To model our political system upon speculations of lasting tranquility, is to calculate on the weaker springs of the human character.

Take mankind in general, they are vicious-their passions may be operated upon.

Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of man will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.

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.

The powers contained in a constitution...ought to be construed liberally in advancement of the public good.

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.

The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.