The Federal Tribunal had no permanent seat from 1848 to 1874, and met in different places. In 1874, by action of the Federal Assembly, Lausanne was chosen for its permanent location; the Canton of Vaud, in consideration of this honor, erected and presented to the Confederation a _palais de justice_, the most elegant and commodious public building in Switzerland. No professional qualification is required for eligibility to the Federal Tribunal; any Swiss citizen eligible for the lower branch of the Federal Assembly may be elected to the Tribunal. There is no qualification for any federal office in Switzerland higher than that for a member of the _Nationalrath_, or lower House of the Federal Assembly. Any vote-possessing Swiss, twenty years of age (except a naturalized citizen, who must wait for five years after his naturalization), may be President of the Confederation or president of the Federal Tribunal,--_i.e._, chief justice of the Confederation. It naturally occurs that there should be some better guarantee for the depth of knowledge and solidity of judgment necessary for the intelligent consideration and discreet determination of the responsible duties attached to these high positions, and which can be the result of nothing but the thought and experience of more mature years. Certainly in high judicial life there should be a tact, a ripeness, and a nicety of judgment, an intuitive apprehension of the relations of things, and a wisdom, which age indeed does not always bring, but which age alone can bestow.