Though Written Constitutions May Be Violated In

Our Legislators Are Not Sufficiently Apprized Of The Rightful Limits Of Their Power; That Their True Office Is To Declare And Enforce Only Our Natural Rights And Duties, And To Take None Of Them From Us.

Our Ancestors ... Were Laborers, Not Lawyers.

In Matters Of Style, Swim With The Current; In Matters Of Principle, Stand Like A Rock.

I Duly Acknowledge That I Have Gone Through A Long Life, With Fewer Circumstances Of Affliction Than Are The Lot Of Most Men. Uninterrupted Health, A Competence For Every Reasonable Want, Usefulness To My Fellow-citizens, A Good Portion Of Their Esteem, No Complaint Against The World Which Has Sufficiently Honored Me, And Above All, A Family Which Has Blessed Me By Their Affections, And Never By Their Conduct Given Me A Moment's Pain.

If, Then, The Control Of The People Over The Organs Of Their Government Be The Measure Of Its Republicanism, And I Confess I Know No Other Measure, It Must Be Agreed That Our Governments Have Much Less Of Republicanism Than Ought To Have Been Expected; In Other Words, That The People Have Less Regular Control Over Their Agents, Than Their Rights And Their Interests Require.