Page:Construction Construed and Constitutions Vindicated.djvu/12

 deserves to be written in letters of gold upon the wall of the capitol in Washington.

But, we have bem almost deaf to the voice of wisdom. We have nearly forgotten the principles of our fathers. In repeated instances, we have suffered the constitution to be trodden under foot. We have been lately rushing rapidly towards the gulph of consolidation. We have even seen the purest triumphs of the republican party in 1800-1, (when an alien and sedition law were shivered into atoms by an indignant people,) almost forgotten. We hare seen a decision promulgated from the federal bench, which is calculated to sweep down the dearest rights of the states. The infatuation of the day has been carried so far, that we have just seen an attempt made, and bolstered up by the seriatim opinion of five eminent counsellors, to humble the powers of the state governments at the feet of the District of Columbia!

The period is, indeed, by no means an agreeable one. It borrows new gloom from the apathy which seems to reign over so many of our sister states. The very sound of State Rights is scarcely ever heard among them ; and by many of their eminent politicians, it is only heard to be mocked at. But a good citizen will never despair of the republick. Among these good citizens, is John Taylor, of Caroline. Penetrated by the conviction, that the constitution is in danger; that the balance has seriously inclined towards the side of consolidation; he comes forward to commune with his countrymen, and to state to them frankly his impressions and his fears.

If there be any book that is capable of rousing the people, it is the one before us. Bold and original in its conceptions, without passion, and with an admirable ingenuity to recommend it, it is calculated, we should think, to make a deep impression. Its author is far removed from the temptations of ambition. He holds no office. He wishes for none. He writes, for he has thought much; and the present is a sort of last legacy to his countrymen. It is unnecessary