Edmund Burke: “A spirit of subterfuge and a tone of apology will enter into all your proceedings, whether of law or legislation.”

They come from one who has been no tool of power, no flatterer of greatness, and who in his last acts does not wish to belie the tenor of his life.

They will become flatterers instead of legislators,--the instruments, not the guides of the people.

Let us imitate their caution, if we wish to deserve their fortune or to retain their bequests.

If any of them should happen to propose a scheme of liberty soberly limited, and defined with proper qualifications, he will be immediately outbid by his competitors, who will produce something more splendidly popular.