Lysander Spooner: “How shall it be preserved from degeneration into a mere government for the benefit of a part only of those who…”

And whenever any number of men, calling themselves a government, do anything to another man, or to his property, which they had no right to do as individuals they thereby declare themselves trespassers, robbers, or murderers, according to…

They cannot claim or expect that the whole people shall practise the folly of taking on trust their pretended superior knowledge, and of committing blindly into their hands all their own interests, liberties, and rights, to be disposed of…

They were even allowed to grant pardon to criminals, and to correct by their clemency the rigors of justice.

Practically speaking, no government knows any limits to its power, except the endurance of the people.