the plan of the Convention adverse to the public happiness, my voice would be, Reject the plan. Were the Union itself inconsistent with the public happiness, it would be, ABOLISH THE UNION."* Even as late as 1830, he declared, that "it still remains to be seen whether the Union will answer the ends of its existence or otherwise." If he had lived till 1861, he would have seen that the Union, having failed to prevent the rise and reign of faction, had not answered "the great object" of its creation; and, consequently, no longer deserved to exist. Hence, in 1861, he would either have unveiled the right of secession, or else he would have belied all the great principles, and sentiments, and designs of his life.

Other Causes of Secession.

The foregoing grounds or causes of secession are, it seems to me, amply sufficient to justify the South in the exercise of a constitutional right; for which she was amenable to no tribunal on earth, except to the moral sentiments of mankind. But there are still other and powerful causes of secession; which it is unnecessary to discuss in the present work. All the grounds of secession, including those above considered, may be stated as follows:

First, the destruction of the balance of power, which was originally established between the North and the South; and which was deemed by the authors of the Constitution to be essential to the freedom, safety, and happiness of those sections of the Union.

Secondly, the sectional legislation, by which the original poverty of the North was exchanged for the wealth of the South; contrary to the great design of the Constitution, which was to establish the welfare of all sections alike, and not the welfare of one section at the expense of another.

Thirdly, the formation of a faction, or "the party of the * The Federalist, No. xlv.

North pledged against the South;" in direct and open violation of the whole spirit and design of the new Union; involving a failure of the great ends for which the Republic was ordained.

Fourthly, the utter subversion and contemptuous disregard of all the checks of the Constitution, instituted and designed by its authors for the protection of the minority against the majority; and the lawless reign of the Northern Demos.

Fifthly, the unjust treatment of the slavery question, by which the compacts of the Constitution made by the North in favor of the South, were grossly violated by her; while, at the same time, she insisted on the observance of all the compacts made by the South in her own favor.

Sixthly, the sophistry and hypocricy of the North, by which she attempted to justify her injustice and oppression of the South.

Seventhly, the horrible abuse and slander, heaped on the South, by the writers of the North; in consequence of which she became the most despised people on the face of the globe; whose presence her proud ally felt to be a contamination and a disgrace.

Eighthly, the contemptuous denial of the right of secession; the false statements, and the false logic by which that right was concealed from the people of the North; and the threats of extermination in case the South should dare to exercise that right.

These, it is believed, are the principal causes by which the last hope of freedom for the South in the Union was extinguished; and, consequently, she determined to withdraw from the Union. Bravely and boldly did she strike for Liberty; and, if she fell, it was because, as the London Times said, "she had to fight the world."

CHAPTER XX.

The Legislators of 1787 as Political Prophets.

"EVERY particular interest," said Mr. Madison, in the Convention of 1787, "whether in any class of citizens, or any description of States, ought to be secured as far as possible. Wherever there is danger of attack, there ought to be given a constitutional power of defence. But he contended that the States were divided into different interests, not by their difference of size, but from other circumstances; the most material of which resulted partly from climate, but principally from the effects of their having or not having slaves. These two causes concurred in forming the great division of interests in the United States. It did not lie between the large and small States. It lay between the Northern and Southern; AND IF ANY

DEFENSIVE POWER WERE NECESSARY, IT OUGHT TO BE MUTU

ALLY GIVEN TO THESE TWO INTERESTS.' In this opinion of the leading member from Virginia, the leading member from Massachusetts fully concurred. For Mr. King "was fully convinced that the question concerning a difference of interest did not lie where it had been hitherto discussed, between the great and the small States, but between the Southern and the Eastern. For this reason he had been willing to yield something, in the proportion of represen- . tation, for the security of the Southern." That is, for the protection of the Southern interest, he had, as we have seen, been willing to vote for the fractional representation The Madison Papers, p. 1006. + Ibid, p. 1057.

of slaves. Such was, indeed, the opinion of the Convention. But while the legislators of 1787 agreed in this opinion, they looked into the future with very different eyes. Considered as political prophets, they may, in fact, be

divided into three classes.

At the head of the first class, there stands James Madison, "the father of the Constitution." Seeing, as he did, that the great difficulty before the Convention was to adjust the antagonism between the North and the South, he must have known that the perpetuity of the new Union would depend on the manner in which this difficulty should be settled by their labors. Just before the meeting of the Convention, indeed, this great antagonism had given birth to a tremendous conflict between the North and South, by which the Union was shaken to its foundations. Hence, Mr. Madison had good reason to fear the violence of this antagonism for the future; and he did fear it. For he tells us, that there ought to be given a constitutional power of defence to each of these sections; so that neither could take advantage of the other.

He hoped, he fancied, he predicted that this had been done. The South, he said, will soon have a majority in the House of Representatives, in consequence of the rapid increase of her population; by which she will hold a check on the power of the North. But this adjustment of the great difficulty in question rested on the unstable and fluctuating basis of population. It soon proved to be a foundation of sand. The hope and the prediction of Mr. Madison soon appeared to have been a delusion and a dream. He staked the freedom, the safety, and the happiness of the South, on the happening of a future event, which never came to pass.

Indeed, he did not urge his plan for the adjustment of the formidable antagonism in question; because, as he said, it suggested a difficulty which was too apt to arise of itself. It was, therefore, never adjusted at all, on any

solid foundation, or secure principle; and, consequently, it did continue to arise of itself, and disturb the new Union with convulsions, from the beginning of its career to the grand explosion of 1861.

Mr. Madison always feared the effects of this great and imperfectly adjusted antagonism between the North and the South. It seems, indeed, as if he wished to hide it from his own eyes, as well as from those of the people. It is a very remarkable fact, that although in the secret Convention of 1787, he pronounced the antagonism between the Northern and the Southern States the greatest of all the difficulties they had to deal with; yet when, in The Federalist, he enumerated the difficulties the Convention had to encounter, no allusion whatever is made to this stupendous one. He seems to have imagined, that since it is so apt to arise of itself, the less that is said about it the better. This would, no doubt, have been very wise and prudent, if a great danger might be remedied by simply closing one's eyes upon its existence.

Nothing more easily disturbed his patience, than any allusion to the great danger created by the fearful antagonism in question. In The Federalist,-how unlike his usual style!-he pours forth the following strain of lachrymose philanthropy or patriotism: "Hearken not to the unnatural voice, which tells you that the people of America, knit together as they are by so many chords of affection, can no longer live together as members of the same family; can no longer continue mutual guardians of their mutual happiness........... No, my countrymen, shut your ears against this unhallowed language. Shut your hearts against the poison which it conveys. The kindred blood which flows in the veins of American citizens, the mingled blood which they have shed in the defence of their sacred rights, consecrate their union, and excite horror at the idea of their becoming aliens, rivals, enemies."*

*No. xiv.