THE first principle upon which governments are formed, is this: that consolidation produces power; and the first problem that was presented to mankind to be worked out in the application of this principle, was:-In what manner shall this consolidation be effected, so as best to promote its object? In a high state of physical energy-such as characterized the early inhabitants of the earth, the idea of power was inseparable from the idea of happiness, and the noblest form of power was physical power. Hence the solution of the question seemed easy. It was self-evident, that the united force of a numerous body of men, looking to one common end, working for one object, and swayed by one mind, could accomplish much more than the same force would accomplish, working disjointedly, and with different moving principles. And, without experience to prove the contrary, the reasoning was conclusive, that the direction of affairs must be entrusted to one master mind, to procure the unity sought for. Consequently, it became necessary that the supreme direction of affairs should be entrusted to the wisest and most experienced heads, which were well judged to be the oldest, both for the framing of laws, the carrying on of extensive operations, and the administration of internal justice. This train of reasoning, so generally acquiesced in that it required not to be expounded, gave rise to the first, or patriarchal system. The gradual flow of the current of time washed out the direct relationship existing between the father and his subjects; but the descendants of the founders of governments possessing the blood, and supposed to possess the virtues of their man-deified progenitors, continued to rule, until patriarchism merged into despotism. Still, however, the principle held good, that consolidation produces power; and as rival empires commenced at the ends, as it were, of the then known world, by different branches of the family disjointed at Babel-extended their sovereignties until they clashed at their bounds, the old war spirit, and the vast operations which it called forth, favored the idea. But, as time rolled on, the despot, as might naturally be expected, forgot that he ruled for the benefit, and, in the first instance, by the sufferance of his subjects, and oppressed them, as well as others, as it suited his pleasure or his caprice.

The political philosophers of the first ages fell into the same error that the political economists of a later day hold. The one, starting from the true proposition that the consolidation power is advantageous to a country, arrived at the false conclusion that the consolidation of power in the

hands of one unaccountable and irresponsible governor, would be productive of no bad effects. The other, starting from the true proposition, that the consolidation of capital is advantageous to a country, arrived at the false conclusion, that the consolidation of the whole power in the hands of a favored few, would best promote the happiness and the prosperity of the whole people. That, in the one case, if we could be always assured, that the wisest and best, and most disinterested man, would be placed at the head of the nation, and would use his power solely for the happiness of the people, and their greatness rather than his own, the first conclusion might be a correct one, will be allowed as soon as the second conclusion would be, if every rich man held his wealth, as the cashier of a bank holds the keys of the vault, in trust for the less-favored sons of the soil. But, in the absence of such guarantee, and with the experience of ages against it, the first solution of the problem could not stand, and the task, after the lapse of centuries, appeared less easy than it was at first.

The second principle of government that was discovered was, that, in order to secure the stability of a government, every individual must feel a personal interest in it. It was evident to the most ordinary reasoners, that, however much the people might be convinced of the fact that consolidation gave them power-however much they might believe it to be true, they would have no interest at stake-nothing to make them rally round their standard, and battle for their country, whether with the strong arm or the strong mind, unless they felt that, having once lost their government, they had lost their all. Under a despotism, the subject, whether a soldier or a civilian, was but a mere tool in the hands of his ruler; and whatever advancement in knowledge or power was gained, he received no share of it, for the principle by which it worked was known only to the single mind which controlled it. Such a state of affairs was repugnant to the progressive intellect of mankind in general, and contributed to the failure of despotism, and the rise of republicanism.

Greece was the first expounder of this new law. In her earlier experience, its truth was proved beyond the possibility of a doubt. Under its application, each individual had a direct voice in his government, and the intellect expanded as a flower in a hot-bed. What country, not recognizing the principle in its fullest force, can boast of such poets, moralists, dramatists, lawgivers, soldiers, or patriots, as she? But in this one law, her political attainments stopped. Anxious to prove the truth of the discovery they had made, the Greeks paid little attention to that other principle, which appeared to have failed, on account of an error in practice. They consolidated themselves in very small bodies, and, in the course of time, dissensions sprung up which might have been avoided, but which ended, finally, in the rejection of this rule, and the return to the first. Then Greece sank, and the star of her destiny, bright as her own ideal of beauty, shone for a time with transcendent brilliancy in Alexander, and sank beneath the horizon for ever.

The Roman made no new discovery in the science of government; but taking the two principles left him in the legacy of the warring dynasties, he united them, and kept them separate. The first principle he applied, by reducing under his arms all the nations around him; and the second, he recognized in a system of laws and jurisprudence, and an internal po licy, which has been the admiration of all succeeding nations. But he neither applied the first nor the second principle in its fullest extent; for, without the city walls, he bound his tributaries by no ties to the govern

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ment to which they were tributary; nor did he, within the city walls, allow the plebeian the same amount of interest in the welfare of the state which he gave to the patrician. Hence the splendid temple of Roman greatness was but a fabric whose walls were uncemented, and ready to crumble by their own weight.

The third principle of government was now discovered, that a division of labor is necessary to attain the highest degree of perfection. This principle belongs to the feudal ages. The feudal monarchies were formed on the three principles here laid down, intermixed with a false one, to wit— that a division of labor created a division of rank, and that rank once obtained, was hereditary. In other words, they denied the law-so selfevident at first, that no one asserted it as a law-that all men are born equal. But these three principles, once recognized in their fullest extent-all equally and alike-cannot fail of producing a government per fect in theory, and that government is the Republic of the United States. We use the words, "perfect in theory," for perfect in practice the government of the United States certainly is not, nor is any government which has ever existed; for of them all, we have the most perfect. The three fundamental axioms, which all experience proves are correct, are united in her; and if she cannot claim the honor of having discovered anything new, she has combined and arranged them all, in a manner which makes her grand combination a grand discovery. And, moreover, she has given utterance to, and maintained against the world, in her corporate capacity, truths which others have rejected-which others have declared falsehood, but which are none the less true. She has declared that all men are free and equal; she has proved that nations may become powerful without annihilating other nations; she has repudiated the doctrine that force is power, and upholds the doctrine that knowledge is power; she has demonstrated that honesty is the best policy, and that justice between nation and nation is as necessary as justice between man and man-that the most lasting advantage is gained, where the advantage is equal on both sides; and she has proved, in her internal policy, that war is not a necessary evil, and that the principle of peace is of universal application. Yet, notwithstanding all this, the Republic is not perfect in practice: for perfection knows no compromises, which, however, are rendered necessary in our Constitution, by circumstances over which we have no control. It is the object of the present article to show why and wherefore the compromises of the Constitutionespecially upon the subject of negro slavery-ought to be respected and held inviolable, until expurged by the common consent, and to prove that the dissolution of this Union, because of an asserted moral wrong, for which we are not accountable, would be the height of absurdity, as it would neither goad nor drive those who are accountable to a sense of their accountability; but it would sacrifice the first principle of all government, and the incalculable advantages which daily accrue from it, to a mere abstraction.

A distinguished lawyer, writing to the Maryland Constitutional Reform Convention, uses these words:"No one can place less value than I do upon what has been called philosophical legislation-a legislation based upon a pretended insight into the nature of man; and, consequently, fitted for all nations, by a little modification suited to the difference in circumstances. No laws are suited to a.people, but those which have grown up from their necessities-from their customs-from their opinions." And

the fathers of the Republic, in the great Declaration of Independence, hinted at the same truth, in the following language:-"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments, long established, should not be changed for light and trifling causes; and, accordingly, all experience has shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are endurable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." The opinions, the teachings, the practice of all ages of the world, show that this view of affairs is the correct one, and that we are as much indebted to the circumstances in which the colonies were placed-for our excellencies as well as our evils-as we are to the reason of these master minds who made those circumstances subservient to the best possible ends. In all ages, except our own, it has been a blind experiment, rather than the deduction of philosophic minds, which has produced each successive principle of government, as a blind experiment with the galvanic battery showed Sir Humphrey Davy the component parts of water. In this view, a consideration of the circumstances under which the Republic was formed, will furnish data whence to produce arguments why it should be preserved, notwithstanding the evils with which it is found necessary to compromise.

To carry out this idea, it is not necessary to trace every step in the path through which the nation has passed, from the discovery of Virginia by Sir Walter Raleigh, or the arrival of the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock, down to the time of the adoption of the Constitution. It is not necessary to go into an elaborate statement of the causes which led to an estrangement between the daughter states and the mother country. Those causes existed, and are stated with sufficient exactness in the Declaration of Independence. Grievances called forth remonstrances and protestations; but as protestations received no attention, and remonstrances no answer, the Genius of Liberty proclaimed that servile submission was a crime. The people gave their response, when she declared that they were free and independent. Amid the din of the battle, in the roar of the cannon, in the rattle of the musketry, in the rallying cry and the charging shout, at Lexington, at Bunker's Hill, at Saratoga, at Stony Point, at Yorktown, they sealed the word that was spoken, with a firmness and a weight which impressed Christendom with admiration, by the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled, who, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of their intentions, did, "in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states."

This once accomplished, a government was to be formed that should secure to its subjects every blessing to which they were entitled, and for which they had fought. The Declaration of Independence held the following language:-"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed; and that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter and abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." The circumstances in which the United Colonies were placed,