Gentlemen May Cry, Peace, Peace! – But

It Is Natural For Man To Indulge In The Illusions Of Hope. We Are Apt To Shut Our Eyes Against A Painful Truth, And Listen To The Song Of That Siren Till She Transforms Us Into Beasts... For My Part, Whatever Anguish Of Spirit It May Cost, I Am Willing To Know The Whole Truth, To Know The Worst, And To Provide For It.

Should I Keep Back My Opinions At Such A Time, Through Fear Of Giving Offense, I Should Consider Myself As Guilty Of Treason Towards My Country, And Of An Act Of Disloyalty Toward The Majesty Of Heaven, Which I Revere Above All Earthly Kings.

They Tell Us, Sir, That We Are Weak; Unable To Cope With So Formidable An Adversary. But When Shall We Be Stronger? Will It Be The Next Week, Or The Next Year? Will It Be When We Are Totally Disarmed, And When A British Guard Shall Be Stationed In Every House?

I Have The Highest Veneration Of Those Gentleman, -- But, Sir, Give Me Leave To Demand, What Right Had They To Say, We, The People? My Political Curiosity, Exclusive Of My Anxious Solicitude For The Public Welfare, Leads Me To Ask Who Authorized Them To Speak The Language Of, We, The People, Instead Of We, The States? States Are The Characteristics, And The Soul Of The Confederation. If The States Be Not The Agents Of This Compact, It Must Be One Of Great Consolidated National Government Of The People Of All The States.

Oh, How Wretched Should I Be At This Moment, If I Had Not Made My Peace With God.