He Who Is Permitted By Law To

We Think, In America, That It Is Necessary To Introduce The People Into Every Department Of Government, As Far As They Are Capable Of Exercising It, And That This Is The Only Way To Ensure A Long Continued And Honest Administration Of Its Powers.

Democrats Consider The People As The Safest Depository Of Power In The Last Resort; They Cherish Them, Therefore, And Wish To Leave In Them All The Powers To The Exercise Of Which They Are Competent.

Our [virginia's] Act For Freedom Of Religion Is Extremely Applauded. The Ambassadors And Ministers Of The Several Nations Of Europe Resident At This Court Have Asked Me Copies Of It To Send To Their Sovereigns, And It Is Inserted At Full Length In Several Books Now In The Press; Among Others, In The New Encyclopédie. I Think It Will Produce Considerable Good Even In Those Countries Where Ignorance, Superstition, Poverty And Oppression Of Body And Mind In Every Form, Are So Firmly Settled On The Mass Of The People, That Their Redemption From Them Can Never Be Hoped.

The Declaration Of Independence . . . [is The] Declaratory Charter Of Our Rights, And The Rights Of Man.

The Error Seems Not Sufficiently Eradicated, That The Operations Of The Mind, As Well As The Acts Of The Body, Are Subject To The Coercion Of The Laws. But Our Rulers Can Have Authority Over Such Natural Rights Only As We Have Submitted To Them. The Rights Of Conscience We Never Submitted, We Could Not Submit. We Are Answerable For Them To Our God. The Legitimate Powers Of Government Extend To Such Acts Only As Are Injurious To Others.