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proper to give vigor to the federal compact. In some instances, however, these powers have been restrained, and these restraints have been ascertained by experience, to be highly salutary and beneficial. I shall briefly run them over for your better information. It is provided, that all taxes, duties, imposts and excises, shall be uniform, and no preference shall be given to one state over another. writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, except in times of invasion or rebellion; that no bill of attainder shall be passed, and no direct tax laid, but in proportion to the census of the inhabitants of the different states; that no money shall be drawn from the national treasury, but in consequence of appropriations; that no title of nobility shall be granted, and that no person holding any office of trust or profit, shall accept of any office, title or emolument from any foreign prince, king or state, without the consent of congress. In relation to the states individually, the powers withdrawn from them by the federal constitution are these:

"Sec. 10. That no state shall enter into any treaty alliance or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.

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"No state shall, without the consent of congress, lay any impost or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of congress. No state shall, without the consent of congress, lay any duty on tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war, in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.".

In order to prevent an undue exercise of power in the general government, which might tend to affect the rights of the states or those of citizens, it is declared, that treason shall consist only in levying war against the United States, or adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort; that no person shall be convicted of treason, but on the testimony of two witnesses, or on confession in open court; that no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture, except during life; that no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting its free exercise, can be made; and that the liberty of speech and the press, the right of the people to assemble to petition government for a redress of grievances, and their right to bear arms,

cannot be abridged or infringed. To prevent oppres sion, it is provided that no soldiers shall be quartered in any house in time of peace, without the consent of the owner, and to secure the citizen from unreasonable search, it is declared, that no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation. It is also provided that no person shall be held to answer for any capital or infamous offence, except in the land and sea service, unless in presentment or indictment of a grand jury, nor answer for the same offence twice; that in all criminal and civil suits above twenty dollars, he shall have the right of jury trial; that he shall not, in any criminal case, be compelled to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law. In criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right of a speedy and public trial by jury of the district in which the crime was committed; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for witnesses in his favor, and the assistance of counsel, and finally, that excessive bail shall not be imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. You will easily discover, and it must be always understood, that the powers not expressly delegated, are reserved to the states and the people. All constructive or assumed powers are considered as dangerous to the liberties of the citizen, and fatal to the rights and the union of the states. Powers derived from the constitution,

by mere construction, ought never to be assumed, and should always be carefully avoided, because, constructive power is in nature unlimited and despotic. I am sorry to state, however, that congress have sometimes indulged in these unwarrantable constructions, because I fear they may ultimately operate as precedents fatal to the permanent existence of the constitution. Thus, my lord, whether we consider this instrument of union as a social or federal compact, its excellencies are beyond all praise, and its superiority to those confederacies, I have endeavored to describe, cannot be questioned. As long as it is preserved, the security of the citizen and the union of the states, will be guaranteed, and the country thus governed, become the home of the free, the retreat of misery, and the assylum of persecuted humanity. As a written compact, it is a unique in politics, an unprecedented and perfect example of representative democracy, to which the attention of mankind is now enthusiastically directed.* More happily and exquisitely organized than the Amphyctionic, Achæan, Swiss and Holland confederacies, which I have mentioned, the American constitution is, in truth, at once "a monument of genius,

"La constitution des Americains a un merite bien preceux c'est celui de la concision. Ainsi, il n'y a pas un chef, pas un agent de l'autori te, pas un citoyen qui ne soit à meme de connoitre, en un instant, l'entendue de ses devoirs, des pouvoirs quil a recus on de ceux quil a delegues," De La Croix.

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and an edifice of strength and majesty." The union of its parts, says the chevalier Deslandes, forms its solidity, and the harmony of its proportions, constitutes its beauty. May it always be preserved inviolate by the gallant and high-minded people of America, and may they never forget that its destruction will be the inevitable deathblow of liberty, and the probable passport to universal despotism. Adieu.

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*Discourse sur la Revolution. Deslandes.

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