The Arkansas banner., 1843-12-16
LITTLE ROCK SATURDAY MORNING. DECEMBER 16, Is3

man. Strip off that worthless husk. Take away the organs of sense, through which as through loop-holes we look out dimly on the objects that surround us What theni The soul needs them not. All eve, all ear all nerve, it sees and hears and feels, al.le .in every part.
 Just so of the sovereignty of the people. when, by the abolition of constitutions and governments, it frees itself from seli-mposed restraints. It dofls aside the puny agency of magistrates, executive, legislative and judicial; and stands confessed in unclouded majesty, sufficient for itself in all things, combining and exercising all powers and all functions. 1 Gentlemen; if there be such people, and such body polite as the people of the IL. States, even such must be the effect of the abolition of the constitution of the United States. But is any one prepared to admit this ? Do they err who suppose that the abolition of that constitution and the revoca- ton of the powers delegated by the States, would but reinstate the States themselves in the exercise of those powerss Are we to be told, that instead of this, the abolition of that instrument would abolish too the consti- tutions of the States, and even the States themselves? !? Are we to believe, that as d necessary consequence of such a measure, the ancient landmarks between tho States, must instantly disappear Is the whole or ganlzed population of twenty-six distinct States to sink down at once, into one chaotic mass, in which the diScordia scmiad reruR shall struggle for the mastery, and finally take whatever form majority of the whole may choose to impose Can it be that the severance of the only tie that binds us to the other States, is to be followed by necessary complete and indissoluble amalgamaton with them
 Gentlemen; l beg you calmly and distinct ly to contemplate the absurdity of this idea At present, the only right of the man o Maine, Missouri or Louisiana, to meddle with any thing that concerns Virginia is derived from the constitution. By this, certain de. fined and limited powers are conferred on the common agents of all the States. Te abolish the constitution should be to deter mine these powers. And shall we be told
 that instead of this, the effect of such | measure must be to abolish, not the power. themselves, but all limitations on those pow CTS. Y let this must be so, if indeed there bt body polite comprehending all the inhab. itants of the United States. Whatever abuses then, whatever expressions we may encoun- ter, must be borne with patience, lest a worse thing befall us. We must be careful not to recall any authority, which, in the language of the ratification by Virginia, ''may be per yerted to our injury or eppressien," lest, II
 the attempt, we do but make full surrender
 of that and every other power whatever [ Gentlemen If the science of government ad-
 mits of a reductio ad absurdum, this is one If there be any proposition, which may bt
 proved to be false, by the preposterous con clusions to which 1t leads, such is the propo
 sition that aflirms the sovereignty of the U States, or the existence of such body polite
 or such a people.
 How then, it may be asked, are we to un
 derstand the language of Virginia herself when, in ratifying the constitution, she de clares, that '' the powers granted under th
 constitution, being derived from the peoph of Me United States, may be resumed by , them whensoever the same shall be perverted
 to their injury or oppression ;"
 , l answer, that the phrase must be under
 stood here as in the preamble to the consti. tuition, not as technically designating a polit | ical body, but as a mere noun of multitude
 For, beg you to observe, gentlemen, tn s declaration is that the powers granted ma, be resumed-restored to those to whom the ) before belonged not distributed, in wide an 7 wasteful proiusion to those who had neve yet possessed them. The States alone ha possessed these powers as separate and dis tinct bodies polite, and they could only b l resumed in the same character. The gran t and the resumption of power are both predi = cated of the same subject Of this subject 5 IS alike affirmed, that the powers under tn 3 constitution had been granted and were to b resumed thereby, and hence we conclud that these powers proceeded from the sam source to which they were to revert T'ha source then was tic sovereignty of the States and not any such body polite as the peoph , of the United States, whose association would
 be dissolved by the very act which was te restore the power to the hands that conferred
 it. So far then from giving countenance to , the idea of the existence of any such body polite, this very language exposes the ab surdity of that idea. It shows, that the abro f gatlon of the constitution was not to be at
 tended with the consequences which the ex lstence of any such body polite would ren der inevitable. It was not to be followed by the establishment of an absolute and unquali-
 fled supremacy in the collective whole, bu the parts were to be rcinstated in the exercise
 of all the powers and functions which they
 had delegated.
 Observe then, beseech you, gentlemen the difference between the actual, though dormant sovereignty of the people of Virgin ia, and the imaginary sovereignty of the peo- pie of the United States. Take away the constitution of Virginia; the government is abolished, but the people and lhe common wealth remain. The sovereignty, which be. fore had slumbered while its servants watched
 is awakened, and its authority absolute
 boundless, unqualified, takes the place of the restricted funciionaries it supersedes. Bu
 take away the constitution of the United States, and no such august object is disclosed The people of the United States vanish- Tho bodx, pal;t;c if tbora ba ono dice 1lx,oe