I have searched for this quote through all my quite substantial reference materials, and have been unable to identify it as a genuine Jefferson quote. I believe it to be a fabrication. One dead giveaway is the syntax used. 19th century syntax would have stated the quote as: "The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so as not to become a legalized version of the first." or "The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us bind the latter down with the chains of the Constitution so as not to become a legalized version of the former." The "chains of the Constitution" reference is to be found in the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 protesting the Alien and Sedition Acts and reads: "In questions of powers, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."