Men Are Rather Reasoning Than

There Are Seasons In Every Country When Noise And Impudence Pass Current For Worth; And In Popular Commotions Especially, The Clamors Of Interested And Factious Men Are Often Mistaken For Patriotism.

To Model Our Political System Upon Speculations Of Lasting Tranquility, Is To Calculate On The Weaker Springs Of The Human Character.

In This Distribution Of Powers The Wisdom Of Our Constitution Is Manifested. It Is The Province And Duty Of The Executive To Preserve To The Nation The Blessings Of Peace. The Legislature Alone Can Interrupt Those Blessings, By Placing The Nation In A State Of War.

The Same State Of The Passions Which Fits The Multitude, Who Have Not A Sufficient Stock Of Reason And Knowledge To Guide Them, For Opposition To Tyranny And Oppression, Very Naturally Leads Them To A Contempt And Disregard Of All Authority.

[w]ar Is A Question, Under Our Constitution, Not Of Executive, But Of Legislative Cognizance. It Belongs To Congress To Say Whether The Nation Shall Of Choice Dismiss The Olive Branch And Unfurl The Banners Of War.