onstituted authorities of the citizens of our country in relation to the lines which separate their respective jurisdictions， the results can be of no vital injury to our institutions if that ardent patriotism， that devoted attachment to liberty， that spirit of moderation and forbearance for which our countrymen were once distinguished， continue to be cherished. if this continues to be the ruling passion of our souls， the weaker feeling of the mistaken enthusiast will be corrected， the utopian dreams of the scheming politician dissipated， and the complicated intrigues of the demagogue rendered harmless. the spirit of liberty is the sovereign balm for every injury which our institutions may receive. on the contrary， no care that can be used in the construction of our government， no division of powers， no distribution of checks in its several departments， will prove effectual to keep us a free people if this spirit is suffered to decay； and decay it will without constant nurture. to the neglect of this duty the best historians agree in attributing the ruin of all the republics with whose existence and fall their writings have made us acquainted. the same causes will ever produce the same effects， and as long as the love of power is a dominant passion of the human bosom， and as long as the understandings of men can be warped and their affections changed by operations upon their passions and prejudices， so long will the liberties of a people depend on their own constant attention
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