Laws are the offspring of the original genius of a people, and while we may renovate, we must not unduly reform.

The true idea of national development is always latent in the past experience of the race and it is from that perpetual spring alone that wisdom can be drawn.

We render obedience to what is with effortless unconsciousness; and without this loyalty to inherited institutions the fabric of society would be dissolved.

Civilization, in fact, depends upon the performance of actions defined in preconceived channels; and if we obeyed those novel impulses of right which seem, at times, to contradict our inheritance, we should disturb beyond repair the intricate equilibrium of countless ages.

The experience of the past rather than the desires of the present is thus the true guide to our policy.