I hope you have received several letters from me in this fortnight past.
I wrote by Mr. Lynch and by Dr. Franklin, the latter of whom I had the
pleasure of dining with, and of admiring him, whose character from my
infancy I had been taught to venerate. I found him social, but not
talkative, and when he spoke, something useful dropped from his tongue.
He was grave, yet pleasant and affable. You know I make some pretensions
to physiognomy, and I thought I could read in his countenance the
virtues of his heart, among which patriotism shone in its full lustre,
and with that is blended every virtue of a Christian: for a true patriot
must be a religious man. I have been led to think from a late
defection,[113] that he who neglects his duty to his Maker may well be
expected to be deficient and insincere in his duty towards the public.
Even suppose him to possess a large share of what is called honor and
public spirit, yet do not these men, by their bad example, by a loose,
immoral conduct, corrupt the minds of youth and vitiate the morals of
the age, and thus injure the public more than they can compensate by
intrepidity, generosity, and honor? Let revenge or ambition, pride,
lust, or profit, tempt these men to a base and vile action, you may as
well hope to bind up a hungry tiger with a cobweb, as to hold such
debauched patriots in the visionary chains of decency, or to charm them
with the intellectual beauty of truth and reason.
But where am I running? I mean to thank you for all your obliging favors
lately received; and, though some of them are very laconic, yet, were
they to contain only two lines to tell me that you were well, they would
be acceptable to me. I think, however, you are more apprehensive than
you need be; the gentleman to whose care they have always been directed
has been very kind in his conveyance, and very careful. I hope that it
will not now be long before we shall have nearer interviews. You must
tell me that you will return next month; a late appointment[114] will
make it inconvenient (provided you accept) for you to go again to
Congress.
It seems human nature is the same in all ages and countries. Ambition
and avarice reign everywhere, and where they predominate, there will be
bickerings after places of honor and profit. There is an old adage,
"Kissing goes by favor," that is daily verified. I inclose to you the
paper you sent for. Your business in collecting facts will be very
difficult, and the sufferings of this people cannot be described with
pen, ink, and paper. Besides, these ministers of Satan are rendering it
every day more and more difficult, by their ravages and devastation, to
tell a tale which will freeze the young blood of succeeding generations,
as well as harrow up the souls of the present.
Nothing new has transpired since I wrote you last. I have not heard of
one person's escape out of town, nor of any manoeuvre of any kind.
I will only ask you to measure by your own the affectionate regard of
your nearest friend.