are, and of right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES,' The separate independence and individual sovereignty of the several states were never thought of by the enlightened band of patriots who framed this declaration; the several states are not even mentioned by name in any part of it, as if it was intended to impress this maxim on America, that our freedom and independence arose from our union, and that without it we could neither be free nor independent. Let us then consider all attempts to weaken this Union, by maintaining that each state is separately and individually independent, as a species of political heresy which can never benefit us, but may bring on the most serious distresses." The Convention having been called; on the second day after it met, Mr. Charles Pinckney delivered a speech of great power and eloquence, which seems indeed to have precluded any considerable debate during the subsequent deliberations. Alluding to some of the leading features of the Constitution, he said, "In their individual capacities as citizens, the people are proportionably represented in the House of Representatives; here, they who are to pay to support the expenses of government, have the purse-strings in their hands; here the people hold and feel that they possess an influence sufficiently powerful to prevent every undue attempt of the other branches, to maintain that weight in the political scale which, as the source of all authority, they should ever possess: here, too, the states, whose existence as such we have often heard predicted as precarious, will find in the Senate the guards of their rights as political associations. "On them. (I mean the state systems,) rests the general fabric : on their foundation is this magnificent structure of freedom erected, each depending upon, supporting, and protecting the other; nor, so intimate is the connexion, can the one be removed without prostrating the other in ruin : like the head and the body, separate them and they die. "Far be it from me to suppose that such an attempt should ever be made. The good sense and virtue of our country forbid the idea: to the Union we will look up, as to the temple of our freedom-a temple founded in the affections, and supported by virtue of the people; here we will pour out our gratitude to the Author of all good, for suffering us to participate in the rights of a people who govern themselves. "Is there, at this moment, a nation upon earth that enjoys this right, where the true principles of representation are understood and practised, and where all authority flows from, and returns at stated periods to the people? I answer, there is not. Can a government be said to be free where these rights do not exist? It cannot. On what depends the enjoyment of these rare, these inestimable privileges? On the firmness, on the power of the Union to protect and defend them. “How grateful, then, should we be, that, at this important period-a period important, not to us alone, but to the general rights of mankind-so much harmony and concession should prevail through the states--that the public opinion should be so much actuated by candor and an attention to their general interests-that disdaining to be governed by the narrow motives of state policy, they have liberally determined to dedicate a part of their advantages to the support of that government, from which they received them. To fraud, to force, or accident, all the governments we know have owed their births. To the philosophic mind, how new and awful an instance do the United States, at present, exhibit in the political world! They exhibit, sir, the first instance of a people, who, being dissatisfied with their government—unatṭacked by foreign force, and undisturbed by domestic uneasiness---coolly and deliberately resort to the virtue and good sense of their country for a correction of their public errors. "It must be obvious, that without a superintending government, it is impossible the liberties of this country can long be secured. 46 Single and unconnected, how weak and contemptible are the largest of our states! how unable to protect themselves from internal or domestic insult! how incompetent to national purposes would even partial union be! how liable to intestine wars and confusion! how little able to secure the blessings of peace? "Let us, therefore, be careful in strengthening the Union-let us remember that we are bounded by vigilant and attentive neighbors, who view with jealous eye our rise to empire.” These were the deliberate and enlightened views of the sages and patriots who laid the foundations of our national greatness. Being dead, they yet speak. Their sepulchres are with us to this day; and in all periods of agitation which put in jeopardy the Institutions they framed for us, we should reverence their memories, and seek counsel from their wisdom. Especially should we turn to Him with a filial regard whom we all delight to honour as First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen," and who has left us this memorable warning in his Farewell Address: “It is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.” END OF NOTES, |