have been admitted into the Union; and others are fast advancing towards the same grade of political dignity.[1]
§ 1313. It was doubtless with reference principally to this territory, that the article of the constitution, now under consideration, was adopted. The general precaution, that no new states shall be formed without the concurrence of the national government, and of the states concerned, is consonant to the principles, which ought to govern all such transactions. The particular precaution against the erection of new states by the partition of a state without its own consent, will quiet the jealousy of the larger states; as that of the smaller will also be quieted by a like precaution against a junction of states without their consent.[2] Under this provision no less than eleven states have, in the space of little more than forty years, been admitted into the Union upon an equality with the original states. And it scarcely requires the spirit of prophecy to foretell, that in a few years the predominance of numbers, of population, and of power will be unequivocally transferred from the old to the new states. May the patriotic wish be for ever true to the fact, felix prole parens.
§ 1314. Since the adoption of the constitution large acquisitions of territory have been made by the United States, by the purchase of Louisiana and Florida, and by the cession of Georgia, which have greatly increased the contemplated number of states. The constitution-- ↑ In Mr. Webster's Speech on Mr. Foote's Resolution, in Jan. 1830, there is a very interesting and powerful view of this subject, which will amply repay the diligence of a deliberate perusal. See Webster's Speeches, &c. p. 360 to 364; id. 369. It is well known, that the ordinance of 1787 was drawn by the Hon. Nathan Dane of Massachusetts, and adopted with scarcely a verbal alteration by Congress. It is a noble and imperishable monument to his fame.
- ↑ The Federalist, No. 43.
