If Ever A Time Should Come, When

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.

Let Us Contemplate Our Forefathers, And Posterity, And Resolve To Maintain The Rights Bequeathed To Us From The Former, For The Sake Of The Latter.

The Name Of The Lord (says The Scripture) Is A Strong Tower; Thither The Righteous Flee And Are Safe (proverbs 18:10). Let Us Secure His Favor And He Will Lead Us Through The Journey Of This Life And At Length Receive Us To A Better.

It Is Not Unfrequent To Hear Men Declaim Loudly Upon Liberty, Who, If We May Judge By The Whole Tenor Of Their Actions, Mean Nothing Else By It But Their Own Liberty, To Oppress Without Control Or The Restraint Of Laws All Who Are Poorer Or Weaker Than Themselves.

The Constitution Be Never Construed To Authorize Congress To Infringe The Just Liberty Of The Press, Or The Rights Of Conscience; Or To Prevent The People Of The United States, Who Are Peaceable Citizens, From Keeping Their Own Arms.