t of action, independent of _the sovereign
will_. To what purpose would it be to authorize suits against
States for the debts they owe? How could recoveries be enforced?
It is evident that it could not be done without _waging war_
against the contracting State; and to ascribe to the Federal
courts, by mere implication, and in destruction of a preexisting
right of the State governments, a power which would involve such
a consequence, would be altogether forced and unwarranted."[82]

This extract is very significant, clearly showing that Mr. Hamilton
assumed as undisputed propositions, in the first place, that the State
was _the_ "SOVEREIGN"; secondly, that this sovereignty could not be
alienated, unless by express surrender; thirdly, that no such surrender
had been made; and, fourthly, that the idea of applying coercion to a
State, even to enforce the fulfillment of a duty, would be equivalent to
waging war against a State--it was "altogether forced and
unwarrantable."

In a subsequent number, Mr. Hamilton, replying to the objection that the
Constitution contains no bill or declaration of rights, argues that it
was entirely unnecessary, because in reality the people--that is, of
course, the people, respectively, of the several States, who were the
only people known to the Constitution or to the country--had surrendered
nothing of their inherent sovereignty, but retained it unimpaired. He
says: "Here, in strictness, the people _surrender nothing_; and, as they
_retain everything_, they have no need of particular reservations." And
again: "I go further, and affirm that bills of rights, in the sense and
to the extent they are contended for, are not only unnecessary in the
proposed Constitution, but would be absolutely dangerous. They would
contain various exceptions to _powers not granted_, and on this very
account would afford a colorable pretext to claim more than were
granted. For why declare that things shall not be done, which there is
no power to do?"[83] Could language be more clear or more complete in
vindication of the principles laid down in this work? Mr. Hamilton
declares, in effect, that the grants to the Federal Government in the
Constitution are not surrenders, but delegations of power by the people
of the States; that sovereignty remains intact where it was before; and
that the delegations of power were strictly limited to those expressly
granted--in this, merely anticipating the