At the time when it was formed the dangers of the Confederation were imminent, and its ruin seemed inevitable.

In this extremity the people chose the men who most deserved the esteem, rather than those who had gained the affections, of the country.

I have already observed that distinguished as almost all the legislators of the Union were for their intelligence, they were still more so for their patriotism.

They had all been nurtured at a time when the spirit of liberty was braced by a continual struggle against a powerful and predominant authority.

When the contest was terminated, whilst the excited passions of the populace persisted in warring with dangers which had ceased to threaten them, these men stopped short in their career; they cast a calmer and more penetrating look upon the country which was now their own; they perceived that the war of independence was definitely ended, and that the only dangers which America had to fear were those which might result from the abuse of the freedom she had won.