General rebellions and revolts of a whole people never were encouraged now or at any time. They are always provoked.

People must be taken as they are, and we should never try make them or ourselves better by quarreling with them.

True religion is the foundation of society. When that is once shaken by contempt, the whole fabric cannot be stable nor lasting.

If any ask me what a free government is, I answer, that, for any practical purpose, it is what the people think so,and that they, and not I, are the natural, lawful, and competent judges of this matter.

Religion is essentially the art and the theory of the remaking of man. Man is not a finished creation.

In effect, to follow, not to force the public inclination; to give a direction, a form, a technical dress, and a specific sanction, to the general sense of the community, is the true end of legislature.

There is a boundary to men's passions when they act from feelings; but none when they are under the influence of imagination.