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To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.1

Speech to both Houses of Congress, January 8, 1790.

JOHN DICKINSON. 1732 - 1808.

Then join in hand, brave Americans all;
By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall.
The Liberty Song. (1768.)

JOHN ADAMS.

1735-1826.

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore.

Letter to Mrs. Adams, July 3, 1776.

1 Qui desiderat pacem præparet bellum.

Vegetius, Rei Mil. 3. Prolog.

PATRICK HENRY. 1736-1799.

Cæsar had his Brutus Charles the First, his Cromwell and George the Third ("Treason!" cried the speaker) — may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of Speech, 1765.

it.

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but, as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

Speech, March, 1775.

THOMAS PAINE.

1737-1809.

And the final event to himself (Mr. Burke) has been that, as he rose like a rocket, he fell like the stick. Letter to the Addressers.

These are the times that try men's souls.

The American Crisis. No. 1.

The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related, that it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime makes the ridiculous, and one step above the ridiculous makes the sublime again.1

Age of Reason. Part ii. ad fin. (note.)

1 Probably the original of Napoleon's celebrated mot, "Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas."

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

1743-1826.

The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time.

Summary View of the Rights of British America.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

A Declaration by the Representatives of the United
States of America.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights: that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Ibid.

We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour.

Ibid.

Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. Inaugural Address.

Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship, with all

Jefferson continued.]

nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigour, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; . . . . freedom of religion; freedom of the press; freedom of person under the protection of habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected, - these principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation.

Ibid.

If a due participation of office is a matter of right, how are vacancies to be obtained? Those by death are few: by resignation none.1 Letter to a Committee of the Merchants of New Haven, 1801.

LORD STOWELL. 1745-1836.

A dinner lubricates business.

Boswell's Johnson, viii. 67, n.

The elegant simplicity of the three per cents. Campbell's Chancellors, Vol. x. Ch. 212.

1 Usually quoted, "Few die, and none resign."

378

Quincy. - Barbauld.

JOSIAH QUINCY (JUNIOR). 1744-1775.

Blandishments will not fascinate us, nor will threats of a "halter" intimidate. For, under God, we are determined that, wheresoever, whensoever, or howsoever, we shall be called to make our exit, we will die freemen.

Observations on the Boston Port Bill, 1774.

MRS. BARBAULD.

1743-1825.

Man is the nobler growth our realms supply,
And souls are ripened in our northern sky.

The Invitation.

This dead of midnight is the noon of thought, And Wisdom mounts her zenith with the stars.1 A Summer's Evening Meditation.

Life! we've been long together

Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; 'Tis hard to part when friends are dear; Perhaps 't will cost a sigh, a tear;

Then steal away, give little warning,

Choose thine own time;

Say not "Good night," but in some brighter clime Bid me "Good morning."

1 Often ascribed to Young.

Life.

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