I would die to preserve the law upon a solid foundation; but take away liberty, and the foundation is destroyed.

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 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.

If the Constitution is adopted (and it was) the Union will be in fact and in theory an association of States or a Confederacy.

Self-preservation is the first principle of our nature.

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.

It is of the nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority.