original concession
to the United States of this twofold power there was an open recognition
of the ultimate responsibility and duty of the National Government,
_conferring jurisdiction above all pretended State rights_; and now the
occasion has come for the exercise of this twofold power thus solemnly
conceded. The words of twofold power and corresponding obligation are
plain and beyond question. If there be any ambiguity, it is only as to
what constitutes a republican form of government. But for the present
this question does not arise. It is enough that a wicked rebellion has
undertaken to detach certain States from the Union, and to take them
beyond the protection and sovereignty of the United States, with the
menace of seeking foreign alliance and support, even at the cost of
every distinctive institution. It is well known that _Mr. Madison
anticipated this precise danger from Slavery, and upheld this precise
grant of power in order to counteract this danger_. His words, which
will be found in a yet unpublished document, produced by Mr. Collamer in
the Senate, seem prophetic.

Among the defects which he remarked in the old Confederation was what he
called "want of guaranty to the States of their constitutions and laws
_against internal violence_." In showing why this guaranty was needed,
he says, that, "according to republican theory, right and power, being
both vested in the majority, are held to be synonymous; according to
fact and experience, a minority may, in an appeal to force, be an
overmatch for the majority"; and he then adds, in words of wonderful
prescience, "_where Slavery exists the republican theory becomes still
more fallacious_." This was written in April, 1787, before the meeting
of the Convention that formed the National Constitution. But here we
have the origin of the very clause in question. The danger which this
statesman foresaw is now upon us. When a State fails to maintain a
republican government _with officers sworn according to the requirements
of the Constitution_, it ceases to be a constitutional State. The very
case contemplated by the Constitution has arrived, and the National
Government is invested with plenary powers, whether of peace or war.
There is nothing in the storehouse of peace, and there is nothing in the
arsenal of war, which it may not employ in the maintenance of this
solemn guaranty, and in the extension of that protection against
invasion to which it is pledged. But th