Diary in America Volume II Part 23

2. This Const.i.tution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Const.i.tution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

3. The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State legislature, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Const.i.tution: but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

ARTICLE 7.

1. The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Const.i.tution between the States so ratifying the same.

Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the States present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names.

George Washington, _President and Deputy from Virginia_

New Hampshire. John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman.

Ma.s.sachusetts. Nathaniel Gorman, Rufus King.

Connecticut. William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman.

New York. Alexander Hamilton.

New Jersey. William Livingston, David Bearly, William Paterson, Jonathan Dayton.

Pennsylvania. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mafflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Governeur Morris.

Delaware. George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jun. John d.i.c.kenson, Richard Ba.s.sett, Jacob Broom.

Maryland. James McHenry, Daniel of St Tho. Jenifer, Daniel Carrol.

Virginia. John Blair, James Madison, jun.

North Carolina. William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson.

South Carolina. John Rutledge, Chas. Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler.

Georgia. William Few, Abraham Baldwin.

(_Attest_,) William Jackson.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSt.i.tUTION.

Art. 1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right, of the people peaceably to a.s.semble, and to pet.i.tion the Government for a redress of grievances.

Art. 2. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Art. 3. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner prescribed by law.

Art. 4. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Art. 5. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Art. 6. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favour; and to have the a.s.sistance of counsel for his defence.

Art. 7. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of common law.

Art. 8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Art. 9. The enumeration in the Const.i.tution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Art. 10. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Const.i.tution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Art. 11. The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State.

Art. 12. 1. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-president; and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such of the number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such a majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But, in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice.

And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death, or other const.i.tutional disability of the President.

2. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President: a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.

3. But no person const.i.tutionally ineligible to the office of President, shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

END OF VOL. II.

VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER ONE.

CANADA.

Of what advantage are the Canadas to England?

This question has been put to me, at least one hundred times since my return from America. It is argued that the Canadas produce and export nothing except timber, and that the protecting duty given to Canada timber is not only very severely felt by the mother-country, but very injurious to her foreign relations. These observations are undeniable; and I admit that, as a mere colony compelled to add to the wealth of England, (sending to her all her produce, and receiving from her all her supplies), Canada has been worth less than nothing. But, admitting this for the present, we will now examine whether there are no other grounds for the retention of the Canadas under our control.

Colonies are of value to the mother-country in two ways. The first is already mentioned, and in that way, the present advantage of the Canadas as colonies is abandoned. The other great importance of colonies is, that they may be considered as outports, as stepping-stones, as it were, over the whole world; and for the present I shall examine into the value of these possessions merely in this point of view. We have many islands or colonies under our subjection which are in themselves not only valueless, but, moreover, extremely expensive to us; and if every colony or island is to be valued merely according to the produce and advantage derived from it by the mother-country, we must abandon Heligoland, Ascension, St Helena, Malta, and, even Gibraltar itself. All these, and some others, are, in point of commerce, valueless; yet they add much to the security of the country and to our dominion of the seas. This will be admitted, and we must therefore now examine how far the Canadas may be considered as valuable under this second point of view.

I have already shewn that the ambition for territory is one of the diseases, if I may use the term, of the American people. On that point they are insatiable, and that they covet the Canadas is undeniable. Let us inquire into the reasons why the Americans are so anxious to possess the Canadas.

There are many. In the first place, they do not like to have a people subjected to a monarchial form of government as their neighbours; they do not like that security of person and property, and a just administration of the law, should be found in a thinly-peopled province, while they cannot obtain those advantages under their own inst.i.tutions.

It is a reproach to them. They continually taunt the Canadians that they are the only portion of the New World who have not thrown off the yoke--the only portion who are not yet free; and this taunt has not been without its effect upon the unthinking portion of the community. What is the cause of this unusual sympathy? The question is already answered.

Another important reason which the Americans have for the possession of the Canadas is, that they are the means of easy retaliation on the part of England in case of aggression. They render them weak and a.s.sailable in case of war. Had they possession of the Canadas, and our other provinces, the United States would be almost invulnerable. As it is, they become defenceless to the north, and are moreover exposed to the attack of all the tribes of Indians concentrated on the western frontier. Indeed, they never will consider their territory as complete "in a ring fence," as long as we have possession of the mouths of the St Lawrence. They wish to be able to boast of an inland navigation from nearly the Equator to the Pole--from the entrance of the Mississippi to the exit of the St Lawrence. Our possession of the Canadas is a check to their pride and ambition, which are both as boundless as the territory which they covet.

But there are other reasons equally important. It is their anxiety to become a manufacturing as well as a producing nation. Their object is, that the north should manufacture what the south produces; and that, instead of commercial relations with England, as at present, that American cotton-manufactures should be borne in American bottoms over all the world. This they consider is the great ultimatum to be arrived at, and they look forward to it as the source of immense wealth and increased security to the Union, and of their wresting from England the sceptre and dominion of the seas.

It may be said that the United States, if they want to become a manufacturing nation, have _now_ the power; but such is not the case.

Until they can completely shut out English manufactures, they have not.

The price of labour is too dear. Should they increase the tariff, or duty, upon English goods, the Canadas and our other provinces will render their efforts useless, as we have a line of coast of upwards of 2,000 miles, by which we can introduce English goods to any amount by smuggling, and which it is impossible for the Americans to guard against; and as the West fills up, this importation of English goods would every year increase. As long, therefore, as we hold the Canadas, the Americans must be content to be a very inferior manufacturing nation to ourselves; and it may be added that _now_ or _never_ is the time for the Americans to possess themselves of the Canadas. They perceive this; for when once the Western States gain the preponderance in wealth and power, which they will in a few years, the cause of the Eastern, or manufacturing States will be lost. The Western States will not quarrel with England on account of the Eastern, but will import our goods direct in exchange for their produce. They themselves cannot manufacture and they will go to market where they can purchase cheapest.

But do the views of the Americans extend no further? Would they be satisfied if they obtained the Canadas? Most a.s.suredly not. They are too vast in their ideas--too ambitious in their views. If Canada fell, Nova Scotia would fall, and they would obtain what they most covet--the harbour of Halifax. New Brunswick would fall, and they would have then driven us out of our Continental possessions. Would they stop then?

No; they never would stop until they had driven the English to the other side of the Atlantic. Newfoundland and its fisheries would be their next prey; for it, as well as our other possessions, would then be defenceless. They would not leave us the West-Indies, although useless to them. Such is their object and their earnest desire--an increase of territory and power for themselves, and the humiliation of England. The very eagerness with which the Americans bring up this question on purpose that they may disavow their wishes, is one of the strongest proofs of their anxiety to blind us on the subject; but they will never lose sight of it; and if they thought they had any chance of success, there is no expense which they would not cheerfully incur, no war into which they would not enter. Let not the English be deceived by their a.s.severations. What I have now a.s.serted is _the fact_. The same spirit which has actuated them in dispossessing the Indians of territories which they cannot themselves populate, which prompted the "high-handed theft" of the Texas from Mexico, will induce them to adopt any pretext, as soon as they think they have a chance, to seize upon the Canadas and our other transatlantic possessions.

If what I have stated be correct, and I am convinced of its truth myself, it will be evident that the Canadas, independent of every other consideration, become a _most important outpost_ which we must defend and hold possession of. Let it be remembered that every loss to us, is an increase to the power of America--an increase to her security and to her maritime strength; that whatever her a.s.sertions may be, she is deadly hostile to us, from the very circ.u.mstance that she considers that we prevent her aggrandis.e.m.e.nt and prosperity. America can only rise to the zenith, which she would attain, by the fall of England, and every disaster to this country is to her a source of exultation. That there are many Americans of a contrary opinion I grant; that the city of New York would prefer the present amicable relations is certain; but I have here expressed the feelings of the _majority_, and it must be remembered that in America it is the majority who decide all questions.