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The instrument was not intended as a thesis
for the logician to exercise his ingenuity on. It ought to
be construed with plain good-sense." "If we are restricted
in the use of our money to the enumerated powers, on what
principle can the purchase of Louisiana be justified?" "The
uniform sense of Congress and the country furnishes better
evidence of the true interpretation of the Constitution than
the most refined and subtle arguments."
Mark this, too:--
"In a country so extensive and so various in its interests,
what is necessary for the common interest may apparently be
opposed to the interest of particular sections. _It must be
submitted to as the condition of our greatness_."
Well might he say, in the same speech:--
"We may reasonably raise our eyes to a most splendid future,
if we only act in a manner worthy of our advantages. If,
however, neglecting them, we permit a low, sordid, selfish,
_sectional_ spirit to take possession of this House, this
happy scene will vanish. We will divide; and, in its
consequences, will follow misery and despotism.


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