othing besides what they themselves _prescribed_. They acknowledged no
superior. The supremacy was both in degree and extent only that which
was delegated by the States to their common agent.

There are some other considerations which may conduce to a clearer
understanding of this supremacy of the Constitution and the laws made in
pursuance thereof:

1. In the first place, it must be remembered that, when the Federal
Constitution was formed, each then existing State already had its own
Constitution and code of statute laws. It was, no doubt, primarily with
reference to these that the provision was inserted, and not in the
expectation of future conflicts or discrepancies. It is in this light
alone that Mr. Madison considers it in explaining and vindicating it in
the "Federalist."[75]

2. Again, it is to be observed that the supremacy accorded to the
general laws of the United States is expressly limited to those enacted
in conformity with the Constitution, or, to use the exact language,
"made in pursuance thereof." Mr. Hamilton, in another chapter of the
"Federalist," calls particular attention to this, saying (and the
italics are all his own) "that the laws of the Confederacy, as to the
_enumerated_ and _legitimate_ objects of its jurisdiction, will become
the supreme law of the land," and that the State functionaries will
cooeperate in their observance and enforcement with the General
Government, "_as far as its just and constitutional authority
extends_."[76]

3. In the third place, it is not the _Government_ of the United States
that is declared to be supreme, but the _Constitution_ and the laws and
treaties made in accordance with it. The proposition was made in the
Convention to organize a government consisting of "supreme legislative,
executive, and judicial powers," but it was not adopted. Its deliberate
rejection is much more significant and conclusive than if it had never
been proposed. Correction of so gross an error as that of confounding
the Government with the Constitution ought to be superfluous, but so
crude and confused are the ideas which have been propagated on the
subject, that no misconception seems to be too absurd to be possible.
Thus, it has not been uncommon, of late years, to hear, even in the
highest places, the oath to support the Constitution, which is taken by
both State and Federal officers, spoken of as an oath "to support _the
Government_"--an obligation never imposed upon any one in