Page:Works of John C. Calhoun, v1.djvu/181

sustained, to the former, the relation of superior to subordinate — of the creator to the creature; while they now sustain, to the latter, the relation of equals and co-ordinates. Both governments — that of the United States and those of the separate States, derive their powers from the same source, and were ordained and established by the same authority — the only difference being, that in ordaining and establishing the one, the people of several States acted with concert or mutual understanding — while, in ordaining and establishing the others, the people of each State acted separately, and without concert or mutual understanding — as has been fully explained. Deriving their respective powers, then, from the same source, and being ordained and established by the same authority — the two governments, State and Federal, must, of necessity, be equal in their respective spheres; and both being ordained and established by the people of the States, respectively — each for itself, and by its own separate authority — the constitution and government of the United States must, of necessity, be the constitution and government of each — as much so as its own separate and individual constitution and government; and, therefore, they must stand, in each State, in the relation of co-ordinate constitutions and governments. It is on this ground only, that the former is the constitution and government of all the States — not because it is the constitution and government of the whole, considered in the aggregate as constituting one nation, but because it is the constitution and government of each respectively: