The power under the Constitution will always be in the people.

Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages.

Religion and morality are the essential pillars of civil society.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few.

Honesty will be found on every experiment, to be the best and only true policy; let us then as a Nation be just.

Not only do I pray for it, on the score of human dignity, but I can clearly forsee that nothing but the rooting out of slavery can perpetuate the existence of our union, by consolidating it in a common bond of principle.

In his address of 19 September 1796, given as he prepared to leave office, President George Washington spoke about the importance of morality to the country's well-being: Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. . . . And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. . . . Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its virtue?