in two points of view-as a citizen of the General Government, and as a citizen of the particular State in which he may reside. We ought to consider in what character he acts in forming a General Government. I am both a citizen of Pennsylvania and of the United States. I must, therefore, lay aside my State connections, and act for the general good of the whole. We must forget our local habits and attachments. The General Government should not depend on the State governments."-Elliot's Debates, Vol. I, pp. 445, 446.

V.

Charles Pinckney, in 1787.

In Convention, June 25, 1787, Mr. Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, said: "Our Government must be made suitable to the people; and we are, perhaps, the only people in the world who ever had sense enough to appoint delegates to establish a General Government. I believe that the proposition from Virginia, with some amendments, will satisfy the people. But a General Government must not be dependent on the State Governments.”—Elliot's Debates, Vol. I, p. 444.

VI.

James Madison, in 1787.

In Convention, June 29, 1787, James Madison said: "Some contend that States are sovereign, when in fact they are only political societies. There is a gradation of power in all societies, from the lowest corporation to the highest sovereign. The States never possessed the essential rights of sovereignty. These were always vested in Congress. Their voting, as States, in Congress, is no evidence of sovereignty. The State of Maryland voted

by counties. Did this make the counties sovereign? The States, at present, are only great corporations, having the power of making by-laws, and these are effectual only if they are not contradictory to the general Confederation. The States ought to be placed under the control of the General Government-at least as much so as they formerly were under the King and British Parlia ment. The arguments, I observe, have taken a different turn, and I hope may tend to convince all of the necessity of a strong, energetic government, which would equally tend to give energy to and protect the State governments."-Elliot's Debates, Vol. I, p. 461.

VII.

Alexander Hamilton, in 1787.

In Convention, June 29, 1787, Alexander Hamilton said: "The question, after all, is, Is it our interest, in modifying this General Government, to sacrifice individual rights to the preservation of the rights of an artificial being called States? There can be no truer principle than this-that every individual of the community at large has an equal right to the protection of government. If, therefore, three States contain a majority of the inhabitants of America, ought they to be governed by a minority?"-Elliot's Debates, Vol. I, p. 463.

VIII.

George Washington, President of the Convention of 1787.

Extract from a Communication, prepared in the Convention that formed the Constitution of the United States, dated September 17, 1787: "In all our deliberations on this subject, we kept steadily in our view, that which appears to us as the greatest interest of every true American, the

consolidation of our Union, in which is involved our prosperity, felicity, safety, perhaps our national existence. This important consideration, seriously and deeply impressed on our minds, led each State in the Convention to be less rigid on points of inferior magnitude, than might have been otherwise expected; and thus the Constitution which we now present is the result of a spirit of amity, and of that mutual deference and concession which the peculiarity of our situation rendered indispensable."-Signed by "George Washington, President."-"By unanimous order of the Convention," and addressed to "His Excellency the President of Congress." -Elliot's Debates, Vol. I, p. 305.—Hickey's Constitution, p. 188.

IX.

Opinion of Luther Martin, in 1788.

Luther Martin, Attorney-General of the State of Maryland, and for a time a distinguished Delegate in the Convention that formed the Constitution of the United States, said, in 1788: "It" [the Constitution] "is, in its very introduction, declared to be a compact between the people of the United States as individuals; and it is to be ratified by the people at large, in their capacity as individuals.”—Elliot's Debates, Vol. I, p. 360.

X.

Views of Dr. Benjamin Rush, in 1787.

In 1787, Benjamin Rush, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of American Independence, said: "There are two errors or prejudices on the subject of government in America, which lead to the most dangerous consequences. It is often said, 'that the sovereign and all other power is seated in the people.' This idea is un

happily expressed. It should be-'all power is derived from the people.'"***"The people of America have “The mistaken the meaning of the word sovereignty; hence each State pretends to be sovereign. In Europe it is applied only to those States which possess the power of making war and peace-of forming treaties, and the like. As this power belongs only to Congress, they are the only sovereign power in the United States.” "We commit a similar mistake in our ideas of the word independent. No individual State, as such, has any claim to independence. She is independent only in a union with her sister States in Congress."-Acts and Principles of the Revolution, p. 403.

XI.

* * *

Opinion at Philadelphia, in 1788.

At Philadelphia, July 4, 1788, at a great celebration of the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, on "Union Green," where about seventeen thousand persons were assembled, the first regular toast was in these words: "The People of the United States."-Haz. Register, Vol. I, p. 424.

XII.

James Madison, in 1788.

"In December, 1788, James Madison said, that it was the object of those who opposed the adoption of the Constitution, "to bring about another general Convention, which would either agree on nothing, as would be agreeable to some, and throw every thing into confusion, or expunge from the Constitution parts which are held by its friends to be essential to it."-Madison's Writings, Vol. I, p. 445.

XIII.

John Marshall, in 1788.

In the Virginia Convention on the adoption of the Constitution, June 10, 1788, John Marshall said: "We are told that many in the States were violently opposed to it" [the Constitution]. "They are more mindful of local interests. They will never propose such amendments as they think would be obtained. Disunion will be their object.”—Debates in Va. Conven., p. 165.

XIV.

Mr. Corbin, of Virginia, in 1788.

On the 14th of June, 1788, in the Virginia Convention on the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, Mr. Corbin said: "The gentleman had told us that nothing could be more humiliating than that the State governments could not control the General Government. He thought the gentleman might as well have complained that one county could not control the State at large." Elliot's Debates, Vol. III, p. 417.

XV.

Mr. Wilson, of Pennsylvania, in 1788.

In the Pennsylvania Convention on the adoption of the Constitution, in 1788, Mr. Wilson said: "State sovereignty, as it is called, is far from being able to support its weight.”—Elliot's Debates, Vol. II, p. 457.

XVI.

Mr. Innis, of Virginia, in 1788.

In the Virginia Convention, June 25, 1788, Mr. Innis said: "I consider Congress as ourselves, as our fellow