...governed by laws made neither by themselves nor by an authority derived from them, and are slaves. 3. Because it is proper to take alarm at the first experiment...noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The free men of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled...

...continued his letter, he reminded the Virginians how the revolutionaries had responded to usurpation: We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty...noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The free men of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled...

...infringements on the cherished right of religious free exercise but the loss of all fundamental liberties. "It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties," Madison admonishes. "We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of Citizens, and one of the...

...sects, but his arguments transcended the immediate issue. As Madison wrote, in good republican fashion, "it is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties." Mason had used that argument many times. Who could not see, Madison asked, that "the same authority...

...governed by laws made neither by themselves nor by an authority derived from them, and are slaves. 3. Because it is proper to take alarm at the first experiment...noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The free men of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled...

...governed by laws made neither by themselves nor by an authority derived from them, and are slaves. 3. f them all should, by any manifest declaration of...to dominion and sovereignty. 5. This equality of free men of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled...

...framed the Constitution and Bill of Rights, Madison's words in his "Remonstrance" deserve quotation. "It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties," he began. "Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion...

...1979). Chapter 6 Tearing Down the Wall Conservative Use and Abuse of Religion in Politics Diana M. Judd It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. — James Madison (1785)' Politics is about power. Contemporary neoconservatives have, for the moment...

...Madison, author of the First Amendment, in his Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments: "[I]t is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties." 48 If the Regents' Prayer amounted to such an experiment, how serious and dangerous an experiment was...

...trickling stream," Clark argued, "may all too soon become a raging torrent and. in the words of Madison, 'it is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties.'" Clark also dismissed the claim, still frequently heard today, that by holding Bible readings in public...