Knox, Henry, 1750-1806 to Robert Treat Paine
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.10129 Author/Creator: Knox, Henry, 1750-1806 Place Written: West Point, New York Type: Autograph letter Date: 22 August 1783 Pagination: 3 p. : docket ; 35 x 23.3 cm. Order a Copy
Knox, Commander at West Point, writes to Paine, Attorney General of Massachusetts. Informs Paine that he instructed General [Robert] Howe, in Philadelphia, to send two men to Boston (Paine requested their presence in Boston to serve as [witnesses]; refer to GLC02437.10128). Offers a stirring declaration regarding independence and the forging of a new nation: "I sincerely reciprocate your congratulations upon the happy termination of a doubtful conflict. The prize is indeed infinitely valuable; and has been obtained with small exertions in proportion to its high worth... There are men in America who would have added lustre to the brightest age of the human race but they do not constitute the multitude nor is it necessary they should provided the multitude could be charmed by the voice of wisdom - But when… Envy avarice, revenge and the other black passions insist upon holding the [reigns] of Government… wisdom has no [illegible] of affairs... Prudence and caution did not effect the revolution. If we would have attended only to their dictates we should never have gone into it. Nor will timorous sentiments now establish an empire. The foundations of the new [fabrick] must be layed on the immutable principles of justice, or she will totter with every wind. The Wise, and the good of all Classes must unite, and by their magnanimity save their Country... An equal just, and energetic Government is the principal engine by which the manners of the people can be influenced - If the Laws are good & well enforced, property will be secure, industry stimulated and vice and idleness discouraged."
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