Wisdom from our Founding Fathers

The Founding Fathers of America were some of the smartest and wisest men in the world; they also understood, firsthand, tyranny and the need for limited government. You can tell this if you've read the Constitution; these men came up with the Separation of Powers, the Electoral College, the Bill of Rights, and numerous other important concepts. So, I am sharing some of their quotes about government and various other things.

• “The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.”  – Thomas Jefferson 

• “The greatest [calamity] which could befall [us would be] submission to a government of unlimited powers.” –Thomas Jefferson, Draft Declaration and Protest of Virginia 1825 

• “I am a mortal enemy to arbitrary government and unlimited power. I am naturally very jealous for the rights and liberties of my country, and the least encroachment of those invaluable privileges is apt to make my blood boil.” –Benjamin Franklin 

• “You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; right derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe.”  –John Adams 

•  "In a word, as a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights. Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions. Where there is an excess of liberty, the effect is the same, tho’ from an opposite cause." –James Madison, National Gazette, 27 March 1792 

• “He who dares not offend cannot be honest.” –Thomas Paine  

• “To be prepared for war, is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” –George Washington, First Annual Message, January 8, 1790 

• “The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.” –Alexander Hamilton

• "The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty." –James Madison, Letter to George Thomson, June 30, 1825 

• "It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles."  –Patrick Henry 

• "The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers." –Thomas Jefferson  

• "I can only say that there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery." –George Washington, Letter to Robert Morris, April 12, 1786 

• "It will not be denied that power is of an encroaching nature and that it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." –James Madison, Federalist No. 48

• "Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country." –Noah Webster 

• "Education is useless without the Bible." –Noah Webster

As a side bar, Noah Webster is considered, by some, to be a founding father of our country due to his dedication to preserving the values of the signers and framers of the Constitution. By starting his dictionary, Webster helped to create the American version of the English language, which was, and still is, important to our identity as Americans. Webster has been called “Schoolmaster to America”.

The Bagpiper

My blog needs some jokes every once in a while, because I like jokes and everybody needs laughter these days. So, here ya go (I can't take credit for this one, I didn't write it):

As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Nova Scotia back country.
As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost and, being a typical man, I didn't stop for directions.

I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch. I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late.

I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I've never played before for this homeless man.

And as I played "Amazing Grace," the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together. When I finished, I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head was hung low, my heart was full.
As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen anything like that before, and I've been putting in these septic tanks for twenty years."

Apparently, I'm still lost... it's a man thing.

Happy Birthday America!

Tuesday, as you know, is the Fourth of July; the 241st birthday of America. In my opinion, America's birthday is the second best birthday on the calendar, the first being Jesus' birthday. Anyway, I'm going to honor the best country on the face of the planet in my own way, with facts about the Fourth of July. Here's the list:

• On July 4, 1776 the Continental Congress adopted the final version of the Declaration of Independence. This is what we, as Americans, celebrate every year. Our fight for independence from Britain didn't end, however, until 1783 with the Treaty of Paris on the third of September.

• "On July 6 [1776], The Pennsylvania Evening Post became the first newspaper to print the extraordinary document." (This quote is from an article: The History of America’s Independence Day on pbs.org)

• The Continental Congress actually voted for independence on July 2 of 1776. John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife: "The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America."

• Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee, two of the signers from Virginia, were brothers from the historically significant Lee family. Some of the descendants of the Lee family include Robert E. Lee, Zachary Taylor, and Charles Lee (3rd Attorney General of the U.S.).

• Thomas Jefferson authored the first draft of the Declaration, which was edited by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. The final version was written by Jefferson with the edits of Adams and Franklin incorporated into the document.

• Three of the first five presidents died on the Fourth of July: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. Adams (2nd pres.) and Jefferson (3rd pres.) both died in 1826, while Monroe (5th pres.) died in 1831.

• Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872, the only U.S. president to be born on Independence Day. 

• The story goes that John Hancock signed his name so large that King George could read it without his glasses. This story, however, is untrue. It is believed that Hancock signed the way he did because, as the president of the Continental Congress, he was the first to sign the Declaration. 

I could continue add more facts to this list, but I think that's enough. I will leave you with the link to the Declaration of Independence (if you haven't read this document I suggest that you do) and a quote from Thomas Jefferson about the Fourth of July: 

“May it be to the world, what I believe it will be ... the signal of arousing men to burst the chains ... and to assume the blessings and security of self-government. That form, which we have substituted, restores the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion. All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. ...For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them."

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Remember in your prayers and thoughts the many men and women who won our independence two-hundred and forty years ago and those who continue to protect our independence today. God bless America.