uniting: and, either by attempting to stand alone or in small
confederacies, would have been separately conquered.

  Now, as we cannot see a time (and many years must pass away before
it can arrive) when the strength of any one state, or several
united, can be equal to the whole of the present United States, and as
we have seen the extreme difficulty of collectively prosecuting the
war to a successful issue, and preserving our national importance in
the world, therefore, from the experience we have had, and the
knowledge we have gained, we must, unless we make a waste of wisdom,
be strongly impressed with the advantage, as well as the necessity
of strengthening that happy union which had been our salvation, and
without which we should have been a ruined people.

  While I was writing this note, I cast my eye on the pamphlet, Common
Sense, from which I shall make an extract, as it exactly applies to
the case. It is as follows:

  "I have never met with a man, either in England or America, who
has not confessed it as his opinion that a separation between the
countries would take place one time or other; and there is no instance
in which we have shown less judgment, than in endeavoring to
describe what we call the ripeness or fitness of the continent for
independence.

  "As all men allow the measure, and differ only in their opinion of
the time, let us, in order to remove mistakes, take a general survey
of things, and endeavor, if possible, to find out the very time. But
we need not to go far, the inquiry ceases at once, for, the time has
found us. The general concurrence, the glorious union of all things
prove the fact.

  "It is not in numbers, but in a union, that our great strength lies.
The continent is just arrived at that pitch of strength, in which no
single colony is able to support itself, and the whole, when united,
can accomplish the matter; and either more or less than this, might be
fatal in its effects."

  With the blessings of peace, independence, and an universal
commerce, the states, individually and collectively, will have leisure
and opportunity to regulate and establish their domestic concerns, and
to put it beyond the power of calumny to throw the least reflection on
their honor. Character is much easier kept than recovered, and that
man, if any such there be, who, from sinister views, or littleness
of soul, lends unseen his hand to injure it, contrives a wound it will
never be in his power to heal.

  As we have established an inheritance for posterity, let that
inheritance descend, with every mark of an honorable conveyance. The
little it will cost, compared with the worth of the states, the
greatness of the object, and the value of the national character, will
be a profitable exchange.

  But that which must more forcibly strike a thoughtful, penetrating
mind, and which includes and renders easy all inferior concerns, is
the UNION OF THE STATES. On this our great national character depends.
It is this which must give us importance abroad and security at
home. It is through this only that we are, or can be, nationally known
in the world; it is the flag of the United States which renders our
ships and commerce safe on the seas, or in a foreign port. Our
Mediterranean passes must be obtained under the same style. All our
treaties, whether of alliance, peace, or commerce, are formed under
the sovereignty of the United States, and Europe knows us by no
other name or title.

  The division of the empire into states is for our own convenience,
but abroad this distinction ceases. The affairs of each state are
local. They can go no further than to itself. And were the whole worth
of even the richest of them expended in revenue, it would not be
sufficient to support sovereignty against a foreign attack. In
short, we have no other national sovereignty than as United States. It
would even be fatal for us if we had- too expensive to be
maintained, and impossible to be supported. Individuals, or individual
states, may call themselves what they please; but the world, and
especially the world of enemies, is not to be held in awe by the
whistling of a name. Sovereignty must have power to protect all the
parts that compose and constitute it: and as UNITED STATES we are
equal to the importance of the title, but otherwise we are not. Our
union, well and wisely regulated and cemented, is the cheapest way
of being great- the easiest way of being powerful, and the happiest
invention in government which the circumstances of America can admit
of.- Because it collects from each state, that which, by being
inadequate, can be of no use to it, and forms an aggregate that serves
for all.

  The states of Holland are an unfortunate instance of the effects
of individual sovereignty. Their disjointed condition exposes them
to numerous intrigues, losses, calamities, and enemies; and the almost
impossibility of bringing their measures to a decision, and that
decision into execution, is to them, and would be to us, a source of
endless misfortune.

  It is with confederated states as with individuals in society;
something must be yielded up to make the whole secure. In this view of
things we gain by what we give, and draw an annual interest greater
than the capital.- I ever feel myself hurt when I hear the union, that
great palladium of our liberty and safety, the least irreverently
spoken of. It is the most sacred thing in the constitution of America,
and that which every man should be most proud and tender of. Our
citizenship in the United States is our national character. Our