§  55.  I  have  dwelt  somewhat  at  length  upon  this  point
because  I  esteem  it  to  be  of  vital  importance  to  a  proper  un
derstanding  and  construction  of  the  acts  and  proceedings  of
the  people  of  the  United  States  in  the  adoption  of  the  pres-
ent Constitution.  It  is  the  key  to  the  whole  position.  Grant
that  in  the  beginning  the  several  states  were,  in  any  true
sense,  independent  sovereignties,  and  I  see  no  escape  from
the  extreme  positions  reached  by  Mr.  Calhoun.  If  at  the
outset  the  political  society  consisted  only  in  a  weak  agglom-
eration of  thirteen  separate  nations,  each  of  these  nations  must
have  possessed  all  the  powers  which  belong  to  any  other
independent  sovereignty  in  the  world.  Among  these  attri-
butes, the  one  which  underlies  all  others,  and  is,  in  fact,
necessarily  implied  in  the  very  conception  of  separate  nation-
ality, is  that  of  supreme,  continued  self-existence.  This  in-
herent right  can  only  be  destroyed  by  overwhelming  opposing
force  ;  it  cannot  be  permanently  parted  with  by  any  constitu-
tion, treaty,  league,  or  bargain,  which  shall  forever  completely
resign  or  essentially  limit  their  sovereignty,  and  restrain  the
people  from  asserting  it.  They  may  at  any  time  throw  off
the  obligations  of  constitution,  treaty,  or  league ;  however
solemn  and  formal  may  have  been  the  stipulations  into  which
they  have  voluntarily  entered,  these  exist  only  during  their
own  good  will  and  pleasure.^

1  This  doctrine  that  a  sovereign  state  cannot  bind  itself  by  any  treaty
or  compact  by  which  its  sovereignty  is  wholly  or  substantially  surrendered
or  lessened,  is  now  maintained  by  the  leading  writers  on  Public  and  Inter-
national Law.  In  the  expressive  language  of  one  of  these  writers,  "  For
moral  beings  as  well  as  for  individuals,  there  can  be  no  obligatory  prom-
ise, when  this  promise  is  of  suicide."  See,  on  this  subject,  Martens,  Precis
iu  Droit  des  Gens,  §  52  (Paris,  1864)  ;  Ortolan,  Diplomatie  de  la  Mer,  liv
I,  ch.  V.  p.  90  (Paris,  1864)  ;  Hautefeuille  Des  Droits  et  des  Devoirs  des
[Rations  Neutres,  t.  i.  pp.  8-10  (Paris,  1858)  ;  Hefiler,  Droit  Internationa


40  HISTORICAL  SKETCH.
