George Mason Quotes
We must not go too far (in creating a pure Republic). A portion of Democracy should be preserved; our own children in a short time will be among the general mass.
George Mason, 1725-1792, Member, Virginia & Federal Constitutional Conventions, Debate, Constitutional Convention, Philadelphia, 1787, Quoted in the notes of Rufus King
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The Spanish colonization had been so exploitative that there was little of no infrastructure established in the Spanish colonies. Almost no institutions, no local government, existed, and there was no system of law or tolerance of minority views. Power controlled all and the Spanish (and Portuguese) were the power. When they were defeated, it was a bitter free for all in most cases unless there was a strong man and even they did not last long.
The government relationship to people phrase, although probably Lincoln's most famous, was not totally original. John Adams came close in a 1774 proclamation. As did John Marshall in his McCulloch v. Maryland decision. Daniel Webster's Speech on Foot's Resolution was very close. as was Theodore Parker in 1850 {629578}. There was also Thomas Cooper in 1795. But the earliest appears to be John Wycliffe in 1382 {567292}. It is not known with which of these Lincoln was familiar.
1st Viscount Milner
Some people think that this quotation was partially copied from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. However, he gave this speech more than a decade earlier. Lincoln might have been familiar with it. His statue is in the U. S. Capitol.
This appears to be the earliest use of the phrase Lincoln later made famous in the Gettysburg Address.
Commenting on the concept of democracy and it's lack of Biblical justification:
George Mason IV was an American planter, politician and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including substantial portions of the Fairfax Resolves of 1774, the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776, and his Objections to this Constitution of Government (1787) opposing ratification, have exercised a significant influence on American political thought and events. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, which Mason principally authored, served as a basis for the United States Bill of Rights, a document of which he has been deemed a father.
