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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.

-Alexander Hamilton

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The Rights Of Neutrality

Alexander Hamilton

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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.

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I Should Esteem It The Extreme Of Imprudence To Prolong The Precarious State Of Our National Affairs, And To Expose The Union To The Jeopardy Of Successive Experiments, In The Chimerical Pursuit Of A Perfect Plan. I Never Expect To See A Perfect Work From Imperfect Man. The Result Of The Deliberations Of All Collective Bodies Must Necessarily Be A Compound, As Well Of The Errors And Prejudices, As Of The Good Sense And Wisdom, Of The Individuals Of Whom They Are Composed.

Of All The Cares Or Concerns Of Government, The Direction Of War Most Peculiarly Demands Those Qualities Which Distinguish The Exercise Of Power By A Single Hand. The Direction Of War Implies The Direction Of The Common Strength; And The Power Of Directing And Employing The Common Strength, Forms A Usual And Essential Part In The Definition Of The Executive Authority.

The Same Rule That Teaches The Propriety Of A Partition Between The Various Branches Of Power, Teaches Us Likewise That This Partition Ought To Be So Contrived As To Render The One Independent Of The Other.

In All General Questions Which Become The Subjects Of Discussion, There Are Always Some Truths Mixed With Falsehoods. I Confess, There Is Danger Where Men Are Capable Of Holding Two Offices. Take Mankind In General, They Are Vicious, Their Passions May Be Operated Upon. We Have Been Taught To Reprobate The Danger Of Influence In The British Government, Without Duly Reflecting How Far It Was Necessary To Support A Good Government. We Have Taken Up Many Ideas Upon Trust, And At Last, Pleased With Our Own Opinions, Establish Them As Undoubted Truths.

It Is By Far The Safer Course To Lay [considerations Of The Future] Altogether Aside; And To Confine Our Attention Wholly To The Nature And Extent Of The Powers As They Are Delineated In The Constitution. Everything Beyond This, Must Be Left To The Prudence And Firmness Of The People; Who, As They Will Hold The Scales In Their Own Hands, It Is To Be Hoped, Will Always Take Care To Preserve The Constitutional Equilibrium Between The General And State Governments.

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 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.

There Is Something So Far-fetched And So Extravagant In The Idea Of Danger To Liberty From The Militia That One Is At A Loss Whether To Treat It With Gravity Or With Raillery; Whether To Consider It As A Mere Trial Of Skill, Like The Paradoxes Of Rhetoricians; As A Disingenuous Artifice To Instil Prejudices At Any Price; Or As The Serious.

The Natural Effect Of Low Interest Is To Increase Trade And Industry; Because Undertakings Of Every Kind Can Be Prosecuted With Greater Advantage.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Second Amendment

It Will Be Of Little Avail To The People, That The Laws Are Made By Men Of Their Own Choice, If The Laws Be So Voluminous That They Cannot Be Read, Or So Incoherent That They Cannot Be Understood; If They Be Repealed Or Revised Before They Are Promulgated, Or Undergo Such Incessant Changes That No Man, Who Knows What The Law Is To-day, Can Guess What It Will Be Tomorrow.

Has It Not. . . Invariably Been Found That Momentary Passions, And Immediate Interests, Have A More Active And Imperious Control Over Human Conduct Than General Or Remote Considerations Of Policy, Utility And Justice?

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.

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

In So Strong A Light, Nevertheless, Do They Appear To The Secretary, That, On Their Due Observance, At The Present Critical Juncture, Materially Depend, In His Judgment, The Individual And Aggregate Prosperity Of The Citizens Of The United States; Their Relief From The Embarrassments They Now Experience; Their Character As A People; The Cause Of Good Government.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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 . . .

Learn To Think Continentally.

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

The Origin Of All Civil Government, Justly Established, Must Be A Voluntary Compact, Between The Rulers And The Ruled; And Must Be Liable To Such Limitations, As Are Necessary For The Security Of The Absolute Rights Of The Latter; For What Original Title Can Any Man Or Set Of Men Have, To Govern Others, Except Their Own Consent?

In This Distribution Of Powers The Wisdom Of Our Constitution Is Manifested. It Is The Province And Duty Of The Executive To Preserve To The Nation The Blessings Of Peace. The Legislature Alone Can Interrupt Those Blessings, By Placing The Nation In A State Of War.

Distribution Of Power

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

A Feeble Executive Implies A Feeble Execution Of The Government. A Feeble Execution Is But Another Phrase For A Bad Execution; And A Government Ill Executed, Whatever May Be Its Theory, Must Be, In Practice, A Bad Government.

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.

There Is Nothing Absurd Or Impracticable In The Idea Of A League Or Alliance Between Independent Nations For Certain Defined Purposes Precisely Stated In A Treaty Regulating All The Details Of Time, Place, Circumstance, And Quantity; Leaving Nothing To Future Discretion; And Depending For Its Execution On The Good Faith Of The Parties.

Whoever Attentively Considers The Different Departments Of Power Must Perceive, That, In A Government In Which They Are Separated From Each Other, The Judiciary, From The Nature Of Its Functions, Will Always Be The Least Dangerous To The Political Rights Of The Constitution; Because It Will Be Least In A Capacity To Annoy Or Injure Them.

[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.

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.

The Only Constitutional Exception To The Power Of Making Treaties Is, That It Shall Not Change The Constitution.… On Natural Principles, A Treaty, Which Should Manifestly Betray Or Sacrifice Primary Interests Of The State, Would Be Null.

As To Taxes, They Are Evidently Inseparable From Government. It Is Impossible Without Them To Pay The Debts Of The Nation, To Protect It From Foreign Danger, Or To Secure Individuals From Lawless Violence And Rapine.

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.

It Is A Well-known Fact That In Countries In Which The National Debt Is Properly Funded, And An Object Of Established Confidence, It Answers Most Of The Purposes Of Money. Transfers Of Stock, Or Public Debt, Are There Equivalent To Payments In Specie; Or, In Other Words, Stock, In The Principal Transactions Of Business, Passes Current As Specie. The Same Thing Would, In All Probability, Happen Here, Under The Like Circumstances.

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.

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.

In A Government Framed For Durable Liberty, Not Less Regard Must Be Paid To Giving The Magistrate A Proper Degree Of Authority, To Make And Execute The Laws With Rigour, Than To Guarding Against Encroachments Upon The Rights Of The Community. As Too Much Power Leads To Despotism, Too Little Leads To Anarchy, And Both Eventually To The Ruin Of The People.

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.

[if You Understood The Natural Rights Of Mankind,] [y]ou Would Be Convinced That Natural Liberty Is A Gift Of The Beneficent Creator To The Whole Human Race, And That Civil Liberty Is Founded In That, And Cannot Be Wrested From Any People Without The Most Manifest Violation Of Justice.

Man Is A Reasoning Rather Than A Reasonable Animal.

If, Then, The Courts Of Justice Are To Be Considered As The Bulwarks Of A Limited Constitution Against Legislative Encroachments, This Consideration Will Afford A Strong Argument For The Permanent Tenure Of Judicial Offices, Since Nothing Will Contribute So Much As This To That Independent Spirit In The Judges Which Must Be Essential To The Faithful Performance Of So Arduous A Duty.

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

[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.

To Judge From The History Of Mankind, We Shall Be Compelled To Conclude, That The Fiery And Destructive Passions Of War, Reign In The Human Breast, With Much More Powerful Sway, Than The Mild And Beneficent Sentiments Of Peace.

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

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 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 [president] Has No Particle Of Spiritual Jurisdiction. . . .

Remember Civil And Religious Liberty Always Go Together: If The Foundation Of The One Be Sapped, The Other Will Fall Of Course.

The Deliberative Sense Of The Community Should Govern.

The Passions Of A Revolution Are Apt To Hurry Even Good Men Into Excesses.

[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 Treaties Of The United States, To Have Any Force At All, Must Be Considered As Part Of The Law Of The Land.

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.

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

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

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

[s]ound Policy Condemns The Practice Of Accumulating Debts.

Hence, In A State Of Nature, No Man Had Any Moral Power To Deprive Another Of His Life, Limbs, Property, Or Liberty; Nor The Least Authority To Command Or Exact Obedience From Him, Except That Which Arose From The Ties Of Consanguinity.

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.

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.

...that Standing Army Can Never Be Formidable (threatening) To The Liberties Of The People, While There Is A Large Body Of Citizens, Little If At All Inferior To Them In The Use Of Arms.

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!

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

A Fondness For Power Is Implanted In Most Men, And It Is Natural To Abuse It When Acquired. This Maxim, Drawn From The Experience Of All Ages, Makes It The Height Of Folly To Intrust Any Set Of Men With Power Which Is Not Under Every Possible Control; Perpetual Strides Are Made After More As Long As There Is Any Part Withheld.

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 Observed, [that For The Federal Government] To Coerce The States Is One Of The Maddest Projects That Was Ever Devised.

It Is In Vain To Hope To Guard Against Events Too Mighty For Human Foresight Or Precaution, And It Would Be Idle To Object To A Government Because It Could Not Perform Impossibilities.

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.

The Superiority...enjoyed By Nations That Have...perfected A Branch Of Industry, Constitutes A...formidable Obstacle.

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

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.

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.

Energy In The Executive Is A Leading Character In The Definition Of Good Government. It Is Essential To The Protection Of The Community Against Foreign Attacks; It Is Not Less Essential To The Steady Administration Of The Laws; To The Protection Of Property Against Those Irregular And High-handed Combinations Which Sometimes Interrupt The Ordinary Course Of Justice; To The Security Of Liberty Against The Enterprises And Assaults Of Ambition, Of Faction, And Of Anarchy.

It Is The Press Which Has Corrupted Our Political Morals - And It Is To The Press We Must Look For The Means Of Our Political Regeneration.

Men Are Rather Reasoning Than Reasonable Animals For The Most Part Governed By The Impulse Of Passion.

Our Countrymen Have All The Folly Of The Ass And All The Passiveness Of The Sheep.

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.

It Is Astonishing That So Simple A Truth Should Ever Have Had An Adversary; And It Is One Among A Multitude Of Proofs, How Apt A Spirit Of Ill-informed Jealousy, Or Of Too Great Abstraction And Refinement Is To Lead Men Astray From The Plainest Paths Of Reason And Conviction.

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

But Might Not His [the President's] Nomination Be Overruled? I Grant It Might, Yet This Could Only Be To Make Place For Another Nomination By Himself. The Person Ultimately Appointed Must Be Object Of His Preference, Though Perhaps Not In The First Degree. It Is Also Not Very Probable That His Nomination Would Often Be Overruled.

The Honor Of A Nation Is Its Life. Deliberately To Abandon It Is To Commit An Act Of Political Suicide.

A Share In The Sovereignty Of The State, Which Is Exercised By The Citizens At Large, In Voting At Elections Is One Of The Most Important Rights Of The Subject, And In A Republic Ought To Stand Foremost In The Estimation Of The Law...that Portion Of The Sovereignty, To Which Each Individual Is Entitled, Can Never Be Too Highly Prized. It Is That For Which We Have Fought And Bled.

A Nation Has A Right To Manage Its Own Concerns As It Thinks Fit.

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

A National Debt, If It Is Not Excessive, Will Be To Us A National Blessing.

This Position Will Not Be Disputed So Long As It Is Admitted That The Desire Of Reward Is One Of The Strongest Incentives Of Human Conduct, Or That The Best Security For The Fidelity Of Mankind Is To Make Their Interest Coincide With Their Duty. Even The Love Of Fame, The Ruling Passion Of The Noblest Minds... Would On The Contrary Deter Him From The Undertaking, When He Foresaw That He Must Quit The Scene Before He Could Accomplish The Work.

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.

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.

Nothing Is More Natural To Men In Office, Than To Look With Peculiar Deference Towards That Authority To Which They Owe Their Official Existence.

An Over-scrupulous Jealousy Of Danger To The Rights Of The People, Which Is More Commonly The Fault Of The Head Than Of The Heart, Will Be Represented As Mere Pretense And Artifice, The Stale Bait For Popularity At The Expense Of The Public Good.

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.

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.

Hard Words Are Very Rarely Useful. Real Firmness Is Good For Every Thing. Strut Is Good For Nothing.

Necessity, Especially In Politics, Often Occasions False Hopes, False Reasonings, And A System Of Measures, Correspondingly Erroneous.

A Garden, You Know, Is A Very Usual Refuge Of A Disappointed Politician. Accordingly, I Have Purchased A Few Acres About Nine Miles From Town, Have Built A House, And Am Cultivating A Garden.

Jurors Should Acquit, Even Against The Judge's Instruction . . . If Exercising Their Judgment With Discretion And Honesty They Have A Clear Conviction The Charge Of The Court Is Wrong.

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

... For It Is A Truth, Which The Experience Of All Ages Has Attested, That The People Are Commonly Most In Danger When The Means Of Insuring Their Rights Are In The Possession Of Those Of Whom They Entertain The Least Suspicion.

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

The Vigour Of Government Is Essential To The Security Of Liberty. . . . A Dangerous Ambition More Often Lurks Behind The Specious Mask Of Zeal For The Rights Of The People, Than Under The Forbidding Appearance Of Zeal For The Firmness And Efficiency Of Government.

In The Usual Progress Of Things, The Necessities Of A Nation In Every Stage Of Its Existence Will Be Found At Least Equal To Its Resources.

Allow A Government To Decline Paying Its Debts And You Overthrow All Public Morality-you Unhinge All The Principles That Preserve The Limits Of Free Constitutions. Nothing Can More Affect National Prosperity Than A Constant And Systematic Attention To Extinguish The Present Debt And To Avoid As Much As Possibly The Incurring Of Any New Debt.

A Fondness For Power Is Implanted In Most Men, And It Is Natural To Abuse It When Acquired.

I Confess I Am At A Loss To Discover What Temptation The Persons Entrusted With The Administration Of The General Government Could Ever Feel To Divest The States Of The Authorities Of That Description. The Regulation Of The Mere Domestic Police Of A State Appears To Me To Hold Out Slender Allurements To Ambition.

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.

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.

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

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

It Will Be Forgotten, On The One Hand, That Jealousy Is The Usual Concomitant Of Violent Love, And That The Noble Enthusiasm Of Liberty Is Too Apt To Be Infected With A Spirit Of Narrow And Illiberal Distrust. On The Other Hand, It Will Be Equally Forgotten, That The Vigour Of Government Is Essential To The Security Of Liberty.

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.

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 Truth Is That The General Genius Of A Government Is All That Can Be Substantially Relied Upon For Permanent Effects. Particular Provisions, Though Not Altogether Useless, Have Far Less Virtue And Efficacy Than Are Commonly Ascribed To Them; And The Want Of Them Will Never Be With Men Of Sound Discernment A Decisive Objection To Any Plan Which Exhibits The Leading Characters Of A Good Government.

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.

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?

The Attributes Of Sovereignty Are Now Enjoyed By Every State In The Union.

[a] Power Equal To Every Possible Contingency Must Exist Somewhere In The Government . . .

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

Wise Politicians Will Be Cautious About Fettering The Government With Restrictions That Cannot Be Observed, Because They Know That Every Break Of The Fundamental Laws, Though Dictated By Necessity, Impairs That Sacred Reverence Which Ought To Be Maintained In The Breast Of Rulers Towards The Constitution Of A Country.

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.

The Inhabitants Of Territories, Often The Theatre Of War, Are Unavoidably Subject To Frequent Infringements On Their Rights, Which Serve To Weaken Their Sense Of Those Rights; And By Degrees, The People Are Brought To Consider The Soldiery Not Only As Their Protectors But As Their Superiors.

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

American Revolution

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

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.

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.

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 Is A Singular Advantage Of Taxes On Articles Of Consumption That They Contain In Their Own Nature A Security Against Excess. They Prescribe Their Own Limit, Which Cannot Be Exceeded Without Defeating The End Purposed - That Is, An Extension Of The Revenue.

The States Have Authority To Interpret The Constitution, Enforce It, And Protect The People From Violations Of It By The Federal Government In The First Place, There Is Not A Syllable In The Plan Under Consideration Which Directly Empowers The National Courts To Construe The Laws According To The Spirit Of The Constitution, Or Which Gives Them Any Greater Latitude In This Respect Than May Be Claimed By The Courts Of Every State.

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.

How Can You Trust People Who Are Poor And Own No Property? ... Inequality Of Property Will Exist As Long As Liberty Exists.

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

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.

In Politics, As In Religion, It Is Equally Absurd To Aim At Making Proselytes By Fire And Sword. Heresies In Either Can Rarely Be Cured By Persecution.

Separation Of Church And State

There Is A Contagion In Example Which Few Men Have Sufficient Force Of Mind To Resist.

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.

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.

The Fabric Of American Empire Ought To Rest On The Solid Basis Of The Consent Of The People. The Streams Of National Power Ought To Flow From That Pure, Original Fountain Of All Legitimate Authority.

Self-preservation Is The First Principle Of Our Nature.

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

The President Is To Be Commander-in-chief Of The Army And Navy Of The United States. In This Respect His Authority Would Be Nominally The Same With That Of The King Of Great Britain, But In Substance Much Inferior To It. It Would Amount To Nothing More Than The Supreme Command And Direction Of The Land And Naval Forces, As First General And Admiral ... While That Of The British King Extends To The Declaring Of War And To The Raising And Regulating Of Fleets And Armies - All Which, By The Constitution Under Consideration, Would Appertain To The Legislature.

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

There Can Be No Limitation Of That Authority Which Is To Provide For The Defense And Protection Of The Community In Any Matter Essential To The Formation, Direction, Or Support Of The National Forces.

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.

It May Be Said That The Power Of Preventing Bad Laws Includes That Of Preventing Good Ones; And May Be Used To The One Purpose As Well As To The Other. But This Objection Will Have Little Weight With Those Who Can Properly Estimate The Mischiefs Of That Inconstancy And Mutability In The Laws, Which Form The Greatest Blemish In The Character And Genius Of Our Governments.

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.

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.

The Proposed Constitution, So Far From Implying An Abolition Of The State Governments, Makes Them Constituent Parts Of The National Sovereignty, By Allowing Them A Direct Representation In The Senate, And Leaves In Their Possession Certain Exclusive And Very Important Portions Of Sovereign Power. This Fully Corresponds, In Every Rational Import Of The Terms, With The Idea Of A Federal Government.

I Never Expect To See A Perfect Work From An Imperfect Man.

Here, Sir, The People Govern; Here They Act By Their Immediate Representatives.

Representatives

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.

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

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

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

This Balance Between The National And State Governments Ought To Be Dwelt On With Peculiar Attention, As It Is Of The Utmost Importance. It Forms A Double Security To The People. If One Encroaches On Their Rights They Will Find A Powerful Protection In The Other. Indeed, They Will Both Be Prevented From Overpassing Their Constitutional Limits By A Certain Rivalship, Which Will Ever Subsist Between Them.

A Sacred Respect For The Constitutional Law Is The Vital Principle, The Sustaining Energy Of A Free Government.

[in The Event Of War, Americans Would] Resort For Repose And Security To Institutions Which Have A Tendency To Destroy Their Civil And Political Rights. To Be More Safe They, At Length, Become Willing To Run The Risk Of Being Less Free.

The Militia Is A Voluntary Force Not Associated Or Under The Control Of The States Except When Called Out; [ When Called Into Actual Service] A Permanent Or Long Standing Force Would Be Entirely Different In Make-up And Call.

That There May Happen Cases In Which The National Government May Be Necessitated To Resort To Force, Cannot Be Denied.

If We Are In Earnest About Giving The Union Energy And Duration We Must Abandon The Vain Project Of Legislating Upon The States In Their Collective Capacities.

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 Safety Of A Republic Depends Essentially On The Energy Of A Common National Sentiment; On A Uniformity Of Principles And Habits; On The Exemption Of The Citizens From Foreign Bias And Prejudice; And On That Love Of Country Which Will Almost Invariably Be Found To Be Closely Connected With Birth, Education And Family.

Bias And Prejudice

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 President, And Government, Will Only Control The Militia When A Part Of Them Is In The Actual Service Of The Federal Government, Else, They Are Independent And Not Under The Command Of The President Or The Government. The States Would Control The Militia, Only When Called Out Into The Service Of The State, And Then The Governor Would Be Commander In Chief Where Enumerated In The Respective State Constitution.

It Is Just Observation That The People Commonly Intend The Public Good.

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

The Constitution Of Human Nature" Teaches Us Not To Expect "that The Persons, Entrusted With The Administration Of The Affairs Of The Particular Members Of A Confederacy, Will At All Times Be Ready, With Perfect Good Humor, And An Unbiased Regard To The Public Weal, To Execute The Resolutions Of Decrees Of The General Authority." "this Tendency Is Not Difficult To Be Accounted For," Publius Argues, "it Has Its Origin In The Love Of Power.

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.

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

The Obscurity Is Much Oftener In The Passions And Prejudices Of The Reasoner Than In The Subject.

Safety From External Danger Is The Most Powerful Director Of National Conduct. To Be More Safe, [nations] At Length Become Willing To Run The Risk Of Being Less Free.

But As The Plan Of The Convention Aims Only At A Partial Union Or Consolidation, The State Governments Would Clearly Retain All The Rights Of Sovereignty Which They Before Had, And Which Were Not, By That Act, Exclusively Delegated To The United States.

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

A Struggle For Liberty Is In Itself Respectable And Glorious. . . . When Conducted With Magnanimity, Justice And Humanity, It Ought To Command The Admiration Of Every Friend To Human Nature. But If Sullied By Crimes And Extravagancies, It Loses Its Respectability.

Can Any Reasonable Man Be Well Disposed Toward A Government Which Makes War And Carnage The Only Means Of Supporting Itself?

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 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.

What Bitter Anguish Would Not The People Of Athens Have Often Escaped If Their Government Had Contained So Provident A Safeguard Against Tyranny Of Their Own Passions? Popular Liberty Might Then Have Escaped The Indelible Reproach Of Decreeing To The Same Citizens The Hemlock On One Day And Statutes The Next.

The Art Of Reading Is To Skip Judiciously.

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.

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.

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

Good And Wise Men, In All Ages, Have Embraced A Very Dissimilar Theory. They Have Supposed That The Deity, From The Relations We Stand In To Himself And To Each Other, Has Constituted An Eternal And Immutable Law, Which Is Indispensably Obligatory Upon All Mankind, Prior To Any Human Institution Whatever. This Is What Is Called The Law Of Nature....upon This Law Depend The Natural Rights Of Mankind.

That This Gentleman [president John Adams] Ought Not To Be The Object Of The Federal Wish, Is, With Me, Reduced To Demonstration. His Administration Has Already Very Materially Disgraced And Sunk The Government. There Are Defects In His Character Which Must Inevitably Continue To Do This More And More. And If He Is Supported By The Federal Party, His Party Must In The Issue Fall With Him.

The Voice Of The People Has Been Said To Be The Voice Of God; And, However Generally This Maxim Has Been Quoted And Believed, It Is Not True To Fact. The People Are Turbulent And Changing, They Seldom Judge Or Determine Right.

The System Is The Best That The Present Views And Circumstances Of The Country Will Permit.

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

The Prosperity Of Commerce Is Now Perceived And Acknowledged By All Enlightened Statesmen To Be The Most Useful As Well As The Most Productive Source Of National Wealth, And Has Accordingly Become A Primary Object Of Their Political Cares.

The Awful Discretion, Which A Court Of Impeachments Must Necessarily Have, To Doom To Honor Or To Infamy The Most Confidential And The Most Distinguished Characters Of The Community, Forbids The Commitment Of The Trust To A Small Number Of Persons.

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.

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!

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.

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.

It Is Presumable That No Country Will Be Able To Borrow Of Foreigners Upon Better Terms Than The United States, Because None Can, Perhaps, Afford So Good Security.

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.

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