additional veto, which can always be overruled by a majority of two-thirds, for any debateable measure.

In the United Congress are vested the power and right of determining peace or war, of raising armies, voting and levying supplies, and, as already said, with the consent of the President, of ratifying and confirming treaties.

The members of Congress, during the performance of their legislative functions in session, contrary to the custom in England, sit uncovered; and if they are not compensated for their services, they are reimbursed their expenses by the respective States they represent, at the ratio of eight dollars, or about £1 16s. per diem; and the Speaker sixteen dollars; while the same sum is allowed them for every twenty miles travelling to and from their homes on the business of the country.

In a general sense, the rules and practice of the British Houses of Lords and Commons form the basis of the proceedings of the American Senate and House of Representatives, modified as circumstances successively seem to require. It may be said indeed, generally, that the spirit of the British mixed constitution rules the organization of the whole system of government in the United States, and its forms are adhered to in almost every instance in which their employment is useful or inoffensive. The same may be said also of the standing orders for the regulation of actual business, and of the conduct of debates and divisions, of the progress of bills in their several stages, &c., together with other circumstances of routine, which experience has found to be both convenient and necessary.

While the Congress represents the people, the Senate represents the State Governments. As, however, the defence of the country, the regulations of commerce, and all the general concerns of the Union, are committed by the Constitution to the general Government, so each separate State has its own institutions, constitution, laws, and governor, and is thus independent in the management of its own local affairs. The States are thus permitted by the general Congress to govern themselves, when their ordinances and customs are not at variance with the general concord.

These State Governments, therefore, are not, as has been supposed, subordinate to the general,-not, for instance, as was that of the Ionian Islands to Athens, but coördinate departments of one simple and integral whole.

Every single State, indeed, is a perfect realm, with almost all the various circumstances and resources of an European kingdom, losing nothing of its distinctiveness, we may almost say, its nationality, by its alliance. Thus the United States are a confederation of republics, and Congress a magnificent central luminary round which all the States revolve; it is the sun of the Union, and all the rest of the system moves in harmony along with it, and shines by its reflected beams; urged by impulses suited to its various parts, and following a common course, which is the course of nature.

In all the States the great popular prerogative of self-government is respected. It is, however, the duty of the President to preserve order in each territory or State, to vindicate the laws, whether federal or local, and to protect the people in the full enjoyment of self-government from all encroachments from without.

When the inhabitants of an organized territory desire a State Government, and are of sufficient numbers for the formation of a State, it is the custom for a convention of delegates to be appointed by such territory to prepare a constitution, and submit their claim to the central Government by a memorial.

The supreme court of judicature, or hall of justice of the United States, is also held in an apartment of the Capitol. The court consists of one Chief Justice and eight assistant Judges, removeable only by impeachment, and possesses a federal jurisdiction over the whole of the Union. These Judges, the only ones in America who in this respect retain the customs of their ancestors, appear in the robes and accustomed attire of similar officials in England.

The court holds its sittings annually during two months, commencing in December or January each year, and is alone competent to decide questions relating to the constitution or general laws of the Union, except between a State and its citizens, and the citizens of other States and foreigners in the latter case it has original, but not exclusive jurisdiction.

1

Though possessing original jurisdiction in a few cases, its chief duties consist in the exercise of an appellate jurisdiction from the circuit courts, which are held twice a year in the different States, and exclusively in relation to cases that may have

* The salary of the Chief Justice is 6,500 dollars, and that of the assistants, 6,000 dollars each.

.

JUDICIAL ESTABLISHMENT.

41

respect to the claims of foreign nations or their representatives. Its jurisdiction extends, also, over all controversies, internal or external, in which the general Government may be involved, or one State be in any way at variance with another; but the power that gives the institution its transcendent importance, is that of deciding between the law and the constitution. This court is regarded as the sheet anchor of the Union; that which, more than all besides of a civil, political, or judicial character, has given it permanency; and the degree of respect in which its decrees are held may be considered an exact index to the moral strength of the compact by which the discordant elements of this great Commonwealth are so well harmonised.

The present judicial establishment consists of the supreme court, thirty-eight district courts, and the circuit courts. The judicial circuit courts are ten in number, in which a circuit court is held semi-annually by a justice of the supreme court and the district judge of the state or district, in which the court is held. The district courts are presided over by thirty-seven judges; and in each of the territories there is also a judge, and two associate judges, appointed by the executive of the United States.

In the States there are no courts, or sessions of courts, technically called assizes. The judges, however, perform the same duties in the counties within their respective circuits and jurisdiction as the English judges, and generally in the same manner. The American judges have not, like the English, any special commission-their commission is single, and appoints them to the office. But the general and public laws mark out and define their duties and authorities whether general or special; and these duties and authorities are generally subject to be altered and changed by the legislature, as are those of the judges in England.

As the courts of law in the United States resemble in their general principles those of the country from which they originated, so the decisions of the English courts of law may be always quoted there as authorities. It may be said, indeed, that the whole judicial part of the constitution of the United States very nearly corresponds with that of England.

CHAPTER V.

Description of the Capitol at Washington, and the Natural beauties of its SituaTION.-The Hall of the Senate and House of Representatives. Principal members of both Houses. Amount of talent among the members compared with that in the past age; Webster, Clay, Calhoun, and others. Mode and character of the debate in the Senate. Present leading men in both branches of the Legislature. Proportion of members supplied by the old States. Calculation of the influence of particular States in the national councils. Preponderance of gentlemen of the legal profession in both Houses. Names and number of Presidents since the establishment of the Republic. President's house. President. Principal officers of State. Salary of President, and that of inferior officers.

The meetings of the several branches of the legislature, it has been already intimated, are held in the Capitol, at Washington, the foundation-stone of which was laid by General Washington in 1793.

This building, although it has not escaped the criticisms of men of professed taste in architectural science, some of whom regard it as the reverse of Ovid's description of the Temple of the Sun,

"Materiam superabit opus,”.

is a noble structure, of the Corinthian order, and of considerable dimensions, standing on the banks of the beautiful Potomac, at the extremity of the street denominated the "Pennsylvania Avenue," the principal thoroughfare of the city.* It occupies a spot of elevated ground, commanding a panoramic view of the whole of the surrounding country, which is varied with luxuriant fields and woods, hills, villas, and other beautifully picturesque objects. It consists of a central building with two wings, the centre and each of the wings surmounted by a cupola, or low circular dome of glass; the whole stately pile surrounded by a park of from twenty to thirty acres, recently increased to one hundred and fifty acres, the principal entrance being through a superb marble gateway in the form of a triumphal arch; the whole area ornamented with trees, lawns, fountains, and statues, and subdivided by terraces, avenues, and public walks.

* Pennsylvania Avenue is said to be the widest street in the world, measuring 160 feet in width. It is well paved, and has side walks of brick or stone.

THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON.

43

The entire length of the building is 352 feet; but since the addition of two wings to the Capitol, commenced in 1851, the whole length is 750 feet, and the area it covers is more than threeand-a-half acres; forming a structure when completed worthy the great Republic,-its gleaming white walls, and colossal proportions rising loftily above the sea of verdure, and the lofty forest trees which gracefully shade the pleasure grounds around. Its height to the summit of the central dome is upwards of 120 feet, and its shape like that of a cross. From the top of the dome a most magnificent view is obtained of the city and adjacent country, -the two broad arms of the Potomac embracing the city and its suburbs, and far in the distance are seen the woody hills of Virginia and Maryland. The vestibule, or triple colonnade, at the eastern front of this noble building, which is formed of twenty-four Corinthian columns of imposing dimensions, opens to a large circular hall or rotunda, which occupies the centre of the building. This is divided into several compartments, lighted by the dome, and ornamented between the niches with beautiful paintings by Trumbull, together with groups of statuary and busts, principally of the most prominent actors in the scenes of the revolution, and representing interesting incidents in American history. In the rotunda is a celebrated statue of Washington, executed in Parian marble, by Greenhough, and the Landing of the Pilgrims, and other sculptures in alto relievo. Among the paintings of the Capitol, are those of the Surrender of Generals Burgoyne and Cornwallis,-the Presentation to Congress of the Declaration of Independence,-Washington resigning his Commission,-Penn treating with the Indians, the Embarkation of the Pilgrims, &c. In the pediment of the eastern portico is a fine sculptured group, representing the genius of America, supported by figures of Hope and Justice, and surrounded with appropriate emblems, of which the national eagle is one of the most prominent. On the platform under the portico are two colossal statues in marble, the one representing War in the figure of a Roman general armed for conflict; the other Peace as a female holding an olive branch; while above is a bas-relief of Washington crowned by Fame. Some of the statues or historical mementos of the revolution, which are of gigantic proportions, and in classic taste, are said to have been executed by Capellano, Causici, Gavelot, and others, the former a disciple

of Canova.

The other parts of the building, to the north and south, in