Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1853-12-31


that this is confederation between we'll con-
stituted republics" uniting for specific objects,
and for those alone; and delegating 10 com
mon agent specified powers for the accomplish
ment of those objects, is that which makes lib
erty secure, even though the Union should be
failure, and creates a responsibility on the part
Of the federal government of the States as
guarantee and assurance to its constitutional
subsection to their supreme authority.
Historically, every fact quoted in the extracts
below can be fully sustained. At one time
there may have been diversity of opinion
about the character of the Constitution. AT
one time it was denied, and by great orator
and statesman of the north, that the Consttu-
ton was a compact between sovereign States,
and it was by him asserted TO be Constitu.
ton ordained by the American people as one
body polite. But discussion, and the power
full expositions of the great southern leader of
the State rights party, left to the northern ex,
FOUNDER nothing, but, in his latter days, the
admission that it was a compact binding on
others. And it is only, as the democratic
party advance nearer and nearer to the pro
found views of that great southerner that the
nists which shrouded his fame while living will
be cleared away, and in the bright sun light of
his grand and original genius, prejudice will
yield to the power of truth, in then looking to
him, not as one of the lesser but one of the
greatest-if not the very greatest-poGtical
thinkers known to the country since the foun-
dation of the government.
The age is advancing; not retrograding. The
President has reached grand advance in the
statements of his message upon this great ques-
ton. He merits, as he has received, the
tributes of commentator from all quarters,
for the strong State rights sentiments of his
message. As his true, but independent sup
porter, and in no spirit of fnlsome laudation,
we heartily applaud them. Let him practice
them, and his administration will stand in the
history of the party as noble exemplifcation
of real State rights principles, brought effect
lively to bear in advancing the honor and glory
of the country, and in preserving pure and in
| tact its Constitution. We annex the extracts
Sour government exists under a lcritten
compact Get,reen sovereign States, uniting for
specific Objects and with specific grants to their
general agent"
Recurring to these principles, which con-
stitute the organic basis of Union, we perceive
! that, vast as are the functions and the duties
of the federal government, vested in or en-
trusted to its three great departments, the legis
lative, executive, and judicial, yet the sub
stantative power, the popular force, and the
large capacities for social and material devel-
opment exist in the respective States, which
all being Of themselves ,reU constituted repub-
lies, as they preceded, so they alone are capable
Of maintaining and peapetuating the American
Union. The federal government has its APP
propriate line Of action in the specific and linn
tied powers conferred on it by the Constitution,
chiefly as to those things in which the States
have common interest in their relations to
one another, and to foreign governments
while the greatness of interests, which belong
to cultivated men, the ordinary business of life,
the springs of industry, all the diversified per-
sonal and domestic affairs of society, rest Sc
curey upon the general reserved powers of the
people of the several States. There is the
effective democracy of the nation, and there
the vital essence of its being andits greatness"
ut is evident that confederation so vast
and SO varied, both in numbers and in terrific
rial extent in habits and in interests, could
only be kept in national cohesion by the strict
est fidelity to the principles of the Constitution
as understood by those who have adhered to
the most restricted construction Of the powers
granted by the people and the States" <
''Let US, then, with redoubled vigilance, be
on our guard against yielding to the tempta-
ton of the exercise of doubtful powers, even
under the pressure of the motives of conceded
temporary advantage and apparent temporary
expediency."
The minimum of federal government, COM
patible with the maintenance of national unity
and efficient action in our relations with the
rest of the world, should afford the rule and
measure of construction of our powers under
the general clause of the Constitution. A
spirit of strict Difference to the sovereign rights
and dignity of every State, rather than dis
position to subordinate the States into pro-
yincial relation to the central authority, should
characterize all our exercise Of the respective
powers temporarily vested in rs as a sacred trust
from the generous confidence Of our constitu-
ents.'