I am for
freedom of religion, and against all manoeuvres to bring about a legal
ascendency of one sect over another: for freedom of the press and
against all violations of the constitution to silence by force and not
by reason the complaints or criticisms, just or unjust, of our citizens
against the conduct of their agents. And I am for encouraging the
progress of science in all its branches: and not for raising a hue and
cry against the sacred name of philosophy; for awing the human mind by
stories of raw-head and bloody-bones to a distrust of its own vision,
and to repose implicitly on that of others; to go backwards instead of
forwards to look for improvement; to believe that government, religion,
morality, and every other science were in the highest perfection in
ages of the darkest ignorance, and that nothing can ever be devised more
perfect than what was established by our forefathers. To these I will
add, that I was a sincere well-wisher to the success of the French
revolution, and still wish it may end in the establishment of a free
and well-ordered republic: but I have not been insensible under the
atrocious depredations they have committed on our commerce. The first
object of my heart is my own country. In that is embarked my family, my
fortune, and my own existence.
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