The case now is just the same as if it had been
produced by the means I have here supposed. Between nine and ten
thousand have been killed and taken, all their stores are in our
possession, and General Howe, in consequence of that victory, has
thrown himself for shelter into Philadelphia. He, or his trifling
friend Galloway, may form what pretences they please, yet no just
reason can be given for their going into winter quarters so early as
the 19th of October, but their apprehensions of a defeat if they
continued out, or their conscious inability of keeping the field
with safety. I see no advantage which can arise to America by
hunting the enemy from state to state. It is a triumph without a
prize, and wholly unworthy the attention of a people determined to
conquer. Neither can any state promise itself security while the enemy
remains in a condition to transport themselves from one part of the
continent to another. Howe, likewise, cannot conquer where we have
no army to oppose, therefore any such removals in him are mean and
cowardly, and reduces Britain to a common pilferer. If he retreats
from Philadelphia, he will be despised; if he stays, he may be shut up
and starved out, and the country, if he advances into it, may become
his Saratoga. He has his choice of evils and we of opportunities. If
he moves early, it is not only a sign but a proof that he expects no
reinforcement, and his delay will prove that he either waits for the
arrival of a plan to go upon, or force to execute it, or both; in
which case our strength will increase more than his, therefore in
any case we cannot be wrong if we do but proceed.
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