Court of the United States." The justices range themselves on the bench in the order of seniority, with the Chief Justice in the centre, bow politely to the audience, and seat themselves in the comfort able arm-chairs provided. The crier then opens court with the old English formula: "Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business before the Honorable Supreme Court of the United States are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the court is now sitting. God save the United States and this honorable court." The business then proceeds with dignity and deliberation until the hour of four arrives, when the court adjourns for the day. Chief-Justice Fuller, who was appointed in 1887 by President Cleveland, occupies the central seat on the bench. Next, on the right, is Mr. Justice Miller, the senior Justice, he having been appointed by President Lincoln in 1862; and first on the left sits Mr. Justice Field, who was appointed by Mr. Lincoln in 1863; and then in order of seniority Justices Bradley, appointed by President Grant in 1870; Harlan, appointed by President Hayes in 1877; Matthews, appointed by President Garfield in 1881; Gray and Blatchford, appointed by President Arthur in 1881 and 1882 respectively; and Lamar, appointed by President Cleveland in 1888. The annual session of the court begins the second Monday in October, and lasts usually until the middle of May. Mondays are set apart for the reading of opinions. If we visit the chamber on other days we shall probably find an advocate addressing the court. His speech is marked by a great deal of dry detail, with little rhetoric or eloquence, and is somewhat uninteresting to a layman. Facts, precedents, and points of law, arranged in orderly and logical sequence-argument, are required by this august tribunal, and the advocate, however eloquent, who lacks the capacity for this fares ill. The judges are, however, very courteous and kind in their intercourse with the bar. Not unfrequently, when the pleader has not made a fact or point of law quite clear, he is interrupted by a judge, and a colloquy ensues in which sometimes the whole bench joins. The Supreme Court is the youngest born of the Constitution, but in some important respects its powers exceed those of the executive and legislative branches. It is the expounder and interpreter of the Constitution, the "balance wheel" of the legis lative machinery, the court of last resort, whether the complainant be private citizen, State or general government, or executive official. It decides whether acts of Congress are constitutional or otherwise, and thus sits in judgment on the proceedings of that body, and in case of impeachment of the President its Chief Justice presides at the trial. The Constitution ordained that its power should extend "to all cases in law and equity arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made or which shall be made under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States, between a State and citizens of another State, between citizens of different States, between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State or the citizens thereof and foreign states, citizens, or subjects." A brief study of the history and organization of this authoritative body will be of interest. The first paragraph of the first section of Article III of the Constitution created it in the following words: "The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." The very first Congress, which sat in New York in April, 1789, passed an act, September 24th, organizing this court with a Chief Justice and five Associate Justices, to be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate; two inferior courts called Circuit Courts, each of which embraced several States, and were to be presided over by members of the Supreme Court; and District Courts of more limited area and jurisdiction, to be presided over by district judges. President Washington appointed the great statesman John Jay to be the first Chief Justice, and William Cushing of Massachusetts, James Wilson of Pennsylvania, John Blair of Virginia, James Iredell of North Carolina, and John Rutledge of South Carolina, Associate Justices. In the custody of the clerk of the Supreme court is an ancient volume, containing the minutes of the Court from its first session in 1790 down to 1827. The first entry is as follows: "At the Supreme Judicial Court of the United States, begun and held at New York (being the seat of the National Government) on the first Monday of February, and on the first day of said month, Anno Domini 1790, Present The Hon. John Jay, Chief Justice, the Hon. William Cushing and the Hon. James Wilson, Associate Justices, this being the day assigned by law for commencing the first session of the Supreme Court of the United States, and a sufficient number of the justices not being convened, the Court is adjourned by the justices now present until to-morrow, at one of the clock in the afternoon." COURT SEAL. The next day the Hon. John Blair was present, and the court was formally opened by the crier. There were no cases before this court. Its first business was the reading of the justices' commissions, and their taking the oath required by law; and the presentation of the commission of Hon. Edmund Randolph of Virginia, who had been appointed Attorney-General. John Tucker of Boston was appointed the first clerk. It next provided a seal for the court, which was the arms of the United States engraved on a circular piece of steel of the size of a dollar, with the words, "Seal of the Supreme Court of the United States," engraved on the margin. On February 5th, three councillorsElias Boudinot of New Jersey, Thomas Hartley of Pennsylvania, and Richard Harrison of New York |