an Exchange Bank, or institution, was brought forward by the President himself, and was fully considered. Into the particulars of what passed I do not propose now to enter. It will be sufficient to say, that it was then distinctly stated and understood, that such an institution met the approbation of the President, and was deemed by him free of constitutional objections; and desired, (if Congress should deem it necessary to act upon the subject during the session,) that such an institution should be adopted by that body, and that the members of his Cabinet should aid in bringing about the result; and Messrs. Webster and Ewing were especially requested by the President to have communication on the subject with certain members of Congress. The institution then spoken of was to be located in the District of Columbia, to be authorized to establish agencies in the States and Territories, with power to deal in bills of exchange between the United States and foreign countries, and in bills of exchange drawn in one State or Territory, and payable in another State or Territory; and the exercise of this power was not to depend on any assent, expressed or implied, of the States within which such agencies might be established.

In consequence of what passed at this meeting, I saw such friends in Congress as I deemed it proper to approach, and urged upon them the passage of a bill to establish such an institution, assuring them that I did not doubt it would receive the approbation of the President.

The bill was passed, as the public know, and was met by the Veto. Now, if the President, after the meeting of the 18th of August, had changed his mind as to the constitutional power of Congress, and had come to doubt or deny what he had admitted in that meeting, (which is the most favorable interpretation that can be put upon his conduct,) it was, in my opinion, a plain duty on his part to have made known to the gentlemen concerned this change of sentiment, to have offered them an apology for the unpleasant situation in which they were placed by his agency, or, at least, to have softened, by a full explanation of his motives, his intended Veto of a measure, in promoting the success of which they, at his request, had rendered their assistance. But this the President did not do. Never, from the moment of my leaving his house on the 18th, did he open his lips to me on the subject. It was only from the newspapers, from rumor, from hearsay, I learned that he had denied the constitutionality of the proposed institution, and had made the most solemn asseveration that he would never approve a measure which I knew was suggested by himself, and which had been, at his own instance, introduced into Congress. It was still in the President's power, by a proper statement in the message containing his objections to the bill, to have supplied these omissions, and in some degree at least to have repaired his former neglect; but when that paper came to be read, it was found that so far from saying frankly that he even favored and had been willing to sanction the bill, but had been led, (if such was the fact,) by subsequent reflection to adopt dif ferent views upon the subject, he treated the measure as one evidently inconsistent with his previously expressed opinions, and which it ought not to have been supposed for a moment he could approve.

1

Whether this conduct of the President is susceptible of just defence, or reasonable excuse, it is not necessary now to inquire. I have not heard, nor can I imagine any ground for either. Whether an explanation of it has been offered to any one of the gentlemen concerned I know not, but none was at any time offered to me; and while I forbear to make the remarks, obvious and painful as they are, which the transaction suggests, I declare the conviction that this conduct of the President, standing without known defence, excuse, or explanation, constituted, (if no other reasons had existed,) ample ground for a withdrawal from the Cabinet without delay.

It is scarcely necessary to say, that I have not supposed, and do not suppose, that the difference merely between the President and his Cabinet, either as to the constitutionality or the expediency of a bank, necessarily interposes any obstacles to a full and cordial cooperation between them in the general conduct of his Administration; and therefore, deeply as I regretted the veto of the first bill, I did not feel myself at liberty to retire, on that account, from my situation. But the facts attending the initiation and disapproval of the last bill made a case totally different from that-one, it is believed, without a parallel in the history of our Cabinets; presenting, to say nothing more, a measure embraced and then repudiated efforts prompted and then disavowed services rendered and then treated with scorn or neglect. Such a case required, in my judgment, upon considerations, private and public, that the official relations subsisting between the President and myself should be immediately dissolved.

WASHINGTON, September 18, 1841.

GEO. E. BADGER.

A PORTABLE SAW-MILL.

THE Baltimore American describes a newly-invented portable sawmill, constructed by Mr. George Page, of that city. It is remarkable for its simplicity, and for the rapidity of its performance, in proportion to the amount of power required to sustain it in motion. In a mill driven by a steam engine of small power, a wet yellow pine log, 16 1-2 feet long and 17 inches in diameter was placed on the carriage. The saw passed through this log three times in the space of four minutes and a half. A mill of ten-horse power will cut with ease 10,000 feet per day. These mills are now getting extensively into use in Maryland and the adjoining States. They can be readily transported from place to place, and set up wherever timber is abundant. As a proof of their efficiency, it is mentioned that some time ago Mr. Page put one of them on a rail-road car, and set it up in the thickly-timbered country through which the Annapolis rail-road passes. By it he was

enabled to send to his factory a large quantity of prepared timber, at less than half what it would have cost him, if purchased in Baltimore. One of these mills is in operation at the Navy Yard, at Washington, and several others are now engaged for the United States service.

MODEL PRISON NEAR LONDON.

In a former number, [Vol. II. p. 278,] we gave a description of the model prison now building by authority of the British Government, for the reception of the prisoners of the Middlesex Penitentiary. We obtain, from a late London journal, the following additional particulars, in relation to the construction of this prison:

For the purpose of cleanliness and drinking, each prisoner will be allowed a cubic foot of water, or six gallons daily. Besides the cells above mentioned, there are a number of under-ground cells, intended for the confinement of refractory prisoners. There are five plots of ground set apart for exercising yards. This arrangement is very curious, and it is believed quite original. It should be borne in mind that the great feature of the system about to be carried into effect, is that of absolute separation. The prisoners must, at no time, whether at prayers or at exercise in the open air, see each other, must not converse with each other in fact, must not possess the means of doing either one or the other. To effect this object the convicts, when taken from their cells to the exercising yards, will be hooded or masked. When in the yards the hoods will be removed, and, though upwards of one hundred persons may thus be taking exercise at one and the same time, and within a few yards of each other, they will be as effectually separated, as regards seeing and hearing, as though they were many miles apart. This is accomplished by the following means: Circular plots of land are surrounded by high walls; from the interior of these outer walls, twenty-seven other walls are erected, at about nine feet distance from each other in the first instance. These walls all radiate to a point in the centre of the circle, where they diminish from about nine feet to about three feet of each other. We have thus, it will be seen, twenty-six exercising yards, into each of which only one person is admitted at a time. In the centre is stationed the keeper, who, from his situation, has the ready means of constantly watching twenty-six prisoners almost simultaneously, and entirely unobserved by them. A portion of these yards is covered in, in order to shelter the convicts in wet weather. When the time allowed for exercise has elapsed, the hoods or masks will be again placed on the faces of the prisoners, and they will be conducted back to their cells. In addition to the four wings described above, there will be a chapel, a house on each side of the gate or prison door, and fronting the Chalk-road, for the governor and

chaplain, and six other houses or lodges for the use of the subordinate officers and their families. The walls enclose an area of six acres and three-quarters. The walls meet at angles. The lodges for the keepers are situated in these angles, and have somewhat of a tower-like appearance, being pierced with numerous loop-hole windows, apparently for the purpose of firing from, in case the prison should be attacked. Four of these lodges have six rooms each, and are intended for the accommodation of eight officers and their families. The other two are for the use of the unmarried officers, who will have one room each and a closet. The unmarried men employed in the prison will take their meals in the mess-room. The chapel will not contain at one time more than half the prisoners -namely, 250. It will be so constructed in the interior as to prevent the convicts from seeing each other, but they will all be enabled to see the clergyman. In going to and from the chapel, the prisoners will be all masked and hooded. On the first arrival at the prison, they will also be masked till they are conducted to their cells. These cells, like the yards, are so constructed as to enable the officers to see the prisoners unobserved by the convicts themselves. The prison will be supplied with water from an Artesian well, which has been already bored to the depth of 370 feet, the shaft being 170 feet deep, and the bore 200 feet; the water rises in the shaft to the height of 12 feet. It has not yet been ascertained, however, whether this well will yield a sufficient quantity of water to supply the prison. The works are under the superintendence of Captain Jebb, of the Royal Engineers, who furnished the design. Messrs. Crawford and Russell are the inspectors. As the strictest economy is observed, architectural beauty has not been much regarded. The Woods and Forests have no control over the Model Prison beyond passing the accounts, which are paid at the Treasury.

COMPOSITION OF THE BRITISH CABINET.

THE government of a state or community is understood to signify the exercise of supreme authority, and includes the executive, the leg islative, and the judicial powers; but in popular acceptation it means only the first of these, the higher and more immediate functions of which are exercised by the Cabinet, a select body, in whom, for the time being, the whole of the royal authority is vested. Its members all belong to the Privy Council, but do not include a tithe of that body. The Cabinet is composed of the more eminent portion of the adminis tration, but it does not constitute more than a fourth part of those whom a change of ministry deprives of office, the persons included in that council being rarely less than ten, or more than fifteen. The Cabinet, being more immediately responsible for the conduct of public affairs,

their deliberations are always considered confidential, and kept secret even from their colleagues, who are less exalted in office. The distinguished individual who fills the situation of the First Lord of the Treasury, and combined with it sometimes that of Chancellor of the Exchequer, is the chief of the ministry, and, therefore, of the Cabinet; he is usually styled the "Premier," or "Prime Minister," but more properly designated as "the head" of " Her Majesty's government." It is at his immediate recommendation, that his colleagues are appointed; and, with hardly an exception, he dispenses the patronage of the Crown Every Cabinet includes the following high officers: the First Lord of the Treasury, the Lord Chancellor, the Lord President of the Council, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the three Secretaries of State. Several other ministerial functionaries, however, have seats in the Cabinet; never less than three, and rarely so many as eight or nine of this latter class, are called to that station. Their offices are as follow: Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, First Lord of the Admiralty, President of the Board of Control, President of the Board of Trade, Secretary at War, Paymaster-General of the Forces, Master of the Mint, Judge Advocate-General, Postmaster General, Master-General of the Ord nance, Chief Secretary for Ireland, Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench.* The selection usually falls upon those amongst the latter-mentioned functionaries, whose rank, talents, reputation, and political weight, render them the most useful auxiliaries, or whose services, while in opposition, may have created the strongest claims to the honors of the Cabinet. It has occasionally happened, that a peer possessing high character and influence accepts a seat in the Cabinet without undertaking the labors and responsibility of any particular office.

THE BUDGET.

READERS of British Parliamentary proceedings are sometimes at a loss for the meaning of the term Budget, which is a word of frequent Occurrence. It will be understood from the following explanation : The Chancellor of the Exchequer makes one general statement every year to the House of Commons, which is intended to present a comprehensive view of the financial condition of the country. Sometimes there are preliminary, or supplemental, or occasional speeches; but the great general statement of the year has, for a long time past, been quaintly called "the Budget," from the French bougette, by a common figure of speech, putting the name of that which incloses, to signify the thing

The first Lord Ellenborough was the last Chief Justice who held a seat in the Cabinet; having withdrawn from the Administration, he afterwards expressed his disapprobation of the practice.