... For It Is A Truth, Which

The Militia Is A Voluntary Force Not Associated Or Under The Control Of The States Except When Called Out; [ When Called Into Actual Service] A Permanent Or Long Standing Force Would Be Entirely Different In Make-up And Call.

I Should Esteem It The Extreme Of Imprudence To Prolong The Precarious State Of Our National Affairs, And To Expose The Union To The Jeopardy Of Successive Experiments, In The Chimerical Pursuit Of A Perfect Plan. I Never Expect To See A Perfect Work From Imperfect Man. The Result Of The Deliberations Of All Collective Bodies Must Necessarily Be A Compound, As Well Of The Errors And Prejudices, As Of The Good Sense And Wisdom, Of The Individuals Of Whom They Are Composed.

I Trust That The Proposed Constitution Afford A Genuine Specimen Of Representative Government And Republican Government; And That It Will Answer, In An Eminent Degree, All The Beneficial Purposes Of Society.

A Sacred Respect For The Constitutional Law Is The Vital Principle, The Sustaining Energy Of A Free Government.

Ambition Without Principle Never Was Long Under The Guidance Of Good Sense.