the President is to be made by the
States in their political characters. The votes allotted to them are in
a compound ratio, which considers them partly as distinct and coequal
societies, partly as unequal members of the same society. The eventual
election, again, is to be made by that branch of the legislature which
consists of the national representatives; but in this particular act
they are to be thrown into the form of individual delegations, from
so many distinct and coequal bodies politic. From this aspect of the
government it appears to be of a mixed character, presenting at least as
many FEDERAL as NATIONAL features.

The difference between a federal and national government, as it relates
to the OPERATION OF THE GOVERNMENT, is supposed to consist in this, that
in the former the powers operate on the political bodies composing
the Confederacy, in their political capacities; in the latter, on
the individual citizens composing the nation, in their individual
capacities. On trying the Constitution by this criterion, it falls
under the NATIONAL, not the FEDERAL character; though perhaps not so
completely as has been understood. In several cases, and particularly in
the trial of controversies to which States may be parties, they must
be viewed and proceeded against in their collective and political
capacities only. So far the national countenance of the government on
this side seems to be disfigured by a few federal features. But this
blemish is perhaps unavoidable in any plan; and the operation of
the government on the people, in their individual capacities, in its
ordinary and most essential proceedings, may, on the whole, designate
it, in this relation, a NATIONAL government.

But if the government be national with regard to the OPERATION of its
powers, it changes its aspect again when we contemplate it in relation
to the EXTENT of its powers. The idea of a national government involves
in it, not only an authority over the individual citizens, but an
indefinite supremacy over all persons and things, so far as they are
objects of lawful government. Among a people consolidated into one
nation, this supremacy is completely vested in the national legislature.
Among communities united for particular purposes, it is vested partly
in the general and partly in the municipal legislatures. In the former
case, all local authorities are subordinate to the supreme; and may be
controlled, directed, or abolished by it at pleasur