History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

428 HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTON. [1V80.
for tlie Town to act thereon," This committee was com.posed
of "Joseph Hawley Esq., M^ Timothy Dwight, Rob-
ert Breck Esq., M^ Benjamin Sheldon, Dea. Josiah Clark,
Capt" Joseph Cook, & M''. Stephen Baker." The meeting
then adjourned to the lirst Monday in May.
Mr. Hawley Criti- Tliis Committee at once took the matter into
cises the New consideration, and Mr. Hawley drew up a
,
Constitution. . „ ... . t ,
series of criticisms upon and suggested va-
rious amendments to the new constitution, which were approved
by the committee, reported to the town, and
adopted by a vote of seventy-nine in favor to six in oppo-
sition. This report covered twenty pages of manuscript. ^
Eighteen propositions to change the document were offered
by the committee, and apparently they were voted upon by
the town as a whole, and not by paragraphs. It is not now
of sufficient importance to recapitulate these amendments.
Many of them were not of great value, and none seem to
have had any effect upon the convention. They were
couched in Mr. Hawley's plain, argumentative and effective
style, and met the aj)probation of his townsmen. The
strongest appeal was in favor of admitting .poll-tax payers
to vote for members of the Legislature without property
qualifications. The new constitution ]3i"ovided that "every
male person twenty-one years of age and upwards, resident
in such towns one year next preceding the annual election
having a freehold estate within the commonwealth of the
annual income of three pounds or other real or personal
estate to the value of £60, shall have the right to vote,'' for
members of the Senate and House of Representatives.
To this Mr. Hawley proposed the following addition : —
" and also every ratable poll, being 21 years of age and
who shall have been a resident of the commonwealth for
the space of three years next preceding, and who shall be
willing to take such oath of allegiance to the Commonwealth
as the Law for the time being shall prescribe."
This proposition he maintained by an elaborate argument.
Having listened to the reading of this report, and after due
consideration of it, the town directed Major Hawley, Mr.
1 This document in Major Hawley's handwriting may be found at the Lenox
Library, N. Y., where it forms part of the Bancroft Collection, and from it the foregoing
facts were derived.