d. The difference between the written constitution and the

charter for which it was substituted. e. The readiness of the people to adopt written constitutions.

8. The extensive development of the written constitution in some states:--

a. The simplicity of the earlier constitutions. b. Illustrations of the legislative tendencies of later constitutions. c. The motive for such extension of a constitution. d. The difficulty of amending a constitution. e. The legislative method of amendment. f. The convention method of amendment. g. The presumed advantage of embodying laws in the constitution. h. A comparison with the Swiss Referendum. i. Objections to the Swiss Referendum. j. Other objections to the practice of putting laws into the constitution.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS.

1. Do you belong to any society that has a constitution? Has the society rules apart from the constitution? Which may be changed the more readily? Why not put all the rules into the constitution?

2. Read the constitution of your state in part or in full. Give some account of its principal divisions, of the topics it deals with, and its magnitude or fullness. Are there any amendments? If so, mention two or three, and give the reasons for their adoption. Is there any declaration of rights in it? If so, what are some of the rights declared, and whose are they said to be?

3. Where is the original of your state constitution kept? What sort of looking document do you suppose it to be? Where would you look for a copy of it? If a question arises in any court about the interpretation of the constitution, must the original be produced to settle the wording of the document?

4. Has any effort been made in your state to put into the constitution matters that have previously been subjects of legislative action? If so, give an account of the effort, and the public attitude towards it.

5. Which is preferable,--a constitution that commands the approval of the people as a whole or that which has the support of a dominant political party only?

6. Suppose it is your personal conviction that a law is unconstitutional, may you disregard it? What consequences might ensue from such disregard?

7. May people honestly and amicably differ about the interpretation of the constitution or of a law, in a particular case? If important interests are dependent on the interpretation, how can the true one be found out? Does a lawyer's opinion settle the interpretation? What value has such an opinion? Where must people go for authoritative and final interpretations of the laws? Can they get such interpretations by simply asking for them?

8. The constitution of New Hampshire provides that when the governor cannot discharge the duties of his office, the president of the senate shall assume them. During the severe sickness of a governor recently, the president of the senate hesitated to act in his stead; it was not clear that the situation was grave enough to warrant such a course. Accordingly the attorney-general of the state brought an action against the president of the senate for not doing his duty; the court considered the situation, decided against the president of the senate, and ordered him to become acting governor. Why was this suit necessary? Was it conducted in a hostile spirit? Wherein did the decision help the state? Wherein did it help the defendant? Wherein may it possibly prove helpful in the future history of the state?

9. Mention particular things that the governor, the legislature, and the judiciary of your state have done or may do. Then find the section or clause or wording in your state constitution that gives authority for each of these things. For example, read the particular part that authorizes your legislature:--

a. To incorporate a city. b. To compel children to attend school. c. To buy uniforms for a regiment of soldiers. d. To establish a death penalty. e. To send a committee abroad to study a system of waterworks.

10. Trace the authority of a school-teacher, a policeman, a selectman, a mayor, or of any public officer, back to some part of your constitution.

11. Mention any parts of your constitution that seem general and somewhat indefinite, and that admit, therefore, of much freedom in interpretation.

12. Show how the people are, in one aspect, subordinate to the constitution; in another, superior to it.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.

Written Constitutions.--Very little has been written or published with reference to the history of the development of the idea of a written constitution. The student will find some suggestive hints in Hannis Taylor's _Origin and Growth of the English Constitution_, vol. i, Boston, 1889. See Henry Hitchcock's _American State Constitutions; a Study of their Growth_, N.Y., 1887, a learned and valuable essay. See also _J.H.U. Studies_, I., xi., Alexander Johnston, _The Genesis of a New England State (Connecticut)_; III., ix.-x., Horace Davis, _American Constitutions_; also Preston's _Documents Illustrative of American History_, 1606-1863, N.Y., 1886; Stubbs, _Select Charters and other Illustrations of English Constitutional History_, Oxford, 1870; Gardiner's _Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution_, Oxford, 1888.