Another Of My Wishes Is To Depend

Congress Should Not Establish A Religion, And Enforce The Legal Observation Of It By Law, Nor Compel Men To Worship God In Any Manner Contrary To Their Conscience.

The Real Wonder Is That So Many Difficulties Should Have Been Surmounted [in The Federal Convention], And Surmounted With A Unanimity Almost As Unprecedented As It Must Have Been Unexpected. It Is Impossible For Any Man Of Candor To Reflect On This Circumstance Without Partaking Of The Astonishment. It Is Impossible For The Man Of Pious Reflection Not To Perceive In It A Finger Of That Almighty Hand Which Has Been So Frequently And Signally Extended To Our Relief In The Critical Stages Of The Revolution.

A Certain Degree Of Preparation For War . . . Affords Also The Best Security For The Continuance Of Peace.

To The Baptist Churches On Neal's Greek On Black Creek, North Carolina I Have Received, Fellow-citizens, Your Address, Approving My Objection To The Bill Containing A Grant Of Public Land To The Baptist Church At Salem Meeting House, Mississippi Territory. Having Always Regarded The Practical Distinction Between Religion And Civil Government As Essential To The Purity Of Both, And As Guaranteed By The Constitution Of The United States, I Could Not Have Otherwise Discharged My Duty On The Occasion Which Presented Itself

If The Public Homage Of A People Can Ever Be Worthy Of The Favorable Regard Of The Holy And Omniscient Being To Whom It Is Addressed, It Must Be That In Which Those Who Join In It Are Guided Only Be Their Free Choice-by The Impulse Of Their Hearts And The Dictates Of Their Consciences.