Daily Quote 4/9-13/2007

Mon. 4/9/2007.
"[Y]our late purchase of an estate in the colony of Cayenne, with a view to emancipating the slaves on it, is a generous and noble proof of your humanity. Would to God a like spirit would diffuse itself generally into the minds of the people of this country; but I despair of seeing it."

--George Washington (letter to Marquis de Lafayette, 10 May 1786); Reference: Washington's Maxims, 159.

Tue. 4/10/2007.
"This letter will, to you, be as one from the dead. The writer will be in the grave before you can weigh its counsels. Your affectionate and excellent father has requested that I would address to you something which might possibly have a favorable influence on the course of life you have to run; and I too, as a namesake, feel an interest in that course. Few words will be necessary, with good dispositions on your part. Adore God. Reverence and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself, and your country more than yourself. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence. So shall the life into which you have entered be the portal to one of eternal and ineffable bliss. And if to the dead it is permitted to care for the things of this world, every action of your life will be under my regard. Farewell."

--Thomas Jefferson (letter to Thomas Jefferson Smith, 21 February 1825); Reference: Our Sacred Honor, Bennett, 413.

Wed. 4/11/2007.
"[D]emocracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths."

--James Madison (Federalist No. 10, 23 November 1787); Reference: Madison, Federalist No. 10 (81).

Thu. 4/12/2007.
"Upon this point all speculative politicians will agree, that the happiness of society is the end of government, as all divines and moral philosophers will agree that the happiness of the individual is the end of man. From this principle it will follow that the form of government which communicates ease, comfort, security, or, in one word, happiness, to the greatest numbers of persons, and in the greatest degree, is the best."

--John Adams (Thoughts on Government, 1776); Reference: The Works of John Adams, Charles Adams, ed., 17.

Fri. 4/13/2007.
"If duties are too high, they lessen the consumption; the collection is eluded; and the product to the treasury is not so great as when they are confined within proper and moderate bounds. This forms a complete barrier against any material oppression of the citizens by taxes of this class, and is itself a natural limitation of the power of imposing them."

--Alexander Hamilton (Federalist No. 21, 1787); Reference: The Federalist.

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