248 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. LESSON 112. Constitution of the United States. As all the youth of America ought to be well acquainted with the constitution of the country in which they live, and to which they must be subject, it will be proper to exhibit its general outlines. A strong sense of the value and blessings of union induced the people at a very early period to institute a federal government to preserve and perpetuate it. They formed it almost as soon as they had a political existence; (1778) nay, at a time when their habitations were in flames, when many of them were bleeding in the field, and when the progress of hostility and desolation left little room for those calm and mature inquiries and reflections which must ever precede the formation of a wise and well balanced government for a free people. It is not to be wondered at, that a government instituted in times so inauspicious, should, on experiment, have been found greatly deficient, and inadequate to the purpose it was intended to answer. The people perceived and regretted these defects. They observed the danger which threatened their union, and more remotely their liberty; and being persuaded that ample security for both could only be found in a national government more wisely framed, deputies from the several states met in convention at Philadelphia (1787,) to take the important subject into consideration. In the mild season of peace, with minds unoccupied with other subjects, they passed many months in cool uninterrupted and daily consultations; and finally, without having been awed by power, or influenced by any passion except love for their country, they presented and recommended to the people the constitution or form of government produced by their joint and very unanimous councils. The government of the United States is called republican. It is a representative democracy. All power resides ultimately in the people; but they exercise it by means of their representatives, or persons chosen by them for that purpose. All the departments of the government are bound to conform CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 249 to the provisions of the constitution, and the act of any one of them, even an act of Congress, if contrary thereto, is void. The most fundamental article in every form of government is the legislative branch, which has the power of making all the laws and regulations to which the whole community must be subject. This, in the United States, consists of a senate and house of representatives, jointly called the Congress, which must be assembled at least once every year. The senate consists of two members from each of the separate states, chosen by the legislatures of each state to serve for six years. The seats of one third of the senators are vacated every two years. The senate tries all persons impeached by the house of representatives; but they can only punish by deprivation of office, or disqualification in future; and the conviction must be by the votes of two thirds of the members present at any trial. The Vice-president presides in the senate, but without a vote, except in case of an equal division of the votes of the other members. No person can be a senator who has not attained to the age of thirty years. The members of the house of representatives must be twenty-five years of age, and they are chosen by the people at large every two years. The number of the representative body varies according to the number of the separate states, and the population of each state. For this purpose an enumeration of all the people must be made every ten years, and the number of representatives must never exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one representative. The senators and representatives receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. All bills for raising revenue must originate in the house of representatives; but the senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills. The judicial power is vested by the constitution in a supreme court, and such inferior courts as Congress shall from time to time appoint; and all the judges hold their office during good behaviour. Besides the ordinary exercise of its power of deciding controversies, it is incident to the judicial power of the United States to pass upon the acts of Congress and decide upon their constitutionality; a power essential to the rights of the people, but not known in any of the governments of Europe. 250 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. The executive power is vested in a President, who is chosen every fourth year by electors appointed in the methods prescribed by the constitutions or legislatures of the separate states. If no person have a majority of the votes of the electors, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for, the house of representatives shall choose the president by ballot. But in choosing the president, the votes must be taken by states, the representatives from each state having one vote. If no person have a majority of the votes of the whole number of electors for vice-president, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the senate shall choose the vice-president. The president must be thirty-five years of age, and he may be re-elected as often as the people please. He is liable to be impeached and removed from office for misbehaviour. He is the commander in chief of the army and navy and by and with the advice and consent of the senate, makes treaties, appoints judges, foreign ministers, and other officers. If the president disapprove of any bill presented to him, after having had the concurrence of both houses, he must give his objections to it; and if two thirds of each house still abide by their first vote, the bill passes into a law, notwithstanding his rejection of it. Besides the general government, whose power for many purposes extends over the whole union, each state has a separate local government, whose jurisdiction is confined to the regulation of its own concerns. These separate governments are all republican, and consist generally of a governor, and two legislative branches, though the powers of the diffe rent departments are variously modelled in the several states. 9. QUESTIONS.-1. When did the people of the United States first form a government? 2. What served to render this government deficient 3. When did a convention meet to form our present constitution? 4. Under what advantages did the members deliberate? 5. How do the people of the United States exercise their power? 6. What power has the legislative branch of government? 7. Of what does this consist in the United States? 8. Describe the senate. House of representatives. 10. Where is the judicial power vested? 11. The executive? 12. Describe the manner of choosing the president and vice-president. 13. What are some of the powers which the constitution gives the president? 14. What is said of the governments of the separate states? [NOTE. The principal subordinate officers in the executive department, are the secretaries of state, of the treasury, of war, and of the navy.] EXCELLENCE OF OUR REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT. 251 LESSON 113. Excellence of our Republican Government Ir is the just pride of the people of the United States, that they have attempted a mode of government which divests itself of all the support which is derived from the honest weaknesses and attachments of the human mind; which, disclaiming all alliance with reverence of ancient authority, or the deep-rooted habits of unthinking obedience, trusts itself, with no other attractions than its own moral worth and dignity, to the custody of our virtues. By subjecting legislative bodies to rule, and holding them under the restraints of those fundamental principles and enactments, which we call the constitution, we have given a new dignity and a higher duty to law, and realized the noble idea of a moral supremacy, clothed with power, to hold not only subjects of the government to a just performance of their various individual duties, but also the government itself, in all its depart ments, in its proper place and sphere. In the brighter moments of our hopes for the future for tunes of our country, we may exclaim with Sir William Jones What constitutes a state? Not high raised battlement or laboured mound, Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned; Where laughing at the storm rich navies ride; Where low browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. With powers as far above dull brutes endued, As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude; But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain, And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain : 252 INTELLIGENCE OF THE PEOPLE. And sovereign law, that state's collected will, Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill. We may be told that this is a vision of a perfect commonwealth; and so it is still the hopes of patriots and sages, amid discouragement and defeat, gather about and rest upon it, with something of that gladness of heart, which the tired traveller feels, when he first descries the sun light upon the distant towers of the happy valley. Although the dangers of American liberty may arise and press upon us from every side, to chastise our hopes and our confidence, the duty of its friends is not doubtful. They must labour to augment that moral force, to which its very existence is committed. N. AM. REView. LESSON 114. Intelligence of the People a means of safety to the Govern In a government like ours, where the supreme control depends on the opinion of the people, it is important certainly that this opinion should be enlightened. "There is no power on earth which sets up its throne in the spirit and souls of men, and in their hearts and imaginations, their assent also and belief, equal to learning and knowledge; and there is scarce one instance brought of a disastrous government, where learned men have been seated at the helm." Now the most certain mode of making learned rulers, is to extend as far as possible the influence of learning to the people from whom the rulers are taken. But intelligence not only makes good rulers, it makes peaceable citizens. It causes men to have just views of the nature, value, and relations of things, the purposes of life, the tendency of actions, to be guided by purer motives, to form nobler resolutions, and press forward to more desirable attainments. Laws will be obeyed, because they are understood and rightly estimat ed. Men will submit cheerfully to good government, and consult the peace of society, in proportion as they learn to |