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of the sea-coasts, ports, and harbours, and of the commerce of the United States;" and the question being put thereon,

It passed in the negative.

On the motion of Mr. George K. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Cureton, Ordered, That the names of the ayes and noes on the foregoing question be inserted in the journal.

The names of those who voted in the affirmative are-Messrs. Wise, T. Bailey, Doake, Anderson, Blackburn, Hancock, Otey, Alexander White, Tate, Breckenridge, Miller, West, J. F. Powell, Booker, Westwood, Richard B. Lee, Clarkson, Edmunds, Magill, Eskridge, John Matthews, Cavendish, B. Robinson, Fisher, Simon, T. Lewis, Ruffner, Wallace, Ashton, Pollard, Burwell, Ball, Joseph Lewis, Jun., Noland, Cowan, Nelson, John Evans, Jun., T. Wilson, Sumner, James Taylor, Darby, Satchell, Biggs, George K. Taylor, Cureton, Lawson, James Robinson, Blow, William Bailey, Garner, Turner, Griffin, Copland, and Robert B. Taylor.-54.

And the names of those who voted in the negative are-Messrs. Woods, Giles, Chaffin, D. S. Garland, Hare, Vance, Calwell, Young, Fletcher, C. Yancey, Bolling, John Taylor, Buckner, Price, (of Charlotte,) Tyler, Cheatham, T. A. Taylor, Roberts, Green, W. Daniel, Deane, Pegram, Goodwyn, Daingerfield, Garnett, Hayden, Payne, Greer, Hall, C. Garland, Pleasants, W. Lee, Gaines, J. B. Scott, Howson, Calmes, Higgins, Selden, Price, (of Henrico,) Starke, T. White, Jackson, Prunty, Martin, Redd, Driver, J. Johnston, Tazewell, Lightfoot, Cocke, Callis, R. Yancey, F. Eppes, Hill, Roebuck, Billups, Litchfield, Blakey, R. B. Daniel, Craig, Howe, Riddick, Watkins, Claughton, William Ball, Freeman Eppes, G. Green, Madison, Barbour, M'Roberts, Woodings, Moseley, Woodson, Peter Johnston, C. Scott, Pope, T. Mason, M'Coy, Hull, Rentfro, Haddan, Barnes, M'Carty, Bowyer, Moore, B. Harrison, Huston, Cockrell, M'Farlane, Dulaney, Gatewood, Mercer, Stannard, Fox, Seward, Sebrell, Smith, Burnham, Meek, Dysart, Evans, Shield, and Waller.-103.

A motion was then made to amend the said article, by inserting after the word "it," in the first line, "as circumstances will permit." It passed in the affirmative.

The third article of the instructions being then read, a motion was made to amend it by the following addition: "excepting from such opposition such particular parts of the common law as may have a sanction from the Constitution, so far as they are necessarily comprehended in the technical phrases, which express the powers delegated to the government: and excepting also, such other parts thereof as may be adopted as necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers expressly delegated." And the question being put thereupon,

It passed in the affirmative.

On the motion of Mr. Cureton, seconded by Mr. Breckenridge,

Ordered, That the names of the ayes and noes on the foregoing question be inserted in the journal.

The names of those who voted in the affirmative are-Messrs. Wise,

T. Bailey, Woods, Giles, Chaffin, D. S. Garland, Hare, Doake, Anderson, Blackburn, Vance, Calwell, Young, Hancock, Otey, Tate, A. White, Breckenridge, Miller, Fletcher, C. Yancey, Bolling, West, Powell, John Taylor, Buckner, Reid, Price, (of Charlotte,) Tyler, Cheatham, T. A. Taylor, Roberts, M. Green, W. Daniel, Deane, Pegram, Goodwyn, Booker, Westwood, Daingerfield, Garnett, R. B. Lee, Clarkson, Edmonds, J. Hayden, Payne, Magill, Eskridge, Greer, Cooke, Hall, C. Garland, Pleasants, W. Lee, Gaines, Cavendish, B. Robinson, J. B. Scott, Howson, Calmes, Higgins, Selden, Price, (of Henrico,) Starke, T. White, Prunty, Fisher, Simon, Martin, Redd, Driver, J. Johnston, Tazewell, Lightfoot, T. Lewis, Ruffner, Wallace, Ashton, Pollard, Burwell, Ball, J. Lewis, Noland, Callis, R. Yancey, Francis Eppes, Cowan, Nelson, Hill, Billups, Litchfield, Blakey, R. Daniel, Evans, Jr., T. Wilson, Craig, Howe, Riddick, Sumner, Watkins, James Taylor, Darby, Satchell, Claughton, Ball, Freeman, Eppes, G. Green, Biggs, Madison, M'Roberts, Wooding, Moseley, Woodson, C. Scott, Pope, G. K. Taylor, Cureton, T. Mason, Lawson, James Robinson, M'Koy, Hull, Rentfro, Barnes, M'Carty, Bowyer, Moore, B. Harrison, Huston, M'Farlane, Dulaney, Gatewood, Blow, William Bailey, Mercer, Stannard, Fox, Seward, Sebrell, Smith, Burnham, Garner, Turner, Meek, Dysart, Shield, Griffin, Waller, and R. B. Taylor.-149.

And the names of those who voted in the negative are——

And the question being then put on the article of instruction as amended,

It passed in the affirmative.

The fourth article of the instructions was then read, and the question being put upon the passage thereof,

It passed in the affirmative.

That part of the instructions which relates to the act of Congress concerning the suspension of intercourse with France and her dependencies was then read, and the question being put on the passage thereof,

It passed in the affirmative.

The question being then put, that the instructions, as amended, do pass, They passed in the affirmative.

On the motion of Mr. Jackson, seconded by Mr. Bailey,

Ordered, That the names of the ayes and noes on the foregoing question be inserted in the journal.

The names of those who voted in the affirmative are- -Messrs. Woods, Giles, Chaffin, David S. Garland, Hare, Vance, Calwell, Young, Fletcher, Charles Yancey, J. Taylor, Buckner, Reid, Price, (of Charlotte,) Tyler, Cheatham, Thomas A. Taylor, Roberts, Green, Wm. Daniel, Deane, Pegram, Goodwyn, Booker, Westwood, Daingerfield, Garnett, Hayden, Payne, Greer, Cooke, Hall, Christopher Garland, Pleasants, William Lee, Gaines, J. B. Scott, Howson, Calmes, Higgins, Selden, Price, (of Henrico,) Starke, Thos. White, Jackson, Prunty, Martin, Redd, Driver, James Johnston, Tazewell, Lightfoot, Cocke, Callis, R. Yancey, Francis Eppes, Hill, Roebuck, Billups, Litchfield, Blakey, Robert B. Daniel, Craig, Howe, Riddick, Watkins, Claughton, J. Ball, F. Eppes, G. Green, Madison, Barbour, M'Roberts, Wooding, Moseley, Woodson, Charles Scott, Pope, M'Coy,

Hull, Rentfro, Haddan, Barnes, M'Carty, Bowyer, Moore, B. Harrison, Huston, Cockrell, M'Farlane, Dulaney, Gatewood, Mercer, Stannard, Fox, Seward, Sebrell, Burnham, Meek, Dysart, Shield, and Waller.-102.

The names of those who voted in the negative are-Messrs. Wise, Thomas Bailey, Doake, Anderson, Blackburn, Hancock, Otey, Tate, A. White, Breckenridge, Miller, West, Powell, R. B. Lee, Clarkson, Edmonds, Magill, Eskridge, Cavendish, B. Robinson, Fisher, Simon, T. Lewis, Ruffner, Wallace, Ashton, N. Burwell, J. Ball, J. Lewis, Jun., Noland, Cowan, Evans, T. Wilson, Sumner, James Taylor, Darby, Satchell, Biggs, G. K. Taylor, Cureton, Lawson, J. Robinson, Blow, William Bailey, Garner, Turner, Griffin, Copland, and R. B. Taylor.-49.

VII.

APPENDIX.

MR. MADISON TO MR. EVERETT.

DEAR SIR,

Montpelier, August, 1830.

I have duly received your letter, in which you refer to the "nullifying doctrine," advocated as a constitutional right, by some of our distinguished fellow-citizens, and to the proceedings of the Virginia Legislature in '98 and '99, as appealed to in behalf of that doctrine; and you express a wish for my ideas on those subjects.

I am aware of the delicacy of the task in some respects, and the difficulty in every respect, of doing full justice to it. But having in more than one instance complied with a like request from other friendly quarters, I do not decline a sketch of the views which I have been led to take of the doctrine in question, as well as some others connected with them; and of the grounds from which it appears, that the proceedings of Virginia have been misconceived by those who have appealed to them. In order to understand the true character of the Constitution of the United States, the error, not uncommon, must be avoided, of viewing it through the medium, either of a consolidated government, or of a confederated government, whilst it is neither the one nor the other, but a mixture of both. And having, in no model, the similitudes and analogies applicable to other systems of government, it must, more than any other, be its own interpreter, according to its text and the facts of the case.

From these it will be seen, that the characteristic peculiarities of the Constitution are, 1, the mode of its formation; 2, the division of the supreme powers of government between the states in their united capacity, and the states in their individual capacities.

1. It was formed, not by the governments of the component states, as the federal government for which it was substituted was formed. Nor was it formed by a majority of the people of the United States, as a single community, in the manner of a consolidated government.

It was formed by the states, that is, by the people in each of the states, acting in their highest sovereign capacity; and formed consequently by the same authority which formed the state constitutions.

Being thus derived from the same source as the constitutions of the states, it has, within each state, the same authority as the constitution of the state, and is as much a constitution in the strict sense of the term within its prescribed sphere, as the constitutions of the states are within their respective spheres; but with this obvious and essential difference, that being a compact among the states in their highest sovereign capacity, and constituting the people thereof one people for certain purposes, it cannot be altered or annulled at the will of the states individually, as the constitution of a state may be at its individual will.

2. And that it divides the supreme powers of government, between the government of the United States and the governments of the individual states, is stamped on the face of the instrument; the powers of war and of taxation, of commerce and of treaties, and other enumerated powers vested in the government of the United States, being of as high and sovereign a character as any of the powers reserved to the state govern

ments.

Nor is the government of the United States, created by the Constitution, less a government in the strict sense of the term, within the sphere of its powers, than the governments created by the constitutions of the states are, within their several spheres. It is like them organized into legislative, executive, and judiciary departments. It operates, like them, directly on persons and things. And like them, it has at command a physical force for executing the powers committed to it. The concurrent operation, in certain cases, is one of the features marking the peculiarity of the system.

Between these different constitutional governments, the one operating in all the states, the others operating separately in each, with the aggregate powers of government divided between them, it could not escape attention, that controversies would arise concerning the boundaries of jurisdiction, and that some provision ought to be made for such occurrences. A political system that does not provide for a peaceable and authoritative termination of occurring controversies, would not be more than the shadow of a government; the object and end of a real government being, the substitution of law and order, for uncertainty, confusion, and violence.

That to have left a final decision, in such cases, to each of the states, then thirteen, and already twenty-four, could not fail to make the Constitution and laws of the United States different in different states, was obvious, and not less obvious that this diversity of independent decisions, must altogether distract the government of the Union, and speedily put an end to the Union itself. A uniform authority of the laws, is in itself a vital principle. Some of the most important laws could not be partially executed. They must be executed in all the states, or they could be duly executed in none. impost, or an excise, for example, if not in force in some states, would be defeated in others. It is well known that this was among the lessons of experience, which had a primary influence in bringing about the existing Constitution. A loss of its general authority would moreover revive the

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