In a letter to his friend Mercy Otis Warren, John Adams said that "public virtue is the only foundation of republics." George Washington likewise wrote that virtue is the necessary "spring of popular government." Self-government requires something far deeper than elections or constitutions.    It requires citizens who choose to do the right thing — even when no one is watching.

If anyone doubts that Ben Franklin was a man of faith at the end of his life, read what he said at the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. GOD BLESS AMERICA! “The manner in which the whole of this business had been conducted was such a miracle in human affairs, that if I had not been in the midst of it, and seen all the movements, I could not have comprehended how it was effected.  I had no doubt of our finally succeeding in this war by the blessing of God.  This is the greatest revolution the world has ever seen....I have lived a long time; and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men!  If it had not been for the justice of our cause, and the consequent interposition of Providence in which we had faith, we must have been ruined.  If I had ever before been an atheist, I should now have been convinced of the being and government of a Deity.  It is He who abases the proud and favors the humble!  May we never forget his goodness to us, and may our future conduct manifest our gratitude.” --Benjamin Franklin