ffirmed in 1799, the General Assembly of that
State declares that "it views the powers of the Federal Government as
resulting from the compact, to which the States are parties, as limited
by the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting that
compact, as no further valid than they are authorized by the grants
enumerated in that compact; and that, in case of a deliberate, palpable,
and dangerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact,
the States, who are parties thereto, have the right, and are in duty
bound, to interpose, for arresting the progress of the evil, and for
maintaining within their respective limits the authorities, rights, and
liberties, appertaining to them." Another of the same series of
resolutions denounces the indications of a design "to consolidate the
States by degrees into one sovereignty."

These, it is true, were only the resolves of two States, and they were
dissented from by several other State Legislatures--not so much on the
ground of opposition to the general principles asserted as on that of
their being unnecessary in their application to the alien and sedition
laws, which were the immediate occasion of their utterance.
Nevertheless, they were the basis of the contest for the Presidency in
1800, which resulted in their approval by the people in the triumphant
election of Mr. Jefferson. They became part of the accepted creed of the
Republican, Democratic, State-Rights, or Conservative party, as it has
been variously termed at different periods, and as such they were
ratified by the people in every Presidential election that took place
for sixty years, with two exceptions. The last victory obtained under
them, and when they were emphasized by adding the construction of them
contained in the report of Mr. Madison to the Virginia Legislature in
1799, was at the election of Mr. Buchanan--the last President chosen by
vote of a party that could with any propriety be styled "national," in
contradistinction to sectional.

At a critical and memorable period, that pure spirit, luminous
intellect, and devoted adherent of the Constitution, the great statesman
of South Carolina, invoked this remedy of State interposition against
the Tariff Act of 1828, which was deemed injurious and oppressive to his
State. No purpose was then declared to coerce the State, as such, but
measures were taken to break the protective shield of her authority and
enforce the laws of Congress upo