In

ments, or districts, 2847 cantons, 36,835 communes. each department the prefect is the chief magistrate, and, as well as the sub-prefect, is paid by government in proportion to the population and the extent of his jurisdiction ; the salary varying from 40,000 to 10,000 francs a year, whilst that of the sub-prefect is 4000 francs.

§ 9. The government of Germany is not easily described. It is particularly complicated, chiefly on account of the great number and variety of the states of which it consists. It comprises about forty states, two of which are parts of the Austrian empire and the kingdom of Prussia. These two comprise a greater portion of the territory and population than all the rest. All the states have distinct and separate governments of their own. Of the smaller states, the leading ones are limited monarchies; some of which partake strongly of the monarchical and aristocratic features.

§ 10. The Germanic states are united in a confederation somewhat similar to the union of our American states. The confederacy has a kind of legislature called diet, consisting of deputies from each particular state. The office of the diet is to preserve the security of Germany, and to regulate the relations of the empire with foreign nations. Its object is also to preserve the independence and safety of its par ticular states, and to settle the disputes which may arise between one state and another; but it does not interfere with the internal regulations of any.

§ 11. Austria is a hereditary monarchy, almost absolute. The title of the sovereign is emperor. In most of the countries subject to Austria, there are legislative assemblies, called states. These assemblies consist of four orders or houses clergy, nobles, knights, and representatives of the free cities. But the states impose no material check upon the monarch; their assembling being mainly for the sake of form, and for giving some assistance in the administration.

§ 12. Hungary is a member of the Austrian empire, and is a hereditary kingdom. The crown is held in the house of Austria. The Hungarian diet consists of four orders: the bishops and abbots; the magistrates or great nobles; the knights; and the representatives of the free cities. The diet assembles every three years, and sits during the king's pleasure. If three of the orders agree to any proposition, the fourth must give its consent. Without the consent of

the diet, the king can not make or change the laws, impose taxes, or levy trocps. The great body of the people, however, have but little share in the administration of the government, and are heavily burdened with taxation. An attempt was made some years since to revolutionize the government, but without success.

§ 13. The government of Prussia, though not an absolute monarchy, is not so far removed from it as are some other limited monarchies. Each of the several provinces of the kingdom has a legislative assembly. The power of these assemblies, however, is very limited. They can not originate any project of a law: they merely deliberate upon those proposed by the king. But no change in the laws can be made, nor a new tax imposed, without their sanction.

§ 14. The kingdom of the Netherlands, comprising the two former separate kingdoms of Holland and Belgium, is a limited monarchy. The legislative power of Holland is vested in two houses, or chambers, called the states-general. The upper house does not consist of hereditary nobles, as in Great Britain and some other limited monarchies, but in a council of from forty to sixty members, named by the king for life. The other house is a representative body elected for three years, one-third of their number being elected every year. The Belgian chambers are both elective; the senate, or upper house, for eight years, and the representative chamber for four years.

§ 15. Sweden is a limited monarchy. The legislature, called the diet, consists of four orders or houses: the nobles, the clergy, the peasants, and the burghers. The house of nobles consists of 1200 members; the head of each noble family being, by inheritance, its lawful representative. The house of clergy consists of the archbishop and all the bishops. The house of peasants is composed of the representa tives of the numerous little proprietors of land who cultivate their own ground. The burghers are chosen by the towns; every freeman who pays taxes having a vote.

§ 16. The king has ample powers. He appoints all officers, civil and military. His assent is necessary to all laws proposed by the diet. He is not obliged to convoke the diet oftener than once in five years, or to continue its sittings longer than three months; but he may make the meetings more frequent and longer. No tax can be levied, or loan obtained, without the consent of the diet.

§ 17. Norway is united with Sweden in the same kingdom. The legislature of Norway, called the storthing, has greater privileges than the Swedish diet. The length and frequency of its meetings are not controlled by the king.His consent to a proposed law is not necessary after it has been three times presented by the storthing. The number and influence of the nobles in Norway is not great, and a republican spirit prevails among the people.

§ 18. Greece is a constitutional monarchy. At an early period, the different little states of Greece threw off the yoke of their tyrants, as they then called them, and erected themselves into independent republics. The conquest by Rome terminated their political existence. The conquest by the Ottomans (Turks) finally extinguished in Greece all that remained of her ancient greatness. Since then she has made several attempts to regain her independence. In 1820, a grand insurrection against the Ottoman government took place; and after a severe struggle, the Turkish sovereign was expelled, and the Porte (the Turkish government) was obliged to consent to the independence of those portions of Greece which were the most Grecian.

§ 19. Switzerland is an independent state, and its government is probably the most democratic in Europe. It is divided into twenty-two cantons, each of which has a particular constitution of its own, though all are united by a federal government. This Union is sometimes called the Helvetic confederacy, from Helvetia, the former name of the country. The Helvetic diet consists of deputies from the different cantons, who meet once a year. Extra meetings may also be called on the demand of any five cantons. This assembly does not interfere with the internal affairs of the cantons; its action is confined to what concerns the foreign relations and general defense of the country.

§ 20. There are numerous other countries in Europe, whose governments we shall pass over without notice. Those which have been described embrace almost every shade of monarchy, from the most absolute to that which approximates most nearly to a republic; and present a sufficiently full view of the political institutions of that portion of the world to answer the purpose for which they have been described.

§ 21. The South American states and Mexico, were for

merly subject to Spain. At an early period in the present century, a general revolution took place in these Spanish provinces, by which their independence was established.— The form of government adopted by them is, in its general features, similar to that of the United States.

CHAPTER VII.

THE NATURE AND OBJECTS OF A CONSTITUTION, AND THE MANNER IN WHICH IT IS MADE.

§ 1. FROM the foregoing view of the different forms of government, we conclude that those of the monarchical form, and those in which the principles of monarchy and aristocracy prevail, are not best adapted to promote the general welfare of a nation. Under a wise and virtuous ruler, the rights of person and property may be fully enjoyed, and the condition of the people may be in a good degree pros perous. But the requisite virtue and wisdom have seldom been found in any one man, or a few men. The prosperity of a people depends as much upon a good form of government as upon its being administered by good men ; and experience has proved, that the objects of civil government may be best secured by a written constitution, founded upon the will or consent of the people.

§ 2. The form of government in the United States is expressed in a written constitution. A constitution is a form of rules by which the members of a society agree to be governed. The persons forming an association, draft a set of rules setting forth the objects of the association, declaring what officers it shall have, and prescribing the powers and duties of each, and the manner of conducting its operations. So the rules adopted by the people of a state or nation for their government, are called the constitution. They are in the nature of articles of agreement by which the people mutually agree to be governed.

§ 3. A constitution is a kind of law. It is, however, materially different from the laws made from year to year by

the representatives of the people assembled in the capacity of a legislature: it is drafted by a body of men chosen by the people for that particular purpose, and adopted by the people themselves. It describes the nature and form of the government, declares what officers are to be elected, and prescribes their respective powers and duties.

§ 4. A constitution is sometimes called the fundamental law of a state, being the foundation of all other laws, which must agree with this fundamental law. Hence, it is also called a frame of government. As the frame fixes the form and dimensions of the building, and as the materials required to finish the building must be fitted to the frame; so the constitution is the frame-work of the government of a state; and every law made by the legislature, and every other act performed in the administration of the government, must conform to the constitution.

§ 5. The constitution is also called the political law, from its being the law of the great political body, or body politic. By the term body politic is here meant the people of a state incorporated into one body for purposes of government. It is also applied to small bodies of men associated for other purposes. (See Chapter XIX.) The constitution, being ordained by the act of the people in their political capacity, is properly the political law, as distinguished from the laws made from time to time by the people's representatives, and called the civil or municipal laws.

§ 6. Hence, the first and highest act of a free people, is the choice of a constitution or form of government. No people can be said to enjoy perfect freedom, whose political and civil rights are not secured by a constitution of their own choice. In no country, therefore, do the people enjoy greater political privileges than in the United States. In most of the governments described in preceding chapters, there is either no constitution at all, or none that has been adopted by the votes of the people. There are, even in absolute monarchies, some established forms or rules according to which the government is to be administered; but these rules are not binding on the sovereign, who can make or alter them without the consent of his subjects.

7. Under no government called monarchical, do the people enjoy a greater degree of civil liberty than under the limited monarchy of Great Britain: and we hear of the Bri