Our Country May Be Likened To A

There Is Every Reason To Believe That Our System Will Soon Attain The Highest Degree Of Perfection Of Which Human Institutions Are Capable.

It Is Only When The People Become Ignorant And Corrupt, When They Degenerate Into A Populace, That They Are Incapable Of Exercising Their Sovereignty.

I Regret That I Should Leave This World Without Again Beholding Him.

How Prone All Human Institutions Have Been To Decay; How Subject The Best-formed And Most Wisely Organized Governments Have Been To Lose Their Check And Totally Dissolve; How Difficult It Has Been For Mankind, In All Ages And Countries, To Preserve Their Dearest Rights And Best Privileges, Impelled As It Were By An Irresistible Fate Of Despotism.

Peace Is The Best Time For Improvement And Preparation Of Every Kind; It Is In Peace That Our Commerce Flourishes Most, That Taxes Are Most Easily Paid, And That The Revenue Is Most Productive.