TO THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT AND COMPEND OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL AND UNITED STATES. WITH A BRIEF TREATISE ON POLITICAL ECONOMY. DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF FAMILIES AND SCHOOLS. TO WHICH IS APPENDED THE NEW CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK. bute FIFTEENTH EDITION.-REVISED. BUFFALO: AUBURN : DERBY, MILLER & CO. ..o! Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by WARLEN WEATER, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Northern District of New York, Burboen Pequent -33 PREFACE. It is the peculiar fortune of the people of the United States, to live under a government that secures to them, in an extraordinary degree, the blessings of civil and reli. gious liberty. It is believed that no other form of govern. ment is capable of conferring upon its citizens an equai amount of happiness. Under our constitution, sovereignty resides with the people : in other words, they have the power of governing themselves. Consequently, it is of the first importance, that the depositories of political power should know how to apply this power intelligent!y and judiciously. The power to make and to administer the laws, is delegated to the representatives and agents of the people; the people should there. fore be competent to judge when, and how far, this power is constitutionally and beneficially exercised. Distinguished as the American people are for their com. parative general intelligence, a large portion of them, it must be confessed, are greatly wanting in political knowledge. And while so many books have been prepared to facilitate the means of instruction, and so much has been done in various ways to promote the interests of education generally, it is remarkable that the science of government has received so little attention. Multitudes in this republic are annually arriving at that period of life, when they are to exercise, for the first time, their privileges as citizens. In the state of New York alone, the number is about fifteen thousand, and is com. posed, chiefly, of those whose education does not embrace even the first principles of political science. It is not * |