If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.
There is ... an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents. ... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government, and provisions should be made to prevent its ascendancy.