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this was noble; it showed the orator, the statesman, and the able defender of all those who looked to him for a just and fair representation of them and their history; who looked to him, also, as an advocate with the world for their claims to pure republican principles and patriotic exertions. He would not suffer his friends to be charged with faults, without daring their accusers to the proof; nor slandered without repelling the falsehoods with an honest zeal for their fame. Ages may pass away before such another opportunity will be given for such another defence.

It was not this part of the oration, eloquent as it was, abounding in almost every species of the divine art, that made the most valuable portion of it; it was not the keen irony, the lucid explanation, the spirited retort, the proud defence, the irresistible answer, that this great production contained, that shall live the longest among his fellow men. It is the full, fair and noble commentary on the Constitution, that is to run onward as long as that Constitution shall last; and to survive it, if it should crumble to the dust, that will exist forever, and be a standard for future ages. This was not a commentary made by a theorist in his closet, who had no practical knowledge on the subject; no, it was an examination made by a statesman, on the floor of the Senate, before statesmen, in the hearing of the country; where the slightest error in fact would have been corrected on the spot. What sages had said, what politicians had suggested, and practical men

had effected, all came bursting from his memory in a flood of light, and illumined all around him. He denied the doctrine that this Constitution was a compact between the Thirteen States, which was binding on them only as States, and on other States which might be admitted into the Union; but contended that it was from the people, made by them, in their name, in their natural capacity; and that, as far as the States particularly interfered in the formation of the instrument, was only a method of getting the voices of the people. The acts done under this Constitution were not to receive their constructions from the opinions of any State, but were to be tested, if disputed, by tribunals provided for in the Constitution itself. He stated the doctrine as held by the gentleman from South Carolina :

'I understand the honorable gentleman from South Carolina to maintain, that it is a right of the State Legislatures to interfere, whenever, in their judgment, this Government transcends its constitutional limits, and to arrest the operation of its laws.

'I understand him to maintain this right, as a right existing under the Constitution, not as a right to overthrow it, on the ground of extreme necessity, such as would justify violent revolution.

'I understand him to maintain an authority, on the part of the States, thus to interfere, for the purpose of correcting the exercise of power by the General Government, of checking it, and of compelling it to conform to their opinion of the extent of its powers.

'I understand him to maintain, that the ultimate power of judging of the constitutional extent of its own authority, is not lodged exclusively in the General Government, or any branch of it; but that, on the contrary, the States

may lawfully decide for themselves, and each State for itself, whether, in a given case, the act of the General Government transcends its power.

'I understand him to insist, that if the exigency of the case, in the opinion of any State Government require it, such State Government may, by its own sovereign authority, annul an act of the General Government, which it deems plainly and palpably unconstitutional.'

These heads were examined singly, as they were stated, and their fallacy exposed, and the sophistry that supported them put down, by the strong hand of truth and the power of reason. He showed the impracticability of carrying into effect the gentleman's mode of testing the constitutionality of an act of Congress; that the very attempt would be treason, however sincere and patriotic the intention. These speeches of Mr. Hayne and Mr. Webster flew on ten thousand wings to every part of the Union; and the explanations and elucidations of all and every part of the Constitution, as given by Mr. Webster, were hailed by a great proportion of the freemen of the United States as full, sound, just, and satisfactory. The people, as a body of men, on abstract questions, are clear headed; they cannot be gulled or dazzled by any one,-with a noble obstinacy they will judge for themselves. On a great constitutional question, they never stop to ask to whac party the expounder belongs, or from what section of the country he came; these are matters of after thought. They avow their concordance of sentiment and opinion first, and then inquire from whence came the man.

This speech was not only found in the columns of the periodical journals, but assumed a more permanent shape, and was purchased as a stock-book. It was again read by young and old, and listened to by learned and unlearned, by women and children,-and discussed in every circle. It was impossible to do justice to the speech by extracts taken here and there, as is usual; one might as well give the breadth and height of the tower whose top reached towards the heavens, by examining a Babylonish brick, as to give an idea of the whole of this great argument by exhibiting a shred or two of it. This tower of intellectual strength is reserved for a different fate from that erected on the plains of Shinar; for instead of confusing the minds and confounding the language of men, it has brought all the jarring tongues and different interpretations to one voice and one construction upon the Constitution of our country. Although we have forborne to make extracts, for fear of injuring the force of the argument, presented to the public,-which seems a sort of galvanic battery, in which by removing a single piece you may weaken the force of the whole,-yet we may take the closing paragraph, which makes a chaste and beautiful ornament for the pillar on which he has rested an item of his fame, to show something of his taste as well as of his powers of reasoning.

'But, sir, what is this danger, and what the grounds of it? Let it be remembered, that the Constitution of the United States is not unalterable. It is to continue in its

present form no longer than the people who established it shall choose to continue it. If they shall become convinced that they have made an injudicious or inexpedient partition and distribution of power, between the State Governments and the General Government, they can alter that distribution at will.

'If anything be found in the national Constitution, either by original provision, or subsequent interpretation, which ought not to be in it, the people know how to get rid of it. If any construction be established, unacceptable to them, so as to become, practically, a part of the Constitution, they will amend it, at their own sovereign pleasure, but while the people choose to maintain it as it is,—while they are satisfied with it, and refuse to change it,—who has given, or who can give, to the State Legislatures, a right to alter it, either by interference, construction or otherwise? Gentlemen do not seem to recollect that the people have any power to do anything for themselves; they imagine there is no safety for them, any longer than they are under the close guardianship of the State Legislatures. Sir, the people have not trusted their safety, in regard to the general Constitution, to these hands. They have required other security, and taken other bonds. They have chosen to trust themselves, first, to the plain words of the instrument, and to such construction as the Government itself, in doubtful cases, should put on its own powers, under their oaths of office, and subject to their responsibility to them; just as the people of a State trust their own State Governments with a similar power. Secondly, they have reposed their trust in the efficacy of frequent elections, and in their own power to remove their own servants and agents, whenever they see cause. Thirdly, they have reposed trust in the judicial power, which, in order that it might be trust-worthy, they have made as respectable, as disinterested, and as independent as was practicable. Fourthly, they have seen fit to rely, in case of necessity, or high expediency, on their known and admitted power, to alter or amend the Constitution, peaceably, and quietly, when

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