A government held together by the bands of reason only, requires much compromise of opinion.

Excessive taxation . . . will carry reason & reflection to every man's door, and particularly in the hour of election.

The excellence of every government is its adaptation to the state of those to be governed by it.

The happiest moments my heart knows are those in which it is pouring forth its affections to a few esteemed characters.

I could think of no worse example for nations abroad, who for the first time were trying to put free electoral procedures into effect, than that of the United States wrangling over the results of our presidential election, and even suggesting that the presidency itself could be stolen by thievery at the ballot box.

The parties of Whig and Tory are those of nature. They exist in all countries, whether called by these names or by those of Aristocrats and Democrats, Cote Droite and Cote Gauche, Ultras and Radicals, Serviles and Liberals. The sickly, weakly, timid man fears the people, and is a Tory by nature. The healthy, strong and bold cherishes them, and is formed a Whig by nature.

Reading, reflection and time have convinced me that the interests of society require the observation of those moral precepts only in which all religions agree.