They are to take charge of the details, without aspiring to guide the system; they are to work in a dark and subordinate sphere, and only to judge the acts in which they have themselves cooperated by their results.

These, however, are not conditions on which the alliance of the human will is to be obtained; its carriage must be free and its actions responsible, or (such is the constitution of man) the citizen had rather remain a passive spectator than a dependent actor in schemes with which he is unacquainted.
[Footnote s: China appears to me to present the most perfect instance of that species of well-being which a completely central administration may furnish to the nations among which it exists.

Travellers assure us that the Chinese have peace without happiness, industry without improvement, stability without strength, and public order without public morality.
The condition of society is always tolerable, never excellent.

I am convinced that, when China is opened to European observation, it will be found to contain the most perfect model of a central administration which exists in the universe.] It is undeniable that the want of those uniform regulations which control the conduct of every inhabitant of France is not unfrequently felt in the United States.

Gross instances of social indifference and neglect are to be met with, and from time to time disgraceful blemishes are seen in complete contrast with the surrounding civilization.