The Declaration of Independence is the grandest, the bravest, and the profoundest political document that was ever signed by the representatives of a people. Centennial Oration (1876)
The rights of all are equal: justice, poised and balanced in eternal calm, will shake from the golden scales in which are weighed the acts of men, the very dust of prejudice and caste: No race, no color, no previous condition, can change the rights of men. Centennial Oration (1876)