But will Mr. Spence say that the inequality of suffrage in our own country—much greater before the Reform Bill than now-is destructive of our political unity? And why must a Federal Union, with a republican form of government, necessarily have a uniformity of suffrage any more than a monarchy? Surely, a Constitution formed by the people can prescribe its own terms. Besides, it is not true that "the Constitution leaves it to each State to ordain what suffrage it may please." The words are, "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."1

The American Republic is not a simple Republic it is a Republic of United States. The people of each State are (within the limits of a republican form of government) sovereign, as regards their own constitution; and whatever suffrage they consider most

1 Constitution, Art. i. sec. ii. 1. Appendix.

desirable for their own most numerous branch of legislature, that, the Constitution ordains for the corresponding branch of the National Legislature; while the Senate-also an elective body-must be chosen by the Senate and representatives of the State combined. How these arrangements prevent the inhabitants of all the States forming, for special purposes, and in all their relations to foreign Powers, one single People, we are at a loss to conceive.

V.

THE CONSTITUTION, LEGISLATIVE AND

EXECUTIVE.

ARTICLE I.

SECTION I. 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.

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.

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

THESE clauses of the Constitution strongly indicate its real character.

When, in the Virginian Convention, Patrick Henry laboured to show that the proposed Constitution implied a consolidated Government, Madison thus replied: "I myself conceive, that it is of a mixed nature; it is, in a

manner, unprecedented.

express prototype in the

We cannot find one

experience of the

world it stands by itself. In some respects it is a Government of a Federal nature; in others it is of a consolidated nature." 1 And De Tocqueville thus describes it: "In this case the central Power acts directly upon those whom it governs, whom it rules, and whom it judges, in the same manner as, but in a more limited circle than, a National Government. Here the term Federal Government is clearly no longer applicable to a state of things which must be styled an incomplete National Government; a form of government has been found out which is neither exactly National nor Federal; but no further progress has been made, and the new word which will one day designate this novel invention does not yet exist."2

Both these descriptions are perfectly accurate. In the Senate, the Constitution is Federal; for the representation is by States, and directly springs from the State Legislatures

1 Eloquence of United States, i. 137.

2 Democracy in America, i. 138. American edition, 1838.

each State sending two senators, irrespective of its size or population. And yet in action it is not wholly Federal; for, every senator having one vote, one may be absent upon a division, and the two are frequently found recording their votes on opposite sides of the same question. In the House of Representatives it is completely National, for there the power is derived directly from the People, and the members count in proportion to population. In the Executive department, it is chiefly National, but in some degree Federal: the latter, because to the Legislature of each State is left the "manner " of appointing the electors, with the proviso, however, that they shall equal in number its senators and representatives together in Congress. Now, as these representatives are in proportion to population, the choice of the Executive becomes mainly National, because it is decided by a majority of the electors so appointed. It may, however, be in a further degree Federal, under a contingency which we shall hereafter have occasion to explain.

The appointment of Vice-President lies also