Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 13.djvu/352

 "The Republic of Republics." 351

State with arms, by legislation or even judiciary "page 400. This is nothing less than complete, but the want of space forbids us to attempt its repetition. It would be amusing to quote his criticism upon the term, "constitutional compact," which he shows tD be cor- rect, and for the use of which Mr. Webster charged Mr. Calhoun with abandoning constitutional language for a new vocabulary. But the want of space compels us to omit this and much valuable matter. We must pause, however, awhile on a forgery which we had sup- posed the very perverters would not dare to commit. To find its parallel we must resort to the pages of fiction. In a modern novel a cunning lawyer, Oily Gammon, is made to meditate the forgery of a tombstone. What shall we say to forging the definitions of a lexi- con, for the purpose of falsifying the Constitution, and still more wonderful that the proprieties are thus violated on the reputation of Noah Webster, who, it seems, was quite a model man for learning and just principle. Indeed, his principles, it seems, were strict enough to have shamed the whole school of "perverters" from Dane to Curtis. Noah Webster always asserted, according to the un- questionable truth which this author demonstrates, page 275, that our system is a Confederacy of States States united, to use his own phrase and that their government was the mere agency, or the means by which they governed themselves. In this matter of Fact and Testimony, he is made to teach as truth the untruth that our general polity is a nation or State with counties or provinces as sub- divisions, such as existed under Britain; that Congress is the chief legislative body of the nation, to enact laws and consider matters of national interest. That the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, for Congress to enforce over States and people, and that, in short, the government t. e. Congress has absolute supremacy over allegiant States. All the recent declarations and acts of the domi- nant party of the country, and the government as administered by that party, entirely conform to these forged teachings, page 225; and all this has been done by a change and forgery of Webster's defini- tions in his widely-circulated lexicon, and for the manner in which it has been done, see this book from page 365 to 375. Shade of Noah Webster, with thy philological record, and with thy character for achievements as a lexicographer, how hast thou been kept down and quiet so long, after such a slander on thy character, and such a violation of thy reputation, as has been wrought by these vile per- verters within the very precincts of thy native State and kindred? And yet, thou hast not returned to call the authors of the outrage