My anxious recollections, my sympathetic feeling, and my best wishes are irresistibly excited whensoever, in any country, I see an oppressed nation unfurl the banners of freedom.

It is at all times more easy to make enemies than friends.

I shall make it the most agreeable part of my duty to study merit, and reward the brave and deserving.

There is an indissoluble union between a magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity.

Let your countenance be pleasant, but in serious matters let it be somewhat grave.

It is an old adage that honesty is the best policy-this applies to public as well as private life-to States as well as individuals.

Upon the decease [of] my wife, it is my Will and desire th[at] all the Slaves which I hold in [my] own right, shall receive their free[dom] . . . . The Negroes thus bound, are (by their Masters or Mistresses) to be taught to read and write; and to be brought up to some useful occupation, agreeably to the Laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, providing for the support of Orphan and other poor Children. And I do hereby expressly forbid the Sale, or transportation out of the said Commonwealth, of any Slave I may die possessed of, under any pretence whatsoever.