I think so too; they know it, and they feel it.
The question is, then, What is the standard of that extreme? What
that gentleman, and the associations, or some parts of their
phalanxes, think proper. Then our liberties are in their pleasure;
it depends on their arbitrary will how far I shall be free. I will
have none of that freedom. If, therefore, the standard of
moderation be sought for, I will seek for it. Where? Not in their
fancies, nor in my own: I will seek for it where I know it is to be
found--in the Constitution I actually enjoy. Here it says to an
encroaching prerogative--"Your sceptre has its length; you cannot
add a hair to your head, or a gem to your crown, but what an eternal
law has given to it." Here it says to an overweening peerage--"Your
pride finds banks that it cannot overflow;" here to a tumultuous and
giddy people--"There is a bound to the raging of the sea." Our
Constitution is like our island, which uses and restrains its
subject sea; in vain the waves roar. In that Constitution I know,
and exultingly I feel, both that I am free and that I am not free
dangerously to myself or to others.
Pages:
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223