Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 12.djvu/499

 Some Great Constitutional Questions. 489

Mr. C. concluded his demonstration as follows : "We have now patiently gone through all the original States, and ascertained from the testimony of the leading statesmen, and from the acts of the States themselves, that the Constitution was formed and vitalized by thirteen independent and concurrent wills, each with no superior on earth; and we have seen no great nationality, or national will, exer- cising itself on the matter of government in any sense. The dogmas of Dane, Story and Webster have been shown to be untrue ; * * all history falsifies their utterances."

The arguments and citations, however, are so obvious to one who earnestly searches for the origin of the Constitution that originality can scarcely be attributed to either of the authors, and neither of them would be under any obligations to give credit. And the subject is only referred to here because many, who have only seen Mr. Centz's later editions, think he copied from Mr. Stephens.

III. "is secession a constitutional right"?

This is the sub-title of Professor Bledsoe's book ; and Judge Fen- ner, in his discourse, also seems to regard the question as a Constitu- tional one. As the Constitution has nothing express or implied on the subject, the right must exist — if at all — as an original and in- herent one, in the parties to the instrument. And there is where it is : the people in a natural society, such as a State is, must have a collective instinct, right and duty of self-preservation, and a collec- tive mind — the aggregatio rneyitiuni of the people — the only govern- ing mind of the country. And the only original, inherent, natural will, of which sovereignty or the right of government can be pre- dicated, is in the said mind, which dwells in the body called the State. Take, for example, Massachusetts, New York, or Pennsylvania. Everybody will admit that each of these entities had, at the making of the Constitution, its own name, geography, people, organism and political will, and that they made a voluntary union. If it is now involuntary, they are again provinces, which they ceased to be when they achieved independence and statehood in the revolution.

These societies of people, named as New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, &c., in the first article of the Constitution, are " the people of the United States." " The people" never had lorm or capacity for governmental action, except as States. As James Wilson said, sovereignty dwells in them " after, as well as before, a Constitution is made." And, as Daniel Webster said, " sovereignty in America is al-