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insignificant municipal office. his power of patroliage in France nearly all the limited number qualified as electors in pecuniary depen on the throne, and the provisions of the constitution of July are no ba

VOL. XXI.-NO. CXII.

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THE Constitution of the United States, if we consider the completion of its wisdom, the sufficiency of each of its parts to the object of the whole, the precision with which the entire instrument explains and gives direction to such of its sections as by themselves might admit of construction adverse to its spirit and injurious to the general interest, may be considered, rather than as the result of human wisdom, as an emanation from that Providence, which more than on one occasion, has manifested itself in the promotion of our national welfare, and in preserving human liberty, as exemplified in our institutions, from the dangers that have from time to time threatened them. It is to be remarked, that whenever great political dangers have menaced the country, or calamities overtaken the general welfare, they have arisen simply through violation, actual or attempted, of the spirit of the great document which forms the bond of our glorious Union. A recurrence to its true meaning, and a faithful acquiescence in its behests, have ever been found to be the panacea for political ills. In the lapse of time, by means of the operation of federal patronage, and the exercise of authority through its local officers in all the states, the actual relation of the states to the federal government seems in some degree to be lost sight of, and the whole come to be looked upon more as a consolidated government, than as a number of free and independent states exercising through delegates certain powers that affect the general welfare only. The patronage which that delegation controls through the powers it exercises in the discharge of its duties in behalf of the joint states, has been mainly instrumental in promoting national affinities and associations, or creating large interests that look to the subordinate federal delegation, acting under limited authority, directly, rather than to the local sovereignties that conferred that authority. In a less degree this patronage has produced effects similar to those of the policy by which the government of France is consolidated or centralized. As that of the Empire was one of military despotism, so has that of the July revolution been based on executive patronage; all the revenues of the country flow into the hands of the central government, and descend corrupt and corrupting through all the channels of official dependence, from the ministers of state to the most insignificant municipal office. This power of patronage in France holds nearly all the limited number qualified as electors in pecuniary dependence on the throne, and the provisions of the constitution of July are no barrier

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