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.

If the happiness of the mass of mankind can be secured at the expense of a little tempest now and then, or even of a little blood, it will be a precious purchase.

I have always said that a studious perusal of the sacred volume will make better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands.

New York, like London, seems to be a cloacina [toilet] of all the depravities of human nature.

The ordinary affairs of a nation offer little difficulty to a person of any experience.

The Habeas Corpus secures every man here, alien or citizen, against everything which is not law, whatever shape it may assume.

The price of barbecue is eternal vigilance.