ence and rights of the several states as necessary elements of the political order established by the one People in the Constitution which they adopted. While, therefore, the whole civil structure, federal and state, is made to rest upon the nationality and sovereignty of the United States, the construction that is advocated guards with equal care against any tendencies towards an undue centralization of power, and upholds the sacred principle of local self-government as the very groundwork of all civil and political liberty. The text of the present edition has been carefully revised and corrected; and whatever errors of fact or inaccuracies of statement had been discovered have been removed. An Appendix has also been added, which contains an abstract of all the decisions involving an interpretation of the Constitution, rendered by the Supreme Court of the United States since the publication of the first edition. The Public Law of the land authoritatively declared by the highest tribunal, is thus presented as it stands at the present day. The subject matter of this Appendix is arranged in an order conforming to that pursued in the body of the work, with appropriate subdivisions and headings, so that it can be easily referred to in connection with the discussions found in the original text. The additions thus made embrace many subjects of the highest theoretical and practical importance; among others, the nature of the Federal Union and its relations with the States, the status of citizenship with the rights and immunities of citizens, the interpretation of the XIIIth, XIVth, and XVth amendments, the regulation of inter-state commerce, the extent and limits of the national and the state powers of taxation, — and the questions thus raised and determined, equal in magnitude and in their far-reaching effect any that were ever before passed upon by the national court of ultimate resort. August, 1875. J. N. P. Public Law divided into Political and International WHAT IS THE CONSTITUTION, AND BY WHOM WAS IT CREATED: 32-34 SECTION IL-MEANING OF "NATION," AND OF POLITICAL SOVEREIGNTY. SECTION III. THE PRINCIPAL PROPOSITION IN REGARD TO THE NATURE OF THE CONSTITUTION, AND THE NATIONALITY OF THE UNITED STATES. The United States is a nation and is sovereign Nature of the second Continental Congress Declaration of Independence, its authors, and its effects Sovereign states cannot limit their sovereignty Opinion of modern publicists in reference to last proposition Abstract of Articles of Confederation Articles of Confederation not a fundamental law. Controlling ideas embodied in them SECTION III.—PROCEEDINGS WHICH DIRECTLY LED TO THE ADOPTION OF THE A remedy necessary; an amendment to the Articles of Confedera- Call of Convention by Congress, to amend Articles of Confederation Convention of a body of volunteers Meaning of these proceedings; nature of the acts of the state gov- THE NATIONAL ATTRIBUTES INVOLVED IN THE PROVISIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION. SECTION I. - DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE NATION. The people, as a collective unit, are the nation, as distinct from the The theory of the government is involved in this proposition Illustrations from French and from English history Various powers held by a government; the people may wield all The government may wield all power held by the people; examples, The government may wield part of the power held by the people ; SECTION II. THE IMPORTANT AND DISTINCTIVE NATIONAL ELEMENTS IN THE CONSTITUTION ITSELF; IN THE ATTRIBUTES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE GOV- The powers of the agent cannot exceed those of the principal The supremacy belongs to judge-made as well as to enacted law 96, 97 102 III. The Proprietorship of Public Lands IV. Nature of the Legislative Powers held by the General Government and forbidden to the States V. Nature of the Executive Powers VI. Nature of the Judicial Powers. Language of the Constitution (Article V.) This language unlimited IN WHAT MANNER AND BY WHOM IS THE CONSTITUTION TO BE II. The final power to interpret authoritatively resides in the Supreme Court of the United States Question stated, whether each department may.interpret for itself, |