I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another.

It [appears] that however certain forms of government are better calculated than others to protect individuals in the free exercise of their natural rights, and are at the same time themselves better guarded against degeneracy, yet experience [has] shown that, even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.

You see I am an enthusiast on the subject of the arts.

The greatest calamity which could befall us would be submission to a government of unlimited powers.

To penetrate and dissipate these clouds of darkness, the general mind must be strengthened by education.

I feel much alarmed at the prospect of seeing General Jackson President. He is the most unfit man I know for such a place.

It is part of the American character to consider nothing as desperate.