Southern standard. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1851-1856, 1851-08-09

stTuction of the federal compact, and amending IL
if Necessary, has never been attempted by those
who have urged the State on to this destructive
measure The State might have proposed the call
for General Convention to the other States; and
Congress. if a sufficient number of them concur
red, must have called it. But the first Magistrate
| of South Carolina, when he expressed hope that
ION a review by Congress and the functionares OF
| the General Government of the merits OF the
controversy" such Convention will be accorded
to them, must have known that neither Congress
nor any functonary of the General Government
has authority to call such Convention, unless II
be demanded by two thirds of the States
While the proclamation thus recognizes the Con
sttution as a creature of the people OF the states
severally and as only susceptible OF change thro
the agency of two-thirds of the States IN propos
ing amendments, to be effectuated only by the r',
fcaon of fourths of the States, 1t Is dncui'
to conceive how any one could infer from It's
doctrines that it comedies to minority OF States
having majority of population, absolute sway
over the Constitution and Government.
The only other difficulty to which we are refer
red as requiring explanation, by our friends OF the
Richmond ENQUIRER and Petersburg lntelllgencer'
viii be found in the close of the following passage
(Which speaks of the unity of our political char-
acter."
sThe unity of our political character, las has
been shown for anotherpurpose) commenced WIN
we had no separate character-our oPposuon "
It's operations began as united Colonies we
were the United States under the confederation
and the name was perpetuated and the Union rem
dered more perfect by the Federal CONSTITUTION
In none of these stages did we consider ourselves
in any other light than as forming one nalloh'
Treaties and alliances were made III the name u
ALL Troops were raised for the JOINT defence.
1t would be sufficient here again to observe, that
- IL Is in
the President The facts Individually as ne
states them And it is only by confoundlng the
unity which is derived from cOntederacy among
States (making them to certain extent, one ha
tony with The idea of a consolidation OF aHPo"
err in the Federal Government, that an obJecuoh Is
created The unity of our political character mere
snoken Of it is expressly said is not intended to
denote can undivided sovereignty, or authority IN
the General Government" On the contrary the
text shows that it only refers to that special dele
GATED authority which the Constitution has carried
out of the powers belonging to the several state
communities, and united in one common Govern
ment for the purpose Of establishing anaItonal
character and national relations, with the other ma
tons of the world. And as it was especially the
scope of the Constitution to give unity to our pc
litical character in its exterior aspect and to con-
fer upon the Government all the attributes of ma
tionaity in regard to foreign powers, 1t is strange
that eaouslv should be excltedby the use OF terms
pointing out this design, or by references to varl-
Gus periods of our history to prove that in this
respect connection has also existed among the IN
dependent communities composing the confedera-
cy That ''treaties were made in the names OF all,
and troops raised for joint Defence is certainly
proof that unity of political character existed IN
greater or less degree, from the planting Of the
colonies down to the establishment of the present
government. This act, however, which is given
to show that the American people have always
been united by political ties OF such intimacy, as to
give them in reference to- foreign powers the char
acter of being zone nation by no means changes
the nature of the institutions through which the
blended confederate power of the several States
has assumed this character of nationality. we
were nation under the articles of confederation
however feeble the means of the national authority
then to bring the energies of the several States to
act in unson-and surel y we are not less nation
now that a government has been established to
form more perfect union, endowed with all the
faculties which constitute us nation IN our
relation with foreign powers. Even before the ar
| ticles of confederation were formed, IN the first
paragraph of the Declaration of Independence
we were proclaimed to be GONE PEOPLE, and the
object of the act announced in the face OF that IN
strument itself, was, that, as CONE FEOPLE'
the United States might, ASSUME AMONG
THE POWERS OF THE EARTH THE SEPARATE AND
EQUAL STATION TO WHICH THE LAWS OF NATURE
AND OF NATURES GOD ENTITLE THEM.
The proclamation, then, in the passage objected
to, has merely spoken the facts of history-the
| language of the Consttution-and OF the Decla-
ration of Independence. There is no speculative
opinion advanced-no theory proposed And we
have endeavored to show that nothing IN these gen
eralities tended in the slightest degree to Justify
the differences drawn from them, and which have
been substituted as the principles OF the Procla-
nation But we are authorized to be more eX-
plcit, and to say positively that no part OF the
Proclamation was ment to countenance the cOnsoll-
dating principles which have been ascribed to it
On the contrary, its doctrines, if constructed IN
the sense they were intended, and carried out,
culcate that the Constitution of the United States
is founded in compact--that this compact derives
its obligation from the agreement entered into by
the people of each of the States, in their political
capacity with the people of the other States-that
the Constitution, which is the offspring of this
compact has It's sanction in the ratification of the
people of the several States, acting in the capaci-
ty of separate communities-that the majority of
the people of the United States in the aggregate,
Z have no power to alter the Constitution of the
General Government, but that change amend
ment can only be proposed in the mode pointed
out in the Constitution, and never be obliga-
tory unless ratified by the people of three-fourths
of the States, through their respective Legsla-
lures or State Conyentions--that inasmuch the
sovereign power of the people in each State has
impaired to the Constitution of the United States,
and the laws made in pursuance thereof, para
mount obligation over State legislation or form of
9 State Government, which may be instituted by the
people of such State; and inasmuch as the peo-
pie of each State have bound themselves by COM
pact with the rest, to abide by this paramount au-