Page:The American Democrat, James Fenimore Cooper, 1838.djvu/25

Rh necessary consequence from the nature of the grants to the federal government, but it has been clearly expressed in a clause of the instrument, that was introduced by way of amendment, in 1801. This feature distinguishes this federal government from all the federal governments that have gone before it, as it was the general and ancient rule that liberty existed as a concession from authority; whereas, here, we find authority existing as a concession from the ruled. Something like the same principle exists in the governments of the several states, and it once existed in the ancient democracies, though, in no other known system perhaps, as clearly and as unequivocally as in this, since it is a general maxim that governments should have all power, however much they may restrain themselves in its exercise.

In the conflict of parties, the question by whom the federal government was formed, has been agitated with more seriousness than the point at issue merited, since, the fact admitted that the power which framed it did not exceed its authority, it is much more essential to know what was done, than to ascertain who did it. The notion that the people of the United States, in the popular signification of the word, framed the government, is contrary to fact, and leads to a wrong interpretation of many of the distinctive features of the system. The constitution of the United States was formed by a convention composed of delegates elected by the different states, in modes prescribed by their several laws and usages. These delegates voted by states, and not as individuals, and the instrument was referred back to conventions in the respective states for approval, or ratification. It is a governing principle of political maxims, that the power to ratify, is the power that possesses the authority in the last resort. Thus, treaties between independent