Since to govern is to control by law, the functions of the government are, to make laws, to in- Functions and terpret and apply them, and to execute Departments. them; and these functions call for three departments, — legislative, judicial, and executive.

The relation of these departments to each other may be shown by an illustration. The legisla Relation of Detive department may make a law saying that partments. no person shall pasture his own cattle on another man's land, and affix a penalty thereto. John Smith is accused of pasturing his horse in his neighbor's field, and thereby violating law. Justice requires, that, if guilty, he shall be punished. The question of his guilt is decided by the judicial department. He is brought before a court, where he may deny the act charged, or, admitting it, plead that the word "cattle" in the law does not include horses. In the latter case, the first business of the court is to explain the law. If the decision is that horses are cattle, the act charged being admitted, then the law applies to Smith, and the penalty must be inflicted. A mandate is issued by the court to an executive officer, who proceeds to carry out the sentence by imprisoning the man, or by collecting money from him as a fine.

This case may be used to illustrate another most important principle. After the court has decided that the word "cattle" includes horses, it becomes a law that no man shall pasture his horse on another's land. If a similar case arises, it is only necessary to refer to this decision; it becomes a precedent for judgment.

Thus it appears that the courts of justice are all the time making law. In fact, much the larger part of all the rules and principles

Laws made by Courts.

that guide the administration of justice in any state is established, not by the legislative department, but by the judiciary.

This difference in origin gives rise to a division of law into two great departments,-statute law, and law that is not statute, included by writers on the subject under the term unwritten law.

Statute law includes all enactments made by legislative bodies, and promulgated by them

Statute Law.

as laws. These are formed from time to time, as circumstances make them necessary. In process of time some become useless, and are repealed, or changed, or they remain on the statute-book without force. In order to simplify this mass of laws, they are sometimes revised, arranged in a systematic form, and adopted in a body, as comprising all the statute law in force at the time. The so-called General Statutes of Massachusetts and other States are illustrations of this process.

The Unwritten Law.

The unwritten law consists of all those judicial decisions which have become authoritative through all the periods of the nation's history. This branch of law is a gradual growth, keeping pace with the development of the people's civilization.

As new relations come to exist in society, new cases are constantly coming before the courts for adjustment. In the absence of statutes, the courts must establish principles, which come to have all the force of laws. The chief difference between them and statutes is, that the legislative department may at any time make laws which shall set them aside. Statutes covering the same ground are always superior to the unwritten law.

Common Law.

The term "common law," as used in England and the United States, includes all that portion of the unwritten law of England that has not been set aside by statutes, or by more recent decisions.

SUMMARY.

1. The government of a state consists of those members who directly exercise control within it.

2. The government is subordinate to the state, receiving its authority from it, and being responsible to it.

3. Governments have derived their authority from the state in two ways: first, by formal grants; second, by tacit consent.

4. There are three departments of government: the legislative, which makes the laws; the judicial, which interprets and applies them; the executive, which puts them into operation.

5. Laws are made by the courts of justice, as well as by the legislature.

6. Laws made by the legislature are called statutes; all others are included in the term "the unwritten law."

.CHAPTER IV.

FORMS OF GOVERNMENTS, AND MEANS BY WHICH THEY ARE LIMITED.

THE following forms of governments have been described by writers upon the subject:

Absolute
Monarchy.

only to him.

An Absolute Monarchy is a government in which the laws are made by one person, and interpreted and executed by officers responsible Examples: Russia, Turkey, China. A Limited Monarchy is a government in which there Limited Mon- is an hereditary executive, and a legislative department whose members are chosen periodically by the people, the judiciary being responsible directly to the sovereign. Examples: England, Sweden and Norway, Denmark. Rarely, in such governments, the sovereign is elected.

archy.

A Representative Democracy, or Republic, is a government in which both the chief executive Republic. and the members of the legislative department are chosen periodically by the people. The judiciary may be appointed by the executive, or be elected by the people. Examples: United States, Mexico, States of Central America.

A government in which the whole body of people meet to make the laws is sometimes called a Pure Democracy. This is possible only

Democracy.

in a small state.

The government of some of the early

English colonies in America was of this sort.

There have been states in which all the functions

of government were in the hands of a few

people, self-appointed. Such a govern

Other Forms.

ment is an Oligarchy. If a class of nobles rules the state, the government is called an Aristocracy.

Some governments combine several different features. Thus, in the government of England, the executive department represents the monarchy. The legislative department consists of two bodies, one aristocratic, the other republican. In most states, the legislature consists of two bodies; in others, of one.

ernments.

These various forms may be divided into two classes, -absolute, and limited. In a certain Absolute Govsense, no government now existing is really absolute. In all so called absolute governments there are immemorial customs which restrict the sovereign in the exercise of power, and each ruler follows in the steps of his predecessor. If his people are at all intelligent, he will not dare to make radical changes. But there is no way to call him to account except by rebellion, and history shows that nations will submit to oppression for a long period rather than take up arms against the established government.

An absolute government may furnish civil liberty to its subjects, and may do much to promote their happiness, but, at any time, a different man may come into power, and anarchy or oppression ensue. There is no security beyond the present. For this reason, such a government cannot be, in the highest sense, a good one, though it may be the best possible under the circumstances: indeed, it may be the only form possible over a rude, lawless people.

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