cates that opinion, holds as the appropriate deduction from it. "Being thus derived (says he) from the same source, as the constitutions of the states, it has, within each state, the same authority, as the constitution of the state; and is as much a constitution within the strict sense of the term, within its prescribed sphere, as the constitutions of the states arc, within their respective spheres. But with this obvious and essential difference, that being a compact among the states in their highest sovereign capacity, and constituting the people thereof one people for certain purposes, it cannot be altered, or annulled at the will of the states individually, as the constitution of a state may be at its individual will."[1]
- ↑ Mr. Madison's Letter, North American Review, Oct. 1830, p. 538.—Mr. Paterson (afterwards Mr. Justice Paterson) in the convention, which framed the constitution, held the doctrine, that under the confederation no state had aright to withdraw from the Union without the consent of all. "The confederation (said he) is in the nature of a compact; and can any state, unless by the consent of the whole, either in politics or law, withdraw their powers? Let it be said by Pennsylvania and the other large states, that they, for the sake of peace, assented to the confederation; can she now resume her original right without the consent of the donee?"[a 1] Mr. Dane unequivocally holds the same language in respect to the constitution. "It is clear (says he) the people of any one state alone never can take, or withdraw power from the United States, which was granted to it by all, as the people of all the states can do rightfully in a justifiable revolution, or as the people can do in the manner their constitution prescribes." Dane's App. § 10, p. 21.
the execution of theirs; both governments having a common origin, or sovereign, the people; the state governments, the people of each state, the national government, the people of every state; and being amenable to the power, which created it. It is by executing its functions as a government, thus originating and thus acting, that the constitution of the United States holds the states together, and performs the office of a league. It is owing to the nature of its powers, and the high source, from whence they are derived, the people, that it performs that office better than the confederation, or any league, which ever existed, being a compact, which the state governments did not form, to which they are not parties, and which executes its own powers independently of them."
- ↑ Yates's Debates, 4 Elliot's Debates, 75.
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