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Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN ". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s 6 des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmd 6 partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche 6 droite, et de haut en bas. en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 NOTES ON FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS, PAST AND PRESENT. BY THE HON. THOS. D'ARCY McGEE, M.R.I.A. With an Appendix, containing the Federal Consti- tution OF the New Zealand Colonies. " I would form an individual model, suited to the character, disposition, wants, and circumstances of tlie country, and I would make all exertions, wliether by action or by writing, within the limits of the cxistins law, for ameliorating its existing condition, and bringing it nearer to the model selected for imitation."— Sill Gi:<). CoiUN-EWALL Ljiwi.'^.— ^ Dialogue cm the best form of Government. page 117. Potttvf al : PUBLISDED BY DAWSON BROTHERS. 1865. Price 25 Cents. JOHN LOVELL, PKINTER. ^1 ^0 'gi^ ^xrdtcncB mu liflht i0tt. mm^ mm mmmW pond;, ®hiis ([^otttvUitttiott to the ! ApL'KNDIX '^'^ e. 7/S?<^/ ^ / ^-XJ^CL^^ / I. — On the Federal Government of the (J reeks. Mr. Grote concludes his admirablo History of Greece with the exi)loits and death of Alexan(h3r ( J>.(J. 'V2?>), It i« certainly a striking and appropriate conch ision. In the twelve years' reign of the Macedonian con(|ueror, the Hellenic genius seemed to blaze \\\) to its utmost height, to cast its far reflections over the whole earth, to waver, to subside, and almost to ex})irc. For an epic close to an epic story, the career of that earlier " scourge of God," so s})lendid in his rise, so resistless in his [)rimc, so lamentable in his death, could not have been crpialled. But witluh-awing our attention, even from such a personage as Alexander, and freeing our- selves, by an effort, from the fascinations of such a writer as Mr. Grote, we dare \mite in opinion with those Avho hold^ that the century after the great con([ueror's death, is not the least glorious or instructive hi Grecian history. This was the century when the famous Federations, or Leagues, of il^]tolia and Achaia, with their lesser imitators, played so important a part in the affairs, not only of Greece proper, but of the whole Ilelk'nic world. It was the century of the foundation of Greek dynasties at Alexandria and Antioch ; the century of the Antigonid kings in Maccdon ; of Phokion and Deme- trius at Athens ; of Aratos and Philopoimen among the Achaians ; and of Kleomines in Sparta. But the political characteristic which, of all others, commends it most to our attention, is the disposition to federalize, then first followed out, practically and perscveringly, by the Greeks of the fatherland. No trait of public character was more invariable in the 8 earlier and licttcr known .'i.l^ch of (Irerce, than the jeal<-Misy witli wliieh <'aeli cninniuiiity ,LMinrile(l its own autonomy. Tlio ImndreU and fil'ty (•on>titutions ^vllieh iVristotlc eolleeti'tl, in the a;_'c of Alexander, represented, of eourse, as many opulous. Aigion was at first tlie Federal capital ; but Philopoimen, (B.C. 194) introduced the system of meeting in the prin- cipal cities by rotation, — a change which is thought by some i 11 historians to have hastened the downfall of the government it was intended to strengthen. The Achaian Constitution consisted in the first place of a primar}^ general assembly, convoked twice a year ; a commit- tee of the assembly acting as a sort of senate ; a commander- in-chief, chosen annually ; with a council of ten. The com- mander-in-chief was also the leader, if not the president of the general asseml)ly, and seems to have centred in his own person the highest civil as well as military powers. No citizen could fill this office two years in succession, as we learn from the life of the all-powerful Aratos, who was compelled to rest content with being in command every second year. As the sessions of the general assembly rarely exceeded three days in duration, the real power rested with the commander-in-chief, his council, and the senatorial com- mittee or commission. It is now more than eighty years ago since the two closest students of Federal princijiles that America has produced,* t)bserved, " Could tlie interior structure and regular opera- tion of the Achaian League be ascertained, it is probable that more light might ])e thrown by it on the science of Federal government, than by any of the like experiments with which we are acquainted." Recent researches, the results of which may be ])ricfly stated, have gone a long way to supply this desideratum, as pointed out in the Federalist. It seems certain the general government, under the Achuian Constitution, was sovereign ; that it sent and re- ceived ambassadors, enlisted and maintained troops, coined money, and performed other acts of sovereignty. As in all Greek communities — except the avowed monarchies — the final vote, on peace, or war, or foreign alliances, Avas sub- mitted to the people — that is, to the general assembly. The assemljly, though open to all freemen, was practically in the * Madison and Hamilton. — FideraUst, No. 18 (a joint composition). I 12 hands of what a modem democrat wouhl call the aristocracy — the hest educated men, of wealth, leisure, and good family. The vote, however, was taken by cities, not by the poll, which would seem to im|>ly some sort of delegation of autho- rity to those who were to speak for all their fellow-citizens. Each city had but one vote — an arbitrary arrangement, irre- spective of the wealth or po\Yer of the city, which must have been felt to be unjust by such communities as Corinth and Argos, when they were outvoted by Aigion, and towns of that size. The only Confederation of antiquity which seems to have graduated the votes of its members, with reference to their relative importance, Avas the Lykian League. But Lykia was a non-llellenic State, and is not now under con- sideration. From the extreme shortness of the popular session, as Mr. Freeman remarks, it is evident the initiation of almost all measures to be submitted to the assembly must have devolved on the government. At an extraordinary session, from the very nature of the emergency, this must have been more exclusively so. The council of ten — one from each ot ten cities, afterwards enlarged— seems to have sat, in execu- tive session, as is the case at Washington ; but with some material points of difterence. It often sat Avhen the assembly did not ; assisted in preparing measures for the assembly; and received and heard ambassadors, after the Roman man- ner. There does not appear to have been any system of Federal taxation established ; but in its stead requisitions were made annually, for a certain contingent contribution, from the different cities. The commander-in-chief had authority to call out the Avholc military force of the Confederates ; but there Avas in addition a standing Federal force, of Avhom a certain proportion Avere mercenary troops. The lives of Aratos and Philopoimen, the greatest states- man and the greatest soldier of the Achaian Union, must be familiar to all readers of Polybius and Plutarch. 1 13 T Aratos was born at Sikyon, on the bay of Corinth, B.C. 271. At the age of seven he, of all his family, escaped with life from a local tyrant who had usurped the city. Educated at Argos, the youthful exile, at the ago of twenty, by a night surprise as daring as anything in history, delivered his native city from her tyrant, ^^ithout the eftusion of blood. In that hour he laid the foundations of a popularity which he never wholly lost ; Avhich placed him twelve or thirteen several times at the head of tlie Achaians, and gave him the first place among the Creeks of his day. The policy of Aratos, during the nearly forty years of his domination, at first led him to lean on that one of Alexander's successors, established in Egypt, rather than on Macedon. He endeavored to use, and not without success, the Ptolemies against the Antigonids. Egypt was not too far for an ally, while INIacedon was near enough for an enemy. The aid lie chiefly derived from Alexandria was money ; of which Ptolemy Philadelphos is said to have given him from time to time 170 talents. By him the Macedonian garrison was surprised and expelled from Akrokorinthos, the key of the Peloponnesus. By him Corinth, Megara, Megalopolis, Argos, and other great cities, were brought into the Union. The dream of his life was to have added Athens to the rest, either by persuasion or conquest ; but the degenerate capital of Attica preferred its nominal autonomy and real dependence on Macedon, to the headship of the noblest native alliance ever formed in Greece. When Phokion was the first in authority, and the living Demetrius was worshipped as a god, no wonder Aratos failed in all his efforts. With the Spartan kings, the Boeotians, and the iEtohan league, he at first formed an alliance against Macedon, for what was called " the Demetrian war," one battle in which, at least, was fought as far northward as Thessaly. The shifting necessities of the allies, however, soon ranged them upon opposite sides. The ^tolians made peace with Macedon ; while the Spartans who, under Agis, 14 fought side by side with the Achaians, became, under Klcomines, the most formidable assailants of the united cities. In three campaigns (B.C. 226-224), the Spartans won three pitched battles over the Achaians, and otherwise broke their ascendancy in Southem Greece. Kleomines himself would willingly have joined the Union, but only on condition of making Sparta its capital, and himself its general. Rather than submit to this dictation, the Federal assembly agreed (B.C. 224) to invite the king of Macedon into Pelopon- nesus, as a protector ; a fatal altci-native, Avhich embittered the last years, if it did not literally occasion the death, of Aratos. At this period, the true policy of Greece, could her States and statesmen have seen it, as Isocrates had long before advocated, and Agelaos and other patriotic Greeks again contended, might have been a general Union, under the headship of Macedon. Macedon was the northern barrier of Greece, and the Romans were already established in Illyria. But instead of a closer Union, we find the Achaian League, engaged on one side, and the iEtolian League, on the other, in the suicidal " Social War." We need not be surprised, if in another generation Rome had swallowed up the iEtolians, and in yet another, the Achaians themselves. After the death of Aratos (B.C. 213), the last stand was made for Federal Greece, by Philopoimen, of Megalo- polis. The Romans call this illustrious man, " the last of the Greeks;" and Plutarch tells us, " Greece loved him exceed- ingly, as the child of her old age." He was, however, the very opposite of Aratos, a daring and capable soldier, rather than a profound statesman. His greatest political successes were, bringing Sparta into the league, and keei)ing the Union intact against the intrigues of the Romans. He was for the eighth time general, when, in the 70th year of his age (B.C. 183), he was captured by the Mcsscnians, who had seceded from the Union, and died the death of Socrates and Demosthenes, taking poison in prison. " He left the 15 League," says Mr. Freeman, " if not what it once had been, yet as flourishing and as independent as any State could hope to be in those evil times. Achaia was still the first of exist- ing republics, the compeer of any existing kingdom." For nearly forty years longer the league continued to exist, at least in name, till the final subjection of Southern Greece by the Consul Mummius (B.C. 147), who was honored by his countrymen therefor, with the surname of Achaiacus. Of the other Federations of the Greeks, though far from being obscure in their time, we have too scanty records to enable us to give a detailed description. I ■f.4 m NOTE ON THE LYKIAN LEAGUE. The Lykian League— though not the work of an Hellenic people, exceeded anything known to the Greeks, in the completeness of its parts. The records of its origin are lost with the language of its citizens ; but we have several Roman notices of it from B.C. 188, to its incorporation into the Empire, under Claudius, (A.D. 50.) In Strabo, the Geogra- pher's time (A.D. 25), it consisted of three and twenty cities ; which cities met in a common assembly, wherever they choose ; the greater cities had three votes each ; and the lesser, one. There seems to have been a senate as well as a general assembly. By tliese bodies the Lykiarch, or chief magistrate was chosen ; the Federal judges, and other magistrates. Before its alliance with Rome, the Federal power con- cluded peace, or made war, contracted alliances, coined money, &c., &c. The outlines of this Constitution Imve excited the admiration of many high political authorities, considering the state of knowledge which prevailed in the ages when it was in being. 17 II. — The Italian Leaguks of the Middle Ages. To the beginning of tlic eleventh century, Miiratori traces the rise of the greater part of the independent governments of Italy, and to the last half of the twelfth, their first attempts at Confederation. The earliest of the Italian Leagues, like those of Greece, arose out of a great military necessity. Frederick J>ar})arossa having been crowned emperor, at Aix-la-Chapelle,in the year 1152, commenced at once tliat series of Italian aggressions which ceased only with his crusade and death — A.D. 111)0. The city of Milan, as it was the chief object of his hostility, so it had the honor as Avell as the foresight to bring about the first Lombard League. In the tenth year of Frederick's reign, this great city, the churches excepted, was laid in ashes ; but from those ashes arose the first and most cele- brated of the Italian Unions. Originally the league consisted of seventeen cities, and the Manpiisate of Malaspina. In 11 TO, the army of the League won the glorious victory of Legnano ; and seven years later they obtained their own con- ditions of peace, by the treaty of Constance.* The league of Lombardy, originally entered into for a period of twenty years, w'as, from time to time, prolonged or renewed, down to the beginning of the Fourteenth century, when the great family of the Visconti, overgrowing all other influences, chaniicd the consular and elective government into a o- ducal and hereditary power. In the century and a half, *For the rise of the Lombard League, see Sisraondi, "Italian Repub- lics," Vol. I. chap. X, and Vol. II, chap. I. B 18 wliicli thus elapsed, tlie Constitution of tlio lca;^uo was rather military than political, — each city prosorviiii^ it:S own con- sul or })0(]esta, and secret or executive council. Tliouirh there was no permanent central authority, occasional congresses of the rulers of the sevm-al cities were IujM. Thus assemhlcd they were called liectorcii Soc'ietalia Lonihanlii' ; ))ut tlieir functions seem to have been simply consultative, without legislative or executive powers per se. Each consul or podosta reported to his council or city; and tlio whole of the citizens, in jjrimary assembly, had the final right to pronounce upon any fundamental change in tlie Constitution, and also, it a[)iicars, on all ({uestions of alliance, })cace, and war. The main defects in the Lombard League, and that of the cities of Tuscany, formed after that model, were : 1. The temporary and precarious conditions of the LTnion ; 2. Per- mitting each member of it to treat separately with foreign powers ; 3. The jealousy of those in power, begetting, on their part, the necessity of placing themselves above the reach of their electors. In Florence, by one ordinance, thirty-seven noble families Avere declared forever incapable of holding office. In Milan and other cities the podesta Avas always a native of another state ; he could not marry within the limits of his government, nor could any of his relatives reside near him ; nor could he eat or drink in the house of any citizen. Sometimes this officer, who had a fixed annual salary, united the highest military and judicial authority, but more com- monly his office was simply judicial. The law, of course, was the Roman law, of which, as well as of classical learning. Federal Italy was the great restorer. The league of Tuscany was founded in imitation of that of Lombardy, with the addition of a strong ecclesiastical ele- ment, infused into it by its greatest promoter, Pope Inno- cent III. The chief civil authority was vested in three Priors, of whom the poet Danto, in the year 1300, was one. There was also a military chief, — the Gonfalionere, — who led 19 the urban and rural militia in war.* In tlio year 1421, this office was filled by Giovanni de Medici, a merchant and politician, who may ho considered the founder of that cele hrated family wiiich was destined to ^^ive Dukes to Tuscany, Queens to France, and Pontifts to ll(ime. The jealousy hetweon the plebeian and patrician orders in the state, manifested itself by many other signs besides the personal restrictions imposed on the podestas of Lombardy. The Florentine Priors were elected only for a term of two months, during which time they were obliged to lodge and cat together, and not to absent themselves fnnn the palace. The Tuscan trades were organized into guilds and close cor- porations, each with its own officers, arms, and stamlard. In the Lombard caj)ital, the first political democratic clubs, la Motta, and la Credenza, exercised a powerful iuHuence. But the [)atricians, in every instance, triumphed in the end. Nor was this revolution effected in all cases \vitho\it tiie con- sent of the people. Weary of the feuds, the j)roscripti ons, and the instability of their defective and precarious leagues, they sanctioned the usur[)ation3 of able and energetic men, like the Visconti and the Meilici, as an escape from anarcliy. Yet notwithstanding the very imperfect form of Federation by which the Tuscan and Lombard cities were governed during the whole of the thirteenth century, they prospered and were greatly distinguished under that re(ji>iie. A cotemporary writer reckons the population of Milan in 1288 at 200,000, while the province could bring into the field 8,000 cava- liers (^miUtes), and 2-10,000 men cajtable of bearing arms. Among other elements of the city population, there are enu- merated 600 notaries, 200 physicians, eiglity schoolmasters, and fifty transcribers of manuscripts. On the discovery of •In 1337, Florence (7!/.,tIie Tuscan League?) could bring 80,000 men into the field ; and tlie annual revenue was estimalcd at :500,000 florins. (Slsmondi passim.) In 1405, Florence acquired Pisa by purchase ; and in 1420, purchased the port we call Leghorn. 20 printing J)otli Milan find Florence Ttecame leading; seats of tlie new art; but Venice, in licr j)eaceful and prosperous isolation, soon siu'passcd, in the number and excellence ot'ber ])rinters, the distracted and degenerate relics of both Confederacies. To Italy, in these a.ges, we owe the re<^ular estal)lishnicnt of consuls and ambassadors ; the first attempts at a balance of power ; the revival of Roman law and classical studies ; the great Italian schools of art ; the inventions of book-keep- ing and blinking ; and the discovery of America. It was the age also of the great masters of the Italian language, in prose and verse, from Dante to MachiavcUi and Ariosto. An attempt to establish a Federal government for all Italy, was made by the Roman tribune, l^ienzi, durhig his first administration — A.I). 184:7. " Could passion," says Gibbon, in describing this attem})t, *■' have listened to reason ; could private interest have yielded to the public welfare, the su- preme tribunal and Confederate union of the Italian re[)ublic might have healed their intestine discord, and closed the Alps against the Barbarians of the North. Rut the ])ropitious season had elapsed; and if Venice, Florence, Sienna, Perugia, and many inferior cities offered their lives and fortunes to the good estate^ the tyrants of Lombardy and Tuscany must de- spise or hate the plebeian author of a free Constitution."* We have seen, in our own days, a project of Italian Con- federation emanating from an immeasurably more influential author than Rienzi, and meeting with no better success. * Decline and Fall, chap. LXX. 21 in. — The Swiss Confedkuation. Ax old German rhyme says: " When the lowly wopt, iiiul tyrants stormed, The Swiss Confederacy was formed." The horoic story of William Toll — told as it is in such a scene — has been, no douht, overlaid with fictitious details ; but the Contbdcratiou of thirty-one Swis.s and Swabian cities in the year loy the Federal Act — signed at Zurich in August, 1815 — an amended Constitution was es- tablished ; and three months lat(n* the neutrality of Switzer- land was recognized by the Allies, at Paris. In I8i)0, and again in 1848, the cantons experienced the prevailing revolutionary paroxysm ; but the democratic changes introduced, have been confined to the local Consti- tutions, Neufchatel has returned to its ancient relations to Prussia ; and Berne has become the fixed Federal capital, instead of the former rotatory system, l)y which the Diet assembled in turn at Berne, Zurich, and Lucerne. The Federal Act of 1815 still remains in its integrity, the Con- stitution of all the united cantons. This Constitution has evidently been borrowed in good part, from that of the United States of America, while re- taining something of French revolutionary principles. The objects of the Union are declared to be the protection of the country against the foreigner ; to secure tranquillity ; protect the liberties of the Confederacy ; and increase the general prosjierity. Art. 8 declares the cantons sovereign, except in such matters as arc dele;i;ated to the Federal iiovernment ; 23 Wliicli, })y Art. 8, is nntli<»ri/,c(l to dccljiro war, conclude peace, and cntci" into treaties of customs and comnierco. Art. reserves to the cantons the ri;:ht of niakin;; eoinnier- cinl treaties for themselves — jtrovided they do not conflict with cxistni^ F the ^llf'' of the Confederation, is tJirre irien out oi' *'\vvv hnnracy. Its contribution to the Federal treasury was set down, by Sir William Temple, at fifty-eight per cent, of the whole. (Indeed, the jijn> rata contri])utions of the Pro- vinces Averc little more than a constitutional fiction, and some of tliem have, in extreme cases, been collected only at the point of " the bavonot.") The cliief civil officer in Holland was the Grand Pensionary. He was elected for a term of five years, and was paid a very moderate annual salary for his services. 28 lie was enjoined to use all las cflurt,^ in preserving the iihorties of Holland, yet to be strictly neutral in its internal dispates ; to Avatcli over and report upon the finances of the Province, without the power to direct or diminish expenditure ; to hold corros[)ondence with the ambassadors and allies of the I'ro- vhiccs abroad, — but he was to communicate no seci'ct of state, except under authority of a resolution of the States-general ! He was, in short, a very much hampered sort of secretary of state and the treasury, independent of the stadtholder, but absolutely at the mercy of the legislature. No wonder that even the genius and energy of a DeWitt should give way, under so responsible and so invidious an office ! The writei-s of the Federalist pointed the moral of this creation of inconsistent powers, eighty years ago, when they said, " a weak Constitution must necessarily terminate in dis- solution, for want of proper powers, or irom the usurpation of powers rcipiisite for the public safety."*" Some of these writers lived to see the anarchical system they so keenly dis- sected, overthrown by Bonajiarte, and a kingdom of Holland established by the decree of Europe, in the Treaty of Vienna (A.D. 1815). Yet, with all its faults, it must be said the freedom of the United Provinces was alike favorable to their pros})erity and celebrity. In the first century of their inde- pendence, the Dutch established themselves in the East Indies and America; they perfected the system of connnercial exchanges, loans and annuities, which has ever shice charac- terized P]uropean transactions ; they created a new school of art, to which we owe llubens, Vandyke, and Teniers ; their * "Tlic true patriots" [of the Nethedands] have long bewailed tlic fatal operation of tliese vices [of tlieir Constitution], and liave ninde no less tlian four regular experiments hy cxtraonUnanj aiiscmblifi.<<, convened for the special purpose to apply a remedy. As many times has tlieir laudable zeal found it impossible to unite the puldic Councils in nf,,ini- ing tlie known, the acknowledged, the fatal evils of the existing Consti- tution." — Federulixt, No. XX. scl nal the tht lov Uu coi COI 29 scholarship was illustrated by Strada and Grotins : inter- ii[itioual law may be said to have risen full-armed from among them. Could they have iinitod reverence for authority with the passion for freedom ; could they have carried their intense love of order in private life, into their public business, the United Provinces, in all human probability, might still be counted among the foremost governments of the European continent. 80 v. — The German Confedehation. l]i:i'()iin passing from Eui'0])e to tlic Now "World, the German Oonfedoration remains to be mentioned. I'he ancient empire, known to history for a tlionsand years as tlie Holy lloman-Germanic Empire, ceased to exist in 1800. On the 1st of August, Napoleon declared that he no longer recognized a German Emi)ire ; on the 0th of the same month, Francis II. abdicated the Imperial Crown, and absolved his electors from their allegiance. Francis assumed tlie title of Emperor of Austria ; Bavaria, 'Wurtemljerg and Holland Averc erected into kingdoms; seventeen* Princes of Western Germany formed themselves by Napoleon's direc- tion into the Confederation of the lihine, while Prussia was invited to place herself at the head of a similar Confederation of Northern Germany. The successor of the groat 1^'reder- ick, who chose rather to try conclusions on the field of l)attle, was beaten to the earth, in a single campaign. The Confederation of the Rhine was one of those govern- ments which, according to the present Em])eror of the French, his uncle determined to cstaldish ad interim^ while Europe was being prepared for his permanent system. f Foreign in its origin uiid its dependence; living as it were by the breath of the compieror who had humbled Austria and Prussia, and • The Kings of Bavaria and Wurtemburg, tlio Grand Dukes of Franli- fort, Wnrzburg, Cadcn, Darmstadt, and i>erg ; and the Princes of Nassau (two), Ilolicnzollcrn (two), Salm (two), and llioso of Arembcrg Isenberg, lilidistenstein, and Leydcn. t Considerations sur la Suisse ; an early pamphlet of Napoleon III. 31 abolished tlic ancient cm})irc, it conld liai'dly expect to become an o1)ject of respect to the Gerniun people. The Constitution was copied IVoni the Helvetic model ; tlie FiMb^val Diet ■was to sit at Frankfort, under a Prince-Primate, nomi- nated by Napoleon ; while iM-ance was to retain control in all forei^i^u aft'airs. Founded in an unpatriotic and un-(ierman spirit, it fell without regret, after an inglorious seven years existence. The idea of Confederation had, however, recommended itself to Germany, and found favor with the Allies congre- gated at Paris. Instead of attempting to restore the empire, a new species of union was devised and jinxdaimed. on the 8th June, 1815, — ten days before the final overthrow of Napoleon at Waterloo. This Constitution also owed its origin to foreign influence ; contained in itself many fatal defects ; and has been a fruitful source of agitation, ever since its adoption. In 1820, by the Acte Finale adopted at Vienna, i>'everal amendments were inti'oduccd ; in 18^2, the military (»rganization of the Confederation was fixed by an organic law: but while the Diet has its own ways and means, the well known Zollverein, or Customs union, has never been adopted into the Federal system, and exists only by special (•ompact, among individual States. Commercial intei'course, tlior.'foro, is not among the subjects with which the Diet has has to deal. The frco city of Frank f)rt-on-thc-Mainc is the seat of the Federal authority. The Diet sits in a two-fold capacity. In its first, or strictly federative capacity, no State casts more than one vote, while several small States unitedly cast one : tluis from Austria to Saxony downward each has a single vote, while seven small duchies, and the four remaining '' free cities," jointly, cast one. Austria presides over the Diet, l\y the 124th article of the Constitution as settled at Vienna, in 1815. Whenever fundamental laws, or organic arrangements are to be altered, or Jiniciided, the States of tlio first class cast four votes each ; of the second, three ; of tlie tlnrd, two ; and the fourth, one. Tims, m its federative caiiacity the Avholc vute of the Diet is seventeen; while in its po[)ular cajiacity, it is seventy. The attein[it made in 1848, to revolutionize .the League, and suhstitute in its stead a government i)ro})er, or more per- fect Federation, having f\iiled, the Constitution of 1815, with its amendnuMits, still remains in force. By Art. 11 the Confcdei'ation hinds itself to defend the whole of Germany ; when it declares war, no State can enter hito separate engagements with the enemy ; no State can enter into any alliance directed against the security of the Confederacv ; each State in its controversies Avith another binds itself to submit the same to a commission of the Diet in the first instance, and in the last to a Federal Tribunal, con- stituted for this purpose, from which there is no a])peal. By Art. o") it is declared that the Confederation has the right to make war, conclude peace, and contract alliances, under the Federal xict. By Art. I'll the right to send and receive ambassadors* is also asserted. Arts. 30 to 49 detail the functions of the Diet, under the general provisions of Art. oo. From a careful analysis of the Constitution, Dr. riiillimorc educes the four following propositions : First. That the Germanic Confcdcr;ition maintains with tliose who are members of that league relations of a special international character resting entirely npon the Federal Act of 1815, and further explained by that of 1820, as their sole foundation : but tliat all the members of this league are governed in their relations with other Independent States by the general international law. Secondly. That the mutual rights and duties of the members of this Confederation are wholly distinct from those which exist between them and other States, not members of the Confederation. Thirdly. That the ojieration of the duties and rights growing out of • Phillimore's International Law, Vol. I, page 129. 88 the Constitution of the Confederation, is not only exclusively confined to the independent sovereigns who are members of it, but also to the ter- ritories which belong to them, by virtue of which they were originally incorporated into the Germanic Empire. Fourthly. That the admission of new States, not hein^ German^ into the Confederation, or the admission of States not sovereignties, would conflict with the principle and the objects of the Confederation. Notwithstanding the inherent weakness of the Federal League in Germany, it has certainly preserved the internal peace of the States that arc parties to it, for half a century. It is to be hoped, that we shall never again sec one German power straining every nerve, as in the Seven Years' War, in an unnatural attempt to dismember and destroy another. 34 VI. — The Unitkd Statks. TiiK Constitution of tlic Tnitcd .^tatos ^vas a compromise between state jealousy anil the stron;.^' sentiment of .-{.'H- preservation ; lietween the science and scliohirship oi' such men as the authors of tlie Fi-ilcralist, ami the wild theories of the demagogues of the day. It hetrays, therefore, veiy natui'ally, hoth in its sti'ength and its weakness, in its pro- visions and omissions, the unmistakeable marks of this twofold parentage. The revolutionary war liad closed successfully for the ori^rinal thirteen L'nited States, Avitli the camiiaii^n of 1T<^0. An armistice shoi-tly followed; and a definite treaty of peace, between Great ]>ritainand the United States, acknoAvledging the inde}iendence of the United States, was signed at ]?aris on tlie -U'd of Sejitemher, 17S8. AVhile these negotiations were still ]iending, General AVashington had addressed a cir- cular letter to the governors of eacli of the States in lavor of a more perfect union, and Alexander Hamilton, ii.> liis series of pa}iers called The Contuientalht., pul)lished iit Kow York, and other writers, i>ro and eon, opened up the wliole subject of the relative powers of the state and general governments. From the Declaration of Independence (1770) to the adoption of the Constitution (1789), the thirteen colonies existed under " Articles of Confederation," which articles, as compared with the more definite and authoritative system that followed, might be fairly taken to illustrate the Feder- alists' : more tliim tlii'ce yoai-H out of six. Kacli State i.Kiijitn' .cd iN own (Iclc^atiou, and each had one vole in Con-res^. 'I'*^^ right was reserved to the States, with tlie ('oiinurrene<' i(* Con,ij;ress, of ralsin,i^ troops, e^inlpjiin^Lr armed vessel-, iniposit. ■• customs (hities, making Indian wai's. and entering into cer- tain alHanees. All warlike expenditure was to he repaid to each State in propdrtion to the valuation of its real jn-operty ; but tlie collection of taxes to meet these paynuuits was sub- ject to tlie authority and direction (»f the local legislatures. Congress reserv(Ml to itself a general treaty-making i)(»wer ; the right of arliitrating between the States by (^'ongressional conunissioners ; to coin money; to make loans on the general credit; to raise forces by land and sea; and to apj.oint a conunander-in-chief, j>;-oi'/(A't/, in the two last cases, that nine out of the tliirti'cn States concurred. As to the executive };0Aver. it was exercised — so far as it existed at all — by a president of Congivss, vvlio could ■^crve only one year hi three; and by a '* (jonnnittee of Stales," comjiosed of one delegate from each State, whose I'unctions were in some sort senatorial, oxcej^t thai they continued in existence (hiring the recesses of Congress. The general body might be convoked anyAvhere witliin the Union, and no adjournment could be for a longer period than six months.* After several years' trial of this sort of '• league," (as it was correctly called in the Articles themselves,) the leading and best minds among the Americans became convinced that the then Constitution was wholly inadctpiatc to the ends of government. Among those who were most instnmiental in converting the Confederacy into a National Government, were, Washington, Hamilton, Madison, Jay, Adams, Wilson, King, Franklin, the Morrisses, Phickneys, Carrolls, lloger * By Art. XI. jirovision was maile for tlie admission of Canada into the Union, on "joining in the mcasnres of the United States,'' but no other colony could he admitted unless by the vote of nine States, 86 Shci'tiKiii (if (^)lmocticut, and John Untl(.'(l;!;e of South 0;iro- liii;i. Most of these eminent men were memhers of tlie last cunvoition hv which the Constitution was aihiptetj. l?ut tlieir services were not eonfinetl to tlie convention chamher. ]\y private corresj)on(lence, hy jiuhlished essays, hy h'arned spci'ches. hy (U'U'd States ; lint all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throiigliuut the United States : 2. To borrow money on tlie credit of the United States : 3. To rcgubite coniincrcc with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes; 4. To establish a unifnrm rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the United Stales: 5. To coin money. ri'Ljulate tlie value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weijiChts and measures : • *■ i I- •1' 07 C. To ]ir''vi(l(' for \\w imiii-tlmii'iil of coiiiit'i'lVitiii}? tlio scriirit'n'-i and curi'Piit '■" I of till' riiili'il Stiilc.s : 7. To ' alilisli j)()Jil-oHk'fs iitnl ]iost-roiiils ; 8. To ]iioriioli' till' iproj^i'i'-i.s of scitMiei' aii>l u-rfil urn, by si'('uiinf(, for litniii'il tilIll'^, to uiiiliors iiiiil iiivuiitoiv-i, ilu' fXcliLsivt' ri>;lit to lliuir rejijicftiv writings ami (H.-tcovcric^ : P. To consliluto triliiiimld iiifi'rior to tlic supremo court : 10. Po ilolirie iititl puiii.sli pinicitM iiml tcloiiifs cominiltoil on iln^ I'igh seas, ami oflbnces iiKiiiiisl ilic law of nations : 11. 'i . tU'cIaro war, grant It'tlcr.s of nun 11110 ami rcpri-sal, and make rules onccrning captiiri's on land ami water: 12. To rai.so and support arinii's ; l)iil no api)ropriatioii of inoiu'y to that 1130 shall V)e for a longer term than two years : 13. To provide and niainlalii a navy : 14. To make rule-; for the goverumi^ and regulation of the land and naval forces. U'. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, supi»res3 insurrections, and repel invasions ; 10. To provide for organizing, arming and diseipliiiing the militia, and for governing i?iich parts of them as may be employed in the .-;ervico of the United States, reserving to the states respectively the appoint- ment of the ofticers, and the authority of training the militia, aeeoiding to the discipline prescribed by Congress : 17. To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over 8uch district (not exceeding ten miles scpiare) as may, by cession of particular states, and the accei)tance of Ciingress, become th" .