tion; and it shall be the duty of said officers to receive the votes of all persons entitled to vote under the old Constitution and under this Constitution. Each voter shall express his opinion by depositing in a separate box, kept for that purpose, a ticket, whereon shall be written "the Constitution accepted," or "the Constitution rejected," or some such word as will distinctly convey the intention of the voter. At the conclusion of said election, which shall be conducted in every respect as the general State election is now conducted, the Commissioners designated to preside over the same, shall carefully examine and count each ballot so deposited, and shall forthwith make due returns thereof to the Secretary of State, in conformity to the provisions of the existing law upon the subject of elections. ART. 151. Upon the receipt of the said returns, or on the fifth Monday of November, if the returns be not sooner received, it shall be the duty of the Governor, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General and the State Treasurer, in the presence of all such persons as may choose to attend, to compare the votes given at the said poll for the ratification and rejection of this Constitution, and if it shall appear from said returns that a majority of all the votes given, is for ratifiying this Constitution, then it shall be the duty of the Governor to make proclamation of that fact, and thenceforth this Constitution shall be ordained and established as the Constitution of the State of Louisiana. But whether this Constitution be accepted or rejected, it shall be the duty of the Governor to cause to be published in the official paper of the Convention the result of the polls, showing the number of votes cast in each parish for and against the said Constitution.

ART. 152. Should this Constitution be accepted by the people, it shall also be the duty of the Governor forthwith to issue his proclamation, declaring the present Legislature, elected under the old Constitution, to be dissolved, and directing the several officers of the State authorized by law to hold elections for members of the General Assembly, to hold an election, at the places designated by law, upon the fourth Monday in December next, for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, members of the General Assembly, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer and Superintendent of Public Education; and the said election shall be conducted, and the returns thereof made, in conformity to the existing laws upon the subject of State elections.

ART. 153. The General Assembly elected under this Constitution shall convene at the State House, in Baton Rouge, upon the third Monday of January next after the elections, and the Governor and Lieutenant Governor elected at the same time, shall be duly installed in office during the first week of the session, and before it shall be competent for the said General Assembly to proceed with the transaction of business.

ART. 154. All the publications herein ordered shall be made in the official journal of the Convention.

ART. 155. This Constitution shall be published in French and English in the official journal of the Convention, from the period of

its adjournment until the first Tuesday of November, 1852, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.

Done at Baton Rouge, July 31st, 1852.

DUNCAN F. KENNER,

Secretary of the Convention.

ROBERT ANDERSON, of Carroll. DESIRE LE BLANC,

JOHN E. KING, of St. Landry. HENRY H. WILCOXON.

SKETCH OF LOUISIANA.

"Like all other European Colonies in America, Louisiana was composed of all the various elements that formed the parent stock. Adventurers from all ranks of society, many indigent and some criminal individuals entered into the mixture from which arose the present population.

Removed to distances the most remote from their native place, men may, for a time, retain many of their established customs; but local position so powerfully influences human action, that habits are acquired which give a distinct feature to society in all places. Something more than a century has elapsed since the colony began to be peopled from Europe; many opinions, the offspring of national or family pride, have been discarded and replaced by others better suited to the new position in which the posterity of the first settlers have been placed.

As the Valley of the Mississippi will for ages be the receptacle of emigrants from the eastern slope of that chain of mountains which divides our country, a developement of its resources, so favorable to agriculture and commerce, must claim no little part of our attention.

The comparative extent of surface, will, even at the present time, if carefully examined, enable the least discerning to trace the future migrations of wealth and power, and determine as far as human foresight can penetrate, the destiny of the United States.

Ferdinand De Soto, in 1539-40, was no doubt the first European who actually travelled the regions near the mouth of the Mississippi, whose adventures have been presented in literature. So extravagant, however, were the then projects of Spanish travellers in pursuit of the precious metals, and so little qualified to collect useful knowledge, that very few precise ideas of the countries through which they roamed, can be collected from their accounts.

We may, therefore, conclude of the voyage of Soto, like many others, that he travelled, but did not discover the countries over which he travelled.

After the voyage of Soto, one hundred and thirty-two years elapsed before further knowledge of Louisiana was obtained by any European nation.

In 1674 two French traders, Joliet and Marquette, reached the

Mississippi by penetrating from Canada through lakes Huron and Michigan, and through the Fort and Wisconsin Rivers.

In 1683, M. De La Salle, Father Louis Hennipen and the Chevalier Zonty, discovered the country now called Louisiana, and which included Arkansas, Missouri and Texas, and the course of the Mississippi.

These adventurers reached that river by the Illinois. M. De La Salle explored the river to the mouth. Hennipen surveyed it upwards above St. Anthony's Falls, went soon after to France, published an account of his discoveries, and named the country Louisiana.

In 1683, De La Salle returned to Canada, and from thence to France, when having assumed command of a small squadron, with which he landed on February 16, 1685, at the mouth of the Guada loupe river, on the bay of Esperitu Santo, and built a fort.

The object of this expedition was to establish a colony on the Mississippi.

From the very defective knowledge then gained of the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico, De La Salle passed the mouth of the Mississippi, and entering a deep and wide bay, he landed his men and effects, thinking himself on the Mississippi, but soon found his fatal error-an establishment was made and a fort built.

The country was taken possession of in the name of the king of France, with the formalities usual on such occasions, practised by European nations in their American conquests.

In 1687, March 19th, De La Salle was murdered by two of his own men, on what is supposed the now Colorado river. Thus perished one of the most active, enterprising and illustrious discoverers that ever traversed the hills of the new world.

Shortly after the death of De La Salle, and the retreat of his brother, the residue of the colony was captured by a Spanish detachment sent from New Leon for that purpose, and the settlement broken up.

Twelve years again elapsed before another attempt was made by the French government to take possession of the regions contiguous to the Mississippi. At length, in 1698 a squadron was sent out to the Gulf of Mexico, commanded by D'Iberville and his brother Bienville.

The choice of the latter officer was fortunate; to his genius, talents and conciliating manners, France stood indebted for the success that crowned an expedition, with very inadequate means.

On January 26, 1699, M. D'Iberville and M. de Bienville arrived at Pensacola, and found the bay and shore occupied by a Spanish force under Don Andre de la Riole. On January 31, the squadron anchored before Dauphin Island.

In the course of the first four months of this year, the coast from Mobile to the efflux of the Manchac, the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain were successfully explored by the French. April 12th, Fort on Biloxi bay was founded.

In May, Iberville sailed for France, Leaving Bienville to command the colony, but returned the same year and resumed the government.