cept by roving tribes of Indians, and the new world promised abundant room for the surplus population of Europe. Governments encouraged emigration, and sought to establish colonies where the people might have better opportunities than could be found in the older countries. The rapid increase of population in the colonies shows that the people of the old world were glad to avail themselves of the new opportunity.

POPULAR GOVERNMENT.

The principles on which American government and institutions are founded are proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, in the propositions that all men are endowed with an unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that all just powers of government are derived from the consent of the governed. This is the basis of popular liberty, and even in monarchical governments, which in modern times have surrendered certain arbitrary powers, the right of the people to a large degree of self-government has been recognized, and it has been conceded that they may at their pleasure grant or withhold powers of government formerly exercised without their consent.

The government of the United States and the government of each state exists by virtue of the consent of the people. The people make the government; directly or indirectly they determine the powers of the government; they prescribe the machinery of government; they consent to be governed according to their own will, which is expressed in various ways, through elections, the press, petitions, remonstrances, public meetings, and other forms of discussion. They consent to be governed by rules prescribed, directly or indirectly, by themselves,

and declared either in a written constitution or in statutes. The methods are various.

For the protection of the people themselves, and for the purpose of imposing restraints on their official representatives, a written Constitution has been framed, setting forth certain principles of government; and by this instrument the people not only bind their official representatives, but they also bind themselves and proclaim themselves subject to the limitations, conditions, and prohibitions contained in the Constitution. They agree among themselves that the rules thus laid down in the Constitution shall bind them and their successors. In this way the people have set bounds to their own authority, and have imposed restraints upon their powers. The people determine the form of government under which they will live, and they have entered into a solemn compact with each other that the written Constitution which they have adopted shall be the standard by which all powers shall be measured, and by which the rights, duties, and privileges of the people shall be determined. This is what is meant by "the consent of the governed." This is "government of the people, by the people, and for the people."

THE NATION.

The United States is a republic. The people rule, but not in a direct way. The government is administered by officers chosen by the people. This makes the government republican in form. All government, whether in a republic or a monarchy, embraces three essential elements, namely, the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. Every organized government must have laws; the laws must be executed, and must be interpreted; so we have three departments of government, each separated quite

distinctly from the others. This division was derived from the English government during the colonial period, and was adopted and followed without essential change when the colonies became a nation,-the President, the Congress, and the Judiciary answering to the English King, the Parliament, and the Courts. This form of government was substantially reproduced in the English colonies in America, the King being represented by a governor, the Parliament by a colonial legislature, and the judiciary by local courts by which justice was administered in the several colonies.

The governor was the general executive officer in the colony, representing the English government so far as that government assumed to regulate colonial affairs; and he was also bound to execute the laws of the colony. In the early days the charters granted to various companies gave them large powers of government, but as population increased, and the interests of the colony became enlarged, demanding more supervision, a local legislature was established, usually called an assembly, sometimes a house of representatives. The members of this legislative body were chosen by the people, the right to vote being usually limited to owners or tenants of land. These elections were held by districts.

In addition to this legislative body chosen by the people, or by classes of the people, there was another legislative body composed of members of the governor's council, who in this way became also a part of the legislature, and took part in making the laws. The members of this council were not chosen by the people, but were usually appointed by the King, though sometimes temporarily by the colonial government. In its legislative capacity the council answered to the English House of Lords.

These colonial legislatures had power to make laws for the colony, provided such laws were not in conflict with

the laws of England; and these local laws had the same force and effect in the colony as if they had been made by the English Parliament.

Thus, each colony had a form of local government, and was substantially independent of any other colony, though the forms of government were usually quite similar. When the Revolution came and the nation was established, these independent local governments had been in existence many years,—in some colonies for a century or more,—and it was quite natural, therefore, that the forms of government with which the people were familiar should be continued after the states became wholly independent and free from English rule. So when the national government was formed, the chief executive officer was given the name of the President, the local legislative assembly became the national House of Representatives, and the governor's council, which was also sometimes a legislative council, became the Senate of the United States. A Supreme Court was created, and the Congress was given power to establish other courts.

I have said that the national government is republican in form. This is true, for the reason that the officers who administer the government are the representatives of the people; but it should be noted that members of the House of Representatives are the only officers chosen directly by the people. Senators are chosen by the state. legislatures, which are chosen by the people of the several states. So, while a representative in Congress, commonly known as a member of Congress, is chosen by the qualified voters in a specified district, a Senator is one degree farther from the people, because he is chosen by the legislature of the state which he represents.

So, the President and Vice-President are not in form chosen by the people, though practically so in fact. The President and Vice-President are chosen by presidential

electors in each state, who compose what is known as the Electoral College. The people choose the Presidential electors, who are nominated by political parties acting through conventions. By long-established custom, candidates for these offices, and candidates for the office of presidential elector, are placed in nomination at the beginning of a presidential campaign, with the result that votes cast for presidential electors are deemed cast for the candidates of the same party for President and VicePresident.

The President and Vice-President, Senators and Representatives in Congress, are the only national officers who are, even in form, chosen by the people. All judicial officers, and all other executive or administrative officers, and also military and naval officers, are appointed, in some cases by the President, subject to confirmation by the Senate, in some cases by the President alone, and in some cases by heads of departments or other subordinate officers.

The President and Vice-President are chosen for terms of four years, Senators for six years, and Representatives in Congress for two years. Judicial officers usually serve during good behavior. Some other officers serve during good behavior, or until the expiration of a fixed time limit, or for a definite term.

An English Nation.

The colonies which by the Revolution of 1776 became the American Nation were for the most part settled by emigrants from Great Britain. New England and Virginia were almost entirely English; the same statement is substantially true of some other settlements. The Dutch

in New York, the Germans in Pennsylvania, the French Huguenots in North Carolina, and representatives of other nationalities in several parts of the country, did not ma