It would have marked a want of foresight in the convention, which our own experience would have rendered inexcusable.

James Madison

Categorized in : Want Conventions Constitutional Convention

It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.

freedom real war

Liberty is to faction what air is to fire. by James Madison

Liberty is to faction what air is to fire.

liberty fire air

The safety and happiness of society are the objects at which all political institutions aim, and to which all such institutions must be sacrificed.

safety political happiness

I regret, as much as any member, the unavoidable weight and duration of the burdens to be imposed; having never been a proselyte to the doctrine, that public debts are public benefits. I consider them, on the contrary, as evils which ought to be removed as fast as honor and justice will permit.

regret government evil

Every man who loves peace, every man who loves his country, every man who loves liberty ought to have it ever before his eyes that he may cherish in his heart a due attachment to the Union of America and be able to set a due value on the means of preserving it.

heart mean country

The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated.

unions heart advice

What is to be the consequence, in case the Congress shall misconstrue this part [the necessary and proper clause] of the Constitution and exercise powers not warranted by its true meaning, I answer the same as if they should misconstrue or enlarge any other power vested in them . . . the success of the usurpation will depend on the executive and judiciary departments, which are to expound and give effect to the legislative acts; and in a last resort a remedy must be obtained from the people, who can by the elections of more faithful representatives, annul the acts of the usurpers.

exercise giving people

The belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the world and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities impressed with it.

powerful god wise

There is in every breast a sensibility to marks of honor, of favor, of esteem, and of confidence, which, apart from all considerations of interest, is some pledge for grateful and benevolent returns. Ingratitude is a common topic of declamation against human nature; and it must be confessed, that instances of it are but too infrequent and flagrant both in public and in private life. But the universal and extreme indignation which it inspires, is itself a proof of the energy and prevalence of the contrary sentiment.

grateful honor inspire

It is sufficiently obvious, that persons and property are the two great subjects on which Governments are to act; and that the rights of persons, and the rights of property, are the objects, for the protection of which Government was instituted. These rights cannot well be separated.

government rights two

Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit.

voting government justice

The number, the industry, and the morality of the priesthood, and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the church from the state.

numbers people religion

Let the influx of money be ever so great, if there be no confidence, property will sink in value... The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money.

no-confidence property circulation

Happily for America, happily, we trust, for the whole human race, they pursued a new and more noble course. They accomplished a revolution which has no parallel in the annals of human society.

4th-of-july freedom america

Stability in government is essential to national character and to the advantages annexed to it, as well as to that repose and confidence in the minds of the people, which are among the chief blessings of civil society.

patriotic blessing character

[I]t is the reason alone, of the public, that ought to control an... by James Madison

[I]t is the reason alone, of the public, that ought to control and regulate the government.

ought government reason

The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.

nullification federalism government

The happy Union of these States is a wonder; their Constitution a miracle; their example the hope of Liberty throughout the world.

liberty miracle example

Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise, every expanded prospect.

secular-society atheist religious

The people shall not be restrained from peacefully assembling and consulting for their common good, nor from applying to the legislature by petitions, or remonstrances for redress of their grievances.

freedom-of-speech common people