I have been happy however in believing ... that whatever follies we may be led into as to foreign nations, we shall never give up our union, the last anchor of our hope, & that alone which is to prevent this heavenly country from becoming an arena of gladiators.

this I hope will be the age of experiments in government, and that their basis will be founded on principles of honesty, not mere force.

all the tranquillity, the happiness & security of mankind rest on justice, on the obligation to respect the rights of others.

I can scarcely contemplate a more incalculable evil than the breaking of the union into two or more parts.

I set out on this ground, which I suppose to be self evident, ‘that the earth belongs in usufruct to the living:’ that the dead have neither powers nor rights over it. the portion occupied by any individual ceases to be his when himself ceases to be, & reverts to the society.

wherever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government.

we can surely boast of having set the world a beautiful example of a government reformed by reason alone without bloodshed. But the world is too far oppressed to profit of the example.

the example we have given to the world is single, that of changing the form of our government under the authority of reason only, without bloodshed.

we are now vibrating between too much & too little government, & the pendulum will rest finally in the middle.

with all the defects of our constitutions, whether general or particular, the comparison of our governments with those of Europe are like a comparison of heaven & hell. England, like the earth, may be allowed to take the intermediate station.