second to no power in the world. In river and harbor improvement, in canals and railroads, nothing that industry and enterprise, united to almost limitless capital could accomplish, has been left undone. Continuous lines of railroad span the continent from the "rock bound coast" of the Atlantic to the blue waters of the Pacific, and from the lakes of the north to the gulf that breaks upon our southern coast, and forty thousand miles of iron track girdle the States in every possible direction; while high over wood and prairie, over stream and hill, over mountain and valley the dark wires of the telegraph stretch out, bearing with an unseen, unheard and mysterious power, words of peace or tidings of war— joy and gladness to one hearth, sorrow and desolation to another. With all his wisdom and far-seeing sagacity, Franklin never prophesied how great results would follow the experiments which to common minds seemed but the vague vision of an idealist. Later, Morse brought the art to what seems to us a glorious perfection, but in the unborn years before us, other master minds, profiting by what philosophy has already proven, will carry on the well begun work. To our public or common schools America owes her greatness, since to strength of developed muscles is added strength of developed and cultivated intellect, and ample and generous provision for the education of every child has been made. Our system of to-day is the system which was established by the Pilgrim Fathers, who, fleeing from the ignorance and superstition of the old world, kindled the flame of general knowledge, and set the light on a hill where it cannot be hid; and succeeding generations have fed the sacred fire until to-day it lights the world. Fellow laborer with the free school is the free press. Thank God for the free, unfettered press, whose voice is potent to break the chains of tyranny and thunder its denunciations at abuse and wrong, and demand the execution of justice, even while it advocates mercy. With that commendable prudence and wisdom which marked the course pursued by the "Fathers of the Republic," every citizen is left free and untrammeled by bigotry or prejudice, "to worship God after the dictates of his own heart," and in doing this, that man must be callous indeed who cannot, in some religious denomination, find a home till such time as he is called to "come up higher." OUR COUNTRY. OUR COUNTRY!-'tis a glorious land! With broad arms stretch'd from shore to shore, The proud Pacific chafes her strand, She hears the dark Atlantic roar; And, nurtur'd on her ample breast, Rich prairies deck'd with flowers of gold, And mighty rivers, mountain-born, Go sweeping onward, dark and deep, Through forests where the bounding fawn Beneath their sheltering branches leap. And cradled 'mid her clustering hills, Where love the air with music fills, For plenty here her fullness pours In rich profusion o'er the land, And sent to seize her generous store, There prowls no tyrant's hireling band. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. The United States is a federation of republican commonwealths, resting upon the broad basis of democratic institutions. The government of the United States was erected by the joint will of the people of the original thirteen colonies. In May, 1775, a congress assembled in Philadelphia, and on the 4th of July of the following year issued the memorable Declaration of Independence, followed by a war with Great Britain, at the end of which the colonies were absolved from all allegiance to the British crown and became free and independent states. After protracted deliberations, Congress on the 15th of November, 1777, agreed to the articles of confederation, but it was rot until the 1st of March, 1781, that these articles received the unanimous approval of all the states. The fundamental defect in this confederation was, that the decrees of the federal council were held subject to the states in their sovereign capacity. The council framed laws for political communities and not for private individuals, and was clothed with no power to enforce its laws upon these political communities of the states. The only correction for disobedience was military force, instead of the decree and the arm of the civil magistrate. In May, 1786, delegates of all the states, except Rhode Island, assembled in general convention at Philadelphia, for the purpose of revising and amending the articles of confederation; and after several months of peaceful deliberation agreed upon the plan of government which now forms the Constitution of the United States. It was submitted in each state to a convention of delegates chosen for the purpose, but over a year elapsed before it received the ratification of a sufficient number of states to give it a political existence, and nearly three years before it received the unanimous ratification of all the states and thus became the supreme law of the land. The Constitution as originally framed consists of seven articles. It determines the legal relations between the federal government, on the one hand, and the state governments, on the other, and 161 makes but little reference to the rights of individual citizens. With the progress of time fifteen supplementary articles or "amendments" have been added, and nearly all of these define personal rights of individuals. The government, according to the Constitution, is composed of three distinct branches: the legislative, the judicial, and the executive. THE LEGISLATIVE POWER Is vested in Congress. The Constitution defines it to be "the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution all powers vested in the government or in any department or officer thereof. The principal powers of Congress are: to lay and collect taxes and duties uniformly throughout the United States; to borrow money on the credit of the United States; to regulate commerce with foreign nations and between the several states; to establish a uniform rule of naturlization and uniform laws of bankruptcy; to coin money and fix the standard of weights and measures; to establish post-offices and post-roads; to declare war and grant letters of marque; to raise and maintain armies and a navy, and to make rules for their government; to provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and to govern such as may be employed in the service of the United States; to exercise executive legislation over the district in which is placed the seat of government ofthe United States, and over all places purchased for the erection of forts, arsenals and dock-yards. The Constitution prescribes the following restrictions upon the power of Congress: The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it; no bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed; no capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the official census enumeration; no preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another, nor shall vessels bound to or from one state pay duties in another; no money shall be drawn from the treasury except in consequence of appropriations made by law; nor shall any law be enacted respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances; nor shall the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incured for payment of pensions and bounties, be questioned; and neither the United States nor any state shall pay any debt incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave. |