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¬you to lay disproportionate burthens upon the profits of any manufactures or ingenious arts, begun in any given state of your country, that you may keep what is termed good faith with a very limited number of your subjects. — Every just government, however, must proceed in ex^ treme or in new cases with the utmost cau- tion, taking care that no principle is adopted which works a wrong, however small in the particular instance it may appear, because it opens a door to other wrongs, the extent of which cannot be known, and saps the very foundations of the social contract. — The true course to be pursued is, after all, most difficult; in the details, though the principles, as I have said, are clear ; since with every qualification of wisdom and justice in those who may have to act, or of fortitude and patience in those who are to suffer, differences of opinion must always attend any sudden and cutting reforms in great national establishments, both as to the extent of reductions and the seasons for their accomplishment. — Every class will feel most ¬acutely ¬
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