to those who have votes, and to their representatives; for to be enslaved is to have governors whom other men have set over us, and be subject to laws made by the representatives of others, without having had representatives of our own to give consent in our behalf.”—­BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, in Sparks’s Franklin, ii. 372.

WE THE PEOPLE

I remember that when I went to school I used to look with wonder on the title of a now forgotten newspaper of those days which was then often in the hands of one of the older scholars.  I remember nothing else about the newspaper, or about the boy, except that the title of the sheet he used to unfold was “We the People;” and that he derived from it his school nickname, by a characteristic boyish parody, and was usually mentioned as “Us the Folks.”

Probably all that was taught in that school, in regard to American history, was not of so much value as the permanent fixing of this phrase in our memories.  It seemed very natural, in later years, to come upon my old friend “Us the Folks,” reproduced in almost every charter of our national government, as thus:—­

“WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”—­United States Constitution, Preamble.

    “WE THE PEOPLE of Maine do agree,” etc.—­Constitution of Maine.

    “All government of right originates from THE PEOPLE, is founded in
    their consent, and instituted for the general good.”—­Constitution
    of New Hampshire.

“The body politic is formed by a voluntary association of individuals; it is a social compact, ’by which THE WHOLE PEOPLE covenants with each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people, that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common good.”—­Constitution of Massachusetts.

    “WE THE PEOPLE of the State of Rhode Island and Providence
    Plantations ... do ordain and establish this constitution of
    government.”—­Constitution of Rhode Island.

“The people of Connecticut do, in order more effectually to define, secure, and perpetuate the liberties, rights, and privileges which they have derived from their ancestors, hereby ordain and establish the following constitution and form of civil government.”—­Constitution of Connecticut.

And so on through the constitutions of almost every State in the Union.  Our government is, as Lincoln said, “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”  There is no escaping it.  To question this is to deny the foundations of the American government.  Granted that those who framed these provisions may not have understood the full extent of the principles they announced.  No matter:  they gave us those principles; and, having them, we must apply them.