To talk of immaterial existences is to talk of nothings. To say that the human soul, angels, god, are immaterial, is to say they are nothings, or that there is no god, no angels, no soul. I cannot reason otherwise: but I believe I am supported in my creed of materialism by Locke, Tracy, and Stewart. At what age of the Christian church this heresy of immaterialism, this masked atheism, crept in, I do not know. But heresy it certainly is.

The legislative powers of government reach actions only and not opinions.

We ought not to schismatize on either men or measures. Principles alone can justify that.

Truth is certainly a branch of morality and a very important one to society.

Without health there is no happiness. An attention to health, then, should take the place of every other object.

I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries as long as they are chiefly agricultural; and this will be as long as there shall be vacant lands in any part of America. When they get piled upon one another in large cities as in Europe, they will become corrupt as in Europe.

To take a single step beyond the text would be to take possession of a boundless field of power.