ld be a long time in acquiring the force
which now rules the latter nation. When the national existence of the
Anglo-Americans began, their provincial existence was already of long
standing; necessary relations were established between the townships and
the individual citizens of the same States; and they were accustomed
to consider some objects as common to them all, and to conduct other
affairs as exclusively relating to their own special interests.

The Union is a vast body which presents no definite object to
patriotic feeling. The forms and limits of the State are distinct and
circumscribed; since it represents a certain number of objects which are
familiar to the citizens and beloved by all. It is identified with the
very soil, with the right of property and the domestic affections, with
the recollections of the past, the labors of the present, and the hopes
of the future. Patriotism, then, which is frequently a mere extension of
individual egotism, is still directed to the State, and is not excited
by the Union. Thus the tendency of the interests, the habits, and the
feelings of the people is to centre political activity in the States, in
preference to the Union.

It is easy to estimate the different forces of the two governments, by
remarking the manner in which they fulfil their respective functions.
Whenever the government of a State has occasion to address an individual
or an assembly of individuals, its language is clear and imperative; and
such is also the tone of the Federal Government in its intercourse with
individuals, but no sooner has it anything to do with a State than it
begins to parley, to explain its motives and to justify its conduct, to
argue, to advise, and, in short, anything but to command. If doubts are
raised as to the limits of the constitutional powers of each government,
the provincial government prefers its claim with boldness, and takes
prompt and energetic steps to support it. In the mean while the
Government of the Union reasons; it appeals to the interests, to the
good sense, to the glory of the nation; it temporizes, it negotiates,
and does not consent to act until it is reduced to the last extremity.
At first sight it might readily be imagined that it is the provincial
government which is armed with the authority of the nation, and that
Congress represents a single State.

The Federal Government is, therefore, notwithstanding the precautions of
those who founded it, naturally s