Oath

I hereby declare on oath: that all men are created with individual, equal, and perpetual rights to life, liberty, and property to pursue God’s will, the source of our ultimate happiness; that men consent to enter political society and establish political states to preserve our natural rights; that the people of the United States have consented to delegate to the national government only those divided and limited powers expressly granted to it by the Constitution; that the states retain all other powers not prohibited to them by the Constitution; that to honor the blood of our forefathers and to preserve the blessings of liberty for us and our posterity, I unite with my conservative brothers and sisters to protect and defend the principles and provisions of the Constitution, according to their original meaning. To this cause, I pledge my life, my fortune, and my sacred honor.