Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 13.djvu/350

 "The Republic of Republics:' :;r.i

impossible to consider the Constitution as anything other than a treaty, forming a federacy of States," page 366. De Tocqueville says: " The Union is a voluntary agreement of the States, which have respectively not forfeited their nationality and become one and the same people." Ibid. Outraged by the perversions, and some- times misrepresentations, of truth, in which he has detected the Massachusetts founder, he says, with a truth which we must all ac- knowledge: " Unless we wish plain facts of history, and the sacred records of our country, to be the subjects of contention forever, we must make up distinct issues and charge either the sons or the sires with delibrate falsehood," page 385. He then quotes from Hamil- ton, Chancellor Livingston, John Jay, James Madison, General Wash- inton, Dr. Franklin, James Nelson, John Dickerson, Gouveneur Morris, Roger Sherman, Tench Coxe, Chancellor Pendleton, John Marshal, Samuel Adams, General Bowdoin, James Iredell, Theophi- las Parsons, Christopher Gore, George Cabot, to show that their views of the Constitution concurred with his. In sharp contrast with these he places the ideas of the perverters, Webster, Dane, Story, Curtis," and of the "Acre of Wiseacres," who, at Philadel- phia in 1866, declared "that the States were unified in a nation or commonwealth of people, and were degraded into counties, and were subordinated and made allegient to the government, which was possessed of absolute supremacy," page 386. He somewhere ex- presses the wish that professors of constitutional facts in our colleges could be appointed as well as of laws. With his view of the stu- pendous mischiefs which have been effected by the perverters of the constitutional history, indeed there should be. With his view of Lincoln's opinions, derived, as he seems to think, from this per- verted school, we stand aghast at the mischief which may be done by those in authority, if ignorant or mistaught. Mr. Lincoln, it seems, in a speech in Indiana, and in his inaugural address, declared that the States are but counties, without sovereignty, and that the gov- ernment is sovereign and can rightfully coerce the States to obey it." In his extra session message he said: " The Union is older than any pf the States, and, in fact, it created *them as States," page 223. When some of the States seceded, on account of Lincoln's election to the Presidency, they were thought by many as premature, but, if he had been known to have entertained such opinions, perhaps it would have been thought time to go when such a man was placed at the head of the Union. The author of the ' ' Republic of Republics" says: " It seems proper to say, that after his nomination, he had no