Known sourcecanonical
"The very essence of a free government consists in considering offices as public trusts, bestowed for the good of the country, and not for the benefit of an individual or a party."
John C. Calhoun / Speech, Feb. 13, 1835.
Speech, Feb. 13, 1835.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed. (Little, Brown, 1905), public domain