high character and influence of their great commander, and their ardent enthusiasm in favour of independence and against England, kept them together till a loan was obtained from France.

The degree in which the popular will should predominate under the new constitution was the subject of much consideration and debate, and gave rise to two great parties. The Federalist party comprehended the ablest and most illustrious Americans, as Washington, Hamilton, Adams, Madison, and Jay, who were convinced of the excellence of the British constitution and of the necessity of a vigorous executive. The ascendancy of the Federalists was of short duration. Washington was elected the first President of the United States in 1789; the next was Adams; and in the year 1800 Jefferson was appointed his successor. Jefferson's election as President at the commencement of the present century may be considered as the æra of the ascendancy of the democratic party, which is now entirely dominant.

The constitution of the United States was prepared by a body of the most eminent citizens, on a great and sudden emergency. But without disparagement to their talents and integrity it may be affirmed, that a government so formed can only be a legislative experiment. That experiment is with how little restraint and controul can a great nation continue to exist in social order and happiness? It has been made under the most favourable circumstances, in a newly discovered continent, remote from disturbing causes; and were it successful, it would not be a precedent for European kingdoms. A democratic government has doubtless in many respects been well suited to the developement of the resources of America, during its colonization by persons of all nations, conditions, and characters, scattered over its wide domain, dwellers often in solitary

independence. But when the waste lands shall be nearly occupied, and the people become crowded together in cities, then the period of trial will come. It is only fifty-three years since Washington was first elected President. The government has since become more and more democratic, and time and events must prove whether it can last.

But the foundation of the British constitution is laid deep, in a monarchy of more than a thousand years' duration. We trace it in the customs of our Saxon ancestors; in their Wittenagemote, or national council, in the wise laws of Alfred, in the charters obtained from our monarchs, in the concessions made by Charles I. to Parliament. It withstood the rude shock of civil war and usurpation. The monarchy was again restored; and at length, in the year 1688, that ever memorable and glorious æra of our history, the government was clearly, solemnly, and wisely defined and settled on the solid and lasting basis of our protestant religion and our ancient liberties.*

Thus the British constitution was not the contrivance of a congress, or assembly of politicians, at any given period. It has grown like the stately oak, to which it has often been compared, firmly rooted in the native soil, where it flourishes with venerable beauty and the strength of years. It has been matured, as the character of a man ripens and improves by education and experience, to wisdom and virtue. It has been perfected by various trials and successes, by the mutual conflicts and concessions of the several estates of the

* King William's first declaration stated, "that he had nothing before his eyes in this undertaking, but the preservation of the protestant religion, and the securing to the nation the free enjoyment of their laws, rights, and liberties, under a just and legal government." See also the Bill of Rights.

realm, during which errors and abuses have been corrected, the best checks against tyranny and violence, and the strongest safeguards of liberty have been established. "Our ancestors," as Burke beautifully observes, "by the modesty as well as by the energy of their minds, went on insensibly drawing this constitution nearer and nearer to its perfection, by never departing from its fundamental principles, nor introducing any amendment, which had not a subsisting root in the laws, constitution, and usages of the kingdom."

Hence the people of England will not destroy their constitution, until the lofty spirit of their ancestors shall have fled, and their characteristic love of justice, order, and freedom, their respect for religion, morality, and law, shall have disappeared in turbulent folly and base degeneracy. Together have the British character and the British constitution flourished, and together only will they perish.

PROVINCIAL

INSTITUTIONS-OUTLINE

OF AMERICAN CONSTITUTION.

LECTURE II.

Close resemblance between the municipal and provincial institutions of England and America-Outline of the American constitution-The federal government of the United States-If at the æra of the French Revolution and of the new constitution of America, Great Britain had been a republic, could she have preserved her freedom?

On the wise and equitable principle, that concerns in which individuals and communities are immediately interested, are best conducted by themselves, the business of parishes, towns, and cities, is managed in England, in vestries, in petty sessions, in quarter sessions, chosen by and from among the people. From the great public works of our commercial cities, to the repairs of a parish road or sewer,—from the highest to the lowest offences within the range of local jurisdiction, matters relating to the prosperity, convenience, security, health, and morals of particular neighbourhoods, are placed under the direction of individuals and corporate bodies appointed and residing there.

In the United States the same admirable system exists, with variations as to the details, which it would be tedious to mention.

In the smaller towns of the northern states, the inhabitants choose annually "Select men," from three to nine in number, in whom the municipal authority is chiefly vested. They usually act on their own responsibility, carrying out principles previously recognized by the majority. But when any thing unusual is to be done, or if ten citizens demand a town meeting, the select men must summon it. In the smaller towns there are some deviations from this system: the larger ones have a mayor and corporation. Besides the select men, there are nineteen principal officers in a town, annually elected, and most of whom have salaries.

From England the Americans have adopted the office of justice of the peace. They have sessions and also grand juries, commissioners for turnpikes and sewers, and other county and parish officers. In the southern states the power of the local authorities in the towns is more limited, and in the counties it is greater. Between this part of the institutions of England and those of America, there is a near family resemblance.

"Facies non omnibus una :

Nec diversa tamen; qualem decet esse sororum."

In both countries the state leaves the conduct of local affairs to local officers, who are amenable to the courts of law for the neglect or abuse of their authority. These municipal and provincial institutions are strongholds of liberty, and nurseries of patriotic feeling. They are invaluable privileges, whose good effects are manifest in the unfettered activity which prevails in this country.

Even in undertakings of great magnitude, which are rather national than merely local, as railways, the legislature gives full scope to individual enterprize, interfering only for the protection of vested rights and