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[t]he Delegation Of The Government, In [a Republic], To A Small Number Of Citizens Elected By The Rest . . . [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 Their Country And Whose Patriotism And Love Of Justice Will Be Least Likely To Sacrifice It To Temporary Or Partial Considerations.

-James Madison

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[t]he Delegation Of The

James Madison

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[t]he Delegation Of The Government, In [a Republic], To A Small Number Of Citizens Elected By The Rest . . . [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 Their Country And Whose Patriotism And Love Of Justice Will Be Least Likely To Sacrifice It To Temporary Or Partial Considerations.

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

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.

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.

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

There Never Was An Assembly Of Men, Charged With A Great And Arduous Trust, Who Were More Pure In Their Motives, Or More Exclusively Or Anxiously Devoted To The Object Committed To Them.

Who Does Not See That The Same Authority Which Can Establish Christianity, In Exclusion Of All Other Religions, May Establish With The Same Ease Any Particular Sect Of Christians, In Exclusion Of All Other Sects?

At First View It Might Seem Not To Square With The Republican Theory, To Suppose Either That A Majority Have Not The Right, Or That A Minority Will Have The Force To Subvert A Government . . . . But Theoretic Reasoning In This, As In Most Other Cases, Must Be Qualified By The Lessons Of Practice.

Every New And Successful Example Of A Perfect Separation Between Ecclesiastical And Civil Matters Is Of Importance.

The Aim Of Every Political Constitution, Is Or Ought To Be First To Obtain For Rulers Men Who Possess Most Wisdom To Discern, And Most Virtue To Pursue, The Common Good Of Society; And In The Next Place, To Take The Most Effectual Precautions For Keeping Them Virtuous Whilst They Continue To Hold Their Public Trust.

History Records That The Money Changers Have Used Every Form Of Abuse, Intrigue, Deceit, And Violent Means Possible To Maintain Their Control Over Governments By Controlling Money And It's Issuance.

What Is The Structure Of Government That Will Best Guard Against The Precipitate Counsels And Factious Combinations For Unjust Purposes, Without A Sacrifice Of The Fundamental Principle Of Republicanism?

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.

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?

Religious Bondage Shackles And Debilitates The Mind And Unfits It For Every Noble Enterprise.... During Almost Fifteen Centuries Has The Legal Establishment Of Christianity Been On Trial. What Have Been Its Fruits? More Or Less, In All Places, Pride And Indolence In The Clergy; Ignorance And Servility In Laity; In Both, Superstition, Bigotry, And Persecution.

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

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.

Liberty May Be Endangered By The Abuse Of Liberty, But Also By The Abuse Of Power.

By Rendering The Labor Of One, The Property Of The Other, They Cherish Pride, Luxury, And Vanity On One Side; On The Other, Vice And Servility, Or Hatred And Revolt.

The States Then Being The Parties To The Constitutional Compact, And In Their Sovereign Capacity, It Follows Of Necessity, That There Can Be No Tribunal Above Their Authority, To Decide In The Last Resort, Whether The Compact Made By Them Be Violated; And Consequently That As The Parties To It, They Must Themselves Decide In The Last Resort, Such Questions As May Be Of Sufficient Magnitude To Require Their Interposition.

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 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.

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.

The Management Of Foreign Relations Appears To Be The Most Susceptible Of Abuse Of All The Trusts Committed To A Government, Because They Can Be Concealed Or Disclosed, Or Disclosed In Such Parts And At Such Times As Will Best Suit Particular Views; And Because The Body Of The People Are Less Capable Of Judging, And Are More Under The Influence Of Prejudices, On That Branch Of Their Affairs, Than Of Any Other. Perhaps It Is A Universal Truth That The Loss Of Liberty At Home Is To Be Charged To Provisions Against Danger, Real Or Pretended, From Abroad.

The Means Of Defense Against Foreign Danger Historically Have Become The Instruments Of Tyranny At Home.

The House Of Representatives ... Can Make No Law, Which Will Not Have Its Full Operation On Themselves And Their Friends, As Well As The Great Mass Of Society. This Has Always Been Deemed One Of The Strongest Bonds By Which Human Policy Can Connect The Rulers And The People Together. It Creates Between Them That Communion Of Interest, And Sympathy Of Sentiments, Of Which Few Governments Have Furnished Examples; But Without Which Every Government Degenerates Into Tyranny.

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

The People Shall Not Be Restrained From Peacefully Assembling And Consulting For Their Common Good, Nor From Applying To The Legislature By Petitions, Or Remonstrances For Redress Of Their Grievances.

Freedom Of Speech

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

We Are Right To Take Alarm At The First Experiment Upon Our Liberties.

Tyranny Founding Fathers

The Inference To Which We Are Brought Is That The Causes Of Faction Cannot Be Removed And That Relief Is Only To Be Sought In The Means Of Controlling Its Effects.

The Necessity Of A Senate Is Not Less Indicated By The Propensity Of All Single And Numerous Assemblies, To Yield To The Impulse Of Sudden And Violent Passions, And To Be Seduced By Factious Leaders, Into Intemperate And Pernicious Resolutions.

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 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.

The Government Of The United States Is A Definite Government, Confined To Specified Objects. It Is Not Like The State Governments, Whose Powers Are More General. Charity Is No Part Of The Legislative Duty Of The Government.

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.

In The Compound Republic Of America, The Power Surrendered By The People Is First Divided Between Two Distinct Governments, And Then The Portion Allotted To Each Subdivided Among Distinct And Separate Governments. Hence A Double Security Arises To The Rights Of The People. The Different Governments Will Control Each Other, At The Same Time That Each Will Be Controlled By Itself.

If Congress Can Employ Money Indefinitely To The General Welfare... They May Appoint Teachers In Every State... The Powers Of Congress Would Subvert The Very Foundation, The Very Nature Of The Limited Government Established By The People Of America.

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.

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

These Examples, Though As Unfit For The Imitation, As They Are Repugnant To The Genius Of America, Are Notwithstanding . . . Very Instructive Proofs Of The Necessity Of Some Institution That Will Blend Stability With Liberty.

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

As 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, It Seems Strictly Consonant To The Republican Theory, To Recur To The Same Original Authority, Not Only Whenever It May Be Necessary To Enlarge, Diminish, Or New-model The Powers Of The Government, But Also Whenever Any One Of The Departments May Commit Encroachments On The Chartered Authorities Of The Others.

The Danger Of Silent Accumulations & Encroachments By Ecclesiastical Bodies Have Not Sufficiently Engaged Attention In The U.s. [...] Besides The Danger Of A Direct Mixture Of Religion & Civil 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 Ecclesiastical Corporations. [...] The Establishment Of The Chaplainship To Congs. Is A Palpable Violation Of Equal Rights, As Well As Of Constitutional Principles.

We May Be Assured By Past Experience, That Such A Practice [as Some States Charging High Taxes On Goods From Other States] Would Be Introduced By Future Contrivances; And Both By That And A Common Knowledge Of Human Affairs, That It Would Nourish Unceasing Animosities, And Not Improbably Terminate In Serious Interruptions Of The Public Tranquility.

It Is The Duty Of Every Man To Render To The Creator Such Homage And Such Only As He Believes To Be Acceptable To Him. This Duty Is Precedent, Both In Order Of Time And In Degree Of Obligation, To The Claims Of Civil Society.

Who Are To Be The Electors Of The Federal Representatives? Not The Rich, More Than The Poor

Representatives

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

[r]efusing Or Not Refusing To Execute A Law To Stamp It With Its Final Character . . . Makes The Judiciary Department Paramount In Fact To The Legislature, Which Was Never Intended And Can Never Be Proper.

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

Union Of Religious Sentiments Begets A Surprising Confidence.

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

Second Amendment

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.

The Truth Was That All Men Having Power Ought To Be Distrusted To A Certain Degree.

No Power Over The Freedom Of Religion [is] Delegated To The United States By The Constitution.

Freedom Of Religion

The Danger From Legislative Usurpations, Which, By Assembling All Power In The Same Hands, Must Lead To The Same Tyranny As Is Threatened By Executive Usurpations.

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

Constitutional Convention

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.

As To The Permanent Interest Of Individuals In The Aggregated Interests Of The Community, And In The Proverbial Maxim, That Honesty Is The Best Policy, Present Temptation Is Often Found To Be An Overmatch For Those Considerations.

That Diabolical Hell Conceived Principle Of Persecution Rages Amoung Some And To Their Eternal Infamy The Clergy Can Furnish Their Quota Of Imps For Such Business.

Liberty Is To Faction What Air Is To Fire.

The Defect Of Power In The Existing Confederacy, To Regulate The Commerce Between Its Several Members Is In The Number Of Those Which Have Been Clearly Pointed Out By Experience . . . . A Very Material Object Of This Power Was The Relief Of The States Which Import And Export Through Other States From The Improper Contributions Levied On Them By The Latter.

I Flatter Myself [we] Have In This Country Extinguished Forever The Ambitious Hope Of Making Laws For The Human Mind.

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.

The Essence Of Government Is Power; And Power, Lodged As It Must Be In Human Hands, Will Ever Be Liable To Abuse.

Because We Hold It For 'a Fundamental And Undeniable Truth', That Religion Or 'the Duty Which We Owe To Our Creator' And The Manner Of Discharging It, Can Be Directed Only By Reason And Conviction, Not By Force Or Violence.

Religious Truth

I Go By The Great Republican Principle, That The People Will Have The Virtue And Intelligence To Select Men Of Virtue And Wisdom [to The Offices Of Government].

The Real Wonder Is That So Many Difficulties Should Have Been Surmounted [in The Federal Convention], And Surmounted With A Unanimity Almost As Unprecedented As It Must Have Been Unexpected. It Is Impossible For Any Man Of Candor To Reflect On This Circumstance Without Partaking Of The Astonishment. It Is Impossible For The Man Of Pious Reflection Not To Perceive In It A Finger Of That Almighty Hand Which Has Been So Frequently And Signally Extended To Our Relief In The Critical Stages Of The Revolution.

The Diversity In The Faculties Of Men, From Which The Rights Of Property Originate, Is Not Less An Insuperable Obstacle To A Uniformity Of Interests. The Protection Of These Faculties Is The First Object Of Government. From The Protection Of Different And Unequal Faculties Of Acquiring Property, The Possession Of Different Degrees And Kinds Of Property Immediately Results; And From The Influence Of These On The Sentiments And Views Of The Respective Proprietors, Ensues A Division Of The Society Into Different Interests And Parties.

The Civil Government, Though Bereft Of Every Thing Like An Associated Hierarchy, Possesses The Requisite Stability, And Performs Its Functions With Complete Success; Whilst The Number, The Industry, And The Morality Of The Priesthood, And The Devotion Of The People, Have Been Manifestly Increased By The Total Separation Of The Church From The State.

We Are Teaching The World The Great Truth That Governments Do Better Without Kings & Nobles Than With Them. The Merit Will Be Doubled By The Other Lesson That Religion Flourishes In Greater Purity, Without Than With The Aid Of Government.

In No Instance Have... The Churches Been Guardians Of The Liberties Of The People.

The Eyes Of The World Being Thus On Our Country, It Is Put The More On Its Good Behavior, And Under The Greater Obligation Also, To Do Justice To The Tree Of Liberty By An Exhibition Of The Fine Fruits We Gather From It.

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.

Landholders Ought To Have A Share In The Government To Support These Invaluable Interests And Check The Other Many. They Ought To Be So Constituted As To Protect The Minority Of The Opulent Against The Majority.

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.

For What Purpose Could The Enumeration Of Particular Powers Be Inserted, If These And All Others Were Meant To Be Included In The Preceding General Power?

Were Meant To Be

In The Latter Sense, A Man Has A Property In His Opinions And The Free Communication Of Them. He Has A Property Of Peculiar Value In His Religious Opinions, And In The Profession And Practice Dictated By Them. He Has An Equal Property In The Free Use Of His Faculties And Free Choice Of The Objects On Which To Employ Them. In A Word, As A Man Is Said To Have A Right To His Property, He May Be Equally Said To Have A Property In His Rights.

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.

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.

Resolved, That The General Assembly Of Virginia, Doth Unequivocally Express A Firm Resolution To Maintain And Defend The Constitution Of The United States, And The Constitution Of This State, Against Every Aggression Either Foreign Or Domestic, And That They Will Support The Government Of The United States In All Measures Warranted By The Former.

Is There No Virtue Among Us? If There Be Not, We Are In A Wretched Situation. No Theoretical Checks-no Form Of Government Can Render Us Secure. To Suppose That Any Form Of Government Will Secure Liberty Or Happiness Without Any Virtue In The People, Is A Chimerical Idea, If There Be Sufficient Virtue And Intelligence In The Community, It Will Be Exercised In The Selection Of These Men. So That We Do Not Depend On Their Virtue, Or Put Confidence In Our Rulers, But In The People Who Are To Choose Them.

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.

Who Does Not See That . . . The Same Authority Which Can Force A Citizen To Contribute Three Pence Only Of His Property For The Support Of Any One Establishment, May Force Him To Conform To Any Other Establishment In All Cases Whatsoever?

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

Ecclesiastical Establishments Tend To Great Ignorance And Corruption

Religious Truth

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.

In This Relation, Then, The Proposed Government Cannot Be Deemed A National One; Since Its Jurisdiction Extends To Certain Enumerated Objects Only, And Leaves To The Several States, A Residuary And Inviolable Sovereignty Over All Other Objects.

Let Me Recommend The Best Medicine In The World: A Long Journey, At A Mild Season, Through A Pleasant Country, In Easy Stages.

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.

It May Be Considered As An Objection Inherent In The Principle, That As Every Appeal To The People Would Carry An Implication Of Some Defect In The Government, Frequent Appeals Would In Great Measure Deprive The Government Of That Veneration Which Time Bestows On Every Thing, And Without Which Perhaps The Wisest And Freest Governments Would Not Possess The Requisite Stability . . . A Constitutional Road To The Decision Of The People Ought To Be Marked Out And Kept Open, For Certain Great And Extraordinary Occasions

If Our Nation Is Ever Taken Over, It Will Be Taken Over From Within.

A Bad Cause Seldom Fails To Betray Itself.

Waiving The Rights Of Conscience, Not Included In The Surrender Implied By The Social State, & More Or Less Invaded By All Religious Establishments, The Simple Question To Be Decided, Is Whether A Support Of The Best & Purest Religion, The Christian Religion Itself Ought Not, So Far At Least As Pecuniary Means Are Involved, To Be Provided For By The Government, Rather Than Be Left To The Voluntary Provisions Of Those Who Profess It.

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.

But The Most Deplorable Effect Of All, Is That Diminution Of Attachment And Reverence, Which Steals Into The Hearts Of The People, Towards A Political System Which Betrays So Many Marks Of Infirmity, And Disappoints So Many Of Their Flattering Hopes. No Government, Any More Than An Individual, Will Long Be Respected, Without Being Truly Respectable; Nor Be Truly Respectable, Without Possessing A Certain Portion Of Order And Stability.

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.

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.

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 Number, The Industry, And The Morality Of The Priesthood, And The Devotion Of The People Have Been Manifestly Increased By The Total Separation Of The Church From The State.

Conscience Is The Most Sacred Of All Property; Other Property Depending In Part On Positive Law, The Exercise Of That, Being A Natural And Unalienable Right.

Let The Influx Of Money Be Ever So Great, If There Be No Confidence, Property Will Sink In Value... The Circulation Of Confidence Is Better Than The Circulation Of Money.

[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.

It Is To The Press Mankind Are Indebted For Having Dispelled The Clouds Which So Long Encompassed Religion, For Disclosing Her Genuine Lustre, And Disseminating Her Salutary Doctrines.

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

The Constitution Supposes, What The History Of All Governments Demonstrates, That The Executive Is The Branch Of Power Most Interested In War, And Most Prone To It.

The Regulation Of Commerce, It Is True, Is A New Power; But That Seems To Be An Addition Which Few Oppose And From Which No Apprehensions Are Entertained.

Religion, Or The Duty We Owe To Our Creator, And Manner Of Discharging It, Can Be Directed Only By Reason And Conviction, Not By Force Or Violence; And, Therefore, That All Men Should Enjoy The Fullest Toleration In The Exercise Of Religion According To The Dictates Of Conscience, Unpunished And Unrestrained By The Magistrate, Unless Under Color Of Religion Any Man Disturb The Peace, The Happiness, Or Safety Of Society, And That It Is The Mutual Duty Of All To Practice Christian Forbearance, Love And Charity Toward Each Other.

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

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

Resistance To Tyranny Is Service To God.

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.

The Fetters Imposed On Liberty At Home Have Ever Been Forged Out Of The Weapons Provided For Defense Against Real, Pretended, Or Imaginary Dangers From Abroad.

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

As The Legislative, Executive, And Judicial Departments Of The United States Are Co-ordinate, And Each Equally Bound To Support The Constitution, It Follows That Each Must In The Exercise Of Its Functions Be Guided By The Text Of The Constitution According To Its Own Interpretation Of It.

The Internal Effects Of A Mutable Policy Are Still More Calamitous. It Poisons The Blessings Of Liberty Itself.

Congress Shall Have Power . . . To Promote The Progress Of Science And Useful Arts, By Securing For Limited Time To Authors And Inventors The Exclusive Right To Their Respective Writings And Discoveries.

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

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.

Whenever A Youth Is Ascertained To Possess Talents Meriting An Education Which His Parents Cannot Afford, He Should Be Carried Forward At The Public Expense.

The Constitution Proposed By The Convention May Be Considered Under Two General Points Of View. The First Relates To The Sum Or Quantity Of Power Which It Vests In The Government, Including The Restraints Imposed On The States. The Second, To The Particular Structure Of The Government, And The Distribution Of This Power Among Its Branches.

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

[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.

A Republic, By Which I Mean A Government In Which The Scheme Of Representation Takes Place, Opens A Different Prospect And Promises The Cure For Which We Are Seeking.

The Powers Of The Federal Government ... Result From The Compact To Which The States Are Parties, [and Are] Limited By The Plain Sense And Intention Of The Instrument Constituting That Compact.

And May I Not Be Allowed To ... Read In The Character Of The American People, In Their Devotion To True Liberty And To The Constitution Which Is Its Palladium [protection], ... A Government Which Watches Over ... The Equal Interdict [prohibition] Against Encroachments And Compacts Between Religion And The State.

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

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.

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

The Most That The Convention Could Do In Such A Situation, Was To Avoid The Errors Suggested By The Past Experience Of Other Countries, As Well As Of Our Own; And To Provide A Convenient Mode Of Rectifying Their Own Errors, As Future Experience May Unfold Them.

In A Free Government The Security For Civil Rights Must Be The Same As That For Religious Rights.

...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.

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.

The Powers Of The Federal Government Are Enumerated; It Can Only Operate In Certain Cases; It Has Legislative Powers On Defined And Limited Objects, Beyond Which It Cannot Extend Its Jurisdiction.

The Danger Of Disturbing The Public Tranquillity By Interesting Too Strongly The Public Passions, Is A Still More Serious Objection Against A Frequent Reference Of Constitutional Questions To The Decision Of The Whole Society.

Government Is Instituted To Protect Property Of Every Sort; As Well That Which Lies In The Various Rights Of Individuals, As That Which The Term Particularly Expresses. This Being The End Of Government, That Alone Is A Just Government Which Impartially Secures To Every Man Whatever Is His Own.

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. The Former Will Be Exercised Principally On External Objects, As War, Peace, Negotiation And Foreign Commerce. ... The Powers Reserved To The Several States Will Extend To All The Objects Which In The Ordinary Course Of Affairs, Concern The Lives And Liberties, And Properties Of The People, And The Internal Order, Improvement And Prosperity Of The State.

It Is In Vain To Oppose Constitutional Barriers To The Impulse Of Self-preservation. It Is Worse Than In Vain; Because It Plants In The Constitution Itself Necessary Usurpations Of Power, Every Precedent Of Which Is A Germ Of Unnecessary And Multiplied Repetitions.

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

It Is A Misfortune, Inseparable From Human Affairs, That Public Measures Are Rarely Investigated With That Spirit Of Moderation Which Is Essential To A Just Estimate Of Their Real Tendency To Advance Or Obstruct The Public Good; And That This Spirit Is More Apt To Be Diminished Than Prompted, By Those Occasions Which Require An Unusual Exercise Of It.

The Safety And Happiness Of Society Are The Objects At Which All Political Institutions Aim, And To Which All Such Institutions Must Be Sacrificed.

I Believe There Are More Instances Of The Abridgement Of Freedom Of The People By Gradual And Silent Encroachments By Those In Power Than By Violent And Sudden Usurpations.

The Constitution Of The U.s. Forbids Everything Like An Establishment Of A National Religion.

Founding Fathers Religion

The Strongest Passions And Most Dangerous Weaknesses Of The Human Breast; Ambition, Avarice, Vanity, The Honorable Or Venal Love Of Fame, Are All In Conspiracy Against The Desire And Duty Of Peace.

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

If Tyranny And Oppression Come To This Land, It Will Be In The Guise Of Fighting A Foreign Enemy.

The Nation Which Reposes On The Pillow Of Political Confidence, Will Sooner Or Later End Its Political Existence In A Deadly Lethargy.

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?

Armies, And Debts, And Taxes Are The Known Instruments For Bringing The Many Under The Domination Of The Few.

Where An Excess Of Power Prevails, Property Of No Sort Is Duly Respected. No Man Is Safe In His Opinions, His Person, His Faculties, Or His Possessions.

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.

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.

A Local Spirit Will Infallibly Prevail Much More In The Members Of Congress Than A National Spirit Will Prevail In The Legislatures Of The Particular States.

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

Besides The Advantage Of Being Armed, Which The Americans Possess Over The People Of Almost Every Other Nation.... Notwithstanding The Military Establishments In The Several Kingdoms Of Europe, Which Are Carried As Far As The Public Resources Will Bear, The Governments Are Afraid To Trust The People With Arms.

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

If It Be Asked What Is To Restrain The House Of Representatives From Making Legal Discriminations In Favor Of Themselves And A Particular Class Of The Society? I Answer, The Genius Of The Whole System, The Nature Of Just And Constitutional Laws, And Above All The Vigilant And Manly Spirit Which Actuates The People Of America, A Spirit Which Nourishes Freedom, And In Return Is Nourished By It.

I Own Myself The Friend To A Very Free System Of Commerce, And Hold It As A Truth, That Commercial Shackles Are Generally Unjust, Oppressive And Impolitic - It Is Also A Truth, That If Industry And Labour Are Left To Take Their Own Course, They Will Generally Be Directed To Those Objects Which Are The Most Productive, And This In A More Certain And Direct Manner Than The Wisdom Of The Most Enlightened Legislature Could Point Out.

Since It Is Impossible For The People Spontaneously And Universally, To Move In Concert Towards Their Object; And It Is Therefore Essential, That Such Changes Be Instituted By Some Informal And Unauthorized Propositions, Made By Some Patriotic And Respectable Citizen Or Number Of Citizens.

Precedents Once Established Are So Much Positive Power.

The Civil Rights Of None, Shall Be Abridged On Account Of Religious Belief Or Worship, Nor Shall Any National Religion Be Established, Nor Shall The Full And Equal Rights Of Conscience Be In Any Manner, Or On Any Pretext Infringed.

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

[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.

I Consider It…as Subverting The Fundamental And Characteristic Principle Of The Government…and As Bidding Defiance To The Sense In Which The Constitution Is Known To Have Been Proposed, Advocated, And Adopted. 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.

Democracies Have Been Found Incompatible With Personal Security Or The Rights Of Property; And In General Been As Short In Their Lives As They Have Been Violent In Their Death.

Democracies Have

The Important Distinction So Well Understood In America Between A Constitution Established By The People, And Unalterable By The Government; And A Law Established By The Government, And Alterable By The Government, Seems To Have Been Little Understood And Less Observed In Any Other Country. Wherever The Supreme Power Of Legislation Has Resided, Has Been Supposed To Reside Also, A Full Power To Change The Form Of Government.

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

In The Extent And Proper Structure Of The Union, Therefore, We Behold A Republican Remedy For The Disease Incident To Republican Government.

War Contains So Much Folly, As Well As Wickedness, That Much Is To Be Hoped From The Progress Of Reason.

The Best Reason To Be Assigned, In This Case, For Not Having Made The Constitution More Free From A Charge Of Uncertainty In Its Meaning, Is Believed To Be, That It Was Not Suspected That Any Such Charge Would Ever Take Place; And It Appears That No Such Charge Did Take Place, During The Early Period Of The Constitution, When The Meaning Of Its Authors Could Be Best Ascertained, Nor Until Many Of The Contemporary Lights Had In The Lapse Of Time Been Extinguished. How Often Does It Happen, That A Notoriety Of Intention Diminishes The Caution Against Its Being Misunderstood Or Doubted!

Is It Not The Glory Of The People Of America, That Whilst They Have Paid A Decent Regard To The Opinions Of Former Times And Other Nations, They Have Not Suffered A Blind Veneration For Antiquity, For Custom, Or For Names, To Overrule The Suggestions Of Their Own Good Sense, The Knowledge Of Their Own Situation, And The Lessons Of Their Own Experience? To This Manly Spirit, Posterity Will Be Indebted For The Possession, And The World For The Example Of The Numerous Innovations Displayed On The American Theatre, In Favor Of Private Rights And Public Happiness.

The Rights Of Persons, And The Rights Of Property, Are The Objects, For The Protection Of Which Government Was Instituted.

Government Destitute Of Energy, Will Ever Produce Anarchy.

Any Reading Not Of A Vicious Species Must Be A Good Substitute For The Amusements Too Apt To Fill Up The Leisure Of The Labouring Classes.

[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.

I Wish Not To Be Regarded As An Advocate For The Particular Organizations Of The Several State Governments . . . They Carry Strong Marks Of The Haste, And Still Stronger Marks Of The Inexperience, Under Which They Were Framed.

It Is A Melancholy Reflection That Liberty Should Be Equally Exposed To Danger Whether The Government Have Too Much Power Or Too Little Power And That The Line Which Divides These Extremes Should Be So Inaccurately Defined By Experience.

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.

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?

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

Democracy Was The Right Of The People To Choose Their Own Tyrant.

Every Answer He [president John Adams] Gives To His Addressers Unmasks More And More His Principles And Views. His Language To The Young Men At Philadelphia Is The Most Abominable And Degrading That Could Fall From The Lips Of The First Magistrate Of An Independent People, And Particularly From A Revolutionary Patriot.

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.

The Rich Man, When Contributing To A Permanent Plan For The Education Of The Poor, Ought To Reflect That He Is Providing For That Of His Own Descendants; And The Poor Man Who Concurs In A Provision For Those Who Are Not Poor That At No Distant Day It May Be Enjoyed By Descendants From Himself. It Does Not Require A Long Life To Witness These Vicissitudes Of Fortune.

The Best Service That Can Be Rendered To A Country, Next To That Of Giving It Liberty, Is In Diffusing The Mental Improvement Equally Essential To The Preservation, And The Enjoyment Of The Blessing.

The Settled Opinion Here Is That Religion Is Essentially Distinct From Civil Govt. And Exempt From Its Cognizance; That A Connection Between Them Is Injurious To Both.

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

If Men Were Angels, There Would Be No Need Of Government.

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.

On The Distinctive Principles Of The Government ... Of The U. States, The Best Guides Are To Be Found In ... The Declaration Of Independence, As The Fundamental Act Of Union Of These States.

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.

Money Cannot Be Applied To The *general Welfare*, Otherwise Than By An Application Of It To Some *particular* Measure Conducive To The General Welfare. Whenever, Therefore, Money Has Been Raised By The General Authority, And Is To Be Applied To A Particular Measure, A Question Arises Whether The Particular Measure Be Within The Enumerated Authorities Vested In Congress. If It Be, The Money Requisite For It May Be Applied To It; If It Be Not, No Such Application Can Be Made.

Because Finally, 'the Equal Right Of Every Citizen To The Free Exercise Of His Religion According To The Dictates Of Conscience' Is Held By The Same Tenure With All His Other Rights. If We Recur To Its Origin, It Is Equally The Gift Of Nature; If We Weigh Its Importance, It Cannot Be Less Dear To Us; If We Consider The 'declaration Of Those Rights Which Pertain To The Good People Of Virginia, As The Basis And Foundation Of Government,' It Is Enumerated With Equal Solemnity, Or Rather Studied Emphasis.

Disarm The People- That Is The Best And Most Effective Way To Enslave Them.

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

It Is Too Early For Politicians To Presume On Our Forgetting That The Public Good, The Real Welfare Of The Great Body Of The People, Is The Supreme Object To Be Pursued; And That No Form Of Government Whatever Has Any Other Value Than As It May Be Fitted For The Attainment Of This Object.

I Own Myself The Friend To A Very Free System Of Commerce, And Hold It As A Truth, That Commercial Shackles Are Generally Unjust, Oppressive And Impolitic.

That The Foundation Of Our National Policy Should Be Laid In Private Morality. If Individuals Be Not Influenced By Moral Principles, It Is In Vain To Look For Public Virtue; It Is, Therefore, The Duty Of Legislators To Enforce, Both By Precept And Example, The Utility, As Well As The Necessity, Of A Strict Adherence To The Rules Of Distributive Justice.

Congress Should Not Establish A Religion, And Enforce The Legal Observation Of It By Law, Nor Compel Men To Worship God In Any Manner Contrary To Their Conscience.

No Government, Any More Than An Individual, Will Long Be Respected Without Being Truly Respectable; Nor Be Truly Respectable, Without Possessing A Certain Portion Of Order And Stability.

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