Happy Independence Day

Before all things I am reminded as I go along, that this day, the birthday of our republic, demands our filial acknowledgments. A day now at length auspicious, since by the establishment of our new constitution we have the fair prospect of enjoying those good things, for which we have had so hard a contest. Indulge, I pray you, the effusion of my heart, which gratulates itself on this occasion. Feel, with me, the transports which I cannot but feel, when every letter from America brings confirmation of the public happiness, and announces some additional cement to our national union, or some useful exhibition of national authority. The opposition sickens with mortal symptoms, and I hope and trust, that our countrymen will have the wisdom to wait, before they attempt amendments, for those lights of experience, which are the only guides that can pretend to infallibility.

From Gouverneur Morris in a letter to William Carmichael on July 4, 1789.