The Known Propensity Of A

A Large Portion Of Our Citizens, Who Will Not Believe, Even On The Evidence Of Facts, That Any Public Evils Exist, Or Are Impending. They Deride The Apprehensions Of Those Who Foresee, That Licentiousness Will Prove, As It Ever Has Proved, Fatal To Liberty.

[o]ur Sages In The Great [constitutional] Convention... Intended Our Government Should Be A Republic Which Differs More Widely From A Democracy Than A Democracy From A Despotism. The Rigours Of A Despotism Often... Oppress Only A Few, But It Is The Very Essence And Nature Of A Democracy, For A Faction Claiming To Oppress A Minority, And That Minority The Chief Owners Of The Property And Truest Lovers Of Their Country.

We Are Not To Consider Ourselves, While Here, As At Church Or School, To Listen To The Harangues Of Speculative Piety; We Are Here To Talk Of The Political Interests Committed To Our Charge.

Liberty Is Not To Be Enjoyed, Indeed It Cannot Exist, Without The Habits Of Just Subordination; It Consists, Not So Much In Removing All Restraint From The Orderly, As In Imposing It On The Violent.

Democracy, In Its Best State, Is But The Politics Of Bedlam; While Kept Chained, Its Thoughts Are Frantic, But When It Breaks Loose, It Kills The Keeper, Fires The Building, And Perishes.