New-York daily tribune., 1854-05-24


Another matter oi some interest, IN regard 'owhich
Mr. Benton has fallen into errors ota@' is his attempt
10 viudcate Mr. Jefferson from the charge OF being
the author OF the doctrine OF nulihcaton lie repeats
more than once statement derived from letter Of
Mr. Madison written in 1880 and quoted by Mr..
Benton. page 359) in which II Is asserted that !
Mr.. J.dcf,on "had nothing to do with the Ken
tuckv resolutions OF 1892 in which the word nulhh
cation is found But this is great mistake on the
part as well Of Nh. Madison as of Mr. Benton. IL h
very true that Mr. Jefferson did not prepare any drsf
in writing specially for the Kentucky resolutions Of
l.q9; but he had furnished a very copIous dran TO- .
tf resolutions of that State of the year preceding
an If which had net been used up ON that occasion
and Mr.. Breckenridge, in drawing mp the Kentucky
resolutions Of l7.9 Mailed himself largely Of the
uatsrial furnished ly Jefferson for the resolutions
l;qs. hut not then employed. Among the passages oI
tle Kentucky resolutions of 1872 derived from this
source WAS the famous declaration that in Of
violations of the Constitution "the several States
"who formed that instrument being sovereign and in
dependent, have the unquestonable right TO Judge
of the nfraction aud that a nulfoation by those
soycrcientics OF all unauthorized acti, under color
.of that instrument, is the righttu remedy The
following are the terms in which this doctrine W"
laid down in Jclersons draft OF l79S still preserved
il, his own handwriting: THAT in of An abuse
"of the delegated powers, the members of the Gen
"eral Government being chosen by the people,
'change by the people would be the constitutional
"r,medy; but where powers are assumed when have
"not been delegated, nullifcation Of the
act is the right remedy; and that every
State has natural right in cases not
wiibin the compact to nulliiy of their own snthor-
city, all assumptions of power by Others within their
Limits Surely Minerva did not spring from tho
brain of Jupiter prepared for war; than the doc
rine of notification did ripe and mature from the pen
OF Jefferson That he was the drawer Of that bill, ID
is impossible to dfpute. How far Mr.. Madison aud
the Virginia and Kentucky Legislatures of I79o src
responsible as ndorsers OF it, is another question
Mr. Benton has quoted extensively from the Virginia
Debates on the Resolutions of l79s-and this iss
valuable part of his book-to prove that the members
of the Virginia Legislature who voted for those reso-
buttons did not understand them in nulllfyng sense
But his own quotations show that the members who
opposed the resolutions did see notification in them,
and pointed il out Thus Mr.. George X. Taylor in
sisted that the consequences OF pursuing the advice
of the resolutions would be nsurrection, confusion
land anarchy; while Gen Henry Lee suspected that
the r,peal of the laws complained of was not the lead
ING point in view, but that the resolutions covered
.cheme for promoting disunion aud separation OF the
States-the very surmse, in fact, which Mr..
Benton makes as to the South Carolina nulfying ord
nances 1t would indeed, be hardly fair to hold
members OF the Virginia Legislature 10 full resi-
.biity ior the doctrines of u set of resolutions, go
out of doors and merely brought in for them TO y.
ard of which therefore. it might well be supp
that they did not understand the full scope. Indey
the Virginia Legislature is entitled to the cred
having struck out the most obviously objection
pas,age in the draft, that by which the acts Of C.
gress complained OF were pronounced "null, voda
.of no force or eIect"-to which passage the oppos
ton had objected that it contained decl. 'stiop
mot of opinion but Of fact" This sort OF apology
however, will hardly serve for Madison, who in oil
probability must have seen Jehersons Kentucky dram,
and who if he wished to avoid being impllcsted IN
the doctrines therein laid down. ought not TO have EN-
poyed phraseology which may very fairly be inter
preted az involving those doctrines. Certainly he did
not contemplate, nor ii to be supposed that Jeuer''a
contemplated, any carrying out OF the nnh'heau'"
scheme 10 the extent TO which the South CarohhshS
aiterward went into il. Yet timid and cautious meh
like Jefferson and Madison ought TO be very eare'u.
how they set forth ia words what other bolder ana
more violent spirits relying upon their authority maj
insist upon carrying into action.
Mr. Benton il very warm opponent OF South '''"
lima nullifcaton; but nullifcaon in Georgia De SEEM
10 think quite laudabe procedure. The only ''n''
ence that able to perceive between 'pe c'""''
of South Carolina in relation to the tann '"' y
GeOrQia in the case Of the Cberokees he'n'
al the same time, consists in this - th" 'H'
passage OF the Compromise Tariff of Io""' ha''.s
afforded to South Carolina adeeent pre'ehss ''' ''
ing any actual collision with the Federal
she avsiled herself Of il to abandon the Pr.eueA =
forcement Of her nufcation doctrines "her'''
Georgia took advantage Of the conn'anee VI -
Isckson in her proceedings to carry those a0'D-s
into practical effect by setting ut nought inc P''N
OF tie Federal Courts and hanging and imPn'o"'t
defiance of that process. Zone Indian Jag
some missionaries imprisoned, the wit OF 'Ds
.preme Court disregarded, the Indians removes
the political and -phlanthropic interme'-r
.. left 10 the reflection OF having done mueh mI ,,
b.. in assuming to become the defenders and eu's
..of tribe which the humanity OF our Laws apa -.
were treating with parental kindness a.
the exutant terms in which Mr.. Benton rec0''' =,
triumph of notification in Georgia prel'minny =.
very pointed condemnation of the same ''o"
acted upon in South Carolina. ...la
Though Mr.. Benton in the course OF his o0O'