uary,
1842, by some of the officers of the convention. On the 13th of April,
officers were appointed under it, and Mr. Dorr was chosen governor. On
Tuesday, the 3d of May, the new legislature met, was organized, and
then, it is insisted, the new constitution became the law of the land.
The legislature sat through that whole day, morning and evening;
adjourned; met the next day, and sat through all that day, morning and
evening, and did a great deal of paper business. It went through the
forms of choosing a Supreme Court, and transacting other business of a
similar kind, and on the evening of the 4th of May it adjourned, to meet
again on the first Monday of July, in Providence,

"And word spake never more."

It never reassembled. This government, then, whatever it was, came into
existence on the _third_ day of May, and went out of existence on the
_fourth_ day of May.

I will now give some references concerning the new constitution
authorized by the government, the old government, and which is now the
constitution of Rhode Island. It was framed in November, 1842. It was
voted upon by the people on the 21st, 22d, and 23d days of November, was
then by them accepted, and became by its own provisions the constitution
of Rhode Island on the first Tuesday of May, 1843.

Now, what, in the mean time, had become of Mr. Dorr's government?
According to the principle of its friends, they are forced to admit that
it was superseded by the new, that is to say, the present government,
because the people accepted the new government. But there was no new
government till May, 1843. According to them, then, there was an
_interregnum_ of a whole year. If Mr. Dorr had had a government, what
became of it? If it ever came in, what put it out of existence? Why did
it not meet on the day to which it had adjourned? It was not displaced
by the new constitution, because that had not been agreed upon in
convention till November. It was not adopted by the people till the last
of November, and it did not go into operation till May. What then had
become of Mr. Dorr's government?

I think it is important to note that the new constitution, established
according to the prescribed forms, came thus into operation in May,
1843, and was admitted by all to be the constitution of the State. What
then happened in the State of Rhode Island? I do not mean to go through
all the trials that were had after this ideal government of Mr. Dorr
ceased to exist; b