“Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote ... 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, Boston Gazette,April 16, 1781
“Impress upon children the truth that the exercise of the elective franchise [vote] 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 [voter] 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, 1840
“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 squandered 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
“Those who wish well to the State ought to choose to places of trust men of inward principle, justified by exemplary conversation. ... [And t]he 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
“Nothing so strongly impels a man to regard the interest of his constituents, as the certainty of returning to the general mass of the people, from whence he was taken, where he must participate in their burdens.” George Mason, speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 14, 1778
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