1
s"1
'
;
3 f.
f s
i '
"TUB LIBERTY OF THE PHESS-THF SHIKU) OF FRREDOM-TIIE SCOUUGE OF TYRANT
-v OIAIUJSS 12. 12 A MS Alt .
8iiiamtw,iiiMK
.9?ff V . ":"''":'e " "jrt ... . JF
. wm&vmsf -Msnwrnmsm JNsm'mmanm &&
an
fspuYiied every TuEAr inarnmff, at 'i'Am; Vol
wncr annum, A' payable in advance, or 2',"re
""u " :iis,:veu, a.mi we-snouiti mev.-tam tall IneK formed by the individual wha compoue ihme
lf the ye;U; . . , ,. ... cen-3 Per sn-nre fo thel,Mt e !lVlrd!.r.anl,, c!,n,urs,on ,,f ,thc! G;7icc5 states respective!, and the general commut.it v
JvcrcmeK.Mnser,ed M center .q.iare, t . cor.juicrafiUnctX, after such an example called the United Shite.. Wmed by the a
fivst insertion, ami Scents for every subsequent one. f weakness, the States should continue connec- ciation of all the states into a political Union
Ml letters addressed to tte Emtob cn Imsniers con -t(,lS by any ti whatevcr. There is one body politic or communitv as clear"
, rted nvUU tV.e cstabV.slnr.er.t, mmt be 2ost Lor one, theretore, I feel myself constrained, v reMiltihs from the K.ciation . ot Ctate i
or they vUl not be tnken put ;t e otace.
--r .-.-n f:1 TTT-VTT'CI
TIIV SE-VATS OF , THE UNITED STATES, OX
ril E JuriCIARY BILL. -
Mn. Prf.siwent: Sirun.M 1 am in this
bfdv, a;d i.ovv aln-OM a strainer in r.Vy own
t.u;:trv, thf.j;H in spirit and a Section never
r-it.il f.Min . I t.-tl that I owe :n imolowv I
ti, the Soiiate for r.brouing myself at all upon
iU attention. Sir, I do it with great rc!uc(0f
tance, ami vt3i a deep sensa of the disadvan
tages u ni'ier vvhie!! I labour. Mot of the quev
tioe.s involved iK the discussion tf tlie bill now
u ider cHisideiaiion have sprung up during the
period of my absence from the country, and the
short interval which has elapsed since my re
tarn, has ailarded me neither t'ie tim5 nor the
opportunity for a detailed exanination of them.
I bring to theia, therefore, n ) other resources
of arumfnts or illustrattion than those settled
nrir,q!es a;id fundamenial notions which' are
kotcd in the mind of every American citizen,
in regard to the Constitution to his country.
Sir, the questions row to be settled art1 of the
deesvt import t the destinies of this country.
They touch not the construction of this i.r that
c'wWse of the Constitution only; they go to the
whole frame avd structure of the Government,
And the vital principle of its existence. Sir, I
should be recreant to my duty on this floor a
t!.o representative of a State, which under Provi
dence, had chief agency in the establishment ol
this happy isvietri of government, if I d"ul not
attenspf, however feebly, the expression of ray
views on such an occasion,
I am impelled to this expression, Mr. Presi
deot, bv another consideration. It is n:y mis
fortune to differ from my worthy and honorable
colleauf, as well as from other honorable Sen
ators coming from the same quarter of the Union
aa myself, in several ui' the views I have taken
of subject. It is due to them as well as to
myself, and those whom we represent, that the
gro .rtf.is of this difference of opinion should be
SiiU il aruJ explained. And, in order to pre
clude all misapprehension, I beg leave to say,
in the outset, that im one is or has been, more
thoroughly opposed tothat whole system of policy,
usually denominated the American system, than
I have been, and still am. My voice, sir, has
been often and strenuously, however ineffectu
ally, raised against it in another division of this
Capitol. I consider it unjust in principle, inex
pedient in practice, oppressive and unequal in
its operation in short, an abuse of power con
trary to the true genius of our institutions.
Paut,sir, what is entitled to lar more consider
ation, the State which I 'nave the honor in part to
represent has repeatedly and strongly protested
against this system; and it is but yesterday that
her legislature earnestly renewed her appeal to
tne councils ot the nation so to modify the sys
Mm
to remove the just cause d" complaint
which had arisen against it. Sir, this anneal.
ami similar appeals which have emanated from
t'u' legislature? of other States, fortified by all
those high considerations of patriotism, policy
and justice, which the crisis suggests, cannot
fail t.: have their proper effect. There is every
reason to believe thit thi-distractingquestiou will
besettled, & speedily & saiisfactortly settled, as
it might to be. liut aothwithstanding these
aniuails idhpp, one of the States of the Union
b--s rashly undertaken to redress her grievances
Jya l"imtl abrnijatiou of the laws of the United
ata'e within ir h, Ci, l..., -1 1 1 o...
( ""ut. i.j.it; iiu iictiairu use
s?ne .f reveaae iaws, from the origin of
ti If i f
null
thin
w iMe,eat!iig and arresting their operation,
'lis st:lle of things, weare called upon to
K htae Government of the United States shall
1 thu j Uliderstar.il mir 4...
to the
ijuerest and honor of Uiy own State.
aroUa. bP r , . ; -Mur"LL " ouin
not tnat urr.fS lhe Un,onJ WiM
" fi.e fiscal and cl" that equality
tan,!-
ititivp nf V;...:..:. r "ir s a rep-
V--uia shall 'u - V" m,t -illiog that
cVron", U;mpe,'ed t0 es; while
"T aad unau
V-''mu ?bVtf ffrMl U':t VU of them.
quenceof ac-
si,- ,.u,-4'l'JI',rotli,rrWi
se, a result
fnsf "'dressing to the whole
COiJOTrV wiil
.au.:; "l:,;cn'"erce of r,e cU-;rrv will
,!lfns of hi . " J''nXS f S,,urh andira:
WCTfi l c-"-'-'td v.-Hh tnem
au as thes-j
wnseqaer.ces, or any of them,
f;.-. i
' oernmej.t to the present'dav. to be
a..i, v.,i(; t.a j prohibited their execution wi'
i.er Oardei nr.,1.,. i.:.... . . . . . .
1 , . "UI-' igii penaaies, ana nas 01
nasntru various otiier msiios with flu .vnrfu
tv era tleti;ince ari(l violation of
vVs :hp Ur''li,Ih without taking any step
. 'fcV'r fur thtir tn.'orcement? For myself, 1
:::'ce t0J tut I do not thus read my wath
' Jpportthe Constitution of the Uniteil "States.
OU Uu
"in n. v rli 10 'tsuiauons 01 toe
atnreXl
-trimentofothJshu J'T' aml
may be ;. there is yet another view of the subjectofjstates separately considered. Rut this at-n--.tiii
higher lmpoi tance. Tuts example would ment obviously overlooks the peculiar nature' f
inflict a mortal wound on the Constitution.. Thejnur complex WanizMion which embraces two
. ........ I If K.. 4 I. 5 . . I . II I 1 . . O " '
,-ovemmeiu vvuun ur, lonceior wani VlftnaUV
iissi:veu. ami we -snou i inev..taniv la i ru-k
i i i i ' iii- . . i . . :
by the !r,y;iiest conbideration of thitv, to - jrive
my assent to such measures as mav be necessary
an t proper to proKie fjr the execuMon of the
laws, while they remain unrepealed There are
some .provisions in ,ihe bill now .under consid
eration, o" w'nich I do not approve, a I shall
have occasion to say more fully, when I come" to
explain my own ideas of the leirislation best
! r-.t...l t mn.it o,-; R., i,i r. .-r. n
thetftreshold with preliminary denial of the riht
the Government to adopt any measures what
ever, rur the execution ot a law ot the UiuteU
i". i . r f t a '
Mates, wnicn & van nave Deerr nultineU by the
autho.ifies of 3 State. This position has been
maintained by both of the honorable Senators
from Svuth Carolina, z especially by the honora
ble Senator who sprke first, (Mr. Calhoun,) in the
remark made by him at the time of submitting
his resolution?, which are now lying on your
table.
How, sir has this extraordinary position been
attempted to bu sustained? One would have sup
posed that a power, so radically nll-cting tin
whole oneration'of our system, as an a'xolut
1
State veto on the laws if the Union, would ha
been in some form or other expressed in the Con
stitution. Instead of this, we find an express
declaration that the constitution and laws of t lie
United States shall control, and be supreme
over, the constitution and laws of x),t respective
States. Yet the honorable Senator (Mr. Cal
houn) seeks to do away all this, by setting up
the metaphyseal deductions, and ingenious cre
ations of 1. is own mind , in the place of the posi
tive terms of the instrument irslf. Sir, I pro
pose to follow the honorable Senator, step bv
step, in the process id reasoning by which he
has attained so singular a result. And a I am
anxious to dpal with his argument in all possible
tairness, I will state what I understood th-t ar
gument to be, in order tha if I 'dial! have fallen
into a :rusappre:iension ot any part 01 i, i,e
honorable Senator may set me rirht.
I understand the honorable Senator, then,
thus after stating that the problem is to ascer
tain where the paramount power of the sysferM
is. ar-d that ..at power must be where the'sove
reignty is, he proceeds by saying that the Con
stitution of the United States is a compact be
tween the several States that these states only
are sovereign that the Government of th
United States is not sovereign, because, accor
ding to principles of modern political science,
sovereignty is not the attribute of any Govern
ment that it resides in the peaple that the
only people known to the true theory of our
institutions, is the people of the several states
distinctly that if the people of any one state in
the Union, therefore, shall in is sovereign ca
pacity interpose between its citizens and the
Government of the Uuited States, the act of
sovereign being always binding on its citizens,
the citizens of that state can no longer owe obe-
dience to the Government of the United States,
or be properly subject to it3 action; but that if
the ac of the state, so absolving its citizens from
obedience to the United States, be a violation
of the compact with the other States, it is the
State only as a political community that is res
ponsible. I hope, sir, I have stated the rea
soning of the Senator fairly, as I have wished
and intended to do.
Now, Sir, in regard to the first proposition
laid down by the honorable Senator from South
Carolina, Mr. Calhoun, it gives me pleasure
to say that I am enfirley of accord with him.
Here we draw our princples from the same pure
fountain the republican doctrines of "OS and
'99, as asserted at that time, by the legislature
of my own State. If there be any thing in poli
tics or history resting on grounds of incontro
vertible evidence and conclusive demonstra
tion, it is that the Constitution of the United
States was adopted by the people of the Uni
ted States not as an aggregate inas of in
dividuals, but as separate and independent com
munities. T'nis, sir, is the foundation stotie of
our federal system, and every attempt to dis
place it hts resulted in acknowledged failure,
and has only served to establish it the more
firmly. - - ,
Bat. sir, are the other propositions of the
honorable senator (Mr. Calhoun) equally (rue?
Is it true that there is no other sovereignty,
known to our po'itical system, than that which
resides in the people of each state; distinctly?
And 'here, sir, as the chief source .f difficulty
in all discussions of this sort is m the vague use
of terms, let us fix what we mean by sovereignty.
The elementary idea of sovereignty is that of
supreme uncontrolled power; and when applied
to political organization, I agree with the honor
able senator from South Carolina fMr. Calhoun)
that it can not, with propriety, be predicated of
Government which is a delegated anil limited
trust, but that it resides exclusively in the body
of the community, which creates and establishes
the- Government. I readily grant, then, that the
Government, of the United States possesses no
sovereignty. The honorable senator (Mr. Cal
ortin) seems to have supposed that this being
admitted, it would necessarily follow that the
i.'H y sovereignty known to nur political system,
s in the people of each state distinctly, there be
ing as he contends, no other people, according
to its true theory, than the people ot the several
U'StiaCt SDOCie of rnmmiir.if Kf.,t
, . . , o v i 1 1. . -
tue oiti case, as there is such body politic' or
community resulting from the association ot in
dividuals in the other' In the" body , f the com
munity, the sovereignty of each ?ylem rr- U!,
that of the federal system, in tNe community
called the TL State?, that of the State systems
m tne boilv ot the community called the sta'e.
You will remark.
Mr.
President, that I here
speak oi the United States, as contradistin
guished from the Government of the United
States; &I contend tfat the 'term Unite.' S'ales,
jas used in our political nomenclature, des'-
. ....
1 f J - . - - - " - M ' - - I
nates one body politic, one integral communitv,(;.stitution or fundamental law resides. In a single
(although a community composed of states,) in
which sovereignty resides, as to certain purposes,
as truly as it resides in the saos or several
communities combed', of individuals, for theithe federal community composed of all the
purpose ot their organization.
I should not think it necessary, Mr. Presidentjthe 'Constitution, requires for its exercise the
to dwell on an idea, which, to my nund, is sol concurrence of three-fourths of the States. Ac
obvious, f I d:d not know that the suggestion co -ding to this plain, practical test, then, the
of any unify in our fetjeral organization had ,0- actual snvereijrnty of the Union is in three-
cenny givpti rise to rnich chfsatisfaction. and i'Mnurths of the States.
ite wedid not live in imwi:e!i (tie best settled prir,
ve ciplcs liave been boldly called in question. I;
may not be amiss, therefore, to bring n vew !-..ds
to the support ot what I have ventured t assert
that t'e United Suites do for-o. to certain
purposes, one roinuiuotv ne integral political
body. Wa are all agreed that !ie United Sfa es
form a confederate republic. Now, S'r, what i
the definition cf a confederate republic by ti -at
writer, who, umo.og the politic"- philosophers id
modern times, seems to nave best uod-urstood
its characteristics, and tr have most rrstl v apnre
... . . . - it
ciateu is an vantages.'' .Mo-jtesquieu savs.a eon
federate republic is a chi veotiori bv which several
soiallet States agree o become members o a
large ore. w'dch ihey intend to form." It is j
kirt.d ot asse :o!oi of societies, that contstute a
np-.v one," Th
Sth No., n-ferring :
a ifer of t,,-j Federalist, in
wnai .Mo '.te-q ueu -says on
this subject, ad-i: ".-The definitio;! of a confede
rate republic seems simply to be via assemblage
or societies, ur an association
States into one S'afe."
of two or mare
. . 13 ut, sir,. let us apperd to a distinguished: au
thority which is often invoked by the politicians
of South Carolina, and for which I challenge r-
i"""";' -' ' r?jvt 1 u;j 1 oe presetir occasion.
Mr. Jeffersnn, ir, in a letter to Mr. Edmund
Randolph, which will be found in the 3d voluu
of his published corre?pondence, written on the
18th August, 1799, in the very crisis of that
great struggle for constitutional principles whi h
terminated in the civil revolu'ion" of 1801,
and when ho must be supposed to have weighed
well all the bearings of his words, uses the fol
lowing language. ''Before the revolution there
existed no such nation as the Uaited States.
aithey then first associated as a nation, butforspe
7
icia! purposes only. They had . di their laws to
make as Virginia had on her fitt establishment
as a nation. Rut they did not, as Virginia had
done, proceed to adopt a whole system of laws
ready made to their hand-; as their association
as a nation was only lor special purposes, &c."
Sir, it would be easy to show, if the time of
the Senate were not too precious to be consumed
111 unnecessary ilicus;-:!on, -that the recognition''
here made of the United States as forming one
nation (or certain purnose?, is of Particular
f
nied altogether the existence of any national in -
dividualitv in the United States.
But, sir, without insikting on the particular!
weigh, from the nature- ot tne question which' b!e Senator lias told us that the paramount several numbers,' (No, SO. 43, 62.) all written
Mr. JeSerson was then discussing, and which j power of controlling the General Got eminent jhy Mr. Madison, wohse guidance, I confess I al
would have rendered his ' course of argument must reside where the sovereignty of the system jwavs follow with peculiar confidence, for no
much shorter and feimnlei, if he cou'.d have de d resides. The problem stated by him was to 1 man, from the relation in which he stands to thu
weight of Mr. Jefferson's authority, in this view.'pJain result is, that the paramount or sovereign
of it, I would ask if the' same language bus not
been habitually used by all of our great men who
were contemporary with the formation of the
Constitution, and with the vital questions of con-! edging that there 4ar two distir.ct and inde-i Federalist in his celebrated Report t the Vir
st rue tion to which the first ten years of its oper-j pendent sovereignties' in our complex organ-Iginia Legislature of '99 he again used the same
ation gave rise? We all remember, Mr. Pres'uient i'r.ation, recognizes the correctness of another 'orm of expression kthe residuary sovereigh-
that Gen. .Washington, is that -noble monument
of patriotism andnvisdom, ids farewell address,!
speaks of the " unity of government which con -
stitutes us one people," 'and of 'thy states as bound
together by an 'indissoluble community of in
terest as one nation " Mr. Madison, than "whom
certanly no higher authority can be appealed b,
in regard to that Constitution which is the woik
manship of his own hands, thus wiites in his let
ter to the editor of theNorh American Review:
4kThe Constitution of the U. S. being a com oaei
among the states in their highest sovereign capa
city, and constituting the people thereof one
people for certain purposes, cannot be altered or
amended at the will of the states individually,
as the Constitution of a state may be at its indi
vidual will."
Rut why add to this list of distinguished au
thorities, farther than to cite the authority,' of the
honorable Senator from South Carolina himself.
In his letter to Governor Hamilton, published
juring the last summer, I find the following pas-
sage ''the General Government is the joint organ
of all the states confederated into one general
community." And again: "In the execution
of the delegated powers, the Union is no longer
regarded in reference to its parts, but as form
ing one great community, to be governed by a
common will, cc." .
Ift then, tha United S(atc3 do form "one
community, governed by a common will," sr.y-r-;b, lns,ie to lessen the weight of this d-cbratioa
e.gnfy nuy and dees exit in toe bn,iy thar hv n.nresentirK it as the expression- f the indi
comniumty, for the spenal purposes of the Union, vfdua', sn!tiniet ()f General Washington, -by
j';st as clitctualiya.ul unquestionably as .over-' yhoin lhe jtterwas signed. - The draft of the
eignty exists in the people ot an individual state tfelter was carefully prepared, under the orders
!-r,saie purposes. My answer then, and I flatter Lf the convention! by th same committee,
my set i a conclusive one, to t!,e argument ot the;whcn waschanred with givin- the final shape
hon. Senator is, that the sovereignty of our federal
system is neither in the government of the United
State., nor in the people ot the individual states se
parately considered, tut in that great community
or body politic, called the United States, result
ing from the aoriatiun vf ! the states, for
p ;?d purpose. .Mr, Jegt--.ia.lt. letter to
Mr. Randolph, frva which I read the extract L
cued a few moment ag, says, very properly,
that "the whole body of the nation, or communi-
ty, "is the stivereign power for itself."
Thtre is a practical ciiterion, of very easyap
dicatiot: iu o .r American institutions, far deter-
nnain v o
re sovereignty resides. Sovereignty
resifles where the power of ameudin"- the. Con
'
;S.nr, this power resides in the people of the
iState, and of course, the sovereignty resides in
them also. In the Union this power resides in
Spates, and accord ins to an express provision in
Here, again, I am happy to fortify myself by
an authority, which, if not that of trie honorable
Senator himself, as it is generally understood to
be, must, at least command his very high respect.
1 altude to the report and exposition adopted by
the legislature of. South Carolina, in December
1823 From that document, I beg leave to read
to the Senate the following extract :
kOur sy-tem, then, consists of two distinct
and independent" soverei
vereignties. The generaU,uint and irreconcilable." "Feileralist,No. 155.1
t!ie General Government j In the 45th numVr of that publication, where
powers conferred on
are suhject to Us sole and exclusive control j and
the States cannot, without violating the Consti
tution interpose their authority to check, or in any
manner counteract its movement?, so long as they
are confined to its proper sphete; so also the pe
culiar and local powers, reserved to the States,
aresuhj'c'.ed to their exclusive control, nor can
the General Government interfere with them,
without, on ts part, also violating the Constitu-
tion. In order to have a full and clear conception
of our institutions it will be proppr to remark
that there ss, m our. system, a striking distmc-! Aive faction, again-t v ergrown mil tary fstabhsh
tioiL between the government a!-d t:e ?nvercign i ment?, and against ail the other nameless dU t" as
pov.'er. "hatever may be the true doctrine in
regard to t!ie sovereignty of the States imlivid-
tuaiiy, 11 is unquestionably Ciear, inai wnue inc
government of the Union is vested in its leisla-
five, executive and political department, the
actual sovereign power resides in the several
States who created it, in their separate and dis
tinct political vharacter. But by an cxpres:
provision of the Constitution, it may be amended
or changed by three-fourths of the States; pnd
each State, by assenting to the Constitution with
this provision, has surrendered its original rights
as a sovereign, which made its individual consent
necessary to aeycha-ige in its political condition,
and has placed this important power in the
hands cf three-fourths of he Statts, in which
the sovereignty cf the Union under the Consti
tution does now actually reside.'
Ilere, then, Mr. President, we have a distinct
acknowledgement, in accordance with the prin-jtion of sovereignty remaining in the s:tatca?
riples 1 have laid down, that the sovereignty ofj after that' which is surrendered to the Uiiion.
'the federal system is not in the people of any
one of the States, acting separately, as the hon
orable Senator now contends, but in three-fourths
of the states acting concurrently. The honora-
, ij
ascertain where that power does reside, and is
(here conclusively solved bv his own State, in a
solemn exposition drawn np by himself.
power is not in the people of any one State, but
iu three-fourths of all the States.
Tins imnnrfant document, :!.$o, in acknow-
of the positions I have laid down that there is
sovereignty in the United States, in regard to
1 the purposes of the Union, ?.s well as sover
sovereignty
in the several States, for State purposes. It i
has become lashionab'e, of late, to deny that there
is any sovereignty in the United Shites, (I speak,
of course, of the United States as a political
community, and not of ihe Government 'f the
United States,) and to claim for the states sepa
ratly, an absolute, complete, &nd unqualified
sovereignty toall intenfsand purposes whatever.
sir tms is a noveny uhkhowu to me lounuers ; in turther illustration ot ths p on, since v rgi
of the Constitution, ami has sprung up in thejnia authority has grown very much tA - m gne', I
hot bed of excited local politics. At the periiul !may be rermitted i to rd'cr t'i the'tddn ss : the
rd" the adoption of the Constitution, it was dis -
tinctly made known and universally understood, 1 s'iitV which nccompr.Viiod t e fanU"j ttsolu
tliat the extent, to wldrdi sovereignty was vested jt ions of Oj. !:: tar mldress, gene; ally supposed
in the Union, that of tiie States seveialiy was'j?o be the production of Johts Tavl-.r of Caiolir.c.
relinquished and diminished. What is said, sir,
j by the convention which framed the Constiutiond
'in communicating their work to Congress' to be
submitted tf the -people. ihe following une-
quivocal language is held m the letter addressed mimshed by powers specifically enumerated,
by the Convention to Congress. It is obvious-jor necessary to carry the specTied powers into
ly impracticable in the Federal Government of eiTecf." thus acknowledging, of o-nrse, that, to
these states to secure all theiights of independent that exte't. the state sovereignties I ad been di
Sovereignty. t each, and yet provide for the in- mhushed. -
terest and safety of all. Indivduals entering in- Sir, I laim mvseif to be an UmroV but de
to society must give up a share of liberty to v ed di-ciple of this good old sch.a 1 f '98 and
preserve the rest," &c. I.?t not any attempt ?09, and I might speak, if it ere proper to dp
to the Constitution itself, and both were sanc
tioned and adopted by the Convention at the
samr time. It was then the solemn explanation
of their ovva act by the convention thems-tlvef,
made known to the people, and understood by
them, when the tatcs ratified and adopted the
Onstitntion.- lut. sir, let us trace tms matter
utt. rnrhr. . Amon the r.ontemmirarv rub-
jr,cat!on explaining and recommending iho
Jnew Constitution,the essays cf the Federalist
L,Pj- for the distinzuished ability with which they
bdity with which they
were written, as for the high character of thj
authors, two of whom were members of the" Con
vention which framed the Constitution, wera
universally read, and profoundly considered. In
the letter of Mr. Jelleron to Mr. Gerry, an
extract of which was read the other day, by the
honorable Senator from Pennsylvania, (Mr. Dal-
las,)it is said with great force and propriety,, nac
!the Constitution should be always understood
"in the sense in which it was advocated by its
friends, and adopted by the States." Now, sir,
let us see in what light it was presented to tha
people, in reference to this question of Slata"
sovereignty, by its distinguished advocates and
expounders, the writer of the Federalist.
Ncthing would have been better calculated to
procure its ready adoption by the States, than
to have told hem that it left their sovereignty
entirely unimpaired. Bat, sir, its honest anil
enlightened advocates, the writers of the Feder
alist, attempted no such imposition en the good
sense ot the people. 1 hey tola tnem distinctly,
that "sovereignty in the Union, and complete
I independence in the members, are things rep- g-
Mr. Madison is noticing the objection that the
new constitution would t urtavt the Statesof some
important attributes of their sovereign'y, instead
of denying the charge, as it might have been
politic to do, in order to appease the jealousy
of state. pride, be boldly admits and justifies
the fuct. He tells the people of America, that
if it be demonstrated that the Union is necessary
to set u re their happiness, necessary to securs
jthem againvt foreign h and contention a
jmong the states, against violent and oppres-
would be the inevitable conesquence , f sej aia
tion, it is idle to object to a Constitution, without
A-hich that Union cannot b mail tained, that it
would cuitain the.staf.es of a poition of their
sovoreigny. On the contrary, he add-, that" so
far as the sacrifice of apoiti m of .-tat? sover
eignty shall b'- necessary to the ohjc t of the
Uti'en, thus shown to be indispensab'e to the
happinesss of the people, the voire of every
good citizen mut be, Irt the sacrifice he made.
Sir, the sacrifice was freely made, to the extent
required by ti e gert objects of lU Union; hut
jali th;:t portion of snveie'gruv net necessary to
be vested in the Union, for those high put pose?,.
ttill remains unimpaired in the respective st-tes.
In pursuance of this leading truth, the lan
guage, habitually used in the Federalist, to char
acterize the sovereignty of the states, is the "re
siduary sovereignty ct the states, or pof-
In rapidly glancing over this celebrated coilec-
tion.I find the expressier,residuary sovereignty
of the stages, as distinguished from a complete
and undiminished sovereignty, used in the three
j Constitution, ce.n be supposed tube more thor
'ouHily imbued with its true philosophy.-- It is;
philosophy.
lueireinak
able circumstance, as evincing the un
varying fidelity of Mr, Madison's mind to this
fundamental truth cf a partial surrender of sov
ereignty by the states, that, at the distance-of
more than ten years from 1 lie publication of tho
ry
ty of the Ftaies."
. , Sir, that report, in reccgitizing, as it does, in
express terms, the sovereignty cf the Un.i?eif
States,' as -well as in etfributing to the scvetal
states a residuary sovereignty only, shows that
the idea cf an absolute ami undiminished sov
ereignty still remaining m the states, was as lit
tle entertained by the fathers of the political
church from which tlie senator from South Car
olina professes to derive ids tenets, as by 0.0
founders & original advocates of theConsti-ution.
1 Lt-'oilatura ' of Virginia to the -people cf
tho
Us thorough-going a champion of ftute ri- as
the Senator from South Cai lina could desire, uo
j find the following declaration k,It was ihe.n ad
j milled that the state sovereignties w rcunlvdi-
Of"
r
)
. o
-. : v
I-
- ! '
't
f