to be held in January, 1789, and the first Wednesday in March was designated as the time for commencing operations under the Constitution.

Washington was unanimously elected President, and John Adams Vice-President. Elections for mem

bers of the House of Representatives were held by the people, and for the Senate by the legislatures of the States. Congress was to meet, and the new govern ment to be inaugurated in the city of New York.

The time appointed was the first Wednesday in March, but a quorum of both houses of Congress did not assemble till some time in May, when Washington was sworn into office and the new system introduced. The new government was not fully organized till autumn. The heads of departments could not be appointed till Congress had passed laws establishing those departments. When this was done, Thomas Jefferson was appointed Secretary of State, Alexander Hamilton Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Knox Secretary of War, and Edmund Randolph Attorney. General. These gentlemen constituted Washington's cabinet. Thus the government was fully organized and its beneficial influence was immediately seen in the rapidly increasing prosperity of the nation.

In November, 1789, North Carolina, by a conven tion called for that purpose, ratified the Constitution In May, 1790, Rhode Island ratified it. All the orig inal States were then united under the Constation

CHAPTER IX.

THE NATURE OF THE CONSTITUTION.

THE preamble of the Constitution reads thus:

"We 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 general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

This preamble sets forth the object and nature of the Constitution. Two widely different views have been entertained. The one regards the Constitution as forming a national government for the people of the United States; the other regards it as a compact or league between sovereign States. The first view is the one entertained by the framers of the Constitution, and by the great majority of the people of the United States. The second was advocated by Joan C. Calhoun, and was held by a large portion of the people

of the Southern States, when the late rebellion took place.

Those who regard the Constitution as a league or compact between sovereign States, hold that if one of the parties to the compact fails to observe its provisions, the other parties are released from all further obligation. According to this view, if any State thinks one of the laws passed by Congress to be unconstitutional, it has a right to declare that law null and void within the limits of the State. If any State thinks the Constitution has been violated, she may secede from the Union, and become, if she chooses, an independent nation. South Carolina attempted to practise nullification in 1832, and nearly all the Southern States attempted to secede in 1860.

The Constitution is not a league or compact between sovereign States. It is an instrument adopted by the people of the United States, for the purpose of creating a government acting for many purposes directly on the people of the United States. It provides that the government thus created shall be superior in authority to all the State governments. It declares that the Constitution and laws of the United States "shall be the supreme law of the land, any thing in the constitution and laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding."

The people of the United States made the government, and they alone can change or unmake it, and in

so doing, they must go according to the directions of the Constitution. Of course no State can nullify a law of Congress, and no State can secede. No State or individual can decide whether a law is constitu tional or not. The Constitution refers the decision of such questions to the supreme court, and the decision is final.

That this is the true view of the Constitution and government appears from the following reasons:

The Articles of Confederation were confessedly a league, and they failed to meet the wants of the country. Hence a convention was called to amend them. The members of the convention came together for the purpose of amending the league, but they were soon convinced that something more was necessary; hence the first resolution passed by them was, "Resolved, That a national government ought to be formed, consisting of a supreme legislative, executive, and judiciary."

After the passage of this resolution, an effort was made to return to the league plan. Mr. Patterson, as we have seen, introduced certain resolutions having for their object the perpetuation of the league. It was distinctly understood that the two plans were before the house. "The true question is," said Mr. Randolph, "whether we shall adhere to the Federal plan, or introduce a national plan.”

Seven States voted to "introduce a national plan,"

and only three against it. From that time onward the efforts of the convention were directed to the formation of a national government.

"If any historical fact in the world be plain and undeniable," says Daniel Webster, "it is that the convention deliberated on the expediency of continuing the Confederation with some amendments, and rejected that scheme, and adopted the plan of a national government with a legislature, executive, and judiciary of its own. They were asked to preserve the league; they rejected the proposition. They were asked to continue the existing compact between the States; they rejected it. They rejected compact, league, and confederation, and set themselves about framing the Constitution of a national government, and they accomplished what they undertook."

When the Constitution was published, one objection which was strongly urged against it was, that the members of the Federal Convention had transcended their powers. They were chosen, it was said, to amend the league of the States, and they had formed a national government. The advocates of the Constitution did not deny the fact thus stated. They did not claim that the Constitution was a league of States. They admitted that it framed a national government, and contended that such a government was necessary to the prosperity of the country.

In the Virginia convention, Patrick Henry ex