his family, his neighbourhood, city, and state follows in the scale of his attachments; but to embrace a union of states, requires, not only a more than extraordinary share of intellect, but the expansion of a be'nevolent patriotism. It has been fully proved, in No. 3, that all our partialites hung on the state Sovereignties, in 1787, to the very brink of ruin, and nearly to the total abortion of all our acquisitions attained by the revolution; and the deep deceptions now practising on the good people of South Carolina, is full evidence of like attachment at this day.

These confiding people, are now excited, and, as said, "goaded on" to elect two-thirds of both houses of their State Legislature favourable to your nullification. That in such event only, can that Legislature call a State Constitution,--whose power alone can declare, and bring the state back to its original Sovereignty, and absolve them from all allegiance to the United States. If this device prevails, then will your State Legislature and their Convention assume the entire responsibility. Then will the legerdemain be complete, and the nation plunged into a civil war, for protecting the people against foreign monopoly.

We had been accustomed to use the words State Sovereignty and Independence with veneration and correctness from the 4th day of July 1776, up to the 4th day of March 1789, twelve years and eight months, when the present Constitution went into full effect. On this all important transition, or change "of the relations between the states and general government,' it only required to put in use their true substituted fact meaning, Viz.-State Rights, in the stead of continuing the words State Sovereignty, which became abrogated, on the adoption of the present Constitution. These two words is the true hocus-pocus, of all the state aspirants from that day to this. What shall restrain aSovereign power but its limitations,if the states are all Sovereign, then is the United States Sovereignty annihilated; and this is the sum of the whole matter at issue!

What is the general government, but the aggregate of state rights? The state authorities, legislative, judiciary and executive, are in the constant exercise of those retained rights, to sustain their united Sovereignty. It certainly borders on the ridiculous, even to suppose this united Sovereignty to seek to injure or distroy the state rights by which alone that Sovereignty can continue to exist! Nevertheless in every individual and state aberration, the first we hear, is state Sovereignty, and a vast concern about the infringements on "paramount" state rights. Your "sentiments" are now before the people, who will ultimately judge truly of your moral and political sanity in the premises. "Mene Mene Tecal" is already written on the wall. "He has been weighed in the balances and found wanting."

I have read somewhere that-such is the nature of untruth, that, if not arrested in its course, would, not only destroy a kingdom, or a nation, but the whole creation of the Almighty throughout the infinitude of space!

It is indeed lamentable to know, and disgraceful to reflect, that, during forty-two years our beloved country should have been kept in almost perpetual broils, from the repeated threats, mere quibbles, falsehoods, and misrepresentations of the words "State Sovereignty;" and which, during this period, has been frequently made to shake the union to its centre!

Your nineteen repetitions of "Sovereign parties to a Compact, "or joint Commission," as you have it, wherein each partner contracts for the right, at any time, to nullify and break up the whole concern, is certainly very novel. Sound minds, among the people, will always think there is some mistake about it on your part, as there never before had been known or heard of, thirteen sane individuals, or even thirteen states, who had made such "COMPACT!" again, Sir, shall we now confound the common understanding by abstract subtilties, and inform the world in the face of all our solemn treaties made with it," that foreigners do not understand the relations which the states and general government now bear to each other 24

That the Sovereign states, "as distinct parties," and by way of Compact made with each other, had indeed. accepted their United Sovereignty; yet, and nevertheless, that each Sovereign state, held a paramount power, as a reserved state right, to put their " Veto," or nullification on their own laws, as made in their United Sovereign capacity!

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Let natives and foreigners, at all times keep a steady eye, to the plain facts in our Constitution, and guard against the misrepresentations, and falsehoods, which are repeatedly made to surround it; then will they be no longer perplexed, confounded, deceived and discouraged in their support and imitations of our unparalleled model of government. If this be neglected by ourselves, the world will shortly turn from us in disgust, and cease to imitate our institutions, as discordant and unintelligible; and oppressed man loose his hope of relief from the personal despotisms; and we, at no distant day, be driven back to the verge of the precipice which the states in their separate Sovereignties had led the people of the United States in 1787, as before described. Then, Sir, there may be no uniting arm to save us from the tyranny, of perhaps twenty-four, or may be fifty petty Sovereigns, and their special court parricites, both male and female, seeking broils, hatreds, and open war-fare with their nearest neighbours.

It is indeed, Sir, almost incredible, that, from 1787 to the present day, has this state Sovereign phantom been kept up and displayed, by way of political incantation, in all and every of the aberrations against the general government; and specially in every immaginary, local, and temporary interest of states or individuals. We have seen this Soveroign Talisman raised, clothed, and sent forth among the people, in all the solemnities of Samuel's Ghost! and but for this, my honorable friend would have been spared thetrouble, and great perplexity, in writing NINETEEN columns, of close newspaper print, to sustain a NONENTITY!

Yours, &c.

BENJAMIN ROMAINE.

SIR,

STATE SOVEREIGNTY,

AND A CERTAIN DISSOLUTION OF THE UNION.

No. 8.

In No. 7, the absolute necessity of sole Allegiance to the United States Constitution, were shown to be indispensible to union; that the aggregate of state rights is the compositive of the United States Sovereignty, &c.

Recent accounts, from the United Republican States of Mexico! say, that General Santa-Ann, is now also at the head of a state Sovereignty party, and has demanded of their Vice President, "to dismiss his Cabinet Ministers because of their adherance to CENTRALISM," by which the United Sovereign power is ment. Your publication of 1831, in all probability has proluced this movement in Mexico. If Santa-Ann succeeds following up the high example now set before him by he Vice President of the great mother of republicansm, it will need no prophet to foretell the destiny of The Mexican Republic; and, in all probability the ate of the other seven Republics, spread over the vast and delightful regions of South America.

These republics have been struggling to attain some fixed form, for more than twenty years; first in imitation of our model, which, if it had gone to these people, in its pristine beauty and simplicity, and freed from the polluted contaminations of our restless po-litions, these republics, together with our own, it is reasonable to believe, would, long eer this day, have perfected their institutions, and now presented a line of republican fronts along the whole range of the Atlantic Ocean, on the East, and the Pacific on the West, reaching onward, and preparing the way for the multiplication of republics, as man shall increase, until they arrive near to the eastern boundary of the Russian Autocrat.

The great danger to the liberty, peace, power and happiness of the American Republics is, their splitting into petty State Sovereignties. The opinion which long prevailed, that "Republics could only exist in small territories," and which you now favour, has become reversed, I trust, where the Sovereign power is "consolidated" in the great body of the people, as with us, operating through their grand lever and regulator, the elective franchise.

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You thus proceed, and again repeat, "that our "United States Constitution was formed by delegates "from the people, while in their separate and Sover"eign State capacity. That it IS a compact, (I "would say WAS a compact) and that the several "States, or parties, have a right to judge of its in"fractions; and in case of a deliberate, palpable, "and dangerous exercise of power, NOT DELEGATED, they have a right, IN THE LAST RESORT, to interfere for arresting the progress of the evil, "and for maintaining within their RESPECTIVE LIMITS the authorities, rights and liberties appertaining to them. Again.-That the resolu"tions of the general Assembly of Virginia, relates "to those GREAT AND EXTRAORDINARY "CASES, IN WHICH ALL THE FORMS "OF THE CONSTITUTION, MAY prove in"effectual against infractions dangerous to the "essentianl rights of the parties to it. The Reso"lution again SUPPOSES, that dangerous powers, NOT DELEGATED, MAY not only be "usurped, and executed by the DEPARTMENTS, "but that the Judiciary Department MAY also “exercise, or sanction, dangerous powers beyond "the grant of the Constitution, and consequently "that the ultimate right of the parties to the Con"stitution to judge, whether the Compact has been dangerously violated, must extend to violations by "one delegated Authority, as well as by the other, "by the Judiciary, as well as by the Executive, "or Legislative."

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