You see I am an enthusiast on the subject of the arts. But it is an enthusiasm of which I am not ashamed, as its object is to improve the taste of my countrymen, to increase their reputation, to reconcile to them the respect of the world, and procure them its praise.

The Constitution is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please.

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse in any country. If it were, the laws would lose their effect, because it can always be pretended.

Unless the mass retains sufficient control over those entrusted with the powers of their government, these will be perverted to their own oppression, and to the perpetuation of wealth and power in the individuals and their families selected for the trust.

For an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.

this interesting subject, which, if the condition of man is to be progressively ameliorated, as we fondly hope and believe, is to be the chief instrument in effecting it.