As to the Constitution and the Union, I have taken an oath to support the one, and I cannot do so without preserving the other, unless I commit perjury, which I certainly don't intend to do. We must cherish the Constitution to the last.

I have never yet exercised the privilege of voting, but had I been called upon at the last presidential election to do so, I should most certainly have cast my vote for Mr. Clay.

Economy I consider a virtue & should be practiced by all; there is certainly no way in which money can be laid out than in the education of children.

Soldiers, I intend to stay here, not only as long as a man remains, but as long as a piece of a man is left.

As American freemen, we cannot but sympathize in all efforts to extend the blessings of civil and political liberty, but at the same time, we are warned by the admonitions of history and the voice of our own beloved Washington to abstain from entangling alliances with foreign nations.

Perjury in the courtroom can be eliminated by changing the oath to read: Do you solemly swear that SOME of your testimony in this matter will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth...so help you God?