to be those of making war and peace, coining money and issuing bills of credit, establishing courts of admiralty, building and equipping a navy, ascertaining the number of men to be raised for the army, making requisitions on each state for its quota, regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians, establishing post-offices, and some other matters of less importance; but for many of these, even for agreeing on the number of ships to be built, and the appointment of a commander in chief of the army or navy, the consent of at least nine states, in congress assembled, was requisite. From this outline it is obvious that the congress still continued in a great degree dependent on individual states, which alone possessed the means of raising supplies. The power to coin money, when they did not possess the bullion, to emit bills of credit when they had no funds to redeem them, was purely nominal. Even the expenses of their own members were to be defrayed by the respective states which sent them, and which retained the dangerous power to recall them at pleasure. Yet such was the fervour of freemen engaged in a common cause that, while the war continued, the mere recommendations of congress carried with them the force of mandates, and it was not until after the peace of 1783, that the necessity of giving to the head of the union the means of supporting its own government was universally felt and acknowledged. After some ineffectual substitutes had been proposed, a convention of delegates from the different states was assembled at Philadelphia in 1787. The members were appointed by the legislatures of the respective states. The result of their deliberations was again to become a matter of recommendation which required the assent of the people to give it effect. It was communicated by the convention to congress, and by congress to the several legislatures, in order to be submitted to a convention of delegates chosen in each state by the people. This course, which had been recommended by the general convention itself, eventuated in its final adoption by all the states. But the assent of nine was sufficient for its commencement, and on the 2d of July, 1788, congress were informed that nine states had adopted it. On the 13th of September, they fixed the time for the appointment and meeting of electors, and " commencing proceedings under the new constitution." (7) (7) The first Wednesday in the following month of February was fixed for the electors to assemble in their respective states and vote for a president, and the first Wednesday in March the time for the government to commence. CHAPTER I. The Constitution of the United States. THE government, formed under the appellation of the United States of America, is declared in the solemn instrument which is denominated the Constitution, to be "ordained and established by the people "of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, "provide for the common defence, promote the gene❝ral welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to "themselves and their posterity." In this distinct exposition of principles, most of which are common to all freemen, and some peculiar to the situation of our country, we perceive the motives, and are guided in the construction of the instrument. We find the intention to create a new political society, to form a new government which the necessities and dangers of our country loudly required. The imperfect and inefficient confederation of 1779, is intended to be abandoned. The states are no longer to be known to each other merely as states. The people of the states unite with each other, without destroying their previous organization. They vest, in a new government, all the powers necessary for the attainment of the great objects to which the states separately or confederated, had been found incompetent. They reserve to the state governments, or to themselves, only what is not necessary for the attainment of those objects. In all other respects the sovereignty of the states is not altered. The obligations of duty and allegiance to them are not impaired; but in all those instances which are within the sphere of the general government, the higher obligations of allegiance and duty to it supersede what was due to the state governments, because from the nature of the case they cannot be co-equal. Two governments of concurrent right and power cannot exist in one society. Superiority must, therefore, be conferred on the general government, or its formation, instead of promoting domestic tranquillity, would produce perpetual discord and disorder. The principles of this constitution to be thoroughly understood should be frequently contemplated. The composition of such a government presents a novel and sublime spectacle in political history. It is a society formed not only out of the people of other societies, but in certain parts, formed by the societies themselves. The state is as much a member of the Union, and forms as much a part of the greater society as the people themselves, yet the state does not enter into the Union upon federate principles; it does not send representatives in the nature of federal delegates, or ambassadors; it cannot, at its own pleasure, increase or diminish their number. When the appointment is made, the person becomes an officer of the United States, not of the state which sends him, and he is not politically responsible to his constituent. In one case only is a vote taken by states, and the immediate representatives of the people, in that case, represent the state. But although the principles of a confederation are, in this one case, relinquished in the manner of giving their votes, it is preserved in the equality of representation of the states. It will be seen that in some cases a state has the right to claim the aid of the judicial power of the Union, and in all, it is bound to sup |