tion to you from
congress to pay us a visit. This is only a surmise, and I take the
liberty to mention it to you, that, should the conjuncture of affairs
induce congress to make this request, you may have some previous time
for reflection on it."

"The picture which you have exhibited," replied the general, "and the
accounts which are published of the commotions and temper of numerous
bodies in the eastern country, present a state of things equally to be
lamented and deprecated. They exhibit a melancholy verification of
what our transatlantic foes have predicted; and of another thing
perhaps which is still more to be regretted, and is yet more
unaccountable--that mankind when left to themselves are unfit for
their own government. I am mortified beyond expression when I view the
clouds which have spread over the brightest morn that ever dawned upon
any country. In a word, I am lost in amazement when I behold what
intrigue, the interested views of desperate characters, ignorance and
jealousy of the minor part, are capable of effecting as a scourge on
the major part of our fellow citizens of the union; for it is hardly
to be supposed that the great body of the people, though they will not
act, can be so short sighted or enveloped in darkness, as not to see
rays of a distant sun through all this mist of intoxication and folly.

"You talk, my good sir, of employing influence to appease the present
tumults in Massachusetts. I know not where that influence is to be
found; nor if attainable, that it would be a proper remedy for these
disorders. _Influence_ is not _government_. Let us have a
_government_, by which our lives, liberties, and properties will be
secured; or let us know the worst at once. Under these impressions, my
humble opinion is, that there is a call for decision. Know precisely
what the insurgents aim at. If they have _real_ grievances, redress
them if possible; or acknowledge the justice of them, and your
inability to do it in the present moment. If they have not, employ the
force of the government against them at once. If this is inadequate,
_all_ will be convinced that the superstructure is bad, or wants
support. To be more exposed in the eyes of the world, and more
contemptible than we already are, is hardly possible. To delay one or
the other of these expedients, is to exasperate on the one hand, or to
give confidence on the other, and will add to their numbers; for like
snow-balls, such bodies increase