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The Weight of Testimony
the precepts there contained! Every member
would be obliged in conscience to temperance,
frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and
charity towards his fellow men; and to piety,
love, and reverence toward Almighty God.
-- John Adams
Before God, I believe the hour has come.
My judgment approves this measure, and my
whole heart is in it All that I have, and all that
I am, and all that I hope in this life, I am now
ready here to stake upon it And I leave offas
I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am
for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment,
and by the blessing ofGod it shall by my dying
sentiment
Independence now, and
Independence for ever!
-- John Adams
We have staked the whole ofall our political
institutions upon the capacity of mankind for
self-government, upon the capacity ofeach and
all of us to govern ourselves, to control
ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the
Ten Commandments ofGod.
-
James Madison
As my children will have frequent occasion
ofperusing this instrument, andmayprobably be
peculiarly impressed with the last words of their
father, I think proper here, not only to subscribe
.
to the entire beliefofthe great leading doctrines
ofChristian religion
...
but also in the heart ofa
father's affection, to charge and exhort them to
remember "that the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom.
"
-- Richard Stockton
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