"If circumspection and caution are a part of wisdom, when we work only upon ALLIDIE LIBRARY OF LONGMAN AND CO.; HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. BRISTOL STRONG. EDINBURGH BLACKWOOD AND SON DUBLIN MILLIKEN AND CO. 1842. CONTENTS. Discovery of America and contemporaneous events- Common origin of the British and American people and their institutions-Primitive character of the colonists and their final separation from the mother country-important differences in the condition of the two nations-The American constitution was planned Page 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 Revo- lution and of the new constitution of America, Great 107300 Instability of Laws in America-Equality-The Ballot- Universal suffrage-Pledged delegates and free repre- The President of the United States-The British Sove- reign-Their ministers-Elections - Elective and hereditary monarchy-The veto-Mutual relations of the executive and the legislature in both countries -How far these have been affected in England by Judicial institutions of England adopted by the Ameri- cans-Juries-Independence of judges--The supreme court of the United States-Can the religious instruc- tion of a country be adequately provided for without PREFACE. THESE discourses were originally prepared for a literary association at Bristol, designed chiefly for the improvement of young men, by means of a select library, and lectures given by clergymen and gentlemen who take an interest in the institution. The author was afterwards invited to deliver them elsewhere; and to the numerous and most respectable audience, at whose request they are published, he has to apologize for the delay caused by his acceptance of an invitation from the principal inhabitants of Newport, in Monmouthshire, to repeat the course there, at the close of autumn. But he has thus been enabled to extend and illustrate it, by a reference to recent documents and very important events. Great Britain and America having been reunited in amicable bonds, every sincere patriot and philanthropist will desire that their concord may be perpetual, and will mingle his aspirations for the welfare of both countries. An Englishman, how careful soever, to derive his knowledge of the institutions of the United States, from |