'Tis substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.
It is incumbent upon every person of every description to contribute to his country's welfare.
It would be repugnant to the vital principles of our government virtually to exclude from public trusts, talents and virtue, unless accompanied by wealth.
Give such encouragements to our own navigation as will render our commerce less dependent on foreign bottoms.
I have never made an appointment from a desire to serve a friend or relative.
Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, conscience.
WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL TO THE ARMY
(Dated at Rocky Hill, near Princeton, New Jersey, November 2, 1783)
It is universally acknowledged that the enlarged prospects of happiness, opened by the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, almost exceed the power of description. And shall not the brave men who have contributed so essentially to these inestimable acquisitions, retiring victorious from the field of war to the field of agriculture, participate in all the blessings which have been obtained? In such a republic, who will exclude them from the rights of citizens and the fruits of their labor?