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Some Degree Of Abuse Is Inseparable From The Proper Use Of Every Thing; And In No Instance Is This More True Than In That Of The Press. It Has Accordingly Been Decided, By The Practice Of The States, That It Is Better To Leave A Few Of Its Noxious Branches To Their Luxuriant Growth, Than, By Pruning Them Away, To Injure The Vigor Of Those Yielding The Proper Fruits.

-James Madison

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Some Degree Of Abuse

James Madison

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Some Degree Of Abuse Is Inseparable From The Proper Use Of Every Thing; And In No Instance Is This More True Than In That Of The Press. It Has Accordingly Been Decided, By The Practice Of The States, That It Is Better To Leave A Few Of Its Noxious Branches To Their Luxuriant Growth, Than, By Pruning Them Away, To Injure The Vigor Of Those Yielding The Proper Fruits.

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Nothing Has Yet Been Offered To Invalidate The Doctrine That The Meaning Of The Constitution May As Well Be Ascertained By The Legislative As By The Judicial Authority.

Equal Laws Protecting Equal Rights…the Best Guarantee Of Loyalty And Love Of Country.

[i]t Is The Reason Alone, Of The Public, That Ought To Control And Regulate The Government.

[a]ll Power Is Originally Vested In, And Consequently Derived From, The People. That Government Is Instituted And Ought To Be Exercised For The Benefit Of The People; Which Consists In The Enjoyment Of Life And Liberty And The Right Of Acquiring Property, And Generally Of Pursuing And Obtaining Happiness And Safety. That The People Have An Indubitable, Unalienable, And Indefeasible Right To Reform Or Change Their Government Whenever It Be Found Adverse Or Inadequate To The Purpose Of Its Institution.

Besides The Obscurity Arising From The Complexity Of Objects, And The Imperfection Of The Human Faculties, The Medium Through Which The Conceptions Of Men Are Conveyed To Each Other Adds A Fresh Embarrassment.

Although All Men Are Born Free, Slavery Has Been The General Lot Of The Human Race. Ignorant--they Have Been Cheated; Asleep--they Have Been Surprised; Divided--the Yoke Has Been Forced Upon Them. But What Is The Lesson...? The People Ought To Be Enlightened, To Be Awakened, To Be United, That After Establishing A Government They Should Watch Over It.... It Is Universally Admitted That A Well-instructed People Alone Can Be Permanently Free.

Where A Majority Are United By A Common Sentiment, And Have An Opportunity, The Rights Of The Minor Party Become Insecure.

Precedents Once Established Are So Much Positive Power.

American Citizens Are Instrumental In Carrying On A Traffic In Enslaved Africans, Equally In Violation Of The Laws Of Humanity And In Defiance Of Those Of Their Own Country. The Same Just And Benevolent Motives Which Produced Interdiction In Force Against This Criminal Conduct Will Doubtless Be Felt By Congress In Devising Further Means Of Suppressing The Evil.

Liberty Is To Faction, What Air Is To Fire, An Aliment Without Which It Instantly Expires. But It Could Not Be A Less Folly To Abolish Liberty, Which Is Essential To Political Life, Because It Nourishes Faction, Than It Would Be To Wish The Annihilation Of Air, Which Is Essential To Animal Life, Because It Imparts To Fire Its Destructive Agency.

What Becomes Of The Surplus Of Human Life? It Is Either, 1st. Destroyed By Infanticide, As Among The Chinese And Lacedemonians; Or 2d. It Is Stifled Or Starved, As Among Other Nations Whose Population Is Commensurate To Its Food; Or 3d. It Is Consumed By Wars And Endemic Diseases; Or 4th. It Overflows, By Emigration, To Places Where A Surplus Of Food Is Attainable.

A Good Government Implies Two Things: First, Fidelity To The Object Of Government, Which Is The Happiness Of The People; Secondly, A Knowledge Of The Means By Which That Object Can Be Best Attained.

I Should Not Regret A Fair And Full Trial Of The Entire Abolition Of Capital Punishment.

With Regard To Banks, They Have Taken Too Deep And Too Wide A Root In Social Transactions, To Be Got Rid Of Altogether, If That Were Desirable. They Have A Hold On Public Opinion, Which Alone Would Make It Expedient To Aim Rather At The Improvement, Than The Suppression Of Them. As Now Generally Constituted, Their Advantages Whatever They Be, Are Outweighed By The Excesses Of Their Paper Emissions, And The Partialities And Corruption With Which They Are Administered.

The Interest Of The Man Must Be Connected With The Constitutional Rights Of The Place. It May Be A Reflection On Human Nature, That Such Devices Should Be Necessary To Control The Abuses Of Government. But What Is Government Itself, But The Greatest Of All Reflections On Human Nature?

[religious Liberty Was] In Its Nature An Inalienable Right ... Because The Opinions Of Men, Depending Only Upon The Evidence Contemplated By Their Minds, Cannot Follow The Dictates Of Other Men.

Those Who Hold And Those Who Are Without Property Have Ever Formed Distinct Interests In Society.

Every New Regulation Concerning Commerce Or Revenue; Or In Any Manner Affecting The Value Of The Different Species Of Property, Presents A New Harvest To Those Who Watch The Change And Can Trace Its Consequences; A Harvest Reared Not By Themselves But By The Toils And Cares Of The Great Body Of Their Fellow Citizens. This Is A State Of Things In Which It May Be Said With Some Truth That Laws Are Made For The Few Not For The Many.

A Certain Degree Of Preparation For War . . . Affords Also The Best Security For The Continuance Of Peace.

But The Mere Circumstance Of Complexion Cannot Deprive Them Of The Character Of Men.

It Is A Misfortune Incident To Republican Government, Though In A Less Degree Than To Other Governments, That Those Who Administer It, May Forget Their Obligations To Their Constituents, And Prove Unfaithful To Their Important Trust.

Another Advantage Accruing From This Ingredient In The Constitution Of A Senate, Is The Additional Impediment It Must Prove Against Improper Acts Of Legislation. No Law Or Resolution Can Now Be Passed Without The Concurrence First Of A Majority Of The People, And Then Of A Majority Of The States.

[exchange] The Galling Burden Of Bachelorship For The Easy Yoke Of Matrimony.

The Political Truths Declared In That Solemn Manner Acquire By Degrees The Character Of Fundamental Maxims Of Free Government, And As They Become Incorporated With National Sentiment, Counteract The Impulses Of Interest And Passion.

The Legislative Department Is Everywhere Extending The Sphere Of Its Activity And Drawing All Power Into Its Impetuous Vortex.

The Federal Constitution Forms A Happy Combination In This Respect; The Great And Aggregate Interests Being Referred To The National, The Local And Particular, To The State Legislatures.

Ecclesiastical Establishments Tend To Great Ignorance And Corruption

Religious Truth

One Nation Is To Another What One Individual Is To Another; With This Melancholy Distinction Perhaps, That The Former With Fewer Of The Benevolent Emotions Than The Latter, Are Under Fewer Restraints Also From Taking Undue Advantage Of The Indiscretions Of Each Other.

Union Of Religious Sentiments Begets A Surprising Confidence.

It Is To Be The Assent And Ratification Of The Several States, Derived From The Supreme Authority In Each State, The Authority Of The People Themselves. The Act, Therefore Establishing The Constitution, Will Not Be A National, But A Federal Act.

The Right Of Freely Examining Public Characters And Measures, And Of Free Communication Among The People Thereon . . . Has Ever Been Justly Deemed The Only Effectual Guardian Of Every Other Right.

The Appointment Of Senators By The State Legislatures . . . Is Recommended By The Double Advantage Of Favoring A Select Appointment, And Of Giving To The State Governments Such An Agency In The Formation Of The Federal Government, As Must Secure The Authority Of The Former.

The Security Intended To The General Liberty Consists In The Frequent Election And In The Rotation Of The Members Of Congress.

The Smaller The Number And The More Permanent And Conspicuous The Station Of Men In Power, The Stronger Must Be The Interest Which They Will Individually Feel In Whatever Concerns The Government.

A People Armed And Free, Forms A Barrier Against The Enterprises Of Ambition And Is A Bulwark For The Nation Against Foreign Invasion And Domestic Oppression.

As Long As The Reason Of Man Continues Fallible, And He Is At Liberty To Exercise It, Different Opinions Will Be Formed. As Long As The Connection Subsists Between His Reason And His Self-love, His Opinions And Passions Will Have A Reciprocal Influence On Each Other, And The Former Will Be Objects To Which The Latter Attach Themselves.

What Is To Be The Consequence, In Case The Congress Shall Misconstrue This Part [the Necessary And Proper Clause] Of The Constitution And Exercise Powers Not Warranted By Its True Meaning, I Answer The Same As If They Should Misconstrue Or Enlarge Any Other Power Vested In Them . . . The Success Of The Usurpation Will Depend On The Executive And Judiciary Departments, Which Are To Expound And Give Effect To The Legislative Acts; And In A Last Resort A Remedy Must Be Obtained From The People, Who Can By The Elections Of More Faithful Representatives, Annul The Acts Of The Usurpers.

Thus The Right Of Nullification Meant By Mr. Jefferson Is The Natural Right, Which All Admit To Be A Remedy Against Insupportable Oppression.

In Order To Judge Of The Form To Be Given To This Institution The Senate, It Will Be Proper To Take A View Of The Ends To Be Served By It. These Were,first, To Protect The People Against Their Rulers, Secondly, To Protect The People Against The Transient Impressions Into Which They Themselves Might Be Led.

In Time Of Actual War, Great Discretionary Powers Are Constantly Given To The Executive Magistrate. Constant Apprehension Of War, Has The Same Tendency To Render The Head Too Large For The Body. A Standing Military Force, With An Overgrown Executive Will Not Long Be Safe Companions To Liberty.

The People Are The Only Legitimate Fountain Of Power, And It Is From Them That The Constitutional Charter, Under Which The Several Branches Of Government Hold Their Power, Is Derived.

If We Are To Take For The Criterion Of Truth The Majority Of Suffrages, They Ought To Be Gotten From Those Philosophic And Patriotic Citizens Who Cultivate Their Reason.

If This Spirit Shall Ever Be So Far Debased, As To Tolerate A Law Not Obligatory On The Legislature, As Well As On The People, The People Will Be Prepared To Tolerate Any Thing But Liberty.

The Powers Delegated By The Proposed Constitution To The Federal Government Are Few And Defined. Those Which Are To Remain In The State Governments Are Numerous And Indefinite.

Bills Of Attainder, Ex-post Facto Laws And Laws Impairing The Obligation Of Contracts Are Contrary To The First Principles Of The Social Compact, And To Every Principle Of Sound Legislation.

[restraints On The Press] In All Ages, Have Debauched Morals, Depressed Liberty, Shackled Religion, Supported Despotism, And Deluged The Scaffold With Blood.

Despotism Can Only Exist In Darkness.

To The Press Alone, Chequered As It Is With Abuses, The World Is Indebted For All The Triumphs Which Have Been Gained By Reason And Humanity Over Error And Oppression.

The Latent Causes Of Faction Are Thus Sown In The Nature Of Man.

A Distinction Of Property Results From That Very Protection Which A Free Government Gives To Unequal Faculties Of Acquiring It.

The Accumulation Of All Powers, Legislative, Executive, And Judiciary, In The Same Hands, Whether Of One, A Few, Or Many, And Whether Hereditary, Selfappointed, Or Elective, May Justly Be Pronounced The Very Definition Of Tyranny.

Independent Judiciary

On Any Other Hypothesis, The Delegation Of Judicial Power Would Annul The Authority Delegating It; And The Concurrence Of This Department With The Others In Usurped Powers, Might Subvert Forever, And Beyond The Possible Reach Of Any Rightful Remedy, The Very Constitution Which All Were Instituted To Preserve.

The Temple Through Which Alone Lies The Road To That Of Liberty.

The Proposed Constitution, Therefore, Even When Tested By The Rules Laid Down By Its Antagonists, Is, In Strictness, Neither A National Nor A Federal Constitution; But A Composition Of Both. In Its Foundation It Is Federal, Not National; In The Sources From Which The Ordinary Powers Of The Government Are Drawn, It Is Partly Federal, And Partly National; In The Operation Of These Powers, It Is National, Not Federal; In The Extent Of Them Again, It Is Federal, Not National; And Finally, In The Authoritative Mode Of Introducing Amendments, It Is Neither Wholly Federal, Nor Wholly National.

War Is In Fact The True Nurse Of Executive Aggrandizement

No Man Can Be A Competent Legislator Who Does Not Add To An Upright Intention And A Sound Judgment A Certain Degree Of Knowledge Of The Subject On Which He Is To Legislate.

I Hope This Will Find You...enjoying The Commencement Of A New Year With Every Prospect That Can Make It A Happy One.

If Congress Can Do Whatever In Their Discretion Can Be Done By Money, And Will Promote The General Welfare, The Government Is No Longer A Limited One, Possessing Enumerated Powers, But An Indefinite One.

Americans Need Not Fear The Federal Government Because They Enjoy The Advantage Of Being Armed, Which You Possess Over The People Of Almost Every Other Nation.

If Justice, Good Faith, Honor, Gratitude And All The Other Qualities Which Enoble The Character Of A Nation, And Fulfill The Ends Of Government Be The Fruits Of Our Establishments, The Cause Of Liberty Will Acquire A Dignity And Lustre, Which It Has Never Yet Enjoyed, And An Example Will Be Set, Which Can Not But Have The Most Favorable Influence On The Rights Of Mankind.

This Constitution, And The Laws Of The United States Which Shall Be Made In Pursuance Thereof; And All Treaties Made, Or Which Shall Be Made, Under The Authority Of The United States, Shall Be The Supreme Law Of The Land.

Constitution Of The United States

In All Great Changes Of Established Governments, Forms Ought To Give Way To Substance

One Hundred And Seventy-three Despots Would Surely Be As Oppressive As One.

[t]he Bill Exceeds The Rightful Authority To Which Governments Are Limited By The Essential Distinction Between Civil And Religious Functions, And Violates In Particular The Article Of The Constitution Of The United States Which Declares That Congress Shall Make No Law Respecting A Religious Establishment.... This Particular Church, Therefore, Would So Far Be A Religious Establishment By Law, A Legal Force And Sanction Being Given To Certain Articles In Its Constitution And Administration.

When Men Exercise Their Reason Coolly And Freely, On A Variety Of Distinct Questions, They Inevitably Fall Into Different Opinions, On Some Of Them. When They Are Governed By A Common Passion, Their Opinions If They Are So To Be Called, Will Be The Same.

America United With A Handful Of Troops, Or Without A Single Soldier, Exhibits A More Forbidding Posture To Foreign Ambition Than America Disunited, With A Hundred Thousand Veterans Ready For Combat.

The People Shall Not Be Deprived Or Abridged Of Their Right To Speak, Or To Publish Their Sentiments; And The Freedom Of The Press, As One Of The Great Bulwarks Of Liberty, Shall Be Inviolable.

What Spectacle Can Be More Edifying Or More Seasonable, Than That Of Liberty And Learning, Each Leaning On The Other For Their Mutual And Surest Support?

Should Ardent Spirits Be Everywhere Banished From The List Of Drinks, It Will Be A Revolution Not The Least Remarkable In This Revolutionary Age, And Our Country Will Have Its Full Share In That As In Other Merits.

The Public Affairs Of The Union Are Spread Throughout A Very Extensive Region, And Are Extremely Diversified By The Local Affairs Connected With Them, And Can With Difficulty Be Learnt In Any Other Place, Than In The Central Councils, To Which A Knowledge Of Them Will Be Brought By The Representatives Of Every Part Of The Empire. Yet Some Knowledge Of The Affairs, And Even Of The Laws Of All The States, Ought To Be Possessed By The Members From Each Of The States.

Complaints Are Everywhere Heard From Our Most Considerate And Virtuous Citizens, Equally The Friends Of Public And Private Faith, And Of Public And Personal Liberty, That Our Governments Are Too Unstable, That The Public Good Is Disregarded In The Conflicts Of Rival Parties, And That Measures Are Too Often Decided, Not According To The Rules Of Justice And The Rights Of The Minor Party, But By The Superior Force Of An Interested And Overbearing Majority.

What Is Government Itself But The Greatest Of All Reflections On Human Nature?

The Class Of Citizens Who Provide At Once Their Own Food And Their Own Raiment, May Be Viewed As The Most Truly Independent And Happy. They Are More: They Are The Best Basis Of Public Liberty, And The Strongest Bulwark Of Public Safety. It Follows, That The Greater The Proportion Of This Class To The Whole Society, The More Free, The More Independent, And The More Happy Must Be The Society Itself.

A Zeal For Different Opinions Concerning Religion, Concerning Government, And Many Other Points, As Well Of Speculation As Of Practice; An Attachment To Different Leaders Ambitiously Contending For Pre-eminence And Power; Or To Persons Of Other Descriptions Whose Fortunes Have Been Interesting To The Human Passions, Have, In Turn, Divided Mankind Into Parties, Inflamed Them With Mutual Animosity, And Rendered Them Much More Disposed To Vex And Oppress Each Other Than To Co-operate For Their Common Good.

Despotism Can Only Exist In Darkness, And There Are Too Many Lights Now In The Political Firmament To Permit It To Remain Anywhere, As It Has Heretofore Done, Almost Everywhere.

Happily For America, Happily, We Trust, For The Whole Human Race, They Pursued A New And More Noble Course. They Accomplished A Revolution Which Has No Parallel In The Annals Of Human Society.

Religion Flourishes In Greater Purity, Without Than With The Aid Of Government.

I Have No Doubt But That The Misery Of The Lower Classes Will Be Found To Abate Wherever The Government Assumes A Freer Aspect,& The Laws Favor A Subdivision Of Property.

An Alliance Or Coalition Between Government And Religion Cannot Be Too Carefully Guarded Against......every New And Successful Example Therefore Of A Perfect Separation Between Ecclesiastical And Civil Matters Is Of Importance........religion And Government Will Exist In Greater Purity, Without (rather) Than With The Aid Of Government.

The Latent Causes Of Faction Are Thus Sown In The Nature Of Man; And We See Them Everywhere Brought Into Different Degrees Of Activity, According To The Different Circumstances Of Civil Society.

...freedom Arises From The Multiplicity Of Sects, Which Prevades America And Which Is The Best And Only Security For Religious Liberty In Any Society. For Where There Is Such A Variety Of Sects, There Cannot Be A Majority Of Any One Sect To Oppress And Persecute The Rest.

And I Have No Doubt That Every New Example Will Succeed, As Every Past One Has Done, In Showing That Religion And Government Will Both Exist In Greater Purity, The Less They Are Mixed Together.

The Religion Then Of Every Man Must Be Left To The Conviction And Conscience Of Every Man; And It Is The Right Of Every Man To Exercise It As These May Dictate.

...to Support The Constitution, Which Is The Cement Of The Union, As Well In Its Limitations As In Its Authorities; To Respect The Rights And Authorities Reserved To The States And To The People As Equally Incorporated With And Essential To The Success Of The General System;... To Keep Within The Requisite Limits A Standing Military Force, Always Remembering That An Armed And Trained Militia Is The Firmest Bulwark Of Republics-that Without Standing Armies Their Liberty Can Never Be In Danger, Nor With Large Ones Safe.

An Oath-the Strongest Of Religious Ties.

The President Is Responsible To The Public For The Conduct Of The Person He Has Nominated And Appointed.

The Effect Of A Representative Democracy Is To Refine And Enlarge The Public Views, By Passing Them Through The Medium Of A Chosen Body Of Citizens, Whose Wisdom May Best Discern The True Interest Of The Nation.

Democracy Is The Most Vile Form Of Government.

I Go On The Principle That A Public Debt Is A Public Curse And In A Republican Government More Than In Any Other.

Union Of Religious Sentiments Begets A Surprising Confidence, And Ecclesiastical Establishments Tend To Great Ignorance And Corruption; All Of Which Facilitate The Execution Of Mischievous Projects.

I, Sir, Have Always Conceived - I Believe Those Who Proposed The Constitution Conceived,and It Is Still More Fully Known, And More Material To Observe, Those Who Ratified The Constitution Conceived, That This Is Not An Indefinite Government Deriving Its Powers From The General Terms Prefixed To The Specified Powers - But, A Limited Government Tied Down To The Specified Powers, Which Explain And Define The General Terms.

The Operations Of The Federal Government Will Be Most Extensive And Important In Times Of War And Danger; Those Of The State Governments, In Times Of Peace And Security.

The Sober People Of America Are Weary Of The Fluctuating Policy Which Has Directed The Public Councils. They Have Seen With Regret And Indignation That Sudden Changes And Legislative Interferences, In Cases Affecting Personal Rights, Become Jobs In The Hands Of Enterprising And Influential Speculators, And Snares To The More-industrious And Less Informed Part Of The Community. They Have Seen, Too, That One Legislative Interference Is But The First Link Of A Long Chain Of Repetitions, Every Subsequent Interference Being Naturally Produced By The Effects Of The Preceding.

They Can Make No Law Which Will Not Have Its Full Operation On Themselves And Their Friends, As Well As On The Great Mass Of The Society.

The Apportionment Of Taxes On The Various Descriptions Of Property Is An Act Which Seems To Require The Most Exact Impartiality; Yet There Is, Perhaps, No Legislative Act In Which Greater Opportunity And Temptation Are Given To A Predominant Party To Trample On The Rules Of Justice. Every Shilling Which They Overburden The Inferior Number Is A Shilling Saved To Their Own Pockets.

No Man Is Allowed To Be A Judge In His Own Cause, Because His Interest Would Certainly Bias His Judgment.

In Framing A System, Which We Wish To Last For Ages, We Should Not Lose Sight Of The Changes Which Ages Will Produce.

Those Who Are To Conduct A War Cannot In The Nature Of Things, Be Proper Or Safe Judges, Whether A War Ought To Be Commenced, Continued, Or Concluded.

Whilst We Assert For Ourselves A Freedom To Embrace, To Profess And Observe The Religion Which We Believe To Be Of Divine Origin, We Cannot Deny Equal Freedom To Those Whose Minds Have Not Yet Yielded To The Evidence Which Has Convinced Us. If This Freedom Be Abused, It Is An Offense Against God, Not Against Man:to God, Therefore, Not To Man, Must An Account Of It Be Rendered.

There Is No Maxim, In My Opinion, Which Is More Liable To Be Misapplied, And Which, Therefore, More Needs Elucidation, Than The Current One, That The Interest Of The Majority Is The Political Standard Of Right And Wrong.

All That Seems Indispensible In Stating The Account Between The Dead And The Living, Is To See That The Debts Against The Latter Do Not Exceed The Advances Made By The Former.

[the Human Mind] Finds More Facility In Assenting To The Self-existence Of An Invisible Cause Possessing Infinite Power, Wisdom, And Goodness, Than In The Self-existence Of The Universe, Visibly Destitute Of These Attributes, And Which May Be The Effect Of Them.

Hence It Is That Such Democracies Have Ever Been Spectacles Of Turbulence And Contention; Have Ever Been Found Incompatible With Personal Security Or The Rights Of Property; And Have In General Been As Short In Their Lives As They Have Been Violent In Their Deaths. Theoretic Politicians, Who Have Patronized This Species Of Government, Have Erroneously Supposed That By Reducing Mankind To A Perfect Equality In Their Political Rights, They Would, At The Same Time, Be Perfectly Equalized And Assimilated In Their Possessions, Their Opinions, And Their Passions.

Democracies Have

The Happy Union Of These States Is A Wonder; Their Constitution A Miracle; Their Example The Hope Of Liberty Throughout The World.

Nor Is Any Evidence To Be Found, Either In History Or Human Nature, That Nations Are To Be Bribed Out Of A Spirit Of Encroachment And Aggression, By Humiliations Which Nourish Their Pride, Or By Concessions That Extend Their Resources And Power.

In War, Too, The Discretionary Power Of The Executive Is Extended; Its Influence In Dealing Out Offices, Honors, And Emoluments Is Multiplied; And All The Meaning Of Seducing The Minds, Are Added To Those Of Subduing The Force, Of The People. The Same Malignant Aspect In Republicanism May Be Traced In The Inequality Of Fortunes, And The Opportunities Of Fraud, Growing Out Of A State Of War, And In The Degeneracy Of Manners And Morals, Engendered By Both. No Nation Could Preserve Its Freedom In The Midst Of Continual Warfare.

It Is Of Great Importance In A Republic, Not Only To Guard The Society Against The Oppression Of Its Rulers; But To Guard One Part Of The Society Against The Injustice Of The Other Part.

Republican Government

Tyranny Of The Majority

In A Free Government, The Security For Civil Rights Must Be The Same As That For Religious Rights. It Consists In The One Case In The Multiplicity Of Interests, And In The Other In The Multiplicity Of Sects. The Degree Of Security In Both Cases, Will Depend On The Number Of Interests And Sects; And This May Be Presumed To Depend On The Extent Of Country And Number Of People Comprehended Under The Same Government.

Nothing Is So Contagious As Opinion, Especially On Questions Which, Being Susceptible Of Very Different Glosses, Beget In The Mind A Distrust Of Itself.

A Zeal For Different Opinions Concerning Religion...[has] Divided Mankind Into Parties, Inflamed Them With Mutual Animosity, And Rendered Them Much More Disposed To Vex And Oppress Each Other Than To Co-operate For Their Common Good.

Justice Is The End Of Government. It Is The End Of Civil Society. It Ever Has Been And Ever Will Be Pursued Until It Be Obtained, Or Until Liberty Be Lost In The Pursuit.

Among The Numerous Advantages Promised By A Well-constructed Union, None Deserves To Be More Accurately Developed Than Its Tendency To Break And Control The Violence Of Faction.

[in The Case Of] Dangerous Exercise Of Other Powers, Not Granted By The Said Compact, The States, Who Are Parties Thereto, Have The Right, And Are Duty Bound, To Interpose For Arresting The Progress Of The Evil.

Public Opinion Sets Bounds To Every Government, And Is The Real Sovereign In Every Free One.

The Two Great Points Of Difference Between A Democracy And A Republic Are: First, The Delegation Of The Government, In The Latter,to A Small Number Of Citizens Elected By The Rest; Secondly, The Greater Number Of Citizens And Greater Sphere Of Country Over Which The Latter May Be Extended.

A President Is Impeachable If He Attempts To Subvert The Constitution.

Respect For Character Is Always Diminished In Proportion To The Number Among Whom The Blame Or Praise Is To Be Divided.

To The Baptist Churches On Neal's Greek On Black Creek, North Carolina I Have Received, Fellow-citizens, Your Address, Approving My Objection To The Bill Containing A Grant Of Public Land To The Baptist Church At Salem Meeting House, Mississippi Territory. Having Always Regarded The Practical Distinction Between Religion And Civil Government As Essential To The Purity Of Both, And As Guaranteed By The Constitution Of The United States, I Could Not Have Otherwise Discharged My Duty On The Occasion Which Presented Itself

We Are Teaching The World The Great Truth That Governments Do Better Without Kings & Nobles Than With Them.

I Regret, As Much As Any Member, The Unavoidable Weight And Duration Of The Burdens To Be Imposed; Having Never Been A Proselyte To The Doctrine, That Public Debts Are Public Benefits. I Consider Them, On The Contrary, As Evils Which Ought To Be Removed As Fast As Honor And Justice Will Permit.

The Advancement And Diffusion Of Knowledge Is The Only Guardian Of True Liberty.

Inspirational Life

The Free System Of Government We Have Established Is So Congenial With Reason, With Common Sense, And With A Universal Feeling, That It Must Produce Approbation And A Desire Of Imitation, As Avenues May Be Found For Truth To The Knowledge Of Nations.

In Proportion To The Value Of This Revolution; In Proportion To The Importance Of Instruments, Every Word Of Which Decides A Question Between Power And Liberty; In Proportion To The Solemnity Of Acts, Proclaiming The Will Authenticated By The Seal Of The People, The Only Earthly Source Of Authority, Ought To Be The Vigilance With Which They Are Guarded By Every Citizen In Private Life, And The Circumspection With Which They Are Executed By Every Citizen In Public Trust.

As The War Was Just In Its Origin And Necessary And Noble In Its Objects, We Can Reflect With A Proud Satisfaction That In Carrying It On No Principle Of Justice Or Honor, No Usage Of Civilized Nations, No Precept Of Courtesy Or Humanity, Have Been Infringed.

[t]he Powers Granted By The Proposed Constitution Are The Gift Of The People, And May Be Resumed By Them When Perverted To Their Oppression, And Every Power Not Granted Thereby Remains With The People.

It Is Possible That These May All Be Insufficient To Control The Caprice And Wickedness Of Man. But Are They Not All That Government Will Admit, And All That Human Prudence Can Devise?

It Would Have Marked A Want Of Foresight In The Convention, Which Our Own Experience Would Have Rendered Inexcusable.

Constitutional Convention

Every Word Of [the Constitution] Decides A Question Between Power And Liberty.

Experience Has Instructed Us That No Skill In The Science Of Government Has Yet Been Able To Discriminate And Define, With Sufficient Certainty, Its Three Great Provinces The Legislative, Executive, And Judiciary; Or Even The Privileges And Powers Of The Different Legislative Branches.

A Pure Democracy, By Which I Mean A Society Consisting Of A Small Number Of Citizens, Who Assemble And Administer The Government In Person, Can Admit Of No Cure For The Mischiefs Of Faction. A Common Passion Or Interest Will, In Almost Every Case, Be Felt By A Majority Of The Whole; A Communication And Concert Result From The Form Of Government Itself; And There Is Nothing To Check The Inducements To Sacrifice The Weaker Party, Or An Obnoxious Individual. Hence It Is, That Such Democracies Have Ever Been Spectacles Of Turbulence And Contention; Have Ever Been Found Incompatible With Personal Security, Or The Rights Of Property; And Have In General Been As Short In Their Lives, As They Have Been Violent In Their Deaths.

It Will Be Of Little Avail To The People That The Laws Are Made By Men Of Their Own Choice If The Laws Be So Voluminous That They Cannot Be Read, Or So Incoherent That They Cannot Be Understood.

War Should Only Be Declared By The Authority Of The People, Whose Toils And Treasures Are To Support Its Burdens, Instead Of The Government Which Is To Reap Its Fruits.

Oppressors Can Tyrannize Only When They Achieve A Standing Army, An Enslaved Press, And A Disarmed Populace.

A Well Regulated Militia, Composed Of The Body Of The People, Trained In Arms, Is The Best Most Natural Defense Of A Free Country.

The Invasion Of Private Rights Is Chiefly To Be Apprehended, Not From Acts Of Government Contrary To The Sense Of Its Constituents, But From Acts In Which The Government Is The Mere Instrument Of The Major Number Of The Constituents.

The Regulation Of These Various And Interfering Interests Forms The Principal Task Of Modern Legislation And Involves The Spirit Of Party And Faction In The Necessary And Ordinary Operations Of Government.

For The Same Reason That The Members Of The State Legislatures Will Be Unlikely To Attach Themselves Sufficiently To National Objects, The Members Of The Federal Legislature Will Be Likely To Attach Themselves Too Much To Local Objects.

The Governments Of Europe Are Afraid To Trust The People With Arms. If They Did, The People Would Certainly Shake Off The Yoke Of Tyranny, As America Did.

No Man Is Allowed To Be A Judge In His Own Cause; Because His Interest Would Certainly Bias His Judgment, And, Not Improbably, Corrupt His Integrity. With Equal, Nay With Greater Reason, A Body Of Men Are Unfit To Be Both Judges And Parties At The Same Time.

Procrastination In The Beginning And Precipitation Towards The Conclusion Is The Characteristic Of Such Bodies.

Procrastination

Characteristics

An Efficient Militia Is Authorized And Contemplated By The Constitution And Required By The Spirit And Safety Of Free Government.

Second Amendment

It Is Proper To Take Alarm At The First Experiment On Our Liberties. We Hold This Prudent Jealousy To Be The First Duty Of Citizens And One Of The Noblest Characteristics Of The Late Revolution. The Freemen Of America Did Not Wait Till Usurped Power Had Strengthened Itself By Exercise And Entangled The Question In Precedents. They Saw All The Consequences In The Principle, And They Avoided The Consequences By Denying The Principle. We Revere This Lesson Too Much ... To Forget It

Every Nation Whose Affairs Betray A Want Of Wisdom And Stability May Calculate On Every Loss Which Can Be Sustained From The More Systematic Policy Of Its Wiser Neighbors.

Because The Bill In Reserving A Certain Parcel Of Land In The United States For The Use Of Said Baptist Church Comprises A Principle And A Precedent For The Appropriation Of Funds Of The United States For The Use And Support Of Religious Societies, Contrary To The Article Of The Constitution Which Declares That "congress Shall Make No Law Respecting A Religious Establishment."

If We Advert To The Nature Of Republican Government, We Shall Find That The Censorial Power Is In The People Over The Government, And Not In The Government Over The People.

In Civilized Communities, Property As Well As Personal Rights Is An Essential Object Of The Laws, Which Encourage Industry By Securing The Enjoyment Of Its Fruits; That Industry From Which Property Results, And That Enjoyment Which Consists Not Merely In Its Immediate Use, But In Its Posthumous Destination To Objects Of Choice, And Of Kindred Affection. In A Just And Free Government, Therefore, The Rights Both Of Property And Of Persons Ought To Be Effectually Guarded.

... The State Legislatures Will Jealously And Closely Watch The Operations Of This Government, And Be Able To Resist With More Effect Every Assumption Of Power, Than Any Other Power On Earth Can Do; And The Greatest Opponents To A Federal Government Admit The State Legislatures To Be Sure Guardians Of The People's Liberty.

Enlightened Statesmen Will Not Always Be At The Helm.

I Acknowledge, In The Ordinary Course Of Government, That The Exposition Of The Laws And Constitution Devolves Upon The Judicial. But I Beg To Know Upon What Principle It Can Be Contended That Any One Department Draws From The Constitution Greater Powers Than Another In Marking Out The Limits Of The Powers Of The Several Departments.

To What Expedient Then Shall We Finally Resort, For Maintaining In Practice The Necessary Partition Of Power Among The Several Departments, As Laid Down In The Constitution? The Only Answer That Can Be Given Is, That As All These Exterior Provisions Are Found To Be Inadequate, The Defect Must Be Supplied, By So Contriving The Interior Structure Of The Government, As That Its Several Constituent Parts May, By Their Mutual Relations, Be The Means Of Keeping Each Other In Their Proper Places.

[christianity] Existed And Flourishes, Not Only Without The Support Of Human Laws, But In Spite Of Every Opposition From Them.

I Do Not Conceive That Power Is Given To The President And Senate To Dismember The Empire, Or To Alienate Any Great, Essential Right. I Do Not Think The Whole Legislative Authority Have This Power. The Exercise Of The Power Must Be Consistent With The Object Of The Delegation.

The Convention Thought It Wrong To Admit In The Constitution The Idea That There Could Be Property In Men.

The Future And Success Of America Is Not In This Constitution, But In The Laws Of God Upon Which This Constitution Is Founded.

Wherever There Is Interest And Power To Do Wrong, Wrong Will Generally Be Done.

The Great Desideratum In Government Is, So To Modify The Sovereignty As That It May Be Sufficiently Neutral Between Different Parts Of The Society To Controul One Part From Invading The Rights Of Another, And At The Same Time Sufficiently Controuled Itself, From Setting Up An Interest Adverse To That Of The Entire Society.

Whilst The Last Members Were Signing It Doctr. Franklin Looking Towards The Presidents Chair, At The Back Of Which A Rising Sun Happened To Be Painted, Observed To A Few Members Near Him, That Painters Had Found It Difficult To Distinguish In Their Art A Rising From A Setting Sun.

Constitution Of The United States

The Better Proof Of Reverence For That Holy Name Would Be Not To Profane It By Making It A Topic Of Legislative Discussion.

The First Question That Offers Itself Is, Whether The General Form And Aspect Of The Government Be Strictly Republican? It Is Evident That No Other Form Would Be Reconcileable With The Genius Of The People Of America; With The Fundamental Principles Of The Revolution; Or With That Honourable Determination Which Animates Every Votary Of Freedom, To Rest All Our Political Experiments On The Capacity Of Mankind For Self-government.

There Is An Evil Which Ought To Be Guarded Against In The Indefinite Accumulation Of Property From The Capacity Of Holding It In Perpetuity By...corporations. The Power Of All Corporations Ought To Be Limited In This Respect. The Growing Wealth Acquired By Them Never Fails To Be A Source Of Abuses.

What Is Here A Right Towards Men, Is A Duty Towards The Creator.

The Rights Of Man As The Foundation Of Just Government Had Been Long Understood But The Superstructures Projected Had Been Sadly Defective

In Europe, Charters Of Liberty Have Been Granted By Power. America Has Set The Example . . . Of Charters Of Power Granted By Liberty. This Revolution In The Practice Of The World, May, With An Honest Praise, Be Pronounced The Most Triumphant Epoch Of Its History, And The Most Consoling Presage Of Its Happiness.

It Is The Mutual Duty Of All To Practice Christian Forbearance, Love, And Charity Toward Each Other.

It Was By The Sober Sense Of Our Citizens That We Were Safely And Steadily Conducted From Monarchy To Republicanism, And It Is By The Same Agency Alone We Can Be Kept From Falling Back.

Were It Possible So To Accelerate The Intercourse Between Every Part Of The Globe That All Its Inhabitants Could Be United Under The Superintending Authority Of An Ecumenical Council, How Great A Portion Of Human Evils Would Be Avoided.

Another Of My Wishes Is To Depend As Little As Possible On The Labour Of Slaves.

To Consider The Degree Of Concord Which Ultimately Prevailed As Less Than A Miracle.

Knowledge Will Forever Govern Ignorance; And A People Who Mean To Be Their Own Governors Must Arm Themselves With The Power Which Knowledge Gives.

Some Degree Of Abuse Is Inseparable From The Proper Use Of Everything.

[i]n The Next Place, To Show That Unless These Departments Be So Far Connected And Blended As To Give To Each A Constitutional Control Over The Others, The Degree Of Separation Which The Maxim Requires, As Essential To A Free Government, Can Never In Practice Be Duly Maintained.

We Look Back, Already, With Astonishment, At The Daring Outrages Committed By Despotism, On The Reason And Rights Of Man; We Look Forward With Joy, To The Period, When It Shall Be Despoiled Of All Its Usurpations, And Bound Forever In The Chains, With Which It Had Loaded Its Miserable Victims.

The Primary Function Of Government Is To Protect The Minority Of The Opulent From The Majority Of The Poor.

Each State, In Ratifying The Constitution, Is Considered As A Sovereign Body, Independent Of All Others, And Only To Be Bound By Its Own Voluntary Act. In This Relation, Then, The New Constitution Will, If Established, Be A Federal, And Not A National Constitution.

[regarding Legislative Assemblies,] The Number Ought At Most To Be Kept Within A Certain Limit, In Order To Avoid The Confusion And Intemperance Of A Multitude. In All Very Numerous Assemblies, Of Whatever Characters Composed, Passion Never Fails To Wrest The Scepter From Reason. Had Every Athenian Citizen Been A Socrates, Every Athenian Assembly Would Still Have Been A Mob.

Experience Assures Us, That The Efficacy Of The Provision Has Been Greatly Over-rated; And That Some More Adequate Defense Is Indispensably Necessary For The More Feeble, Against The More Powerful Members Of The Government.

Philosophy Is Common Sense With Big Words.

I Have Ever Regarded The Freedom Of Religious Opinions And Worship As Equally Belonging To Every Sect.

The Protection Of These Faculties Is The First Object Of Government.

The Power To Declare War, Including The Power Of Judging The Causes Of War, Is Fully And Exclusively Vested In The Legislature.

These Considerations And Many Others That Might Be Mentioned Prove, And Experience Confirms It, That Artisans And Manufacturers Will Commonly Be Disposed To Bestow Their Votes On Merchants.

Among The Features Peculiar To The Political System Of The United States Is The Perfect Equality Of Rights Which It Secures To Every Religious Sect. [...] Equal Laws Protecting Equal Rights, Are Found As They Ought To Be Presumed, The Best Guarantee Of Loyalty, And Love Of Country; As Well As Best Calculated To Cherish That Mutual Respect And Good Will Among Citizens Of Every Religious Denomination Which Are Necessary To Social Harmony And Most Favorable To The Advancement Of Truth.

If The Public Homage Of A People Can Ever Be Worthy Of The Favorable Regard Of The Holy And Omniscient Being To Whom It Is Addressed, It Must Be That In Which Those Who Join In It Are Guided Only Be Their Free Choice-by The Impulse Of Their Hearts And The Dictates Of Their Consciences.

A Just Security To Property Is Not Afforded By That Government, Under Which Unequal Taxes Oppress One Species Of Property And Reward Another Species.

There Ought Always To Be A Constitutional Method Of Giving Efficacy To Constitutional Provisions. What For Instance Would Avail Restrictions On The Authority Of The State Legislatures, Without Some Constitutional Mode Of Enforcing The Observance Of Them? . . . This Power Must Either Be A Direct Negative On The State Laws, Or An Authority In The Federal Courts, To Over-rule Such As Might Be In Manifest Contravention Of The Articles Of Union.

It Is A Principle Incorporated Into The Settled Policy Of America, That As Peace Is Better Than War, War Is Better Than Tribute.

The Capacity Of The Female Mind For Studies Of The Highest Order Cannot Be Doubted, Having Been Sufficiently Illustrated By Its Works Of Genius, Of Erudition, And Of Science.

A Public Debt Is A Public Curse.

The Growing Wealth Aquired By Them Corporations Never Fails To Be A Source Of Abuses.

The Genius Of Republican Liberty, Seems To Demand On One Side, Not Only That All Power Should Be Derived From The People; But, That Those Entrusted With It Should Be Kept In Dependence On The People, By A Short Duration Of Their Appointments; And, That, Even During This Short Period, The Trust Should Be Placed Not In A Few, But In A Number Of Hands.

Republican Government

The Express Authority Of The People Alone Could Give Validity To The Constitution.

The Most Common And Durable Source Of Faction Has Been The Various And Unequal Distribution Of Property.

Had Every Athenian Citizen Been A Socrates, Every Athenian Assembly Would Still Have Been A Mob.

Temporary Deviations From Fundamental Principles Are Always More Or Less Dangerous. When The First Pretext Fails, Those Who Become Interested In Prolonging The Evil Will Rarely Be At A Loss For Other Pretexts.

If Men Were Angels, No Government Would Be Necessary. If Angels Were To Govern Men, Neither External Nor Internal Controls On Government Would Be Necessary. In Framing A Government Which Is To Be Administered By Men Over Men, The Great Difficulty Lies In This: You Must First Enable The Government To Control The Governed; And In The Next Place Oblige It To Control Itself. A Dependence On The People Is, No Doubt, The Primary Control On The Government; But Experience Has Taught Mankind The Necessity Of Auxiliary Precautions.

Strongly Guarded As Is The Separation Between Religion And Government In The Constitution Of The United States, The Danger Of Encroachment By Ecclesiastical Bodies May Be Illustrated By Precedents Already Furnished In Their Short History.

Congress Shall Make No Law Respecting An Establishment Of Religion, Or Prohibiting The Free Exercise Thereof.

Secular Society

Place Three Individuals In A Situation Wherein The Interest Of Each Depends On The Voice Of The Others, And Give To Two Of Them An Interest Opposed To The Rights Of The Third. Will The Latter Be Secure? The Prudence Of Every Man Would Shun The Danger. The Rules & Forms Of Justice Suppose & Guard Against It. Will Two Thousand In A Like Situation Be Less Likely To Encroach On The Rights Of One Thousand?

Our Constitution Represents The Work Of The Finger Of Almighty God.

The Most Productive System Of Finance Will Always Be The Least Burdensome.

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