These grand men were enthusiasts; and the world has only been raised
by enthusiasts. In every country there have been a few who have given
a national aspiration to the people. The enthusiasts of 1776 were the
builders and framers of this great and splendid government; and they
were the men who saw, although others did not, the golden fringe of the
mantle of glory, that will finally cover this world. They knew, they
felt, they believed they would give a new constellation to the political
heavens--that they would make the Americans a grand people--grand as
the continent upon which they lived.