as to produce the greatest good to the greatest number. but with these broad admissions， if we would compare the sovereignty acknowledged to exist in the mass of our people with the power claimed by other sovereignties， even by those which have been considered most purely democratic， we shall find a most essential difference. all others lay claim to power limited only by their own will. the majority of our citizens， on the contrary， possess a sovereignty with an amount of power precisely equal to that which has been granted to them by the parties to the national compact， and nothing beyond. we admit of no government by divine right， believing that so far as power is concerned the beneficent creator has made no distinction amongst men； that all are upon an equality， and that the only legitimate right to govern is an express grant of power from the governed. the constitution of the united states is the instrument containing this grant of power to the several departments composing the government. on an examination of that instrument it will be found to contain declarations of power granted and of power withheld. the latter is also susceptible of division into power which the majority had the right to grant， but which they do not think proper to intrust to their agents， and that which they could not have granted， not being possessed by themselves. in other words， there are certain rights possessed by each individual american citizen which in his compact with the others he has ne
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