in the main, arbitrary; they are supported neither by principle nor
precedent. It has indeed happened, that governments of this kind
have generally operated in the manner which the distinction taken
notice of, supposes to be inherent in their nature; but there have
been in most of them extensive exceptions to the practice, which
serve to prove, as far as example will go, that there is no absolute
rule on the subject. And it will be clearly shown in the course of
this investigation that as far as the principle contended for has
prevailed, it has been the cause of incurable disorder and
imbecility in the government.
The definition of a CONFEDERATE REPUBLIC seems simply to be ``an
assemblage of societies,'' or an association of two or more states
into one state. The extent, modifications, and objects of the
federal authority are mere matters of discretion. So long as the
separate organization of the members be not abolished; so long as
it exists, by a constitutional necessity, for local purposes;
though it should be in perfect subordination to the general
authority of the union, it would still be, in fact and in theory, an
association of states, or a confederacy. The proposed Constitution,
so far from implying an abolition of the State governments, makes
them constituent parts of the national sovereignty, by allowing them
a direct representation in the Senate, and leaves in their
possession certain exclusive and very important portions of
sovereign power. This fully corresponds, in every rational import
of the terms, with the idea of a federal government.
In the Lycian confederacy, which consisted of twenty-three
CITIES or republics, the largest were entitled to THREE votes in the
COMMON COUNCIL, those of the middle class to TWO, and the smallest
to ONE. The COMMON COUNCIL had the appointment of all the judges
and magistrates of the respective CITIES. This was certainly the