Excerpt from A Letter to the People of the United States, Upon the Propriety of Establishing an Annual National Jubilee, to Commemorate the Adoption of the Constitution of the United StatesNo Constitution, however wisely framed, can produce any practical benefits, until the people for whose welfare it is ordained, learn the first lesson in Constitutional Govern ment, and that is that the majority must govern, or all free Constitutions must perish. F'or upwards of sixty years our Constitution has stood the test of peace and war, and has afforded more security for life, liberty and My, than any other Government which human foresight ever devised, or human wisdom ever enacted. Notwithstanding all these benefits, and all these blessings, we are told that there are men amongst us who would scatter to the winds this fair fabric of freedom, and trample in the dust that glorious star Spangled banner, which has so often waved victorious upon the land and ¿oated triumphant upon the deep. When we look back, at the deplorable condition of the country, pre viously to the adoption of the Constitution, we are at a loss to comprehend, how it can have an enemy in the land. Let us calmly, but brie¿y review the state of public affairs, at that time. The Old Confederation had proved utterly unfit to carry on the government of the country. It was, in fact, but little more than a Treaty of Alliance, between Indepen dent States. It gave no power to Congress to levy or collect duties, or to impose taxes, but only the power to fix the proportion, which each State should contribute, for fence of the Country.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.