Constitutions should consist only of general provisions; the reason is that they must necessarily be permanent, and that they cannot calculate for the possible change of things

The genius of the people will ill brook the inquisitive and preemptory spirit of excise laws.

The instrument by which it [government] must act are either the AUTHORITY of the laws or FORCE. If the first be destroyed, the last must be substituted; and where this becomes the ordinary instrument of government there is an end to liberty!

The propriety of a law, in a constitutional light, must always be determined by the nature of the powers upon which it is founded.

Its objects are CONTRACTS with foreign nations which have the force of law, but derive it from the obligations of good faith.

I would die to preserve the law upon a solid foundation; but take away liberty, and the foundation is destroyed.

A LAW, by the very meaning of the term, includes supremacy. It is a rule which those to whom it is prescribed are bound to observe. This results from every political association.

What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? An inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws.

Were it not that it might require too long a discussion, it would not be difficult to demonstrate that a large and well-organized republic can scarcely lose its liberty from any other cause than that of anarchy, to which a contempt of the laws is the high-road.