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would only be acting contrary to its laws and the existing authorities.

534. Thus we have seen that a state cannot abrogate the Constitution, because its government is vested with only a portion of the sovereignty: and the people of that state cannot do it (unless they are a majority of the whole Union), because they must act individually, and the laws of the government acting upon individuals, any resistance by them to any constitutional exercise of authority would incur the penalties of treason.

It follows then, necessarily, that the government of the United States is perpetual, unless abrogated by the will of the majority of the whole people.

§ 535. We have now recited, with such proof as seems to us sufficient, the propositions which include the nature, principles, and relations of the United States Government. We have established;

1. That this Government is a Democratic Federative Republic;

2. That the Democracy of the United States is a Representative Democracy;

3. That the foundation of this Government is the consent of, and the sanction of it is responsibility to, the people;

4. That the great conservative principle of the government is the virtue of the people;

5. That the Constitution of the United States proceeds from the people in their sovereign capacity, and that it acts upon individuals as well as states.

6. That the constitutions of the states act upon individuals, but not upon the Government of the United States, nor upon each other;

7. That the Government of the United States is sovereign in a national, and the states in a municipal capacity;

8. That the Government of the United States, is in

case of constitutional collision, sovereign over, and superior to the state governments;

9. That the Government of the United States is not merely a league;

10. That the Government of the United States is a government of majorities;

11. That the Government of the United States is perpetual, unless abrogated by the will of a majority of the whole people; and that, consequently, no state can secede.

§ 536. With these propositions impressed upon the mind it is thought that little misconception can exist upon the nature and construction of the United States government. Some of them have, it is true, been disputed in times of warmth and excitement; but all of them have been supported by a great majority of the American people, and illustrated by the acts of public bodies, and the works of distinguished statesmen from the Revolution to the present time.

BOOK II.

PRACTICAL OPERATION OF THE NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PRACTICAL OPERATION OF THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION.

537. When the Constitution had been ratified by the requisite number of states, it had acquired its legal force, but was inert till properly put into operation. The people had made it an instrument of great and beneficent powers, but their action under it was necessary to give it life. The mode of doing this had been provided by the convention. They had "resolved that, as soon as the conventions of nine states should have ratified the Constitution, Congress should fix a day on which electors should be appointed by the states which should have ratified the same, and a day on which electors should assemble to vote for President, and the time and place of commencing proceedings under the Constitution. That, after such publication, the electors should be appointed, and the senators and representatives elected," and such other regulations as were necessary, &c.; and that, "after the President was elected, he and Congress

should, without delay, proceed to execute the Consti tution."1

§ 538. Accordingly Congress, after the ratification of a sufficient number of states in July, 1788, 2Ordered, that the several ratifications of the Constitution of the United States be referred to a committee, to examine and report an act for putting said constitution into operation. A committee was appointed, and the following resolution passed,3" Resolved, that the first Wednesday in January next be the day for appointing the electors in the several states which, before said day, shall have ratified the Constitution; that the first day in February next be the day for the electors to assemble in their respective states, and vote for a President; and that the first Wednesday in March next be the time, and the present seat of Congress the place for commencing proceedings under said Constitution."

§ 539. In pursuance of this resolution, the elections in the several states were held, at the time appointed, and on Wednesday, the 4th of March, 1789, the Constitution went into practical operation. On the 30th April, George Washington, unanimously elected, was inaugurated President of the United States. Subsequently to this, North Carolina and Rhode Island, which had not then ratified, joined the Union. Soon after, a number of amendments, the effect of which we have heretofore considered, were recommended to the states by twothirds of Congress, and adopted.

§ 540. Thus the operation of the Federal Government was begun. The arrangement of the Judiciary, the rules of proceedings, the organization of the departments, and the appointment of officers, were within the power of Congress and the Executive, and formed the earliest objects of their consideration.

§ 541. In practice, as well as theory, the government

14 Elliott's Debates, 249.

2 Idem. 221.

3 Id. 222.

is divided into three great departments, having distinct duties to perform, the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial; in this order, we shall consider the practical operation of the government.

1. OF THE EXECUTIVE.

§ 542. By Art. 2d, Sect. 1st, of the Constitution, the executive power is vested in the President. By Sect. 2d, he is commander-in-chief of the army, of the navy, and of the militia when called into actual service. He may require the opinion in writing of the principal officers of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their offices, and has power to grant reprieves, pardons, &c. &c. He has the appointment, in conjunction with the Senate, of ambassadors, other public ministers, consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, except those inferior officers whose appointment the Congress may vest in the heads of departments, courts, &c. He receives ambassadors and other public officers, takes care that the laws are faithfully executed, and commissions officers.

§ 543. These are all the general duties annexed by the Constitution to the office of President. We have already seen that they could not be performed, till Congress had first erected the offices which were to be filled, and enacted the laws which were to be executed. We shall now see how this was done.

544. The constitutional duties above enumerated comprehend all the executive duties of the government; for the President is the only executive officer known to the Constitution, and the only one responsible to the people. The duties, however, are obviously too numerous and various for one man; hence, the Constitution contemplated the appointment of inferior officers, and the division of labour among subordinates. For this purpose Congress has, at different times, created the T

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