United States Founding Fathers

John Jay

Quotes

Age of Reason - by Thomas Paine

  1. "I have long been of the opinion that the evidence of the truth of Christianity requires only to be carefully examined to produce conviction in candid minds, and I think they who undertake that task will derive advantages. ... As to The Age of Reason, it never appeared to me to have been written from a disinterested love of truth or of mankind." - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "The Life of John Jay", William Jay, (New York: J. & J. Harper, 1833), Vol. II, p. 266, to Rev. Uzal Ogden, Frebruary 14, 1796

Atheism

  1. "During my residence there [France], I do not recollect to have had more than two conversations with atheists about their tenets. The first was this: I was at a large party, of which were several of that description. They spoke freely and contemptuously of religion. I took no part in the conversation. In the course of it, one of them asked me if I believed in Christ? I answered that I did, and that I thanked God that I did. ... Some time afterward, one of my family being dangerously ill, I was advised to send for an English physician who had resided many years at Paris. ... But, it was added, he is an atheist. ... During one of his visits, [he] very abruptly remarked that there was no God and he hoped the time would come when there would be no religion in the world. I very concisely remarked that if there was no God there could be no moral obligations, and I did not see how society could subsist without them. ... And he, probably perceiving that his sentiments met with a cold reception, did not afterwards resume the subject." - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "The Life of John Jay", William Jay, (New York: J. & J. Harper, 1833), Vol. II, pp. 346-347, to John Bristed, April 23, 1811

Bible

  1. "The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts." - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "John Jay: The Winning of the Peace. Unpublished Papers 1780-1784", Richard B. Morris, editor, (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1980), Vol. II, p. 709, to Peter Augustus Jay, April 8, 1784

Christianity

  1. "Only one adequate plan has ever appeared in the world, and that is the Christian dispensation." - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay", Henry P. Johnston, editor, (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1893), Vol. IV, p. 52, to Lindley Murray, August 22, 1794

Faith in Jesus Christ

  1. "Unto Him who is the author and giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks for His mainfold and unmerited blessings, and especially for our redemption and salvation by His beloved Son. ... Blessed be His holy name." - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "The Life of John Jay", Vol. I, pp. 519-520, from his "Last Will and Testament"

Government

  1. "[It is] the duty of all wise, free, and virtuous governments to countenance and encourage virtue and religion." - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "The Speeches of the Different Governors to the Legislature of the State of New York, Commencing with Those of George Clinton and Continued Down to the Present Time", (Albany: J.B. Van Steenbergh, 1825), p. 66, Govenor John Jay, November 4, 1800

Keeping and Bearing Arms

  1. "Mankind must be prepared and fitted for the reception, enjoyment, and preservation of universal permanent peace before they will be blessed with it. Are they as yet fitted for it? Certainly not. Even if it was practicable, would it be wise to disarm the good before the 'wicked cease from troubling'?" - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay", Henry P. Johnston, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1893) Vol. IV, p. 419, to John Murry, Jun., April 15, 1818

Leaders

  1. "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty - as well as the privilege and interest - of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians as their rulers." - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, 1794-1826", Henry P. Johnson, editor, (Reprinted NY: Burt Franklin, 1970), Vol.IV, p. 393, October 12, 1816

  2. "Whether our religion permits Christians to vote for infidel rulers is a question which merits more consideration than it seems yet to have generally received either from the clergy or the laity. It appears to me that what the prophet said to Jehoshaphat about his attachment to Ahab [2 Chronicles 19:2] affords a salutary lesson." - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, 1794-1826", Henry P. Johnson, editor, (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1893), Vol.IV, p. 365

Liberty

  1. "I ... recommend a general and public return of praise and thanksgiving to Him from whose goodness these blessings descend. The most effectual means of securing the continuance of our civil and religious liberties is always to remember with reverence and gratitude the source from which they flow." - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "The Life of John Jay: With Selections From His Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers", (New York: J.J. Harper, 1833), Vol. I, pp. 457-458, to the Committee of the Corporation of the City of New York, June 29, 1826

Natural Law - "the laws of nature"

  1. "The ... natural law was given by the Sovereign of the Universe to all mankind." - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "The Life of John Jay", William Jay, (New York: J. & J. Harper, 1833), Vol. II, p. 385, to John Murry, April 15, 1818

Prosperity

  1. "National prosperity can neither be attained nor preserved without the favor of Providence." - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "The Speeches of the Different Governors to the Legislature of the State of New York, Commencing with Those of George Clinton and Continued Down to the Present Time", (Albany: J.B. Van Steenbergh, 1825), p. 47, Govenor John Jay, January 6, 1796

Rights

  1. "Every member of the State ought diligently to read and to study the Constitution of his country. ... By knowing their rights, they will sooner perceive when they are violated and be the better prepared to defend and assert them." - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay", Henry P. Johnson, editor, (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1890), Vol.I, pp. 163-164, from his "Charge to the Grand Jury of Ulster County", September 9, 1777

Slavery

  1. "Prior to the great Revolution, the great majority ... of our people had been so long accustomed to the practice and convenience of having slaves that very few among them even doubted the propriety and rectitude of it." - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay", Henry P. Johnson, editor, (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1891), Vol.III, p. 342, to the English Anti-Slavery Society, June 1788, describing the Revolution as the turning point in changing America's attitude toward slavery

  2. "That men should pray and fight for their own freedom and yet keep others in slavery is certainly acting a very inconsistent as well as unjust and perhaps impious part." - United States Founding Father, John Jay, "The Life and Times of John Jay", William Jay, editor, (New York: J. & S. Harper, 1833), Vol.II, p. 174, to the Rev. Dr. Richard Price, September 27, 1785

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