Send a Quote Enter a brief message. SendOk2 “The only foundation for... a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.” ~ Dr. Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) signed the Declaration of Independence, physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, educator, founder of Dickinson CollegeSource: The Selected Writings of Benjamin Rush. Edited by Dagobert D. Runes. New York: Philosophical Library, 1947.