The Passions Of A Revolution

For My Part, I Sincerely Esteem The Constitution, A System Which Without The Finger Of God, Never Could Have Been Suggested And Agreed Upon By Such A Diversity Of Interests.

The Propriety Of A Law, In A Constitutional Light, Must Always Be Determined By The Nature Of The Powers Upon Which It Is Founded.

Some Reasonable Term Ought To Be Allowed To Enable Aliens To Get Rid Of Foreign And Acquire American Attachments; To Learn The Principles And Imbibe The Spirit Of Our Government; And To Admit Of A Probability At Least, Of Their Feeling A Real Interest In Our Affairs.

These Powers Ought To Exist Without Limitation, Because It Is Impossible To Foresee Or To Define The Extent And Variety Of National Exigencies, And The Correspondent Extent And Variety Of The Means Which May Be Necessary To Satisfy Them.

[i]n Framing A Government For A Nation We Ought, In Those Provisions Which Are Designed To Be Permanent, To Calculate Not On Temporary, But On Permanent Causes Of Expence.