“ From the time of his taking the pledge there came upon him an irresistible desire to devote his life to the cause of temperance, and he clung with singular tenacity to his purpose. He set forth, carpet-bag in hand, to tramp through the New England states, glad to obtain even seventy-five cents for a temperance lecture, and soon became famous for his eloquence. An intense earnestness derived from experience, and his power of imitation and expression, enabled him to work on the sensibilities of his audiences as few men have been able to do. ”

“ I affirm that it is a most accursed war, wicked, barbarous, cruel, and unnatural; conceived in injustice, it was brought forth and nurtured in folly; its footsteps are marked with slaughter and devastation, while it meditates destruction to the miserable people who are the devoted objects of the resentments which produced it. Where is the Englishman who can refrain from weeping on whatever side victory may be declared? ”

“ If I should be called to the chief magistracy of the nation by the suffrages of my fellow-citizens, I will assume the duties of that high office with a solemn determination to dedicate every effort to the country's good, and with a humble reliance upon the favor and support of the Supreme Being, who I believe will always bless honest human endeavor in the conscientious discharge of public duty. ”

“ He insisted that “the people of the United States are entitled to a sound and stable currency, and to money recognized as such on every exchange and in every market of the world. Their government has no right to injure them by financial experiments opposed to the policy and practice of other civilized states, nor is it justified in permitting an exaggerated and unreasonable reliance on our national strength and ability to jeopardize the soundness of the people's money.” ”

“ If national honesty is to be disregarded and a desire for territorial extension or dissatisfaction with a form of government not our own ought to regulate our conduct, I have entirely misapprehended the mission and character of our government and the behaviour which the conscience of our people demands of their public servants. ”

“ Receive your bearded guests from the east, who bring the signal of the God who cometh to us in mercy and pity. The time of our life is coming. Ye have nothing to fear from the world. Thou art the living God, who created us in mercy. The words of God are good. Let us lift up His signal, to see it and adore it. We must raise the cross in opposition to the falsehood we now see. Before the first tree of the world now is a manifestation made to the world; this is the signal of a God on high. ”

“ I am a clergyman, it is true, but I am a member of society as well as the poorest layman, and my liberty is as dear to me as to any man. Shall I then sit still and enjoy myself at home when the best blood of the continent is spilling? ”

“ Manifestly, if we are to aid the people directly through tariff reform, one of its most obvious features should be a reduction in present tariff charges upon the necessaries of life. The benefits of such a reduction would be palpable and substantial, seen and felt by thousands who would be better fed and better clothed and better sheltered. . . .
“Not less closely related to our people's prosperity and well-being is the removal of restrictions upon the importation of the raw materials necessary to our manufactures. The world should be open to our national ingenuity and enterprise. ”

“ As a master of the English language he was inferior to Burke and Webster; as a master of debate he could not be compared with Fox or with his own son; yet for power of moving an audience he must probably be counted the greatest orator since Demosthenes; while among those men of action who have shaped the destinies of nations he will rank with the foremost. ”

“ I take my place with the rank and file of the democratic party who believe in tariff reform and well know what it is, who refuse to accept the results embodied in this bill as the close of the war, who are not blinded to the fact that the livery of democratic tariff reform has been stolen and worn in the service of republican protection, and who have marked the places where the deadly blight of treason has blasted the councils of the brave in their hour of might. ”

“ Samuel Adams and his cousin John were delegates to the first continental congress. They knew that Massachusetts was somewhat dreaded and distrusted by the other colonies, especially by Pennsylvania and New York, on account of her forwardness in opposing the British government. While there was genuine sympathy with her situation, there was at the same time great reluctance to bringing on a war. The rigid puritanism of Massachusetts was also held in disrepute. Samuel Adams felt it necessary to be conciliatory, and it was easy for him to be so, for he was large-minded and full of tact. ”

“ This clearness of insight was soon to bear good fruit in the management of the treaty of 1783. For the present, Adams found himself uncomfortable in Paris, as his too ready tongue wrought unpleasantness both with Vergennes and with Franklin, who was too much under the French minister's influence. On his first arrival in Paris, society there had been greatly excited about him, as it was supposed that he was “the famous Mr. Adams” who had ordered the British troops out of Boston in March, 1770, and had thrown down the glove of defiance to George III. on the great day of the Boston tea-party. ”

“ Franklin," said the Count de Vergennes to him, when he announced his appointment. Jefferson replied: "I succeed; no one can replace him." The impression that France made upon Jefferson's mind was painful in the extreme. While enjoying the treasures of art that Paris presented, and particularly its music, fond of the people, too, relishing their amiable manners, their habits and tastes, he was nevertheless appalled at the cruel oppression of the ancient system of government. ”

“ On that ground it can not allow itself to refuse to redress an injury inflicted through an abuse of power by officers clothed with its authority and wearing its uniform; and on the same ground, if a feeble but friendly state is in danger of being robbed of its independence and its sovereignty by a misuse of the name and power of the United States, the United States can not fail to vindicate its honor and its sense of justice by an earnest effort to make all possible reparation. ”

“ In almost all the states the popular majority was adverse to the constitution, and in the New York ratifying convention the vote stood at the outset two to one against adoption. In a brilliant contest, Hamilton, by arguments rarely equalled in the history of debate, either in form or eloquence, by skilful management, and by wise delay, finally succeeded in converting enough votes, and carried ratification triumphantly. ”

“ The knowledge in business circles among our own people that our government can not make its fiat equivalent to intrinsic value, nor keep inferior money on a parity with superior money by its own independent efforts, has resulted in such a lack of confidence at home in the stability of currency values that capital refuses its aid to new enterprises, while millions are actually withdrawn from the channels of trade and commerce, to become idle and unproductive in the hands of timid owners. ”

“ He maintained that the parliament of Virginia had as much right to pass laws for the government of the people of England as the Brit- ish legislature had to pass laws for the government of the people of Virginia. " Can any one reason be assigned," he asked, " why a hundred and sixty thousand electors in the island of Great Britain should give law to four millions in the states of America?" The draught, indeed, was so radical on every point that it seemed to the ruling British mind of that day mere insolent burlesque. ”

“ A man of true honor protects the unwritten word which binds his conscience more scrupulously, if possible, than he does the bond, a breach of which subjects him to legal liabilities; and the United States, in aiming to maintain itself as one of the most enlightened of nations, would do its citizens gross injustice if it applied to its international relations any other than a high standard of honor and morality. ”

“ My name shall live in the memory of man when the titles of the Northumberlands and the Percys are extinct and forgotten.” In order to carry out his ambition he bequeathed his property, about £120,000, to his nephew, Henry James Hungerford, for his life, and after his decease, to his surviving children, but in the event of his dying without a child or children, then the whole of the property was “left to the United States for the purpose of founding an institution at Washington to be called the Smithsonian institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” ”

“ There was now a strong popular demand for Chatham as prime minister. Men of all parties, beginning with Lord North himself, were desirous that he should take the reins of government and pacify America while punishing France. The task of pacifying America without conceding full independence might probably have proved impracticable; but if there was any man then living who could have undertaken such a task with some hope of success, it was Chatham. ”

“ Cleveland is as distinguished for forcible speech as for forcible action. His many addresses, both while in and out of office, are marked by clearness of thought and directness of expression, which, with his courage and ability, have always appealed to the best sentiments of the people, and have formed and led a healthy public opinion. He is notable for being the first public man in the United States to be nominated for the presidency thrice in succession. ”

“ Many fragments of a history composed by Chel-Ab-Ku-Kil are found in the documents of Yucatan and Central American missions, and nearly all the chroniclers of the conquest of America mention Chel-Ab-Ku-Kil, who left this prophecy: “You who look at things to come, what do you think will happen at the end of this age? Let it be known by you that such things will come from north and east, and for our woe, that you may think they are before your eyes. In the ninth age no priest or prophet will reveal to you the scripture, of which you are generally ignorant.” ”

“ Every dollar put into the hands of the people should be of the same intrinsic value or purchasing power. With this condition absolutely guaranteed, both gold and silver can safely be utilized upon equal terms in the adjustment of our currency.” He also urged “an honest adherence to the letter and spirit of civil service reform,” “liberal consideration for our worthy veteran soldiers and for the families of those who have died,” but insisting that “ur pension roll should be a roll of honor, uncontaminated by ill desert and unvitiated by demagogic use.” ”

“ Every man in the fort offered to perform the perilous service but at this juncture Elizabeth Zane came forward and asked permission to go for the powder, giving as a reason that her life was of less value to the garrison than that of a man. She was so importunate that a reluctant consent was finally given. She went out of the gate of the fort, fearlessly passed the open space to her brother's house, which she entered, and, having secured the powder, retraced her steps amid a shower of Indian bullets, entering the fort in safety with her valuable prize. ”

“ While he was a student of law, he was an eye-witness of those memorable scenes in the Virginia legislature which followed the passage of the stamp-act. He was present as a spectator in the house when Patrick Henry read his five resolutions, written upon a blank leaf torn from a "Coke upon Lyttleton," enunciating the principle that Englishmen living in America had all the rights of Englishmen living in England, the chief of which was, that they could only be taxed by their own representatives. ”