There ought to be system of manners in every nation which a well-formed mind would be disposed to relish. To make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely.

Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants.

But a good patriot, and a true politician, always considers how he shall make the most of the existing materials of his country. A disposition, to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman. Everything else is vulgar in the conception, perilous in the execution.

It has all the contortions of the sibyl without the inspiration.

They [Americans] augur misgovernment at a distance and snuff the approach of tyranny in every tainted breeze.

Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.

The worthy gentleman who has been snatched from us at the moment of the election, and in the middle of the contest, whilst his desires were as warm and his hopes as eager as ours, has feelingly told us what shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue.