We are
not moved by the gloomy smile of a worthless king, but by the ardent
glow of generous patriotism. We fight not to enslave, but to set a
country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live
in. In such a case we are sure that we are right; and we leave to
you the despairing reflection of being the tool of a miserable tyrant.
COMMON SENSE.
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 12, 1777.
V.
TO GENERAL SIR WILLIAM HOWE.
TO argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of
reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt,
is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to
convert an atheist by scripture. Enjoy, sir, your insensibility of
feeling and reflecting. It is the prerogative of animals. And no man
will envy you these honors, in which a savage only can be your rival
and a bear your master.
As the generosity of this country rewarded your brother's services
in the last war, with an elegant monument in Westminster Abbey, it
is consistent that she should bestow some mark of distinction upon
you. You certainly deserve her notice, and a conspicuous place in
the catalogue of extraordinary persons. Yet it would be a pity to pass
you from the world in state, and consign you to magnificent oblivion
among the tombs, without telling the future beholder why. Judas is
as much known as John, yet history ascribes their fame to very
different actions.
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