George Washington: “Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.”

Satisfied, therefore, that you have sincerely wished and endeavored to avert war, and exhausted to the last drop the cup of reconciliation, we can with pure hearts appeal to Heaven for the justice of our cause.

Believe me, sir, no one can more cordially approve of the wise and prudent measures of your Administration.

I must not conceal from you my earnest wish that the choice had fallen upon a man less declined in years and better qualified to encounter the usual vicissitudes of war.

Do not let anyone claim tribute of American patriotism if they even attempt to remove religion from politics.