the subjects—­in other words, the slaves—­of their former fellow-citizens.  If this be true—­and it will scarcely be denied by anyone who has a correct idea of his own rights as an American citizen—­the grant to Congress of exclusive jurisdiction in the District of Columbia can be interpreted, so far as respects the aggregate people of the United States, as meaning nothing more than to allow to Congress the controlling power necessary to afford a free and safe exercise of the functions assigned to the General Government by the Constitution.  In all other respects the legislation of Congress should be adapted to their peculiar position and wants and be conformable with their deliberate opinions of their own interests.

I have spoken of the necessity of keeping the respective departments of the Government, as well as all the other authorities of our country, within their appropriate orbits.  This is a matter of difficulty, in some cases, as the powers which they respectively claim are often not defined by any distinct lines.  Mischievous, however, in their tendencies as collisions of this kind may be, those which arise between the respective communities which for certain purposes compose one nation are much more so, for no such nation can long exist without the careful culture of those feelings of confidence and affection which are the effective bonds to union between free and confederated states.  Strong as is the tie of interest, it has been often found ineffectual.  Men blinded by their passions have been known to adopt measures for their country in direct opposition to all the suggestions of policy.  The alternative, then, is to destroy or keep down a bad passion by creating and fostering a good one, and this seems to be the corner stone upon which our American political architects have reared the fabric of our Government.  The cement which was to bind it and perpetuate its existence was the affectionate attachment between all its members, To insure the continuance of this feeling, produced at first by a community of dangers, of sufferings, and of interests, the advantages of each were made accessible to all.  No participation in any good possessed by any member of our extensive Confederacy, except in domestic government, was withheld from the citizen of any other member.  By a process attended with no difficulty, no delay, no expense but that of removal, the citizen of one might become the citizen of any other, and successively of the whole.  The lines, too, separating powers to be exercised by the citizens of one State from those of another seem to be so distinctly drawn as to leave no room for misunderstanding.  The citizens of each State unite in their persons all the privileges which that character confers and all that they may claim as citizens of the United States, but in no case can the same persons at the same time act as the citizen of two separate States, and he is therefore positively precluded from any interference with the reserved