6 THE GOVERNMENT AND LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES COMPRISING, A COMPLETE AND COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF THE RISE, NEW YORK, 130 GRAND STREET: HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY ALBERT BUSHNELL MART NOV 16 1926 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, BY WILLIAM B. WEDGWOOD, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. JOHN J. REED, Printer and Stereotyper, PREFACE. A DESIRE to supply the demand of the masses of American citizens for a more thorough knowledge of our government and laws, which has been greatly increased by the late civil war through which we have passed, is the only apology offered for presenting this book to the public at this time. There is no knowledge more eagerly sought, or more difficult to be obtained. It is scattered through the ponderous volumes which fill our law libraries, costing thousands of dollars, which are entirely inaccessible to the masses. It is there given in such form as not easily to be found, and often in language not easily understood. It has been the design of the author, during the many years of labor and research expended upon this work, to collect the most important facts relating to our government and laws, from the extensive libraries at his command; to present them in such language as to be readily understood, and in such order as to be easily remembered. It is pub |