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The Local Interest Of A State Ought In Every Case To Give Way To The Interests Of The Union. For When A Sacrifice Of One Or The Other Is Necessary, The Former Becomes Only An Apparent, Partial Interest, And Should Yield, On The Principle That The Smaller Good Ought Never To Oppose The Greater Good.

-Alexander Hamilton

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The Local Interest Of

Alexander Hamilton

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The Local Interest Of A State Ought In Every Case To Give Way To The Interests Of The Union. For When A Sacrifice Of One Or The Other Is Necessary, The Former Becomes Only An Apparent, Partial Interest, And Should Yield, On The Principle That The Smaller Good Ought Never To Oppose The Greater Good.

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The Principal Purposes To Be Answered By Union Are These The Common Defense Of The Members; The Preservation Of The Public Peace As Well Against Internal Convulsions As External Attacks; The Regulation Of Commerce With Other Nations And Between The States; The Superintendence Of Our Intercourse, Political And Commercial, With Foreign Countries.

Industry Is Increased, Commodities Are Multiplied, Agriculture And Manufacturers Flourish: And Herein Consists The True Wealth And Prosperity Of A State.

The Practice Of Arbitrary Imprisonments Have Been, In All Ages, The Favorite And Most Formidable Instruments Of Tyranny.

I Have Carefully Examined The Evidences Of The Christian Religion, And If I Was Sitting As A Juror Upon Its Authenticity I Would Unhesitatingly Give My Verdict In Its Favor. I Can Prove Its Truth As Clearly As Any Proposition Ever Submitted To The Mind Of Man.

That Instability Is Inherent In The Nature Of Popular Governments, I Think Very Disputable … A Representative Democracy, Where The Right Of Election Is Well Secured And Regulated & The Exercise Of The Legislature, Executive, And Judiciary Authorities, Is Vested In Select Persons, Chosen Really And Not Nominally By The People, Will In My Opinion Be Most Likely To Be Happy, Regular And Durable.

Constitutions Should Consist Only Of General Provisions; The Reason Is That They Must Necessarily Be Permanent, And That They Cannot Calculate For The Possible Change Of Things.

Constitution Of The United States

In The Main It Will Be Found That A Power Over A Man's Support [salary] Is A Power Over His Will.

Every Individual Of The Community At Large Has An Equal Right To The Protection Of Government.

Man Is Either Governed By His Own Laws - Freedom - Or The Laws Of Another - Slavery. Are You Willing To Become Slaves? Will You Give Up Your Freedom, Your Life And Your Property Without A Single Struggle? No Man Has A Right To Rule Over His Fellow Creatures.

Were Not The Disadvantages Of Slavery Too Obvious To Stand In Need Of It, I Might Enumerate And Describe The Tedious Train Of Calamities Inseparable From It. I Might Show That It Is Fatal To Religion And Morality; That It Tends To Debase The Mind, And Corrupt Its Noblest Springs Of Action. I Might Show That It Relaxes The Sinews Of Industry, Clips The Wings Of Commerce, And Introduces Misery And Indigence In Every Shape.

The Circumstances That Endanger The Safety Of Nations Are Infinite, And For This Reason No Constitutional Shackles Can Wisely Be Imposed On The Power To Which The Care Of It Is Committed.

If Government Is In The Hands Of The Few, They Will Tyrannize The Many; If In The Hands Of The Many, They Will Tyrannize Over The Few. It Ought To Be In The Hands Of Both, And Be Separated...they Will Need A Mutual Check. This Check Is A Monarch.

It Is A Just Observation That The People Commonly Intend The Public Good. This Often Applies To Their Very Errors. But Their Good Sense Would Despise The Adulator Who Should Pretend They Always Reason Right About The Means Of Promoting It.

The Courts Must Declare The Sense Of The Law; And If They Should Be Disposed To Exercise Will Instead Of Judgement; The Consequences Would Be The Substitution Of Their Pleasure For That Of The Legislative Body.

War, Like Most Other Things, Is A Science To Be Acquired And Perfected By Diligence, By Perserverance, By Time, And By Practice.

The Only Distinction Between Freedom And Slavery Consists In This: In The Former State A Man Is Governed By The Laws To Which He Has Given His Consent, Either In Person Or By His Representative; In The Latter, He Is Governed By The Will Of Another. In The One Case, His Life And Property Are His Own; In The Other, They Depend Upon The Pleasure Of His Master. It Is Easy To Discern Which Of These Two States Is Preferable.

The Natural Cure For An Ill-administration, In A Popular Or Representative Constitution, Is A Change Of Men.

[t]he Constitution Ought To Be The Standard Of Construction For The Laws, And That Wherever There Is An Evident Opposition, The Laws Ought To Give Place To The Constitution. But This Doctrine Is Not Deducible From Any Circumstance Peculiar To The Plan Of Convention, But From The General Theory Of A Limited Constitution.

For My Part, I Sincerely Esteem The Constitution, A System Which Without The Finger Of God, Never Could Have Been Suggested And Agreed Upon By Such A Diversity Of Interests.

We Are Now Forming A Republican Government. Real Liberty Is Never Found In Despotism Or The Extremes Of Democracy, But In Moderate Governments.

Divide Et Impera Must Be The Motto Of Every Nation That Either Hates Or Fears Us.

A Powerful, Victorious Ally Is Yet Another Name For Master.

[t]he Present Constitution Is The Standard To Which We Are To Cling. Under Its Banners, Bona Fide Must We Combat Our Political Foes - Rejecting All Changes But Through The Channel Itself Provides For Amendments.

Establish That A Government May Decline A Provision For Its Debts, Though Able To Make It, And You Overthrow All Public Morality, You Unhinge All The Principles That Must Preserve The Limits Of Free Constitutions.

[t]hough Individual Oppression May Now And Then Proceed Fro The Courts Of Justice, The General Liberty Of The People Can Never Be Endangered From That Quarter . . .

The Christian Constitutional Society, Its Object Is First: The Support Of The Christian Religion. Second: The Support Of The United States.

The Standard Of Good Behavior For The Continuance In Office Of The Judicial Magistracy Is Certainly One Of The Most Valuable Of The Modern Improvements In The Practice Of Government.

The True Principle Of Government Is This - Make The System Compleat In Its Structure; Give A Perfect Proportion And Balance To Its Parts; And The Powers You Give It Will Never Affect Your Security.

The History Of Human Conduct Does Not Warrant That Exalted Opinion Of Human Virtue Which Would Make It Wise In A Nation To Commit Interests Of So Delicate And Momentous A Kind As Those Which Concern Its Intercourse With The Rest Of The World, To The Sole Disposal Of A Magistrate, Created And Circumstanced, As Would Be A President Of The United States.

As Riches Increase And Accumulate In Few Hands . . . The Tendency Of Things Will Be To Depart From The Republican Standard.

There Are Still To Be Found Visionary Or Designing Men, Who Stand Ready To Advocate The Paradox Of Perpetual Peace Between The States, Though Dismembered And Alienated From Each Other.... The Genius Of Republics, Say They, Is Pacific; The Spirit Of Commerce Has A Tendency To Soften The Manners Of Men, And To Extinguish Those Inflammable Humours Which Have So Often Kindled Into Wars. Commercial Republics, Like Ours, Will Never Be Disposed To Waste Themselves In Ruinous Contentions With Each Other. They Will Be Governed By Mutual Interest, And Will Cultivate A Spirit Of Mutual Amity And Concord.

Mutual Interest

There Can Be No Time, No State Of Things, In Which Credit Is Not Essential To A Nation.

Experience Is The Oracle Of Truth; And Where Its Responses Are Unequivocal, They Ought To Be Conclusive And Sacred.

There Are Men Who Could Neither Be Distressed Nor Won Into A Sacrifice Of Their Duty; But This Stern Virtue Is The Growth Of Few Soils: And In The Main It Will Be Found, That A Power Over A Man's Support Is A Power Over His Will.

The Best We Can Hope For Concerning The People At Large Is That They Be Properly Armed.

Responsibility, In Order To Be Reasonable, Must Be Limited To Objects Within The Power Of The Responsible Party, And In Order To Be Effectual, Must Relate To Operations Of That Power, Of Which A Ready And Proper Judgment Can Be Formed By The Constituents.

[v]igor Of Government Is Essential To The Security Of Liberty.

What Is The Most Sacred Duty And The Greatest Source Of Our Security In A Republic? An Inviolable Respect For The Constitution And Laws.

A Promise Must Never Be Broken.

It Is One Thing To Be Subordinate To The Laws, And Another [for The Executive] To Be Dependent On The Legislative Body. The First Comports With, The Last Violates, The Fundamental Principles Of Good Government; And, Whatever May Be The Forms Of The Constitution, Unites All Power In The Same Hands.

There Is At This Present Juncture, A Certain Fermentation Of Mind, A Certain Activity Of Speculation And Enterprise Which If Properly Directed May Be Made Subservient To Useful Purposes; But Which If Left Entirely To Itself, May Be Attended With Pernicious Effects.

The Administration Of Private Justice Between The Citizens Of The Same State, The Supervision Of Agriculture And Of Other Concerns Of A Similar Nature, All Those Things In Short Which Are Proper To Be Provided For By Local Legislation, Can Never Be Desirable Cares Of A General Jurisdiction . . . The Attempt To Exercise These Powers Would Be As Troublesome As It Would Be Nugatory; And The Possession Of Them, For That Reason, Would Contribute Nothing To The Dignity, To The Importance, Or To The Splendour Of The National Government.

To Answer The Purpose Of The Adversaries Of The Constitution, They Ought To Prove, Not Merely That Particular Provisions In It Are Not The Best, Which Might Have Been Imagined; But That The Plan Upon The Whole Is Bad And Pernicious.

Man Is Very Much A Creature Of Habit. A Thing That Rarely Strikes His Senses Will Generally Have But Little Influence Upon His Mind. A Government Continually At A Distance And Out Of Sight, Can Hardly Be Expected To Interest The Sensations Of The People. The Inference Is, That The Authority Of The Union, And The Affections Of The Citizens Towards It, Will Be Strengthened Rather Than Weakened By Its Extension To What Are Called Matters Of Internal Concern.

No Person That Has Enjoyed The Sweets Of Liberty Can Be Insensible Of Its Infinite Value, Or Can Reflect On Its Reverse Without Horror And Detestation

Ambition Without Principle Never Was Long Under The Guidance Of Good Sense.

The Power Of Creating New Funds Upon New Objects Of Taxation, By Its Own Authority, Would Enable The National Government To Borrow As Far As Its Necessities Might Require.

It Is An Unquestionable Truth, That The Body Of The People In Every Country Desire Sincerely Its Prosperity. But It Is Equally Unquestionable That They Do Not Possess The Discernment And Stability Necessary For Systematic Government. To Deny That They Are Frequently Led Into The Grossest Of Errors, By Misinformation And Passion, Would Be A Flattery Which Their Own Good Sense Must Despise.

The Multitude . . . Have Not A Sufficient Stock Of Reason And Knowledge To Guide Them. . . . It Is Not Safe To Trust To The Virtue Of Any People.

By Multiplying The Means Of Gratification, By Promoting The Introduction And Circulation Of The Precious Metals, Those Darling Objects Of Human Avarice And Enterprise, It Serves To Vivify And Invigorate The Channels Of Industry, And To Make Them Flow With Greater Activity And Copiousness. The Assiduous Merchant, The Laborious Husbandman, The Active Mechanic, And The Industrious Manufacturer,-all Orders Of Men, Look Forward With Eager Expectation And Growing Alacrity To This Pleasing Reward Of Their Toils.

As You Sometimes Swear By Him That Made You, I Conclude Your Sentiments Do Not Correspond With His, In That Which Is The Basis Of The Doctrine You Both Agree In: And This Makes It Impossible To Imagine Whence This Congruity Between You Arises. "to Grant That There Is A Supreme Intelligence Who Rules The World And Has Established Laws To Regulate The Actions Of His Creatures; And Still To Assert That Man, In A State Of Nature, May Be Considered As Perfectly Free From All Restraints Of Law And Government, Appears To A Common Understanding Altogether Irreconcilable.

What Plan For The Regulation Of The Militia May Be Pursued By The National Government Is Impossible To Be Foreseen...the Project Of Disciplining All The Militia Of The United States Is As Futile As It Would Be Injurious If It Were Capable Of Being Carried Into Execution... Little More Can Reasonably Be Aimed At With The Respect To The People At Large Than To Have Them Properly Armed And Equipped ; And In Order To See That This Be Not Neglected, It Will Be Necessary To Assemble Them Once Or Twice In The Course Of A Year.

Manufacturing Establishments Not Only Occasion A Positive Augmentation Of The Produce And Revenue Of The Society . . . They Contribute Essentially To Rendering Them Greater Than They Could Possibly Be, Without Such Establishments. These Circumstances Are . . . Greater Scope For The Diversity Of Talents And Dispositions Which Discriminate Men From Each Other.

But The Greatest Obstacle Of All To The Successful Prosecution Of A New Branch Of Industry In A Country, In Which It Was Before Unknown, Consists . . . In The Bounties, Premiums, And Other Aids Which Are Granted, In A Variety Of Cases, By The Nations, In Which The Establishments To Be Imitated Are Previously Introduced.

The Laws Of Congress Are Restricted To A Certain Sphere, And When They Depart From This Sphere, They Are No Longer Supreme Or Binding.

That Experience Is The Parent Of Wisdom Is An Adage The Truth Of Which Is Recognized By The Wisest As Well As The Simplest Of Mankind.

[imeachable Conduct Is] Misconduct By Public Men, Or, In Other Words, From The Abuse Or Violation Of Some Public Trust.

The Idea Of Governing At All Times By The Simple Force Of Law (which We Have Been Told Is The Only Admissible Principle Of Republican Government) Has No Place But In The Reveries Of Those Political Doctors Whose Sagacity Disdains The Admonitions Of Experimental Instruction.

Effective Resistance To Usurpers Is Possible Only Provided The Citizens Understand Their Rights And Are Disposed To Defend Them.

The Prosecution [of Impeachments], Will Seldom Fail To Agitate The Passions Of The Whole Community, And To Divide It Into Parties More Or Less Friendly Or Inimical To The Accused. The Subjects Of Its Jurisdiction Are Those Offenses Which Proceed From The Misconduct Of Public Men, Or, In Other Words, From The Abuse Or Violation Of Some Public Trust, And They Relate Chiefly To Injuries Done Immediately To The Society Itself.

The Institution Of Delegated Power Implies That There Is A Portion Of Virtue And Honor Among Mankind Which May Be A Reasonable Foundation Of Confidence.

To Look For A Continuation In Harmony Between A Number Of Independent Unconnected Sovereignties, Situated In The Same Neighborhood, Would Be To Disregard The Uniform Course Of Human Events, And To Set At Defiance The Accumulated Experience Of Ages.

We Must Make The Best Of Those Ills Which Cannot Be Avoided.

The Citizens Of America Have Too Much Discernment To Be Argued Into Anarchy. And I Am Much Mistaken, If Experience Has Not Wrought A Deep And Solemn Conviction In The Public Mind, That Greater Energy Of Government Is Essential To The Welfare And Prosperity Of The Community

If There Are Such Things As Political Axioms, The Propriety Of The Judicial Power Of A Government Being Co-extensive With Its Legislative, May Be Ranked Among The Number.

Every Power Vested In A Government Is In Its Nature Sovereign, And Includes By Force Of The Term A Right To Employ All The Means Requisite . . . To The Attainment Of The Ends Of Such Power.

It Has Been Observed That A Pure Democracy If It Were Practicable Would Be The Most Perfect Government. Experience Has Proved That No Position Is More False Than This. The Ancient Democracies In Which The People Themselves Deliberated Never Possessed One Good Feature Of Government. Their Very Character Was Tyranny; Their Figure Deformity.

Democracies Have

The History Of Ancient And Modern Republics Had Taught Them That Many Of The Evils Which Those Republics Suffered Arose From The Want Of A Certain Balance, And That Mutual Control Indispensable To A Wise Administration. They Were Convinced That Popular Assemblies Are Frequently Misguided By Ignorance, By Sudden Impulses, And The Intrigues Of Ambitious Men; And That Some Firm Barrier Against These Operations Was Necessary. They, Therefore, Instituted Your Senate.

The Inquiry Constantly Is What Will Please, Not What Will Benefit The People. In Such A Government There Can Be Nothing But Temporary Expedient, Fickleness, And Folly.

Is It Not Time To Awake From The Deceitful Dream Of A Golden Age, And To Adopt As A Practical Maxim For The Direction Of Our Political Conduct, That We, As Well As The Other Inhabitants Of The Globe, Are Yet Remote From The Happy Empire Of Perfect Wisdom And Perfect Virtue?

Constitutions Of Civil Government Are Not To Be Framed Upon A Calculation Of Existing Exigencies, But Upon A Combination Of These With The Probable Exigencies Of Ages, According To The Natural And Tried Course Of Human Affairs. Nothing, Therefore, Can Be More Fallacious Than To Infer The Extent Of Any Power, Proper To Be Lodged In The National Government, From An Estimate Of Its Immediate Necessities.

To Attach Full Confidence To An Institution Of This Nature, It Appears To Be An Essential Ingredient In Its Structure, That It Shall Be Under Private And Not A Public Direction-under The Guidance Of Individual Interest, Not Of Public Policy; Which, Would Be . . . Liable To Being Too Much Influenced By Public Necessity.

To Cherish And Stimulate The Activity Of The Human Mind, By Multiplying The Objects Of Enterprise, Is Not Among The Least Considerable Of The Expedients, By Which The Wealth Of A Nation May Be Promoted. Even Things In Themselves Not Positively Advantageous, Sometimes Become So, By Their Tendency To Provoke Exertion. Every New Scene, Which Is Opened To The Busy Nature Of Man To Rouse And Exert Itself, Is The Addition Of A New Energy To The General Stock Of Effort.

Happy Will It Be For Ourselves, And Most Honorable For Human Nature, If We Have Wisdom And Virtue Enough To Set So Glorious An Example To Mankind!

The People Alone Have An Incontestable, Unalienable, And Indefeasible Right To Institute Government And To Reform, Alter, Or Totally Change The Same When Their Protection, Safety, Prosperity, And Happiness Require It.

One Great Error Is That We Suppose Mankind More Honest Than They Are.

To Presume A Want Of Motives For Such Contests . . . Would Be To Forget That Men Are Ambitious, Vindictive, And Rapacious.

As To Religion A Moderate Stock Will Satisfy Me. She Must Believe In God And Hate A Saint.

The Love For Our Native Land Strengthens Our Individual And National Character.

Its Objects Are Contracts With Foreign Nations Which Have The Force Of Law, But Derive It From The Obligations Of Good Faith.

Experience Teaches, That Men Are Often So Much Governed By What They Are Accustomed To See And Practice, That The Simplest And Most Obvious Improvements . . . Are Adopted With Hesitation, Reluctance, And Slow Gradations.

Some Reasonable Term Ought To Be Allowed To Enable Aliens To Get Rid Of Foreign And Acquire American Attachments; To Learn The Principles And Imbibe The Spirit Of Our Government; And To Admit Of A Probability At Least, Of Their Feeling A Real Interest In Our Affairs.

The Civil Jury Is A Valuable Safeguard To Liberty.

Law Is Defined To Be A Rule Of Action; But How Can That Be A Rule, Which Is Little Known And Less Fixed?

I Have Thought It My Duty To Exhibit Things As They Are, Not As They Ought To Be.

There Are Respectable Individuals, Who From A Just Aversion To An Accumulation Of Public Debt, Are Unwilling To Concede To It Any Kind Of Utility, Who Can Discern No Good To Alleviate The Ill With Which They Suppose It Pregnant; Who Cannot Be Persuaded That It Ought In Any Sense To Be Viewed As An Increase Of Capital Lest It Should Be Inferred, That The More Debt The More Capital, The Greater The Burthens The Greater The Blessings Of The Community.

Common Interest May Always Be Reckoned Upon As The Surest Bond Of Sympathy.

If The Federal Government Should Overpass The Just Bounds Of Its Authority And Make A Tyrannical Use Of Its Powers, The People, Whose Creature It Is, Must Appeal To The Standard They Have Formed, And Take Such Measures To Redress The Injury Done To The Constitution As The Exigency May Suggest And Prudence Justify.

No Character, However Upright, Is A Match For Constantly Reiterated Attacks, However False.

Human Condition

If It Be Said That The Legislative Body Are Themselves The Constitutional Judges Of Their Own Powers, And That The Construction They Put Upon Them Is Conclusive Upon The Other Departments, It May Be Answered, That This Cannot Be The Natural Presumption, Where It Is Not Be Collected From Any Particular Provisions In The Constitution.

The Deliberative Sense Of The Community Should Govern.

After An Unequivocal Experience Of The Inefficacy Of The Subsisting Federal Government, You Are Called Upon To Deliberate On A New Constitution For The United States Of America.

It Will Follow That That Government Ought To Be Clothed With All Powers Requisite To Complete Execution Of Its Trust.

The Truth Is, After All The Declamations We Have Heard, That The Constitution Is Itself, In Every Rational Sense, And To Every Useful Purpose, A Bill Of Rights.

Great Ambition, Unchecked By Principle, Or The Love Of Glory, Is An Unruly Tyrant.

It Is The Advertiser Who Provides The Paper For The Subscriber. It Is Not To Be Disputed, That The Publisher Of A Newspaper In This Country, Without A Very Exhaustive Advertising Support, Would Receive Less Reward For His Labor Than The Humblest Mechanic.

Would There Not Be The Greatest Reason To Apprehend, That Error In The First Sentence Would Be The Parent Of Error In The Second Sentence? That The Strong Bias Of One Decision Would Be Apt To Overrule The Influence Of Any New Lights, Which Might Be Brought To Vary The Complexion Of Another Decision? Those, Who Know Any Thing Of Human Nature, Will Not Hesitate To Answer These Questions In The Affirmative.

It Is Impossible Not To Bestow The Imputation Of Deliberate Imposture And Deception Upon The Gross Pretense Of A Similitude Between A King Of Great Britain And A Magistrate Of The Character Marked Out For That Of The President Of The United States. It Is Still More Impossible To Withhold That Imputation From The Rash And Barefaced Expedients Which Have Been Employed To Give Success To The Attempted Imposition.

Measures Which Serve To Abridge The Free Competition Of Foreign Articles, Have A Tendency To Occasion An Enhancement Of Prices.

If Mankind Were To Resolve To Agree In No Institution Of Government, Until Every Part Of It Had Been Adjusted To The Most Exact Standard Of Perfection, Society Would Soon Become A General Scene Of Anarchy, And The World A Desert.

To Cherish And Stimulate The Activity Of The Human Mind, By Multiplying The Objects Of Enterprise, Is Not Among The Least Considerable Of The Expedients, By Which The Wealth Of A Nation May Be Promoted.

A National Debt If It Is Not Excessive Will Be To Us A National Blessing; It Will Be Powerfull Cement Of Our Union. It Will Also Create A Necessity For Keeping Up Taxation To A Degree Which Without Being Oppressive, Will Be A Spur To Industry.

There Is One Transcendant Advantage Belonging To The Province Of The State Governments . . . -i Mean The Ordinary Administration Of Criminal And Civil Justice.

They Are Not Rules Prescribed By The Sovereign To The Subject, But Agreements Between Sovereign And Sovereign.

The Powers Contained In A Constitution...ought To Be Construed Liberally In Advancement Of The Public Good.

[h]owever Weak Our Country May Be, I Hope We Shall Never Sacrifice Our Liberties.

The Experience Of Treaties Being Broken With Impunity Provide An Afflicting Lesson To Mankind How Little Dependence Is To Be Placed On Treaties Which Have No Other Sanction Than The Obligations Of Good Faith; And Which Oppose General Considerations Of Peace And Justice To The Impulse Of Any Immediate Interest And Passion.

If The Representatives Of The People Betray Their Constituents, There Is Then No Recourse Left But In The Exertion Of That Original Right Of Self-defense Which Is Paramount To All Positive Forms Of Government.

The Experience Of Past Ages May Inform Us, That When The Circumstances Of A People Render Them Distressed, Their Rulers Generally Recur To Severe, Cruel, And Oppressive Measures. Instead Of Endeavoring To Establish Their Authority In The Affection Of Their Subjects, They Think They Have No Security But In Their Fear.

The Regular Distribution Of Power Into Distinct Departments; The Introduction Of Legislative Balances And Checks; The Institution Of Courts Composed Of Judges Holding Their Offices During Good Behavior; The Representation Of The People In The Legislature By Deputies Of Their Own Election . . . They Are Means, And Powerful Means, By Which The Excellences Of Republican Government May Be Retained And Its Imperfections Lessened Or Avoided.

Distribution Of Power

The Genius Of The People Will Ill Brook The Inquisitive And Peremptory Spirit Of Excise Laws.

This Process Of Election Affords A Moral Certainty That The Office Of President Will Seldom Fall To The Lot Of Any Many Who Is Not In An Eminent Degree Endowed With The Requisite Qualifications.

It Will Be Well To Advert To The Proportion Between The Objects That Will Require A Federal Provision In Respect To Revenue; And Those Which Will Require A State Provision. We Shall Discover That The Former Are Altogether Unlimited; And That The Latter Are Circumscribed Within Very Moderate Bounds.

To Attempt To Enumerate The Complicated Variety Of Mischiefs In The Whole System Of The Social Economy, Which Proceed From A Neglect Of The Maxims That Uphold Public Credit, And Justify The Solicitude Manifested By The House On This Point, Would Be An Improper Intrusion On Their Time And Patience.

Let Us Recollect That Peace Or War Will Not Always Be Left To Our Option; That However Moderate Or Unambitious We May Be, We Cannot Count Upon The Moderation, Or Hope To Extinguish The Ambition Of Others.

Let Americans Disdain To Be The Instruments Of European Greatness! Let The Thirteen States, Bound Together In A Strict And Indissoluble Union, Concur In Erecting One Great American System, Superior To The Control Of All Transatlantic Force Or Influence, And Able To Dictate The Terms Of The Connection Between The Old And The New World!

It Has Been Frequently Remarked, That It Seems To Have Been Reserved To The People Of This Country To Decide, By Their Conduct And Example, The Important Question, Whether Societies Of Men Are Really Capable Or Not, Of Establishing Good Government From Reflection And Choice, Or Whether They Are Forever Destined To Depend, For Their Political Constitutions, On Accident And Force.

Though A Wide Ocean Separates The United States From Europe, Yet There Are Various Considerations That Warn Us Against An Excess Of Confidence Or Security.

But Though A Funded Debt Is Not In The First Instance, An Absolute Increase Of Capital, Or An Augmentation Of Real Wealth; Yet By Serving As A New Power In The Operation Of Industry, It Has Within Certain Bounds A Tendency To Increase The Real Wealth Of A Community, In Like Manner As Money Borrowed By A Thrifty Farmer, To Be Laid Out In The Improvement Of His Farm May, In The End, Add To His Stock Of Real Riches.

States, Like Individuals, Who Observe Their Engagements, Are Respected And Trusted: While The Reverse Is The Fate Of Those Who Pursue An Opposite Conduct.

The Idea Of Restraining The Legislative Authority, In The Means Of Providing For The National Defense, Is One Of Those Refinements Which Owe Their Origin To A Zeal For Liberty More Ardent Than Enlightened.

The Rights Of Neutrality Will Only Be Respected When They Are Defended By An Adequate Power. A Nation, Despicable By Its Weakness, Forfeits Even The Privilege Of Being Neutral.

It May Safely Be Received As An Axiom In Our Political System, That The State Governments Will In All Possible Contingencies Afford Complete Security Against Invasions Of The Public Liberty By The National Authority.

The State Governments Possess Inherent Advantages, Which Will Ever Give Them An Influence And Ascendancy Over The National Government, And Will For Ever Preclude The Possibility Of Federal Encroachments. That Their Liberties, Indeed, Can Be Subverted By The Federal Head, Is Repugnant To Every Rule Of Political Calculation.

Money Is, With Propriety, Considered As The Vital Principle Of The Body Politic; As That Which Sustains Its Life And Motion, And Enables It To Perform Its Most Essential Functions.

A Treaty Cannot Be Made Which Alters The Constitution Of The Country, Or Which Infringes And Express Exceptions To The Power Of The Constitution.

The Great Leading Objects Of The Federal Government, In Which Revenue Is Concerned, Are To Maintain Domestic Peace, And Provide For The Common Defense.

And As The Vicissitudes Of Nations Beget A Perpetual Tendency To The Accumulation Of Debt, There Ought To Be In Every Government A Perpetual, Anxious, And Unceasing Effort To Reduce That, Which At Any Times Exists, As Fast As Shall Be Practicable Consistently With Integrity And Good Faith.

The Legislatures Will Have Better Means Of Information. They Can Discover The Danger At A Distance; And Possessing All The Organs Of Civil Power, And The Confidence Of The People, They Can At Once Adopt A Regular Plan Of Opposition, In Which They Can Combine All The Resources Of The Community. They Can Readily Communicate With Each Other In The Different States, And Unite Their Common Forces For The Protection Of Their Common Liberty.

There Is No Position Which Depends On Clearer Principles Than That Every Act Of A Delegated Authority, Contrary To The Commission Under Which It Is Exercised, Is Void. No Legislative Act, Therefore, Contrary To The Constitution, Can Be Valid.

The Same State Of The Passions Which Fits The Multitude, Who Have Not A Sufficient Stock Of Reason And Knowledge To Guide Them, For Opposition To Tyranny And Oppression, Very Naturally Leads Them To A Contempt And Disregard Of All Authority.

Civil Liberty Is Only Natural Liberty, Modified And Secured By The Sanctions Of Civil Society. It Is Not A Thing, In Its Own Nature, Precarious And Dependent On Human Will And Caprice; But It Is Conformable To The Constitution Of Man, As Well As Necessary To The Well-being Of Society.

It's Not Tyranny We Desire; It's A Just, Limited, Federal Government.

If Duties Are Too High, They Lessen The Consumption; The Collection Is Eluded; And The Product To The Treasury Is Not So Great As When They Are Confined Within Proper And Moderate Bounds. This Forms A Complete Barrier Against Any Material Oppression Of The Citizens By Taxes Of This Class, And Is Itself A Natural Limitation Of The Power Of Imposing Them.

Wherever Indeed A Right Of Property Is Infringed For The General Good, If The Nature Of The Case Admits Of Compensation, It Ought To Be Made; But If Compensation Be Impracticable, That Impracticability Ought To Be An Obstacle To A Clearly Essential Reform.

These Are Not Vague Inferences . . . But They Are Solid Conclusions Drawn From The Natural And Necessary Progress Of Human Affairs.

. . . [the Judicial Branch] May Truly Be Said To Have Neither Force Nor Will, But Merely Judgment; And Must Ultimately Depend Upon The Aid Of The Executive Arm Even For The Efficacy Of Its Judgments.

I Will Venture To Assert That No Combination Of Designing Men Under Heaven Will Be Capable Of Making A Government Unpopular Which Is In Its Principles A Wise And Good One, And Vigorous In Its Operations.

Learn To Think Continentally.

For, When The Credit Of A Country Is In Any Degree Questionable, It Never Fails To Give On Extravagant Premium, In One Shape Or Another, Upon All The Loans It Has Occasion To Make. Nor Does The Evil End Here; The Same Disadvantage Must Be Sustained Upon Whatever Is To Be Bought On Terms Of Future Payment. From This Constant Necessity Of Borrowing And Buying Dear, It Is Easy To Conceive How Immensely The Expenses Of A Nation, In A Course Of Time, Will Be Augmented By An Unsound State Of The Public Credit.

The Laws Of Certain States . . . Give An Ownership In The Service Of Negroes As Personal Property . . . . But Being Men, By The Laws Of God And Nature, They Were Capable Of Acquiring Liberty - And When The Captor In War . . . Thought Fit To Give Them Liberty, The Gift Was Not Only Valid, But Irrevocable.

The Liberty Of The Press Consists In The Right To Publish With Impunity Truth With Good Motives For Justifiable Ends, Though Reflecting On Government, Magistracy, Or Individuals.

The Law... Dictated By God Himself Is, Of Course, Superior In Obligation To Any Other. It Is Binding Over All The Globe, In All Countries, And At All Times. No Human Laws Are Of Any Validity If Contrary To This.

The Scheme Of Separate Confederacies, Which Will Always Multiply The Chances Of Ambition, Will Be A Never Failing Bait To All Such Influential Characters In The State Administrations As Are Capable Of Preferring Their Own Emolument And Advancement To The Public Weal.

Those Who Do Not Industrialize Become Hewers Of Wood And Hawkers Of Water

The Loss Of Liberty To A Generous Mind Is Worse Than Death.

A Law, By The Very Meaning Of The Term, Includes Supremacy. It Is A Rule Which Those To Whom It Is Prescribed Are Bound To Observe. This Results From Every Political Association.

The Representatives Of The People, In A Popular Assembly, Seem Sometimes To Fancy That They Are The People Themselves, And Betray Strong Symptoms Of Impatience And Disgust At The Least Sign Of Opposition From Any Other Quarter; As If The Exercise Of Its Rights, By Either The Executive Or Judiciary, Were A Breach Of Their Privilege And An Outrage To Their Dignity.

Perhaps Myself The First, At Some Expense Of Popularity, To Unfold The True Character Of Jefferson, It Is Too Late For Me To Become His Apologist. Nor Can I Have Any Disposition To Do It. I Admit That His Politics Are Tinctured With Fanaticism, That He Is Too Much In Earnest In His Democracy, That He Has Been A Mischievous Enemy To The Principle Measures Of Our Past Administration, That He Is Crafty & Persevering In His Objects, That He Is Not Scrupulous About The Means Of Success, Nor Very Mindful Of Truth, And That He Is A Contemptible Hypocrite.

There Are Seasons In Every Country When Noise And Impudence Pass Current For Worth; And In Popular Commotions Especially, The Clamors Of Interested And Factious Men Are Often Mistaken For Patriotism.

As The Duties Of Superintending The National Defense And Of Securing The Public Peace Against Foreign Or Domestic Violence Involve A Provision For Casualties And Dangers To Which No Possible Limits Can Be Assigned, The Power Of Making That Provision Ought To Know No Other Bounds Than The Exigencies Of The Nation And The Resources Of The Community.

Domestic Violence

I Go Further, And Affirm That Bills Of Rights, In The Sense And To The Extent In Which They Are Contended For, Are Not Only Unnecessary In The Proposed Constitution, But Would Even Be Dangerous. They Would Contain Various Exceptions To Powers Not Granted; And On This Very Account, Would Afford A Colorable Pretext To Claim More Than Were Granted. For Why Declare That Things Shall Not Be Done Which There Is No Power To Do?

It Is Of The Nature Of War To Increase The Executive At The Expense Of The Legislative Authority.

[w]ar Is A Question, Under Our Constitution, Not Of Executive, But Of Legislative Cognizance. It Belongs To Congress To Say Whether The Nation Shall Of Choice Dismiss The Olive Branch And Unfurl The Banners Of War.

The Propriety Of A Law, In A Constitutional Light, Must Always Be Determined By The Nature Of The Powers Upon Which It Is Founded.

Men Are Rather Reasoning Than Reasonable Animals For The Most Part Governed By The Impulse Of Passion. This Is A Truth Well Understood By Our Adversaries Who Have Practised Upon It With No Small Benefit To Their Cause. For At The Very Moment They Are Eulogizing The Reason Of Men & Professing To Appeal Only To That Faculty, They Are Courting The Strongest & Most Active Passion Of The Human Heart - Vanity!

While The Constitution Continues To Be Read, And Its Principles Known, The States, Must, By Every Rational Man, Be Considered As Essential Component Parts Of The Union; And Therefore The Idea Of Sacrificing The Former To The Latter Is Totally Inadmissible.

Take Mankind In General, They Are Vicious-their Passions May Be Operated Upon.

I Would Die To Preserve The Law Upon A Solid Foundation; But Take Away Liberty, And The Foundation Is Destroyed.

Little More Can Reasonably Be Aimed At With Respect To The People At Large Than To Have Them Properly Armed.

Second Amendment

[e]very Act Of A Delegated Authority, Contrary To The Tenor Of The Commission Under Which It Is Exercised, Is Void. No Legislative Act, Therefore, Contrary To The Constitution, Can Be Valid. To Deny This, Would Be To Affirm, That The Deputy Is Greater Than His Principal; That The Servant Is Above His Master; That The Representatives Of The People Are Superior To The People Themselves; That Men Acting By Virtue Of Powers, May Do Not Only What Their Powers Do Not Authorize, But What They Forbid.

The Variety Of More Minute Interests, Which Will Necessarily Fall Under The Superintendence Of The Local Administrations . . . Cannot Be Particularized Without Involving A Detail Too Tedious And Uninteresting To Compensate For The Instruction It Might Afford.

Good Constitutions Are Formed Upon A Comparison Of The Liberty Of The Individual With The Strength Of Government: If The Tone Of Either Be Too High, The Other Will Be Weakened Too Much. It Is The Happiest Possible Mode Of Conciliating These Objects, To Institute One Branch Peculiarly Endowed With Sensibility, Another With Knowledge And Firmness. Through The Opposition And Mutual Control Of These Bodies, The Government Will Reach, In Its Regular Operations, The Perfect Balance Between Liberty And Power.

If We Incline Too Much To Democracy, We Shall Soon Shoot Into A Monarchy.

Has It Been Found That Bodies Of Men Act With More Rectitude Or Greater Disinterestedness Than Individuals? The Contrary Of This Has Been Inferred By All Accurate Observers Of The Conduct Of Mankind; And The Inference Is Founded Upon Obvious Reasons. Regard To Reputation Has A Less Active Influence, When The Infamy Of A Bad Action Is To Be Divided Among A Number Than When It Is To Fall Singly Upon One.

Opinion, Whether Well Or Ill-founded, Is The Governing Principle Of Human Affairs

There Is Perhaps, Nothing More Likely To Disturb The Tranquillity Of Nations, Than Their Being Bound To Mutual Contributions For Any Common Object That Does Not Yield An Equal And Coincident Benefit. For It Is An Observation As True, As It Is Trite, That There Is Nothing Men Differ So Readily About As The Payment Of Money.

Passive Commerce . . . Should Thus . . . [compel Us] To Content Ourselves With The First Price Of Our Commodities, And To See The Profits Of Our Trade Snatched From Us, To Enrich Our Enemies And Persecutors. That Unequalled Spirit Of Enterprise . . . An Inexhaustible Mine Of National Wealth, Would Be Stifled And Lost; And Poverty And Disgrace Would Overspread A Country, Which, With Wisdom, Might Make Herself The Admiration And Envy Of The World.

It Is A General Principle Of Human Nature, That A Man Will Be Interested In Whatever He Possesses, In Proportion To The Firmness Or Precariousness Of The Tenure By Which He Holds It; Will Be Less Attached To What He Holds By A Momentary Or Uncertain Title, Than To What He Enjoys By A Durable Or Certain Title; And, Of Course, Will Be Willing To Risk More For The Sake Of The One, Than For The Sake Of The Other.

It Is Of The Greatest Consequence That The Debt Should, With The Consent Of The Creditors, Be Remoulded Into Such A Shape As Will Bring The Expenditure Of The Nation To A Level With Its Income. Till This Shall Be Accomplished, The Finances Of The United States Will Never Wear A Proper Countenance. Arrears Of Interest, Continually Accruing, Will Be As Continual A Monument, Either Of Inability, Or Of Ill Faith And Will Not Cease To Have An Evil Influence On Public Credit.

No Man In His Senses Can Hesitate In Choosing To Be Free, Rather Than A Slave.

American Revolution

Of Those Men Who Have Overturned The Liberties Of Republics, The Greatest Number Have Begun Their Career By Paying An Obsequious Court To The People, Commencing Demagogues And Ending Tyrants.

This Power Ought To Be Coextensive With All The Possible Combinations Of Such Circumstances; And Ought To Be Under The Direction Of The Same Councils Which Are Appointed To Preside Over The Common Defense.

The Praise Of A Civilized World Is Justly Due To Christianity;—war, By The Influence Of The Humane Principles Of That Religion, Has Been Stripped Of Half Its Horrors. The French Renounce Christianity, And They Relapse Into Barbarism;—war Resumes The Same Hideous And Savage Form Which It Wore In The Ages Of Gothic And Roman Violence.

Government Implies The Power Of Making Laws. It Is Essential To The Idea Of A Law, That It Be Attended With A Sanction; Or, In Other Words, A Penalty Or Punishment For Disobedience.

The Convention Probably Foresaw What It Has Been A Principal Aim Of These Papers To Inculcate That The Danger Which Most Threatens Our Political Welfare Is, That The State Governments Will Finally Sap The Foundations Of The Union.

Americans Rouse - Be Unanimous, Be Virtuous, Be Firm, Exert Your Courage, Trust In Heaven, And Nobly Defy The Enemies Both Of God And Man!

The People Are Turbulent And Changing; They Seldom Judge Right Or Make Good Decision.

I Have A Tender Reliance On The Mercy Of The Almighty, Through The Merits Of The Lord Jesus Christ. I Am A Sinner. I Look To Him For Mercy; Pray For Me.

And It Proves, In The Last Place, That Liberty Can Have Nothing To Fear From The Judiciary Alone, But Would Have Everything To Fear From Its Union With Either Of The Other Departments.

Executive Power

The President Of The United States Would Be Liable To Be Impeached, Tried, And Upon Conviction Of Treason, Bribery, Or Other High Crimes And Misdemeanors, Removed From Office; And Would Afterwards Be Liable To Prosecution And Punishment In The Ordinary Course Of Law. The Person Of The King Of Great Britain Is Sacred And Inviolable: There Is No Constitutional Tribunal To Which He Is Amenable, No Punishment To Which He Can Be Subjected Without Involving The Crisis Of A National Revolution.

The Means Ought To Be Proportioned To The End; The Persons From Whose Agency The Attainment Of Any End Is Expected Ought To Possess The Means By Which It Is To Be Attained.

The Republican Principle Demands That The Deliberate Sense Of The Community Should Govern The Conduct Of Those To Whom They Intrust The Management Of Their Affairs; But It Does Not Require An Unqualified Complaisance To Every Sudden Breeze Of Passion Or To Every Transient Impulse Which The People May Receive From The Arts Of Men, Who Flatter Their Prejudices To Betray Their Interests.

If The Exercise Of Power Of Internal Taxation By The Union Should Be Discovered On Experiment To Be Really Inconvenient, The Federal Government May Then Forbear The Use Of It . . .

As On The One Hand, The Necessity For Borrowing In Particular Emergencies Cannot Be Doubted, So On The Other, It Is Equally Evident That To Be Able To Borrow Upon Good Terms, It Is Essential That The Credit Of A Nation Should Be Well Established.

It Was Remarked Yesterday That A Numerous Representation Was Necessary To Obtain The Confidence Of The People. This Is Not Generally True. The Confidence Of The People Will Easily Be Gained By A Good Administration. This Is The True Touchstone.

Give All The Power To The Many, They Will Oppress The Few. Give All The Power To The Few, They Will Oppress The Many.

I Expect We Shall Be Told, That The Militia Of The Country Is Its Natural Bulwark, And Would Be At All Times Equal To The National Defence...the Facts, Which From Our Own Experience Forbid A Reliance Of This Kind, Are Too Recent To Permit Us To Be The Dupes Of Such A Suggestion.

Government Is Frequently And Aptly Classed Under Two Descriptions-a Government Of Force, And A Government Of Laws; The First Is The Definition Of Despotism-the Last, Of Liberty.

The Complete Independence Of The Courts Of Justice Is Peculiarly Essential In A Limited Constitution. By A Limited Constitution, I Understand One Which Contains Certain Specified Exceptions To The Legislative Authority. Limitations Of This Kind Can Be Preserved In Practice No Other Way Than Through The Medium Of Courts Of Justice, Whose Duty It Must Be To Declare All Acts Contrary To The Manifest Tenor Of The Constitution Void. Without This, All The Reservations Of Particular Rights Or Privileges Would Amount To Nothing.

When A Government Betrays The People By Amassing Too Much Power And Becoming Tyrannical, The People Have No Choice But To Exercise Their Original Right Of Self-defense — To Fight The Government.

A Government, The Constitution Of Which Renders It Unfit To Be Trusted With All The Powers Which A Free People Ought To Delegate To Any Government, Would Be An Unsafe And Improper Depositary Of The National Interests.

A Well Adjusted Person Is One Who Makes The Same Mistake Twice Without Getting Nervous.

Were It Not That It Might Require Too Long A Discussion, It Would Not Be Difficult To Demonstrate That A Large And Well-organized Republic Can Scarcely Lose Its Liberty From Any Other Cause Than That Of Anarchy, To Which A Contempt Of The Laws Is The High-road.

Nobody Expects To Trust His Body Overmuch After The Age Of Fifty.

That Americans Are Entitled To Freedom Is Incontestable On Every Rational Principle. All Men Have One Common Original: They Participate In One Common Nature, And Consequently Have One Common Right. No Reason Can Be Assigned Why One Man Should Exercise Any Power Or Preeminence Over His Fellow-creatures More Than Another; Unless They Have Voluntarily Vested Him With It.

When You Assemble From Your Several Counties In The Legislature, Were Every Member To Be Guided Only By The Apparent Interest Of His County, Government Would Be Impracticable. There Must Be A Perpetual Accomodation And Sacrifice Of Local Advantage To General Expediency.

If We Set Out With... A Scrupulous Regard To The Constitution, The Government Will Acquire A Spirit And A Tone Productive Of Permanent Blessings To The Community. If On The Contrary,... The Constitution Is Slighted, Or Explained Away, Upon Every Frivolous Pretext, The Future Of Government Will Be Feeble, Distracted And Arbitrary. The Rights Of The Subjects Will Be The Sport Of Every Party Vicissitude. There Will Be No Settled Rule Of Conduct, But Everything Will Fluctuate With The Alternate Prevalency Of Contending Factions.

There Was A Time When We Were Told . . . That A Sense Of Common Interest Would Preside Over The Conduct Of The Respective Members...this Language At The Present Day Would Appear As Wild As That Great Part Of What We Now Hear From The Same Quarter Will Be Thought, When We Shall Have Received Further Lessons From That Best Oracle Of Wisdom, Experience.

Wisdom Experience

Nothing Can Be More Evident, Than That An Exclusive Power Of Regulating Elections For The National Government, In The Hands Of The State Legislatures, Would Leave The Existence Of The Union Entirely At Their Mercy . . . . It Is To Little Purpose To Say That A Neglect Or Omission Of This Kind [not Letting The Feds Have Elections], Would Be Unlikely To Take Place. The Constitutional Possibility Of The Thing, Without An Equivalent For The Risk, Is An Unanswerable Objection.

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