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and criminal cases he is subject to the laws of the country in which he resides, equally with all other persons. If guilty too of illegal or improper conduct, his exequatur may be revoked, which puts an end to his functions.

Executes the Laws.

311. It is the duty of the President to take care that the laws are faithfully executed.

312. The very nature of the executive office would seem to imply that the President should perform this function of executing the laws. But it is expressly enjoined on him by the Constitution, and he may employ the forces of the United States in performing it. Accordingly, when combinations exist among the citizens of one or more of the states to obstruct or defeat the execution of acts of Congress, and hostilities thence arise, and assume the dimensions of war, it is the duty of the President to prosecute opposing hostilities, offensive as well as defensive, and upon a scale to suit the exigencies of the occasion. And he cannot, in the exercise of his powers, be restrained by injunction, from carrying into effect an act of Congress, upon an allegation that such act is unconstitutional. Nor can he be arrested, imprisoned, or detained, while discharging the duties of his office; in all civil cases, his person possesses an official inviolability.

Commissions Officers.

313. It is also the duty of the President to commission all the officers of the United States.

314. A commission is the official certificate or written evidence of an appointment to office. It is signed by the President, and if a civil commission, it is made the duty of the Secretary of State to affix to it the seal of the United States.

May be impeached.

315. We have seen elsewhere (sec. 78) that the President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States are to be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. It is unnecessary, therefore, to recur to the subject again.

316. We have thus concluded our survey of the office of President; and we shall now proceed to investigate the powers and duties of the judicial department of the government.

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THE JUDICIAL POWER OF THE UNITED STATES.

In whom vested.

317. The judicial power of the United States is vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish.

318. The object of the Constitution was to constitute three great departments of government: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial department. The first is to pass laws, the second to approve and execute them, and the third to expound and enforce them.

The Supreme Court.

319. The Supreme Court was instituted by the Constitution itself; but its organization was left to Congress. As at present organized, it consists of a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices, any six of whom make a quorum, and it holds one term annually, at the seat of government, and such adjourned or special terms as it may find necessary for the despatch of business, commencing, formerly, on the first Monday of December; but now on the second Monday

of October of each year. The salary of the Chief Justice is ten thousand five hundred dollars per annum, that of the Associate Justices ten thousand dollars per annum.

320. The importance of a supreme tribunal, in which may meet and terminate appeals from inferior judicatures, is very obvious. Uniformity of decision is thus secured, and the inferior courts kept within the limits of their jurisdiction.

Inferior Courts.

321. While the Constitution imperatively requires that there shall be one Supreme Court, it is left to Congress to determine the number of inferior courts which they will establish. They are bound to create some inferior courts, because the Constitution contemplates cases of which only such courts can, in the first instance, take cognisance; but whether one or more, Congress must, in their discretion, decide.

Circuit Courts.

322. In the exercise of this discretion, Congress have established Circuit and District Courts. Circuit Courts are established in each of the nine great circuits into which the United States are divided. Each circuit is composed of a certain number of districts; the states of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine, for example, being districts, and together constituting the first circuit.

323. In each of these districts there are annually held two Circuit Courts, which consist of a judge of the Supreme Court, a judge of the Circuit Court, and a judge of the District Court. The judge of the Supreme Court, however, is not obliged to attend more than one term of the Circuit Court in any district of his circuit during any period of two years. The circuit judge resides in his circuit, and possesses the same power and jurisdiction therein as the justice of the Supreme Court allotted to the circuit. The powers of the justices of the Supreme Court, as judges of the Circuit Court, are unaffected by the act (April 10, 1869) creating the circuit judges, except that the latter have the appointment of the clerks of said court.

Jurisdiction of the Circuit Courts.

324. The jurisdiction of the federal courts depends exclusively on the Constitution and laws of the United

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