came within the limits of Massachusetts must yield rank and precedence
to the Governor of the State; and only surrendered the point on
account of his personal regard and respect for the character of George
Washington. I honor him for it,--value it as one of the early
testimonies in favor of State Rights, and wish all our governors had
the same high estimate of the dignity of the office of Governor of a
State as had that great and glorious man. [Applause.]

Thus it appears that the founders of this government were the true
Democratic States Rights men. That Democracy was States rights, and
States rights was Democracy, and it is to-day. Your resolutions
breathe it. The Declaration of Independence embodies the sentiment
which had lived in the hearts of the people for many years before its
formal assertion. Our fathers asserted that great principle--the right
of the people to choose the government for themselves--that government
rested upon the consent of the governed. In every form of expression
it uttered the same idea, _community independence_, and the dependence
of the government upon the community over which it existed. It was an
American principle, the great spirit which animated our country then,
and it were well if more inspired us now. But I have said that this
State sovereignty--this community independence--has never been
surrendered, and that there is no power in the federal government to
coerce a State. Does any one ask, then, how it is that a State is to
be held to its obligations? My answer is: by _its honor_, and the
obligation is the more sacred to observe every feature of the compact,
because there is no power to force obedience. The great error of the
confederation was that it attempted to act upon the States. It was
found impracticable, and our present form of government was adopted,
which acts upon individuals and does not attempt to act upon States.