Hmmm…

“to assume the blessings and security of self-government . . . All eyes are opened or opening to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few, booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately by the grace of God. These are the grounds of hope for others; for ourselves, let the annual return to this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them.” Thomas Jefferson, declining an invitation to the Fourth of July celebration in 1826 in Washington D.C., quoted in: John Adams, David McCullough, Simon & Schuster, 2001.