You see I am an enthusiast on the subject of the arts. But it is an enthusiasm of which I am not ashamed, as its object is to improve the taste of my countrymen, to increase their reputation, to reconcile to them the respect of the world, and procure them its praise.

We discover in the gospels a groundwork of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstition, fanaticism and fabrication .

I never told my own religion nor scrutinized that of another. I never attempted to make a convert, nor wished to change another's creed. I am satisfied that yours must be an excellent religion to have produced a life of such exemplary virtue and correctness. For it is in our lives, and not from our words, that our religion must be judged.

History teaches the young the virtues of freedom. By apprising them of the past it will enable them to judge the future.

The information of the people at large can alone make them the safe as they are the sole depositary of our political and religious freedom.

Money, not morality, is the principle commerce of civilized nations.

The liberty of speaking and writing guards our other liberties.