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tered, and as the sunshine of peace and better fortune broke in upon us, the coldness and severity of government would relax, and that, more than justice, that gratitude, would blaze forth upon those hands, which had upheld her in the darkest stages of her passage, from impending servitude to acknowledged independence. But faith has

its limits as well as temper, and there are points beyond which neither can be stretched, without sinking into cowardice,or plunging into credulity. This, my friends, I conceive to be your situation. Hurried to the very verge of both, another step would ruin you forever. To be tame and unprovoked when injuries press hard upon you, is more than weakness; but to look up for kinder usage, without one manly effort of your own, would fix your character, and shew the world how richly you deserve those chains you broke. To guard against this evil, let us take a view of the ground upon which we now stand, and thence carry our thoughts forward, for a moment, into the unexplored field of expedient.

AFTER a pursuit of seven years, the object for which you set out is at length

brought within your reach. Yes, my friends, that suffering courage of yours, was active once; it has conducted the United States of America through a doubtful and bloody war. It has placed her in the chair of independency, and peace returns again to bless-whom? A country courting your return to private life, with tears of gratitude, and smiles of admiration. Longing to divide with you that independency which your gallantry has given, and those riches which your wounds have preserved? is this the case? or is it rather, a country that tramples upon your rights, disdains your cries, and insults your distresses? have you not, more than once, suggested your wishes, and made known your wants to Congress? wants and wishes which gratitude and policy should have anticipated, rather than evaded. And have you not lately in the meek language of intreating memorials, begged from their justice, what you could no longer expect from their favour? how have you been answered? let the letter which you are called to consider to-morrow make the reply.

IF this then be your treatment, while the swords you wear are necessary for the de

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fence of America, what have you to expect from peace voice shall sink, and your strength dissipate by division? when those very swords, the instruments and companions of your glory shall be taken from your sides, and no remaining mark of military distinctions be left, but your marks, infirmities, and scars? can you then consent to be the only sufferers by this revolution, and, retiring from the field, grow old in poverty, wretchedness, and contempt ? can you consent to wade through the vileness of dependency, and owe the miserable remains of life to charity, which has hitherto been spent in honour !-if you can-go-and carry with you the jest of tories, and the scorn of whigs; the ridicule, and what is worse, the pity of the world. Go, starve, and be forgotten! but if your spirit should revolt at this; if if you have sense enough to discover, and spirit sufficient to oppose tyranny, whatever garb it may assume; whether it be the plain coat of republicanism, or the splendid robe of royalty; if you have yet learned to discriminate between a people and a cause; between men and principles-awake-attend to your situation, and redress yourselves. If the present moment be lost, every future

effort is in vain; and your threats then will be as empty as your entreaties now.

I WOULD advise you, therefore, to come to some final opinion, upon what you can bear, and what you will suffer. If your de termination be in any proportion to your wrongs, carry your appeal from the justice to the fears of government. Change the milk and water style of your memorials; assume a bolder tone; decent, but lively, spirited, and determined; and suspect the man who would advise to more moderation, or longer forbearance. Let two or three men who can feel as well as write, be appointed to draw up your late remonstrance; for I would no longer give it the soothing, soft, unsuccessful epithet of memorial.—Let it represent, in language that will neither dishonour you by its rudeness, nor betray you by its fears, what has been promised by Congress, and what has been performed; how long and how patiently you have sufferedhow little you have asked; and how much of that little has been denied. Tell them that, though you were the first, and would wish to be the last to encounter danger: that though despair itself can never drive you in

to dishonour, it may drive you from the field; that the wound often irritated, and never healed, may at length become incurable-and that the slightest mark of indignity from Congress now, must operate like the grave, and part you forever-that in any political event, the army has its alternative. If peace, that nothing shall separate you from your arms but death. If war, that courting the auspices, and inviting the direction of your illustrious leader, you will retire to some yet unsettled country, smile in your turn, and "mock when their fear cometh on." But let it represent also, that should they comply with the request of your late memorials, it would make you more happy, and them more respectable.-That while the war should continue, you would follow their standard to the field; and that when it came to an end, you would withdraw into the shade of private life, and give the world another subject of wonder and applause ;-an army victorious over its enemiesvictorious over itself.

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