unalienable rights so emphatically insisted upon in our Declaration of
Independence, they could neither make nor the United States accept a
surrender of their liberties and become the subjects - in other words,
the slaves - of their former fellow-citizens. If this be true - and it
will scarcely be denied by anyone who has a correct idea of his own
rights as an American citizen - the grant to Congress of exclusive
jurisdiction in the District of Columbia can be interpreted, so far as
respects the aggregate people of the United States, as meaning nothing
more than to allow to Congress the controlling power necessary to
afford a free and safe exercise of the functions assigned to the
General Government by the Constitution. In all other respects the
legislation of Congress should be adapted to their peculiar position
and wants and be conformable with their deliberate opinions of their
own interests.

I have spoken of the necessity of keeping the respective departments of
the Government, as well as all the other authorities of our country,
within their appropriate orbits. This is a matter of difficulty in some
cases, as the powers which they respectively claim are often not
defined by any distinct lines. Mischievous, however, in their
tendencies as collisions of this kind may be, those which arise between
the respective communities which for certain purposes compose one
nation are much more so, for no such nation can long exist without the
careful culture of those feelings of confidence and affection which are
the effective bonds to union between free and confederated states.
Strong as is the tie of interest, it has been often found ineffectual.
Men blinded by their passions have been known to adopt measures for
their country in direct opposition to all the suggestions of policy.
The alternative, then, is to destroy or keep down a bad passion by
creating and fostering a good one, and this seems to be the corner