Read Online 5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen - Free Book Online Page B

strength of the state; more so than riches or arms....
       "I think also, that general virtue is more probably to be expected and obtained from the education of youth, than from the exhortations of adult persons; bad habits and vices of the mind being, like diseases of the body, more easily prevented [in youth] than cured [in adults]. I think, moreover, that talents for the education of youth are the gift of God; and that he on whom they are bestowed, whenever a way is opened for the use of them, is as strongly called as if he heard a voice from heaven...." 44

    A Warning from the Founders
       At the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, Samuel Adams, who is sometimes called the "father of the revolution," wrote to Richard Henry Lee:
       "I thank God that I have lived to see my country independent and free. She may long enjoy her independence and freedom if she will. It depends on her virtue." 45
       John Adams pointed out why the future of the United States depended upon the level of virtue and morality maintained among the people. He said:
       "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." 46
       Samuel Adams knew the price of American survival under a Constitutional form of government when he wrote:
       "The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy the gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people; then shall we both deserve and enjoy it. while, on the other hand, if we are universally vicious and debauched in our manners, though the form of our Constitution carries the face of the most exalted freedom, we shall in reality be the most abject slaves." 47

    What is the Key to Preserving a Virtuous Nation?
       Since the quality of virtue and morality in the character of a nation is the secret to its survival, one cannot help but wonder if there is some special ingredient which is fundamentally necessary to provide the greatest assurance that these qualities of our national life will be preserved.
       The Founders had an answer to this question, which brings us to our next basic precept.

    Third Principle: The most promising method of securing a virtuous
   and morally stable people is to elect virtuous leaders.

    “...thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness [unjust gain]; and place such over them, to be rulers...”
       Samuel Adams pointed out a sobering fact concerning our political survival as a free people when he said:
       "But neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man." 48
       He then went on to say that public officials should not be chosen if they are lacking in experience, training, proven virtue, and demonstrated wisdom. He said the task of the electorate is to choose those whose "fidelity has been tried in the nicest and tenderest manner, and has been ever firm and unshaken." 49
       A favorite scripture of the day was Proverbs 29:2, which says: "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn."
In the Absence of Angels

Jefferson's "Natural Aristocracy"

Capturing the Founders' Perspective on "Politics"

John Adams on the "Divine Science of Politics"

Preparation for Service in Politics

Making Public Office an Honor Rather Than a Position of Profit

Franklin's Address to the Constitutional Convention

Haggling for High-Salaried Public Offices Was Repugnant to the Founders

Benjamin Franklin's Prophecy

Prelude to Monarchy

Franklin Cites an Exceptional but Admirable Example in England

Franklin Points to the