The second office in the government is honorable and easy; the first is but a splendid misery.

not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of . . . but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to take.

The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.

Men are disposed to live honestly, if the means of doing so are open to them.

We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour.

Every man, and every body of men on earth, possesses the right of self-government. They receive it with their being from the hand of nature. Individuals exercise it by their single will; collections of men by that of their majority; for the law of the majority is the natural law of every society of men.

I think it is a great error to consider a heavy tax on wines as a tax on luxury. On the contrary, it is a tax on the health of our citizens.