creation of a federal or national jurisdiction, for the exercise of certain powers; the creation of a state or local jurisdiction, for the exercise of certain other powers. The foreign relations of the country, the relation which subsists between the several states and between the citizens of the several states, cannot, except remotely, be affected by extent of territory, and then only by an enlargement beyond its present extent. These relations are not affected perceptibly by the diverse, or even adverse local interests, of different sections of the country. So far as these matters are concerned, the people of the United States have, and can have only one and the same interest. In all other matters, those which are of daily concernment, and in relation to which the local interests of one section of the country may not be precisely the same with those of another, the several state governments come in and exercise their power over small portions of territory, in which the habits and interests of the people are in unison. The state government is near at hand; its operations are constantly perceived and observed, and are controlled by a small number of people, when contrasted with the entire population of the United States. By reason of this division or arrangement of sovereignty, extent of territory, and diversity of interest, have no practical or objectionable existence.

The second fact or element is, the creation and establishment, in each of the sovereignties, state and national, of distinct departments, or political institutions, by the means of which the trusts confided to these sovereignties are executed, and the rights of the citizen sustained. They are designated the legislative, the judicial, and the executive. These departments or political institutions act as checks upon each other, upon the government as a system or whole, and upon the people. The third fact or element is found in the existence of written constitutions, in

and by which the two sovereignties which constitute our system, and their several departments, are controlled, defined, and limited. These constitutions contain the organic and fundamental laws under which we live, and have, to some extent, a permanent existence, inasmuch as they cannot be amended or changed, except in the mode prescribed, and with the consent of a large proportion of the people. This consent must be ascertained, under certain modes, prescribed by law, which are designed to prevent haste or sudden impulse, and to afford an abundant opportunity for examination, reflection, and the exercise of a calm judgment upon any and every proposed amendment or change. These three facts or political elements may be regarded as the basis of our internal, social, and political institutions of every character or description, either state or national, public or private. They have done much, and are competent to do much, in the support and maintenance of our system of government; they may become ineffectual, and inadequate to control some political vicissitude which may occur at some future period of our history; they will become ineffectual and insufficient, unless they shall be aided and be made perfect by a continued and ever present existence of the fourth fact or political element, which is, the education and integrity of the people. So long as the people of the United States shall be intelligent and educated, shall maintain inviolate their integrity, shall know no north, no south, their country and its destiny will be one; their system will resist and repel every danger, will survive all and every cause of danger, except such as may result from the imperfection which ever has surrounded, and ever must surround all things human. If our system is destined to live, as I trust it is, it must live, it can live only in and upon the moral power

of the people; it must live, it can live only in a calm, well considered, dispassionate public opinion. In the formation of this opinion, you, as well as your neighbors, have a responsibility which you may not, which you cannot shake off or avoid.