Danger and
deliverance make their advances together, and it is only the last
push, in which one or the other takes the lead.
There are many men who will do their duty when it is not wanted; but
a genuine public spirit always appears most when there is most
occasion for it. Thank God! our army, though fatigued, is yet
entire. The attack made by us yesterday, was under many disadvantages,
naturally arising from the uncertainty of knowing which route the
enemy would take; and, from that circumstance, the whole of our
force could not be brought up together time enough to engage all at
once. Our strength is yet reserved; and it is evident that Howe does
not think himself a gainer by the affair, otherwise he would this
morning have moved down and attacked General Washington.
Gentlemen of the city and country, it is in your power, by a
spirited improvement of the present circumstance, to turn it to a real
advantage. Howe is now weaker than before, and every shot will
contribute to reduce him. You are more immediately interested than any
other part of the continent: your all is at stake; it is not so with
the general cause; you are devoted by the enemy to plunder and
destruction: it is the encouragement which Howe, the chief of
plunderers, has promised his army. Thus circumstanced, you may save
yourselves by a manly resistance, but you can have no hope in any
other conduct. I never yet knew our brave general, or any part of
the army, officers or men, out of heart, and I have seen them in
circumstances a thousand times more trying than the present.
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