To Benjamin Romaine.

DEAR SIR,—I have received the two copies of your pamphlet on State sovereignty, &c. The enfeebled state to which I am reduced by a tedious illness has abridged my reading to its minimum, and my fingers, stiffened by rheumatism, abhor the pen. I have, notwithstanding, gone through the pamphlet, and drop a line to thank you for it.

I have found in the publication much that is very impressive, and very apropos to the existing conjuncture in our political affairs; and I wish its effect in cherishing a devotion to the Union and an allegiance to the Constitution may correspond with the patriotic counsels of the author.

How far the light in which the pamphlet has regarded some of the lineaments of the Constitution may not be identical with the view I have taken of them, I do not critically examine, the rather as there is often a greater difference in the expression than in the intention.

Having, in a letter published in the North American Review some time ago, sketched my understanding of the foundation and frame of our political fabric, you can, if you think the comparison worth making, bring the difference to that test. The letter embraced the subject of nullification, on which our judgments and feelings are without a difference.

I am sensible, sir, of what I owe for the kind terms in which you have forwarded your copies, and I beg you to accept this cordial return for the favor.

I need not say that these crude lines are not for public use, of which they are obviously not worthy.