"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just."

"The commerce of slaves in the West Indies, I am informed, is an open market of human flesh, where the unhappy victims are daily exposed to the highest bidder, and where the most sacred ties of nature …"

"I have so much confidence in the good sense of man, and his capacity for self-government, that I am never afraid of the issue where reason is left free to exert her force."

"Difference of opinion is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the office of a censor morum over each other."

"I am for encouraging the diffusion of knowledge among the people. The people are the only safe depositories of government."