Jefferson pointed to the TenthrnAmendment in support of this mode ofrnreasoning, but his reading of the Constitutionrnwas based in a tradihon that madernthe Tenth Amendment merelv a truism.rnOf course the Congress did not have anyrnpowers that had not been explicitlyrngranted. How else could a written constituHonrnbe understood? Jefferson mayrnnot have known that in the RichmondrnRatification Convention of 1788 thernFederalists had said that the Constitutionrnwould be interpreted as a compactrnamong the states and that the Congressrnwould possess only the powers “explicitly”rndelegated. (John Marshall, a leadingrnopponent of the Virginia Resolutions,rndenied this reading’s legitimacy in 1798rndespite his participation in the RichmondrnConvention.)rnFaced with federal arrogations in thernface of the Constitution’s explicit wording,rnthe states had no alternative, as Jeffersonrnsaw it, but to prevent enforcementrnof the “nullity” Congress had enacted.rnMadison’s formulation, adopted bv Virginia,rnsaid the states were “in dut’rnbound” to “interpose” between theirrncreature and their creators.rnMadison’s word, “interposition,”rnwould be picked up b’ Virginians a centur)-rnand a half later in a different argumentrnover local self-government, in thernwake oi Brown v. Board of Education.rnJefferson’s draft included a word, “nullify,”rnthat was to have even more explosivernresonance. While James Madison deniedrnin the midst of the nullificationrncontroversy of the 1830’s that either he orrnJefferson had ever contemplated actionrnby a single state, various other actors inrnVirginia in 1798-1800 spoke openly ofrnsecession and of armed resistance to federalrnusurpation. Jefferson, however, explainedrnin a letter written at the time thatrnhe intended the Kentucky Resolutionsrnmore as a threat than as a call to arms.rnAmericans today find the idea of staternresistance to unconstitutional federalrnacts offensive, even seditious, but the Republicansrnof the 1790’s thought that thernstates’ primary duty was to maintain theirrncitizens’ liberty. Patrick Henn’ told thernRichmond Convention of 1788 that libert}’,rnnot union, must be their pre-eminentrnconcern. While he and his alliesrnlost on the question of ratification, theyrnelicited the Federalist concession thatrnthe new Constitution was a compact.rnThat concession was the basis of Virginia’srnratification, and it laid therngroundwork for the “Principles of ’98.”rnVirginians ratified a union of states, notrnof provinces. John Adams was defeatedrnin the “Revolution of 1800” on the basisrnof Virginia’s understanding of the Constitution,rnand thus of the union. The VirginiarnDoctrine lasted down to 1865,rnwhen it was defeated by force, not constitutionalrnargument, but Jeffersonian republicansrnhave continued ever since tornbase their argument for limited governmentrnon the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutionsrnof 1798.rnK.R. Constantine Gutzman is a graduaternstudent in American history at the Universityrnof Virginia.rnFILMrnThe Bishop’s Wife (1947)rnDirected by Henry KosterrnB&W, 109 minutesrnThis Christmas season, turn off the multi-colored stories of red-nosed reindeer and talking snowmen, putrnthe younger kids to bed, and rent The Bishop’s Wife, which can be found in the classics section of many videornstores.rnThe Bishop’s Wife tells the stor)- of a young Episcopalian clergyman (played by David Niven) who has becomernso obsessed with building a new cathedral, and with the cultivating of the wealthy that this requires,rnthat he is in danger of losing both his vocation and his wife (a glowing Loretta Yoimg). The ston’ unfolds atrnChristmas in an unnamed cit’, possibly New York—an unbelieably clean, safe, civilized, and rosy-cheekedrnNew York. (It wasn’t so long ago.)rnCar)’ Crant, never more charming, is the bishop’s new young assistant, who, it turns out, is an angel sentrnto readjust Niven’s attitude. He succeeds in this —and in brightening the lives of ever’one around him —rnwithout the need for an- expensive special effects, hnagine, if you can, a film that affirms the power of prayer,rnthe wisdom and benexolence of the Almighty, and the alue of civilized life and manners. A film whichrnteaches against materialism without preaching socialism. A film which recognizes the attraction betweenrnmen and women without descending into vulgarity’. The Bishop’s Wife will make you regret the decline ofrnAmerican civilization and long for the return of Christmas Past.rn— Clyde Wilsonrn48/CHRONICLESrnrnrn