DID YOU KNOW?

The U. S. Constitution has only 4,400 words. It is the oldest and shortest written constitution of any major government in the world.

In 1647 the Massachusetts legislature passed a law requiring every community of 50 families or households to establish a free public grammar school to teach reading, writing, ciphering, history, geography, and Bible study. In the late 18th century, John Adams, later to become our second president, wrote, “Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.”

Thomas Jefferson said, “Virtue is not hereditary.” Today we still recognize that virtue, defined as moral excellence or goodness, is a self-developed quality in human nature. While one may be born with a propensity toward goodness, it is neither given to one person by another nor is it a permanent quality. It must be continually cultivated and exercised day by day and moment by moment.