And that is what every true patriot in the land will do now, to preserve the Union-the old Union-the glorious old Union that was formed by our fathers!

Accursed! for ever accursed, be the lips that would pronounce against the constitution of our beloved country!

Palsied! for ever palsied, be the hand which would strike down the laws which have been the bulwarks of our safety and liberty!

A song for our banner-the watch-word recall,
Which gave the Republic her station:

"United we stand--divided we fall"-—
It made and preserves us a nation!
The union of lakes, the union of lands,
The union of States none can sever;

The union of hearts, the union of hands,
And the Flag of the Union for ever

And ever,

The Flag of our Union forever!

LECTURE III.

HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION.

We are to take our seats to-night in the convention of 1787, which formed the constitution of our country.

Washington, the father of his country, was the President of this convention.

Around him stood the patriotic men who had periled their lives and fortunes in the achievement of American independence and freedom. They, who had laid the foundations of the new republic in their own blood, were here assembled to perfect a Temple of constitutional liberty for themselves, and for their children, forever.

We shall sit down with them to-night. We shall listen to the voices of their instruction, at the very time when they were engaged in the work of framing our constitution.

Be still, the coarse and angry din of politics and of politicians.

Be still, the loud voices of faction and sedition!
Let our fathers speak!

Let the men who founded the Republic, and made the constitution, speak to us, and inspire us with a higher wisdom and a loftier morality than that of partisan strife and ambition.

The debates on the constitution, which, form the source of true information, are not to be found alone in the minutes of the convention itself, for they were continued at greater length in the several State conventions which were called for the purpose of ratifying or rejecting the Constitution.

The same men who composed the Constitutional Convention afterwards took their seats in their respective State Conventions, where they explained to their constituents their understanding of the instrument which they had framed.

To this authority I appeal. It is of little moment to you and me what the noisy bands of politicians of any party say on this subject.

What did our fathers say? What did the men say who made the Constitution? I hope I shall not be accused of the want of patriotism for quoting in your hearing the language of Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison. I hope the words of the noble patriots, who were the Fathers of our country, are always in order. I hope the time is not yet passed when an American may honestly and fearlessly speak to his countrymen in praise of the grand principles of Saxon freedom which we inherited from the battle-fields of the Revolution. And oh, God! I hope-for what I hardly dare trust my heart to believe-to see my countrymen, of every section, return to the footsteps of our Fathers-to those paths of virtue and peace which alone can lead us to greatness and honor.

You will remember that our last lecture brought us down to the consummation of the old Confederation of 1781.

Peace with England was declared in 1783; and the United States took a proud seat among the nations of the earth.

But it was soon discovered that the Articles of Confederation were defective in several particulars.

There was a heavy national debt, which the Articles of Confederation gave Congress no adequate power of

providing for. So much were the States absorbed in their own local affairs that it was with the utmost difficulty that they could be induced to keep up a sufficient representation in Congress to form a quorum for business.

peace, the army of the 80 persons, and there

In 1784, one year after the United States was reduced to was no way of providing for the support of even these. Madison says, "Each State, yielding to the voice of immediate interest, or convenience, successively withdrew its support from the Confederation, till the frail and tottering edifice was ready to fall upon our heads, and crush us beneath its ruins,"

To relieve the Confederation from the political and financial disintegration which was seriously threatening its very existence, Virginia again came forward with a proposition for the public relief, and suggested that a convention of delegates should be called to regulate our commerce with foreign nations, and provide for the payment of the national debt.

You will perceive that there was no intimation in this call that any new relations between the internal sovereignty of the States and the General Government was required or intended by the new convention.

Only five of the States at first seconded the proposition of Virginia, and this partial representation met at Annapolis in September, 1786.

All this small body attempted, was to make a strong appeal to Congress for a general convention to take into consideration the situation of the country, and to revise, alter, or amend the Articles of Confederation in such a way as to relieve the General Government from its rinous embarrassments.

Congress immediately acted upon this call; and all the States, except Rhode Island, appointed delegates, who met in a convention at Philadelphia in May, 1787. This was the convention that framed the present Constitution of the United States.

Before we can understandingly proceed further in the history of the Constitutional Convention, we must pause a few minutes to take a look at the political parties which had already assumed distinct forms in this young Republic.

There was one party, led by Alexander Hamilton, the advocate of a strong central, or general government, which was called the National party, from the fact that it was in favor of consolidating the States into one great national government, to be invested with powers, which, as you will see, the majority of our fathers believedwould be dangerous to the principles of local independence.

The party which opposed this centralism or "Nationalism," as it was called, was alarmed at a proposition which they said would alter the very foundations of the government of the Union, by consolidating into one mass the sovereign and independent States-thus elevating the creature over the creator, the subordinate and derivative government over the Sovereign States which had created it."

In the early stages of the convention Mr. Hamilton submitted the form of a new constitution, which embodied his views of an energetic consolidated National Government.

This Constitution, proposed by Hamilton, provided for the election of a President for life, or during good behavior-invested the Executive of the Union with the powers of appointing the governors of the States,