Seventy-two years of history are nominally included in this volume, but the field is somewhat broader, owing to the topical method by which a few subjects have been considered. The volume begins with the first amendment to the Constitution of 1821, and closes with the chapter on the Judiciary Commission of 1890, though later constitutional development is, for practical reasons, considered in the previous chapter. The volume covers two constitutional periods,—the second and the third,-beginning in 1823 and ending in 1894. It includes, specifically, amendments to the second Constitution, the Convention and Constitution of 1846, the interval between that Convention and the Convention of 1867, the work of the latter Convention, the Commission of 1872, whose work supplemented and completed in part that of the Convention of 1867, the interesting period between 1874 and 1894, during which several important constitutional policies were adopted, notably that of free canals, and closes with the Judiciary Commission of 1890. iii