ness, they found the law already there. It was impressed upon the soil itself, while it yet bore up nothing but the forest. The purchaser of land became, by that act, a party to the compact, and bound by its perpetual covenants, so far as its conditions did not conflict with the terms of the cessions of the states.

SALMON P. CHASE, Sketch of the History of Ohio. 8-9.

BANCROFT (1834)

Before the Federal Convention had referred its resolutions to a committee of detail, an interlude in Congress was shapening the character and destiny of the United States of America. Sublime and humane and eventful in the history of mankind as was the result, it will take not many words to tell how it was brought about. For a time wisdom and peace and justice dwelt among men, and the great Ordinance, which could alone give continuance to the union, came in serenity and stillness. Every man that had a share in it seemed to be led by an invisible hand to do just what was wanted of him; all that was wrongfully undertaken fell to the ground to wither by the wayside; whatever was needed for the happy completion of the mighty work arrived opportunely, and just at the right moment moved into its place.

GEORGE BANCROFT, History of the United States (final revision). VI. 277.

JACOB BURNET (1847)

The great principles of civil and religious liberty contained in this invaluable document, were guaranteed to the people of the Territory and their posterity forever, by the venerable Fathers of the Revolution, which entitled them to endless gratitude.

JACOB BURNET, Notes on the Early Settlement of the North West Territory. 304.

HOAR (1887)

The Ordinance of 1787 belongs with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It is one of the three title deeds of American constitutional liberty. As the American youth for uncounted centuries shall visit the capital of his country-strongest, richest, freest, happiest of the nations of

the earth from the stormy coast of New England, from the luxuriant regions of the Gulf, from the lakes, from the prairie and the plain, from the Golden Gate, from far Alaska he will admire the evidences of its grandeur and the monuments of its historic glory. He will find there rich libraries and vast museums and great cabinets, which show the product of that matchless inventive genius of America, which has multiplied a thousand fold the wealth and comfort of human life. He will see the simple and modest portal through which the great line of the Republic's chief magistrates have passed at the call of their country to assume an honour surpassing that of emperors and kings, and through which they have returned, in obedience to her laws, to take their place again as equals in the ranks of their fellow-citizens. He will stand by the matchless obelisk which, loftiest of human structures, is itself but the imperfect type of the loftiest of human characters. He will gaze upon the marble splendours of the capitol, in whose chambers are enacted the statutes under which the people of a continent dwell together in peace, and the judgments are rendered which keep the forces of state and nation alike within their appointed bounds. He will look upon the record of great wars and the statues of great commanders. But if he knew his country's history, and considered wisely the sources of her glory, there is nothing in all these which will so stir his heart as two faded and time-soiled papers, whose characters were traced by the hand of the fathers a hundred years ago. They are the original records of the acts which devoted this nation forever to equality, to education, to religion and to liberty. One is the Declaration of Independence, the other the Ordinance of 1787.

GEORGE F. HOAR, Oration at Centennial at Marietta.

HINSDALE (1888)

We have seen that four different ordinances had been previously reported to Congress, and that one had already been enacted. The fifth and great Ordinance, as Mr. Bancroft says, embodied the best parts of all its predecessors. But it embodied more; and all the evidence points to the conclusion that much of the new material was contained in the papers that Dr. Cutler handed to the committee, July 10th, after he

had studied the ordinance then pending. Whoever may have brought them forward, the imperishable principles of polity woven into the Ordinance of 1787 were the ripe fruit of many centuries of Anglo-Saxon civilization; but the best places to search for them are the bills of rights of the Revolutionary constitutions. .. No act of American legislation has called out more eloquent applause than the Ordinance of 1787. Statesmen, historians, and jurists have vied with one another in celebrating its praises. In one respect it has a proud pre-eminence over all other acts of legislation on the American statute-books. It alone is known by the date of its enactment, and not by its subject-matter. It was more than a law or statute. It was a constitution for the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio. More than this, it was a model for later legislation relating to the national territories; and some of its provisions, particularly the prohibition of slavery, stand among the greatest precedents of our history.

BURKE A. HINSDALE, The Old Northwest.1 273, 276.

CUTLERS (1888)

Up to the time of Dr. Cutler's arrival in New York, the labors of Congress had brought forth abstractions and skeletons, mere outlines. It is not improbable that the presentation of a scheme of settlement, such as had "never been attempted in America," aroused the zeal and stimulated the efforts of Congress in a more practical direction, and led to the adoption of acceptable lines of policy in organizing the 66 new state" that had been so long the dream of an army by whose valor and sacrifices the territory had been acquired. That the organic law should have been new-modeled, and made acceptable to the men who were ready to occupy and cultivate that distant territory, is not surprising.

It may be claimed for the Ordinance itself, that it is the only instance in human history, (with a single exception) where the laws and constitutions have been prepared beforehand, pre-arranged, and projected into a territory prior to its occupation by its future inhabitants. The Divine economy did so arrange, pre-ordain, and publish to His chosen people the law, 1 Copyright, 1899, by Silver, Burdett & Co.

ordinance, and polity that was to govern them after they had entered their promised land; but, throughout the many changes, migrations, and conquests under which the human race has spread itself over and occupied the earth, either the will of the conqueror after conquest and occupation, or the growth of governmental principles subsequently, has been the origin of political and civil institutions. Here, however, is an attempt to prepare beforehand forms of government, laws, and principles upon bases that were intended to remain forever unalterable. We now have a century to attest their intrinsic value. Not the least valuable part of this wise forecast and preparation was that provision reaching down to the virgin soil that gave absolute ownership of it in convenient quantities and on terms that secured to each person an opportunity to acquire a homestead of his own, with provision for those civil divisions, townships, where the " essence of ownership," control, could be exerted politically in all the important social and civil affairs of life.

Upon this foundation, guarantees of human rights, in their broadest application, with equality before the law, were introduced into the governmental structure. In addition to these elements of future stability, the educational and moral forces are distinctly recognized and incorporated into the foundations. Freedom of worship, without governmental control, direction, or patronage; liberty, religion, morality, and knowledge all stand side by side with the right of jury trial, habeas corpus, inviolability of private contracts, and all other usual and essential safeguards.

CUTLERS, Life of Rev. Manasseh Cutler. 368, 369.

CHAPTER XVII

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES (1787)

SUGGESTIONS

THE Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia met May 29, 1787. All the States were represented except Rhode Island. Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, and Madison were among the fifty-five members. The delegates sat with closed doors, keeping their proceedings secret. They decided that instead of revising the Articles of Confederation they would draw up an entirely new Constitution. George Washington presided over the convention, and Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, James Madison, Rufus King, Roger Sherman, Alexander Hamilton, John Dickinson, Charles C. Pinckney, J. Rutledge, and Gouverneur Morris, were among its distinguished members. Madison, Hamilton, Washington, and Franklin took the leading part in the great work of drafting the new Constitution, and after its adoption by the convention, Madison and Hamilton used their influence, with great effect, to urge its ratification by the states, especially New York. After a stormy session of nearly four months, during which the convention several times threatened to break up in hopeless dispute, the Constitution was at last adopted.

The fund of exposition and comment upon this document and its group of framers is of such extent that the few criticisms for which there is room might be many times multiplied. The Constitution, founded on compromises, made serviceable by its elasticity, and supplemented by an imperfect bill of rights, is a two-handed sword supporting the Federal government and yet ever ready to serve its purpose in defending the dignity of the State. The historical student who has made the previous documents a basis for the study of the Constitution may easily trace precedents for nearly all its strongest features. The supremacy of the Supreme Court, the power of the Executive, and the legislative authority of Congress unite in creating a well knit triune government such as was new in the history of mankind.

For Outlines and Analysis, see Appendix B, § 4.