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"We
electors have an important constitutional power
placed in our hands: we have a check upon two
branches of the legislature, as each branch has
upon the other two; the power I mean of electing
at stated periods, one branch, which branch has
the power of electing another. It becomes
necessary to every subject then, to be in some
degree a statesman: and to examine and judge for
himself of the tendencies of political
principles and measures. "
John
Adams, The Papers of John Adams, Robert
J. Taylor, ed. (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1977),
Vol. 1, p. 81.
"Let
each citizen remember at the moment he is
offering his vote that he is not making a
present or a compliment to please an
individual--or at least that he ought not so to
do; but that he is executing one of the most
solemn trusts in human society for which he is
accountable to God and his country. "
Samuel
Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams,
Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G.P.
Putnam's Sons, 1907), Vol. IV, p. 256.
"Nothing
is more essential to the establishment of
manners in a State than that all persons
employed in places of power and trust be men of
unexceptionable characters. The public cannot be
too curious concerning the character of public
men."
Samuel
Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams,
Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G.P.
Putnam's Sons, 1907), Vol. III, p. 236-237.
"Look
well to the characters and qualifications of
those you elect and raise to office and places
of trust. "
Matthias
Burnett, Pastor of the First Baptist Church in
Norwalk, An Election Sermon, Preached at
Hartford, on the Day of the Anniversary
Election, May 12, 1803 (Hartford: Printed by
Hudson & Goodwin, 1803), p. 27.
"Now
more than ever the people are responsible for
the character of their Congress. If that body be
ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because
the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and
corruption."
James
Garfield, "A Century of Congress"
published in Atlantic, July 1877.
"A
share in the sovereignty of the state, which is
exercised by the citizens at large, in voting at
elections is one of the most important rights of
the subject, and in a republic ought to stand
foremost in the estimation of the law. "
Alexander
Hamilton, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton,
Harold C. Syrett, ed. (New York, Columbia
University Press, 1962), Vol III, pp. 544-545.
"Providence
has given to our people the choice of their
rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the
privilege and interest of our Christian nation ,
to select and prefer Christians for their
rulers. "
John
Jay, The Correspondence and Public Papers of
John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, ed. (New York:
G.P. Putnams Sons, 1890), Vol. IV, p. 365.
"The
Americans are the first people whom Heaven has
favored with an opportunity of deliberating upon
and choosing the forms of government under which
they should live. "
John
Jay, The Correspondence and Public Papers of
John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, ed. (New York:
G.P. Putnams Sons, 1890), Vol. I, p. 161.
"Every
male citizen of the commonwealth, liable to
taxes or to militia duty in any county, shall
have a right to vote for representatives for
that county to the legislature. "
Thomas
Jefferson, The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia,
John P. Foley, ed. (New York: Funk &
Wagnalls Company, 1900), p. 842.
"Should
things go wrong at any time, the people will set
them to rights by the peaceable exercise of
their elective rights. "
Thomas
Jefferson, The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia,
John P. Foley, ed. (New York: Funk &
Wagnalls Company, 1900), p. 842.
"The
elective franchise, if guarded as the ark of our
safety, will peaceably dissipate all
combinations to subvert a Constitution, dictated
by the wisdom, and resting on the will of the
people. "
Thomas
Jefferson, The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia,
John P. Foley, ed. (New York: Funk &
Wagnalls Company, 1900), p. 842.
"The
rational and peacable instrument of reform, the
suffrage of the people. "
Thomas
Jefferson, The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia,
John P. Foley, ed. (New York: Funk &
Wagnalls Company, 1900), p. 842.
"Impress
upon children the truth that the exercise of the
elective franchise is a social duty of as solemn
a nature as man can be called to perform; that a
man may not innocently trifle with his vote;
that every elector is a trustee as well for
others as himself and that every measure he
supports has an important bearing on the
interests of others as well as on his own.
"
Daniel
Webster, The Works of Daniel Webster
(Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1853), Vol.
II, p. 108.
"In
selecting men for office, let principle be your
guide. Regard not the particular sect or
denomination of the candidate--look to his
character. "
Noah
Webster, Letters to a Young Gentleman
Commencing His Education to Which is Subjoined a
Brief History of the United States (New
Haven: S. Converse, 1823), p. 18.
"When
a citizen gives his suffrage to a man of known
immorality he abuses his trust; he sacrifices
not only his own interest, but that of his
neighbor, he betrays the interest of his
country. "
Noah
Webster, Letters to a Young Gentleman
Commencing His Education to which is subjoined a
Brief History of the United States (New
Haven: S. Converse, 1823), p. 19.
"When
you become entitled to exercise the right of
voting for public officers, let it be impressed
on your mind that God commands you to choose for
rulers, "just men who will rule in the fear
of God." The preservation of government
depends on the faithful discharge of this duty;
if the citizens neglect their duty and place
unprincipled men in office, the government will
soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for
the public good so much as for selfish or local
purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be
appointed to execute the laws; the public
revenues will be sqandered on unworthy men; and
the rights of the citizens will be violated or
disregarded. If a republican government fails to
secure public prosperity and happiness, it must
be because the citizens neglect the divine
commands, and elect bad men to make and
administer the laws. "
Noah
Webster, History of the United States
(New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1832), pp.
336-337, ¦49.
"The
people in general ought to have regard to the
moral character of those whom they invest with
authority either in the legislative, executive,
or judicial branches."
John
Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon
(Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. IV, p. 267.
"Those
who wish well to the State ought to choose to
places of trust men of inward principle,
justified by exemplary conversation. "
John
Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon
(Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. IV, p. 266.
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