The Public Cannot Be Too

Mankind Are Governed More By Their Feelings Than By Reason.

In A State Of Tranquility, Wealth, And Luxury, Our Descendants Would Forget The Arts Of War And The Noble Activity And Zeal Which Made Their Ancestors Invincible. Every Art Of Corruption Would Be Employed To Loosen The Bond Of Union Which Renders Our Resistance Formidable. When The Spirit Of Liberty Which Now Animates Our Hearts And Gives Success To Our Arms Is Extinct, Our Numbers Will Accelerate Our Ruin And Render Us Easier Victims To Tyranny.

What A Man Has Honestly Acquired Is Absolutely His Own, Which He May Freely Give, But Cannot Be Taken From Him Without His Consent.

The Sum Of All Is, If We Would Most Truly Enjoy The Gift Of Heaven, Let Us Become A Virtuous People; Then Shall We Both Deserve And Enjoy It. While On The Other Hand, If We Are Universally Vicious And Debauched In Our Manners, Though The Form Of Our Constitution Carries The Face Of The Most Exalted Freedom, We Shall In Reality Be The Most Abject Slaves.

I Would Advise Persisting In Our Struggle For Liberty, Though It Were Revealed From Heaven That Nine Hundred And Ninety-nine Men Were To Perish, And Only One Of A Thousand To Survive And Retain His Liberty. One Such Freeman Must Possess More Virtue, And Enjoy More Happiness, Than A Thousand Slaves.