Category Archives: First Principles

First Principles: It Is Certainly True That A Popular Government Cannot Flourish Without Virtue In the People

“It is certainly true that a popular government cannot flourish without virtue in the people.” – Richard Henry Lee, letter to Colonel Martin Pickett, 1786

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First Principles: When Men Are Employ’d They Are Best Contented

“When Men are employ’d they are best contented. For on the Days they work’d they were good-natur’d and chearful; and with the consciousness of having done a good Days work they spent the Evenings jollily; but on the idle Days … Continue reading

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First Principles: Where There Is No Law, There Is No Liberty

“Where there is no law, there is no liberty; and nothing deserves the name of law but that which is certain and universal in its operation upon all the members of the community.” – Benjamin Rush (1788) As with all … Continue reading

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First Principles: An Unlimited Power To Tax Involves, Necessarily, A Power To Destroy

“An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation.” – John Marshall (1819)

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First Principles: An Unarmed Man May Be Attacked With Greater Confidence Than An Armed Man

“False is the idea of utility that sacrifices a thousand real advantages for one imaginary or trifling inconvenience; that would take fire from men because it burns, and water because one may drown in it; that has no remedy for … Continue reading

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First Principles: As Riches Increase and…Luxury Prevails In Society, Virtue Will Be…Considered As Only A Graceful Appendage

“As riches increase and accumulate in few hands, as luxury prevails in society, virtue will be in a greater degree considered as only a graceful appendage of wealth, and the tendency of things will be to depart from the republican … Continue reading

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First Principles: The First and Governing Maxim In the Interpretation of A Statute Is To Discovery the Meaning of Those Who Made It

“The first and governing maxim in the interpretation of a statute is to discover the meaning of those who made it.” – James Wilson, Of the Study of Law in the United States, 1790

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First Principles: It Is Necessary For Every American, With Becoming Energy To Endeavor To Stop the Dissemination of Principles Evidently Destructive of the Cause For Which They Have Bled

“It is necessary for every American, with becoming energy to endeavor to stop the dissemination of principles evidently destructive of the cause for which they have bled. It must be the combined virtue of the rulers and of the people … Continue reading

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First Principles: The Circumstances That Endanger the Safety of Nations Are Infinite

“The circumstances that endanger the safety of nations are infinite.” – Alexander Hamilton (1787)

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First Principles: The Public Cannot Be Too Curious Concerning the Characters of Public Men

“The public cannot be too curious concerning the characters of public men.” – Samuel Adams (1775)

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