Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.
It is when a people forget God, that tyrants forge their chains.
That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of the conscience; and it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other.
Being a Christian... is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast.
The Bible is worth all the other books which have ever been printed.
This is all the inheritance I give to my dear family. The religion of Christ will give them one which will make them rich indeed.
It can not be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!
I have now disposed of all my property to my family. There is one thing more I wish I could give them, and that is the Christian religion.