Quote of the day: morals, religion and a republic

"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore, who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure, which denounces against the wicked, the eternal misery, and insures to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments."

- Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832), Founding Father and only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, letter to Charles Carroll, Jr., November 4, 1800, quoted in The Founders on Religion:  A Book of Quotations, James H. Huston, editor (Princeton:  2005), pg. 191.