"An irresistible passion that would induce me to believe in innate ideas and the truth of prophecy ha..." — Marquis de Lafayette

It was by a Maryland colonel in the year 1777 that the British received, in the gallant defense of an important fort, one of the first lessons of what they were to expect from American valor and patriotism.

All the evils of France have been produced less by the perversity of the wicked and the violence of fools than by the hesitation of the weak, the compromises of conscience, and the tardiness of patriotism. Let every deputy, every Frenchman show what he feels, what he thinks, and we are saved!

It is the pride of my heart to have been one of the earliest adopted sons of America.

Nature has made men free and equal. The distinctions necessary for social order are only founded on general utility.