JB/137/030/001

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put under restraint. The spontaneous efforts of individuals,
have been exerted in every portion of our Country. Our Government
is free; the laws are mild, and they apply equally to
every citizen: we do not recognize any species of torture, (a) and
the constitution prohibits "cruel and unusual punishments";
no human sacrifices have been made by virtue of sanguinary
criminal code: we have not had a single instance
of capital punishment for treason against the United States. (1.)
A foreigner, who is very far from being prejudiced in our
favour, has said of our government, that "like the hand of
"Providence, it governs without being felt, and almost without
"being perceived." (2) In 1794, this same government
said the late Charles James Fox, "could be in no danger
"while it retained the confidence and attachment of its subjects:-
"attachment, in this instance, not blindly adopted;
"confidence, not implicitly given, but but arising from the conviction
"of its excellence, and the experience of its blessings." (3.)
A conservative principle is inherent in our political compact:
the constitution under which we live, is the work of
the people: it can be amended, whenever the legitimate authority
may deem it expedient. Every state and every citizen
enjoys equal privileges; our rights have emanated from the
Governor of the universe, they do not rest upon a bill of
rights or charters granted, by an individual, to appease an
irritated multitude.

Our experience contradicts the assection of Monteaquiew
that a free Government is one always agitated.
To this declaration, we can oppose the testimony of a distinguished
foreigner, who is also a Frenchman, with the advantage
of having resided several years in our Country:
he says, that he observed little agitation and little inquietude
in America. (4) We have no established casts or privileged
classes in our Community; the Constitution does not recognize
monopolies in favour of one, to the prejudice of the many; the

(1.) President Monroe's Inaugural speech, 4 March, 1817.

(2.) Beaujour's sketch of the United States, p.65.

(3.) Speech delivered in Parliament in 1794.

(4.) Talleyrand's Essay on the Advantages to be derived from
New Colonies, p.67.

Identifier: | JB/137/030/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 137.
Date_1		Marginal Summary Numbering
Box	137	Main Headings	radicalism not dangerous
Folio number	030	Info in main headings field
Image	001	Titles
Category	collectanea	Number of Pages	1
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering	c2 / d7 / e2
Penner	john flowerdew colls	Watermarks
Marginals		Paper Producer
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year
Notes public		ID Number	46747
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