[WhiskeyPapa]

Lee's letter refers to the Constitution by name.

Please post the clause of the Constitution containing the words "perpetual union".

Not germane.

Lee clearly was referring in this letter to the Constitution, not the Articles of Confederation. Your obfuscation is easily exposed.

If Lee thought the Constitution involved a perpetual Union, he wasn't alone. Chief Justice Chase said essentially the same thing. What is more enduring than a perpetual Union made more perfect?

Walt

[4CJ]

What is more enduring than a perpetual Union made more perfect?

A perpetual union that the states were not chained to. Rhode Island & Providence Plantations, or any state, could and did, foil any plan they disagreed with. Under the more perfect Constitution the majority of states could override a state "filibuster".

The word 'perfect' derives from the French term for improved (perfectionnement), as in "brevets d'importation et de perfectionnement" [patents for importation and improvement]. Which derived from the Latin parfit/perfectus, meaning "to finish". Basically, 'perfect' in todays vernacular would mean 'new and improved' or 'complete'.

'PERFECT. Something complete'.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Rev. 6^th ed. (1856)

Not something perpetual.

[PhilipFreneau]

If Lee thought the Constitution involved a perpetual Union, he wasn't alone. Chief Justice Chase said essentially the same thing. What is more enduring than a perpetual Union made more perfect?

I can understand a judge not knowing the Constitution (it happens all the time). But Robert E. Lee? That's depressing.