THE CESSION OF RUSSIAN AMERICA TO THE UNITED STATES.
Speech in the Senate, on the Ratification of the Treaty between the United States and Russia, April 9, 1867.
Thirteen governments founded on the natural authority of the people alone, without a pretence of miracle or mystery, and which are destined to spread over the northern part of that whole quarter of the globe, are a great point gained in favor of the rights of mankind.—John Adams, Preface to his Defence of the American Constitutions, dated Grosvenor Square, London, January 1, 1787: Works, Vol. IV. p. 293.
Barbarous and stupid Xerxes, how vain was all thy toil to cover the Hellespont with a floating bridge! Thus rather wise and prudent princes join Asia to Europe; they join and fasten nations together, not with boards or planks or surging brigandines, not with inanimate and insensible bonds, but by the ties of legitimate love, chaste nuptials, and the infallible gage of progeny.—Plutarch, Morals, ed. Goodwin, Vol. I. p. 482.