John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. XXXI 
Our fathers were allotted.to a field of strife, a scene of 
difficulty and danger. We have a conflict of another kind, but 
not less severe. We are to resist the wiles, and baffle the 
temptations, incident to a condition of prosperity, security, and 
ease. We are to exercise the virtues, whilst exempt from the 
privations, pertainmg to those who laid the foundations of the 
state. 
To the other motives and excitements of patriotism is added 
. the sentiment congenial with an ingenuous mind, — the reflection 
that in our cares and exertions, in our respective places, for the 
civil, religious, and literary community, and in every act which 
answers to the duty of a good citizen, we are associated with 
sages, patriots, and heroes of past times; we are justifying their 
toils, accomplishing their wishes and hopes, and consummating 
their glory. 
