that, by whatever bodies elected, they should honestly represent their constituents; that they should have the confidence of the people, so far as that, willing or reluctant, confiding or doubting, they would respect them as the rulers of the land. It must be a voluntary or conceded obedience. Force could not be the method of law, nor the means of loyalty. There would be criticism, just and unjust; there would be wild and fiery spirits to manage. Men from different regions, with various prejudices, must yield to the government of men, most of whom they had never known. They must surrender many of their most cherished opinions, and go to slaughter and death at the command of this body, cautiously assuming legislative, executive, and judicial responsibilities forced upon them by invisible power. How was all this to be done? This was God's question, and clearly did he answer it. He held the brain of the nation steady during all these perilous days and years, and brought order out of chaos, revealing his governing hand in the gradual formation and progressive development of an organic

nation.

It will, however, be seen that the exigencies of war had been the means of this political organization and unity. For mere defence and internal growth, civil governments had been instituted in the different colonies, founding thirteen States. But what was at first only resistance to force for self-preservation had now risen to the dignity of a war for national existence and rights. God had so far made the wrath of man to praise him as to compel the declaration of independence, as the result of long-continued acts of British oppression; and at length, by murderous injustice and cruel war, he would allow the continuance of oppression under the same sovereign control, until the people had risen, through discipline and blood, to the power of self-government; and the remainder of wrath he would restrain.

The return of peace removed the outside pressure which had forced the people together. Individual independent

interests and sectional jealousies, as we have seen, rose up in anger to assert their rights; and God still had in charge the problem of consolidating and developing a political government suited to a great and free nation, — a problem which rose immediately and distinctly above the reach of human wisdom and power.

A RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT.

The growth of ideas in the Republic, from the first inauguration of Washington, is most remarkable; and, in this country, ideas are power. The exigencies of the nation found the government expansive and adjustable to a remarkable degree. Free discussion in the preliminary assemblies, the choice of men under Providence, notwithstanding the intrigues of demagogues and the perils of great political crises and vigorous forensic conflicts, with a certain indispensable amount of broad statesmanship, gradually perfected our system. The powers and duties of the Executive were carefully defined by law, so that even the administration of a bad President cannot destroy our liberties. The cabinet grew up with the immense increase of public business, and surrounded the President with Ministers of State, of War, and of Finance, with officers in charge of the Post Office and the business of the Interior. These, with the official expounder of the public law, became the advisers of the Executive, the supporters of his legitimate power, and the administrators of immense departments of public business. Their associate council might be marred by the perverseness of an incumbent; but under the vigilant eye of the Senate and House of Representatives, and the more jealous watchfulness of the people, long progress in any disastrous policy would be highly improbable, and ultimate ruin morally impossible. On the whole, the guaranties of the people are largely increased by these combinations, hardly anticipated or discoverable by the reason of our wisest men, and therefore the more evidently the work of God.

It cannot be claimed that executive power is yet perfectly defined, nor its necessary limits all clearly known; but a President of the United States has only to violate the spirit of the Constitution, or intimate a disposition to transcend his legitimate prerogatives, to bring out with almost miraculous promptness and irresistible energy the remedies lying within the Constitution and the intelligent patriotism of the nation.

The judiciary of the Republic arose partly out of the experience of the past and the records of history, but more out of the emergencies and legal necessities of a growing people. Very recent modifications show that its forms are deemed susceptible of improvement; but its vital functions are unimpaired. The extreme democratic tendencies of States, making judges elective directly by the people, and only for a term of years, is yet an experiment, and may be reversed. This measure has not been adopted by the General Government; and there is a feeling quite general among the people, that the judges of law ought to be lifted above the reach of party power and political campaigns. All this, with every other contingency, can be easily brought to obey the commands of experience and the will of the nation.

Collisions between the different departments of the gov ernment are known to be possible. Thus far, however, they have been very rare, and limited to opinions and asserted rights, without the perpetration of treason. Calmly and steadily the Government goes on, however great the strain upon the Constitution, and however imminent the perils from perverse judgment or sectional strife.

The law-making power of the people represented in Congress may overstep the limits of well-defined powers, only, however, to be promptly checked by the Supreme Court. The Executive and Congress may reveal grave differences in principle and policy; but both are responsible to the judiciary, and all, finally, to the people. So far, in the midst

of the severest tests ever endured by any government, the Republic has shown itself capable of resisting its enemies. from without, counteracting its dangerous tendencies from within, and coming out of every struggle with its principles better defined, and its effective power largely enhanced. There is, therefore, nothing in our history to indicate the probability of our overthrow, or the loss of our liberties, by the abuse of power.

In the mean time, the period of development, so far as it has advanced, has witnessed the elimination of many of our political vices, especially those which tended to sectionalize our people and intensify personal hostility; and the foundations now appear of a broader, firmer unity than has ever before seemed possible. Our civil and political institutions are more perfectly assimilated; our mutual responsibilities are better defined; and from our great extremes, North and South, East and West, we are drawn more compactly together than at any former period of our history. Our increasing millions are becoming more homogeneous in spirit; and the feeling of mutual dependence is stronger as events subject our intelligence and patriotism to severer

tests.

A STRONG GOVERNMENT.

History not unfrequently reverses our judgments. The most natural suggestion of a free democracy was the largest possible liberty for the individual and for the local State: in other words, the concessions to the General Government, it was determined, should be as few, and the reservations as many, as possible. It is not, therefore, matter of surprise, that at first the conceded prerogatives of the nation should be utterly inadequate, and that the questions of power which would inevitably arise would originate strong and even angry discussions. The old controversy between Federals and Democrats, and the protracted struggle between State and National rights, were most natural,

and really inevitable. Boundaries so obscure as those between civil and political jurisdictions must, of necessity, be contested and, so far as a due degree of moderation was possible in the contest, it was not to be regretted; for it must be conceded that distinctions are so difficult, and sacrifices of private and local rights for the national good are so exacting upon human selfishness, and, moreover, that the danger of anarchy on the one hand, and despotism on the other, is so great, that long-continued, searching discussions, the severest analysis, such as can result from the collisions of stern intellects only, can bring out the exact truth which will stand the test of. history, and render local and general government by the whole people practicable and harmonious. All this, we must freely acknowledge, was too critical and perilous for the conduct of human wisdom; and yet the higher gratitude is inspired for the superhuman control which has prevented our ruin, and gradually revealed and established the principles of our unity in harmony with our complete independence. "And as, in every State, each town, while performing some of the functions of government for itself, and possessing all the machinery which the performance of them required, looked to the State government for the performance of other functions, and cheerfully submitted to the curtailment of municipal authority, and the partial subordination which such relations towards the State required; so was it only by the sacrifice of certain rights that the States could build up a central power strong enough to perform for them those indispensable acts of general government which they could not perform for themselves." *

Just as certainly, therefore, as the plans of God required the establishment, on this continent, of a great, free, and independent nation, so certainly must personal and State claims, inconsistent with this purpose, yield to the imperative demands of the General Government.

But it was inevitable that the asserted prerogatives of the *Greene, p. 135.