flame on Acote's height Is flashing to the sky. O'er Chepi - Chuck the banners flout And rings the warning cry ; And hark ! the signal - gun speaks out From Holmes's Brewery.
From Chipinoxet Point they throng, From Quidnick Pond they pour along, From Petaquamscut's stream ; From fair Woonasquatucket's banks; From Devil's Foot, the patriot ranks With swords and bayonets gleam.
In Baker's Hollow, see, they mcet, -- They're thronging fast in Federal street, And Shingle Bridge and Scrabbletown, Beneath their weight are breaking down.
From Yawgoo Pond, from Rice's Mill, From Mishnick Swamp, from Shannock Hill, From Nipmuck's quarried height, From broad Quidneset's plain they start, All swift of limb, and true of heart, All eager for the figlit.
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THE DORR WAR.
And from those regions dark and hilly, In Glocester and " Burrillvilly," Where old romance her charms hath thrown,
And wonder claims the land her own; Where savage tribes are said to roam, And savage beasts still keep their home;
Where, startling up from rock and glen, Fierce cannibals their faces show, And "Anthropplagi, and men Whose heads beneath their shoulders grow."
For now the martial Governor Dorr Hath buckled on that sword for war, And swears he is determined for The Algerines to rout. With him D'Wolf and Potter stand,
And Charley Newell draws his band, And General Sprague so stout.
Brave Elder Bullet takes the field, And many a heart untaught to yield, Beats eager for the fray ; - His war - steed Sheldon mounts upon, The "tricksy Ariel " urges on, And Slocum points the way.
Foremost in courage and in skill, With laurels won on Federal Hill, The Woonsocket Light Infantry Press on for Dorr and victory. Each soldier true, to fear a stranger, Or "fearing nothing except danger."
But not alone on native ranks Did freedom's sacred cause recline ; The cry of "Beauty and the Banks," Aroused the patriots o'er the line; Connecticut her heroes sent ; New York her fiercest warriors lent; With eloquence the Five Points rung ;
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APPENDIX E.
The Pewter Mug delighted hung On Slamm's appeals, on Hopkins' tongue.
Mike Walsh, with twenty Spartans true, To Governor Dorr's assistanee flew, And patriotie gifts were made, The cause of freedomn's hope to aid. What Allen gave, beyond my reach is; But Vanderpool gave- several speeches! Two virtues, in old Sparta's code, With most conspicuous lustre glowed, Courage in war, thieving in peace, Such were the glories of old Greece. If Michael's Spartans did not quite Their Grecian namesakes match in fight, In courage, and in lofty feeling, They more than made it up in stealing. And well thy barn - yards, Foster, and Full well thy hen - roosts, Glos'ter, know The prowess of the Spartan Band, The weight, the foree of Michael's blow.
Cleveland, Connectieut's great chief, Promised assistance and relief ; And Morton pledged his name, Should Heaven and clams give him the power, The suffrage folks might, in that hour, Old Massachusetts claim.
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And Hubbard, mightiest of the host, New Hampshire's Solon and her boast, By his great aneestress had sworn --- (That Old Mother Hubbard, Who went to the cupboard To get her poor dog a bone,) The suffrage banner should be borne, His granite hills upon.
Ne'er men so true in cause so good, As those on Aeote's height, that stood Burning with patriot rage.
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THE DORR WAR.
Ill would it suit my humble verse,
Their many virtues to rehearse. Rather to Charlestown's records go, Rather let Moyamensing show, And Auburn's glowing page, Rather let Blackwell's Island tell The story that it knows full well, How budded 'neath its tender care, The flowers that cast their fruitage there.
The Governor saw with conscious pride, The men who gathered at his side; That bloody sword aloft he drew, And "list my trusty men," he cried - " Here do I swear to stand by you, As long as flows life's crimson tide; - Nor will I ever yield, until I leave my bones upon this hill."
His men received the gallant boast With shouts that shook the rocks around. But hark, a voice! old Acote's ghost Calls out, in anger, from the ground, "If here your bones you mean to lay, Then d --- 11 it, I'll take mine away."
Not mine to sing that dreadful niglit, When, scattered in disastrous flight, The patriot forces left the height ; Not mine to sing that dreadful day, When all the " people " ran away, And left the Algerines full sway, To plunder as they might ; Nor mine, to sing in mournful tunes, That "cooking stove," " them silver spoons," Sad trophies of the figlit.
Some future poet yet shall stand, And high the vengeful strain shall lift ; Shall sing the horrors of that band,
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APPENDIX F.
Which, seized with sacrilegious hand, "Them lasting garters," Rispy Tift. Tremble, ye Algerines: the hour Is hastening, when, with sovereign power, The people shall their rights demand, And rise in vengeance through the land. Morton, with twice ten thousand men For Governor Dorr, shall cross the line ; Dispeau's broad banner shall again O'er serried ranks of thousands shine; The exiles shall their footsteps turn Where freedom's hopes forever burn.
On Acote's height, o'er Dexter's Plain, Freedom's wild shout shall burst again, And franchised freemen join the cry, For beauty, banks and liberty. Brown, shall his snow - white charger mount,
Spencer, "undaunted," thousands count ; And if Wales finds that Paixhan Gun, The cause is safe, the State is won !
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BIBLIOGRAPHY.
THE following list of books, pamphlets, magazines, and newspapers contains nearly all the material bearing upon the subject of this monograph. Burke's Report and the current newspapers furnished the great mass of facts for the story. The proceedings of Congress and of the Rhode Island General Assembly have been of value, as well as a few of the pamphlets. It should be remembered, however, that partisanship lay at the bottom of every pub- lication, and that no statement made in any of the books or periodicals can be accepted without due precaution. The contest was remarkably bitter, and there were absolutely no unprejudiced observers. The secondary material furnished by magazine and general histories is in general not based on a careful examination of sources.
SECONDARY MATERIAL.
Arnold, Samuel G .- History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plan- tations. 2 Vols., New York, 1858-60.
Bancroft, George. - History of the United States. 10th Ed., Vol. II, Boston, 1888. Congdon, Charles T .- Reminiscences of a Journalist. Boston, 1880.
Cooley, Thomas M .- Constitutional Limitations upon the Legislative Powers of the States. Boston, 1868.
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APPENDIX F.
Durfee, Thomas .- Gleaning's from the Judicial History of Rhode Island ( Rhode Island Historical Tracts). Providence, 1883.
Elliot, Jonathan .- Debates. Philadelphia. 5 Vols.
Frieze, Jacob .- A Concise History of the Efforts to Obtain an Extension of Suffrage, 1811 - 42. Providence, 1882.
Goodell, Willian1 .- The Rights and Wrongs of Rhode Island. Oneida Institute. Greene, G. W .- A Short History of Rhode Island. Providence, 1877.
Greene, W. A. and others .- The Providence Plantations for 250 Years. Provi- dence, 1886.
Jameson, John A .- The Constitutional Convention ; its History, Powers, and Modes of Procccding. New York, 1867.
Kettell, Samuel .- Daw's Doings, or The History of the Late War in the Planta- tions. By Sampson Short-and - Fat. Boston, 1842.
King, Daniel .- Life of T. W. Dorr. Boston, 1859.
Perry, Eliz. A .- History of the Town of Gloeester. Providence, 1886.
Poore, B. P .- Charters and Constitutions. 2 Vols., Washington.
Rawle, William .- A View of the Constitution of the United States. 1825.
Rhode Island .- Colonial Records. 10 Vols., Providence, 1856-1865.
Rhode Island .- Manual, 1896-97. Providence, 1897.
Richardson, Erastus .- History of Woonsocket. Woonsocket, 1876. Sergeant, Thomas .- Constitutional Law. 1822.
Staples, W. R .-- Rhode Island in the Continental Congress. Providence, 1870. Story, Joseph .- Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. Boston. Tyler, Lyon G .- Letters and Times of the Tylers. 3 Vols., 1897.
Wharton, Francis .- A Treatise on Criminal Law. 3 Vols., Philadelphia, 1871. Wilson, Bird .- Works of James Wilson. Philadelphia, 1803-4. 3 Vols.
GENERAL MATERIAL.
Adams, John Quincy .- The Social Compact. (Pam.) Providence, 1842. Address of the Democratie Members of the Legislature of Massachusetts to their Constituents and the People of the Commonwealth, with a History of the Pro- ceedings of the Late Session, 1843. (Pam.) Boston, 1843. Address to the Freemen of Rhode Island. By " A Republican Farmer." (Pam.)
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THE DORR WAR.
Address to the People of Rhode Island. From the Convention, March 12, IS34. (Pain.) Providence, 1834.
Anthony, H. B .- Defense of Rhode Island, her Institutions, and her Right to her Representatives in Congress. (Pam.) Washington, 1881.
Anthony, H. B. (Ed.)- The Dorriad. (Poem.) Providence, 1870.
Anthony, H. B. (Ed.)- The Great Slocum Dinner. (Poem.) Providence, 1870.
Aristides (Pseud.)- Political Frauds Exposed, 1836-38. (Pani.)
Arnold, Lemuel H .- Reply to John Whipple. (Pam.) Providence, 1845.
[Bolles, John A.]-" The Affairs of Rhode Island." A Review of Pres. Wayland's Address. (Pam.) Providence, 1842.
Bowen, Francis .- The Recent Contest. in Rhode Island. (Pam.) Boston, 1844. Bradley, Charles S .- Method of Changing Constitutions. (Pam.) Boston, 1885. Burges, Tristam .- Address of a Farmer. (Pam.)
Circular to the People .- Issued March, 1842. ( Broadside.)
Cleaveland, C. F. and others .- Letters to Governor King. (Pam.) Fall River, 1842.
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