Great weight has always been attached, and rightly attached, to contemporaneous exposition. Cohens v. Virginia, 6 Wheat. 264.

The opinion of the Federalist has always been considered as of great authority. It is a complete commentary on the Constitution, and is appealed to by all parties on the questions to which that instrument has given birth. Its intrinsic merit entitles it to this high rank, and the part two of its authors performed in framing the Constitution, put it very much in their power to explain the views with which it was framed. Cohens v. Virginia, 6 Wheat. 264.

The views of particular members or the course of proceedings in the convention, can not control the fair meaning and general scope of the Constitution as it was finally framed and now stands. It is a finished document, complete in itself, and to be interpreted in the light of history and of the circumstances of the period in which it was framed. Legal Tender Cases, 12 Wall. 457.

The words "people of the United States" and citizens, are synonymous terms, and mean the same thing. They both describe the political body who form the sovereignty, hold the power and conduct the government through their representatives. They are what are called "the sovereign people," and every citizen is one of this people, and a constituent member of this sovereignty. Dred Scott v. Sandford, 19 How. 393.

By metaphysical refinement, it might be correctly said that there is no such thing as a citizen of the United States. But constant usage, arising from convenience, and perhaps necessity, and dating from the formation of the Union, has given substantial existence to the idea which the term conveys. A citizen of any one of the States of Union, is held to be and called a citizen of the United States, although technically and abstractly there is no such thing. To conceive a citizen of the United States who is not a citizen of some one of the States, is totally foreign to the idea, and inconsistent with the proper construction and common understanding of the expression as used in the Constitution. Ex parte Frank Knowles, 5 Cal. 300.

The Constitution is a law for rulers and people equally, in war and in peace, and covers, with the shield of its protection, all classes of men at all times and under all circumstances. No doctrine involving more pernicious consequences was ever invented by the wit of man, than that any of its provisions can be suspended during any of the great exigencies of government. Ex parte Milligan, 4 Wall. 2.

In construing the Constitution, no principle not declared can be admissible which would defeat the legitimate operations of a supreme government. It is of the very essence of supremacy to remove all obstacles to its action within its own sphere, and so to modify every power vested in subordinate governments as to exempt its own operations from their in

fluence. This effect need not be stated in terms. It is so involved in the declaration of supremacy, so necessarily implied in it, that the expression of it could not make it more certain. M'Culloch'v. State, 4 Wheat. 316

In construing clauses in the Constitution which involve conflicting powers of the government of the Union and the governments of the respective States, it is proper to take a view of the literal meaning of the words to be expounded, of their connection with other words, and of the general objects to be accomplished by the prohibitory clause or by the grant of power. Brown v. State, 12 Wheat. 419.

In construing the Constitution, courts of justice should breathe a spirit of harmony and conciliation. The powers of the States and of the United States often approach each other so nearly that the line of division is almost invisible. While the laws of both, then, may be executed without clashing, they should be supported unless they are manifestly in violation of the Constitution. Houston v. Moore, 5 Wheat. 1; S. C. 3 S. & R. 169; Charleston v. Rogers, 2 McC. 495.

ARTICLE I.

SECTION I.

1. All legislative powers herein granted, shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

SECTION II.

1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States; and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature.

2. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained the age, of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

3. Representatives and direct taxes (a) shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the

whole number of free persons, including those_bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians' not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three; Massachusetts, eight; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, one; Connecticut, five; New York, six; New Jersey, four; Pennsylvania, eight; Delaware, one; Maryland, six; Virginia, ten; North Carolina, five; South Carolina, five; and Georgia, three.

Taxes.

(4) The object of this regulation is to furnish a standard by which taxes are to be apportioned, not to exempt from their operation any part of the country. Had the intention been to exempt from taxation those who were not represented in Congress, that intention would have been expressed in direct terms. The power having been expressly granted, the exception would have been expressly made. But a limitation can scarcely be said to be insinuated. The words used do not mean that direct taxes shall be imposed on States only which are represented or shall be apportioned to representatives, but that direct taxation, in its application to States, shall be apportioned to numbers. This clause was obviously not intended to create any exemption from taxation, or to make taxation dependent on representation, but to furnish a standard for the apportionment of each on the States. Loughborough v. Blake, 5 Wheat. 317.

If a direct tax be laid at all, it must be laid on every State conformably to the rule provided in the Constitution. Congress has clearly no power to exempt any State from its due share of the burden. But this regulation is expressly confined to the States, and creates no necessity for extending the tax to the District of Columbia or the territories. Loughborough v. Blake, 5 Wheat. 317.

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment.

SECTION III.

1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; and each senator shall have one vote.

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided, as equally as may be, into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year; of the second class, at the expiration of the fourth year; and of the third class, at the expiration of the sixth year: so that one

third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen, by resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.

3. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

4. The Vice President of the United States shall be' president of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States.

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.

7. Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law.

SECTION IV.

1. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may, at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing

senators.

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

SECTION V.

1. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members; and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each' house may provide.

Whether a senator has been regularly elected is a question exclusively for the Senate of the United States. Anon. 12 Fla. 686.

2. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.

Contempts.

The exercise of the powers given over their own members is of such a delicate nature, that a constitutional provision became necessary to assert or communicate it. Constituted as that body is of the delegates of confederated States, some such provision was necessary to guard against their