The act of withdraw- ing: separation. The attempted secession of eleven of the states from the United States govern- ment led to the civil war of 1861-65, and gave rise to many important decisions af- fecting the mutual relations of the national and state governments, and the rights of citizens under contracts made before and during the war. And first, as to the Power or Right of Secession. The union of the states was never a purely arti- ficial relation. By the articles of confederation the union was declared to be perpetual, and the consti- tution was ordained to form a more perfect union, But this by no means implies the loss of individual existence on the part of the states; the constitu- tion looks throughout to an indestructible union of indestructible states; and the more recent states are no less subject to this principle than the orig- inal ones. Considered as transactions under the constitution, the ordinance of secession adopted by any one of the seceding states, and all the acts of her legislature intended to give effect to that ordi- nance, were absolutely null and without operation in law. The state did not cease to be a state, nor her citizens, citizens of the union. The war of se- cession was therefore treason. It is the practice of modern governments when attacked by formidable rebellion to concede belligerent rights: this estab- lishes no rights except during the war. Legal rights could neither be created nor defeated by the action of the government of the Confederate States. Neither the pretended acts of secession nor the magnitude of the war could constitute a confeder- ate state government de facto, so as to create civil rights which could outlast the war, except that acts necessary to peace and good order among citizens, such as those relating to private relations and pri- vate property, which would be valid if emanating from a lawful government, must be regarded in general as valid when proceeding from an actual, though unlawful, government; 7 Wall. 700; 1 Abb. U. S. 50; Chase's Dec. 136. As to the validity of contracts. Where one en- gaged actively in the service of the rebel gov- ernment purchased cotton which was afterwards seized by the military forces of the United States, sold, and the proceeds paid into the, treasury, held, that his purchase of the cotton wasi w legal and void and gave him no title thereto; 98 U. 8. 605; 21 Wall. 350. The Confederate govern- ment had no corporate power to take, hold, or con- vey a valid title to property, real and personal, and a purchaser of cotton from said government during the rebellion acquired no title thereto; 8 Ct. Cis. 499. Confederate bonds. The bonds issued by the se ceding states do not constitute a valid considera- tion for a promissory note; 15 Wall. 439; and so of the securities known as confederate treasury notes: 1 Abb. U. 8. Rep. 261; but a promise to pay in "Confederate notes" in consideration of the re- ceipt of such notes and of drafts payable by them, is neither a nudum pactum nor an illegal contract; 16 Wall. 483, Validity of statutes. When the military forecs of the Confederate government were overthrown, it perished, and with it all its enactments. But the legislative acts of the several states forming the confederacy stand on different grounds, and so far as they did not impair or tend to impair the su- premacy of the national authority or the just rights of citizens under the constitution, they are in general to be treated as valid and binding; 96 U. 8. 177; 97 id. 504; 1 Chase's Dec. 167; 7 Wall. 733; id. 99. Payments made under the Confederate seques- tration acts were void and gave no title. See 96 U. S. 198. Decisions of the Confederate courts. Judgments of such courts merely settling the rights of private parties actually within their jurisdiction, not tend- ing to defeat the just rights of citizens of the United States, nor in furtherance of laws passed in aid of the rebellion, are valid: 1 Woods 437: 97 U. S. 509; and a judgment of a court of Georgia in November, 1861, for the purchase-money of slaves, was held a valid judgment when entered, and en- forcible in 1871; 10 Am. L. Reg. Ν. 8. 641. But during the war, the courts of states in rebellion bad no jurisdiction of parties residing in states which adhered to the the national government; 10 Am. L. Reg. N. 8. 53. See further, 15 Wall. 610: 12 Op. Att Gen. 141, 182; 18 id. 149; 45 Ga. 370; 20 Gratt. 31; 18 Wall. 646; Hurd's Theory of Nat. Govt.; RECON- STRUCTION; CONFEDERATE STATES; CONFEDERATI MONEY; WAR.