A VIEW

                                    OF THE

                            C O N S T I T U T I O N

                                    OF THE

                           United States of America.

                            BY WILLIAM RAWLE, LL.D.









                                SECOND EDITION.















                                 PHILADELPHIA:

                      PHILIP H.  NICKLIN, LAW BOOKSELLER,

                           NO. 175, CHESTNUT STREET.

                                     1829.

















Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to wit.



   BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-ninth day of January, in the

forty-ninth year of the Independence of the United States of America, A. D.

1825, WILLIAM RAWLE, Esquire, of the said district, has deposited in this

office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author in the words

following, to wit:



"A View of the Constitution of the United States of America By William

  Rawle"



In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled "An

act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts,

and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times

therein mentioned." -- And also to the act entitled "An act supplementary to

an act entitled 'An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the

copies of maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies

during the times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to

the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints."



                                                    D. CALDWELL,

                                 Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.



                                   PREFACE.







IF the following work shall prove useful, as an elementary treatise to

the American student, the author will be gratified.



If foreigners be enabled, by the perusal of it, to obtain a general idea

of the merits of the Constitution, his satisfaction will be increased.



To the American public in general, its value may chiefly consist in the

exhibition of those judicial decisions, which have settled the

construction of some points that have been the subjects of controversy.



In this edition, the principles laid down in the first, remain

unaltered. The author has seen no reason for any change of them. A small

variation in the arrangement, and the correction of some typographical

errors, will principally distinguish it from the first.



                      TABLE OF CONTENTS.









                             INTRODUCTION.                        Page



      Of Political Constitutions in General: of the Nature of

       Colonial Governments: and of the British Colonies in

       North America,                                              9



                             CHAPTER 1.



      The Constitution of the United States,                       28



                             CHAPTER II.



      Of the Legislative Power,                                    33



                             CHAPTER III.



      Of the Senate,                                               36



                             CHAPTER IV.



      Of the House of Representatives,                             41



                             CHAPTER V.



      Of the President's Participation in the Legislative Power,   50



                             CHAPTER VI.



      Of the Manner of Exercising the Legislative Power,           60



                             CHAPTER VII.



      Of the Treaty making Power,                                  63



                             CHAPTER VIII.



      Of Laws enacted by Congress,                                 77



                             CHAPTER IX.



      Of the Enumerated Powers of Congress,                        79



                             CHAPTER X.



      Of the Restrictions on the Powers of Congress-and on the

      Executive and Judicial Authorities-Restrictions on the

      Powers of States, and Security to the Rights of Indivi-

      duals,                                                      115



                             CHAPTER XI.



      Of the Crime of Treason,                                    139



                             CHAPTER XII.



      On the Executive Power,                                     147



                             CHAPTER XIII.



      Of the Means provided for the Performance of the Execu-

      tive Duties,                                                151



                             CHAPTER XIV.



      Of the Appointment to Offices,                              162



                             CHAPTER XV.



      On the Liability of Executive Officers,                     168



                             CHAPTER XVI.



      On Communications to be made by the President to Con-

      gress,                                                      171



                             CHAPTER XVII.

      Of the Power to grant Pardons,                              174 



                             CHAPTER XVIII.



      Of Compensations to Public Officers,                        179



                             CHAPTER XIX.



       Of Incompatible Offices,                                   184

                                                                  

                             CHAPTER XX.



       Of some arduous Parts of the President's Duties,           193





                             CHAPTER XXI.



       Of the Judicial Power,                                     199





                             CHAPTER XXII.



       Of Impeachments,                                           209





                             CHAPTER XXIII.



       Of another Special Jurisdiction,                           220





                             CHAPTER XXIV.



       Of General Tribunals, and first of the Supreme Court,      222





                             CHAPTER XXV.



       Of Tribunals Inferior to the Supreme Court,                229





                             CHAPTER XXVI.



       Removal from State Courts,                                  233





                             CHAPTER XXVII.



       Of the Places in which the Jurisdiction is to be exercised, 236





                             CHAPTER XXVIII.



       Of the Appellate Jurisdiction,                              241





                             CHAPTER XXIX.



       Of the Rules of Decision,                                   253



                             CHAPTER XXX.



       Of Checks and Restraints on the Judicial Branch,            274





                             CHAPTER XXXI.



       Of Checks and Controls on other Branches of the Govern-

       ment,                                                       282



                             CHAPTER XXXII.



       Of the Permanence of the Union,                             295



       APPENDIX, No. I. -    -   -   -                             311

                 No. 11. -   -   -   -                             316

                 No. 111. -  -   -   -                             325