Chapter XIII.
"And may it not be fairly left to the unbiassed judgment of all men of experience and of intelligence to decide which is most to be relied on for a sound and safe test of the meaning of a Constitution,—a uniform interpretation by all the successive authorities under it, commencing with its birth, and continued for a long period through the varied state of political contests,—or the opinion of every new legislature, heated, as it may be, by the strife of parties, or warped, as often happens, by the eager pursuit of some favorite object, or carried away, possibly, by the powerful eloquence or captivating address of a few popular statesmen, themselves perhaps influenced by the same misleading causes? If the latter test is to prevail, every new legislative opinion might make a new Constitution, as the foot of every new chancellor would make a new standard of measure."—Madison.
"Must these rules of construction be now abandoned? Are the powers of the national legislature to be restrained in proportion as the rights and privileges, derived from the nation, are valuable? Are constitutional provisions, enacted to secure the dearest rights of freemen and citizens, to be subjected to that rule of construction, applicable to private instruments, which requires that the words to be interpreted must be taken most strongly against those who employ them, or shall it be remembered that a constitution of government founded by the people for themselves and their posterity, and for objects of the most momentous nature, for perpetual union, for the establishment of justice, for the general welfare, and for a perpetuation of the blessings of liberty, necessarily requires that every interpretation of its powers should have a constant reference to these objects?"—Justice Harlan, Civil-Rights Cases.
"No interpretation of the words in which those powers are granted can be a sound one which narrows down their ordinary import so as to defeat those objects."—Story.
"But though Barrière succeeded in earning the honorable nicknames of Witling of Terror and the Anacreon of the Guillotine, there was one place where it was long remembered to his advantage that he had, for a time, talked the language of humanity and moderation."—Macaulay.
"What is oppression? Power misapplied to the prejudice of some individual. What is that a man has in view when he speaks of oppression? Some exertion of power which he looks upon as misapplied to the preju-
