Chapter 2 Ⅱ Ketu

Before proceeding to the main purpose of this letter, I feel obliged, for the sake of concluding once and for all, to settle as clearly as possible the question of how much human individuality bears on any political debate. The general adage that measures should be discussed, not persons, is sound and justifiable when properly understood.Ketu cites as a pretext a line from the author's preface: "The object of attention is the claim itself, not the person," that is, not the status or condition of the person.Because it doesn't matter whether a person gets along with people who have already made a fortune, or people who are about to get rich, or people who don't plan or care about getting rich at all, it doesn't matter at all. And things are entirely within his personal sphere.But people's political faces, political backgrounds, and political connections, because they are public matters, are very different from the situation of private life.And this often has a very close relationship with the measures they suggest. Therefore, in order not to be deceived by the measures, we must have some understanding of the above situations.If we are utterly ignorant of people, we are in danger of mistaking rhetoric for principle.Had the jackal been able to bleat like sheep, the flock would soon be lured to death; therefore, in order not to be harmed, it is necessary to see its face as well as hear its voice.In any important political debate, it is inappropriate, always has been, and always should be, to separate people and measures completely and completely.When hypocrisy has been eradicated from the world in the future, there will be no need to know people's faces, for then they will not propose fraudulent measures.But until that time comes (and it never comes), people and measures should be compared within appropriate limits.We already have too many secrets in some things, and too few in others.If people could be known more, and measures more hidden, there would be fewer hypocrites, and we would be much safer.

Since the main purpose of these letters was to examine and expose Ketu's lies and false assertions (when discovered), he should not expect to be treated as one who has had a fair debate.I will boldly say, boldly affirm, that never has a writer penned a greater profanity of truth, of reason; The explanation is something that the original author never thought of, nor can it be deduced from the words themselves.Because of Ketu's indiscretions, because of his obvious lack of sympathy and affection, he should not expect to be spared when moral and philosophical opinions are raised against him.With these premises I shall now comment on the second half of Ketu's second letter.

Here, Ke Jail began his first attack on the enemy.But as he only revealed his malice, and neither advanced nor quoted anything to the contrary, I would have let him pass here had it not been for the strange passage that follows.Ketu says: "If publications on the question of independence have attracted little attention (by which he means opposition), it has not been so, as the author presumptuously supposes: either because the claims are popular, or because the arguments are unreliable. to argue, or for fear of resisting them." Since Ketu has cited many negative reasons, he should give us the real reasons, because since he has said positively what and what, he must know that it is For what reason did he delay his reply so long; but instead of telling us this (perhaps he would not have done so), he evaded the argument by the following false statement."In Pennsylvania," he said, "nine out of ten people still loathe the idea." Hold up, Ketu!Run away slowly, friend!If this is true, how could they have elected a well-known independent person as a member of the city on the 2nd of March just past (that is, last month); at the same time, when it was still a manuscript, the The author of the manuscript showed a part of it to an extremely small number of people, and this person is one of the few people!

In the following passage, Ketu is equally unhappy.He said, "Those who issued the appeal (i.e., published the pamphlet) had no reason to be proud of its success. They also seemed to understand this: they are now, like real quacks, constantly torment us with medicines that we take incessantly, and make all the patients sick at the sight of them." It was indeed Ketu's destiny to be exposed forever: for perhaps there has never been, since the beginning of written history, a novel Booklet, with so little effort, and so many copies issued in such a short period of time: I am sure that the figure of 120,000 is not an exaggeration.The pamphlet, like an orphan, was thrown into the world to fend for itself.From that time until the appearance of Ketu's fourth letter, no plan was drawn up in support of it, nor was the author ever to say a word on the subject.Therefore Ketu's statement of the author's doses and doses is a complete lie; more than that, it is very brazen to say it from him, because he alone regularly publishes two letters a week, and often Put two letters in the same paper—Ketu here, Ketu there, look wherever you want.

A few lines away from the above quote, Ketu gives us a look back at our past; The degree of prosperity, prosperity, and dense population will be unmatched in history." This sentence is really sophistry, and it seems to be right and wrong.All the writers on Ketu's side have sung this argument and thought themselves irrefutable.But it only takes one straight line to break the trick, for their deception consists in using time as the cause.For their deceit consists in making the effect the cause, for if we had not prospered, the union would never have existed, or would have been noticed at all: the neglect of the first settlers is ample proof of this. In other words, they had to struggle with all kinds of hardships without the slightest attention or assistance from the British court.

Next, Ketu took the trouble to recount past declarations issued by the Continental Congress and other public bodies (some more than a year old) in order to prove that the claim of independence was not approved by them.On this point I would give Ketu a general answer, namely, that if he produced a thousand more such documents, they would be of no use now, since they are all obsolete. Times and things have changed.A year ago, few of the American people knew the true face of the king; at that time, everyone was willing to believe that he was good, and kindly said he was good, but later they found out that Ketu The royal monarch is a royal savage.

Ketu added such a curious preface to the above long list of quotations from documents opposing independence.He said: "It's only been a few weeks since the independent initiative has been made public for the first time. What powerful people are behind the plan, or whether anyone is behind it, may be the subject of future investigations." . Sure he said, it didn't have the support of our respected Continental Congress. Quite the contrary, it is in direct contradiction to every manifesto of this venerable group. "Ketu, you have clearly caught yourself! In direct contradiction to every statement of this venerable body! Remember this, Ketu, and read on. In Dr. Smith's memory of the brave Mungo On the front of General Murray's booklet of speeches is printed an excerpt from a resolution of the Continental Congress, which states that he, the Doctor, was appointed by that honorable body to write and deliver speeches: As the speech proceeded, the speaker violently attacked the claim of independence; but when a motion was subsequently made in the Continental Congress to thank the speaker (according to the old custom) and to obtain a copy of the speech for the newspaper, the motion was met with the whole. , that is, David Rittenhouse, who was chosen to replace Franklin, who had gone to France.—Editor Rejected by the Continental Congress, it was unanimously rejected.

I turn now to Ketu's third letter.At the beginning of this letter he drops the subject of independence and resumes his attack on the Commission.The orderliness in Ketu's writing style may be compared to that of a squirrel.When he wrote, he often seemed to have no idea what to write in the next sentence, like a squirrel jumping up and down just because he couldn't stand upright.While I am sometimes indignant at the unprincipled approach to his writing and argument, at other times I cannot help laughing at his lack of intelligence: for example, when he kindly warns us against "those The vulgar writing of interested authors, and outsiders who meddle in our affairs".If I were to answer him seriously, I would say this: Well, Ketu, you really don't seem to know anything about that ancient system that includes many people and is interconnected with every part of the earth. and under that system ties of kindred were established by principle and affection, not by place or chance.A freeman is no stranger wherever he goes, Ketu;—a slave is a stranger no matter where he is.But if I wished to answer him jokingly, I would say this: since his conception of friendship is so narrow and one-sided, he makes me think that when he uses the phrase "my dear fellow countrymen" Affectionate titles--which often appear in his letters--when addressing the people, he refers only to the long list of McDonnell surnames published in Donal MacDonald's military commission Character ②.

In this letter Ricto recommended a booklet called "Apparent Truth", which had long since withered like a sickly neglected weed; even its patrons had Dissatisfied with it, its author is embarrassed to say that it is his own work①.In the middle of the third letter, Ketu announced that he was ready for battle.He said, "I'm going to give my reasons now." We'll see now how Ketu went on the offensive; and the first comment I'll add to his actions is that he was very unfortunate to be wrong. One side came to his service, and fired his first shot among the Crownists.

To confirm this, I will now transcribe the whole passage: Ketu says, "Agriculture and commerce have hitherto been the fortunate trades which have brought these middle colonies to prosperity and importance. Thanks to them the face of the country has been changed from a wilderness to a peaceful one." Plenty of peace. Without them, we would have been either no Americans at all, or only savages. The oaks would still occupy them. "In memory of General Montgomery and with him Address by Officers Fallen at Quebec, December 31, 1775; drafted (and published February 19, 1776) at the direction of the glorious Continental Congress.The author is William Smith, Dean of the College and Research Institute of Philadelphia and Doctor of Divinity.Published in Philadelphia, reprinted by J. Alman, London, Piccadilly, opposite Burlington House, 1776. "On page 24, Dr. Smith cites the petition of the Continental Congress "demanding the 'restoration of the original peace between Great Britain and these colonies,' etc." censure, adding that circumstances have changed since the petition was filed. Dr. Smith was known as "Cutu"; and the anger of the Continental Congress, to which Paine speaks, is a particularly forceful one. hit because"

In a second letter (March 11th), "Cutu" repeated his insults, summarizing all the mediation efforts of the early Continental Congress.—Original editor 1 see note on p. 64 .--Translator ②McDonald was a brigadier general of the Scottish Mercantile Army, which was defeated by the North Carolinians at the Battle of Little Harbor Bridge in the Mua area on February 27, 1776.MacDonald happened to be ill that day, and responsibility for command was shifted to Melott, who was shot and killed, as mentioned in the previous letter.Dr. Smith--a sure Scot--was probably unaware that he was already known as "Ketu" when he referred to Paine as an "outsider." —Original Editor ① "Apparent Truth: To the Residents of America contains a review of a recently published pamphlet titled, etc., by Candida. Will you forsake flattery and join in this ?” This thirty-seven-page pamphlet, published in Philadelphia and London, is a The most complicated and lengthy of many replies.But it's boring and tedious, almost obsolete as soon as it comes out. ——The land where the original editor grew up, but never appeared in the form of Juzhou Mansion.Today's grain-rich fields, today's prosperous and prosperous cities, are still only wild animals or savages. "The reader will surely find that the whole of this passage shows the utter insignificance of our union with Great Britain, and that our present great achievements are due to objective causes--agriculture and commerce. A curious one, Ketu; superficially, "I challenge the most ardent proponents of reconciliation to name one advantage which would be gained by the union of this continent with Great Britain. "I repeat," said the author of "My Challenge: Get Not One Benefit."Our grains fetch a price in any market in Europe, and our imports cost money wherever we may buy them.” Ketu’s next passage begins thus: “ It cannot be denied that much of our past happiness was secured by British protection. "No, Ketu, I can utterly deny this, for the simple and obvious reason that our union with it, and our submission to its protection, have made all its enemies ours. Enemies, and will continue to be so in the future: according to the words, it is: "It has caused contradictions between us and countries, otherwise these countries would demand to establish friendly relations with us, and we have no hatred against them in the first place. " The following passage is so absurd that I just want to make a few remarks.Ketu said, "If in the future, at maturity, it becomes necessary to separate from the country that reared our (some) It is time for us to have our own weapons, and be able to use our own fleet to protect our commerce and our coastline." But, Ketu, how are we going to get our own fleet when Britain rules the Continent?Unless we can conjecture like this, as you hinted in the previous paragraph: our oak trees will grow into big boats by themselves, and after building themselves, they can leave their "natural growth land" and launch into the water.It has been unfortunate for Ketu, as an author, not to have correctly distinguished magic from imagination: on the other hand, there are so many statements in his letters which are so grossly lied and fabricated as to be Only the most obstinate impudence, and one with a mind bordering on evil, would be able to speak.In order to do him a fair judgement, he often forced me out of the ordinary course of civilized language; gentleness and composure were far from enough to expose him adequately. Unless Ketu intends to shoot himself in the foot, he really shouldn't let people see the following passage.He said: "If our present disputes could be settled, it would be very unlikely that Britain would resume its series of deadly policies of late, or attempt to use force against us again." How does Ketu admit that we risk falling back into the bloody, costly situations of the past?And one thing is indeed worth noting: from the mouth of an unprincipled author, the truth is sometimes unavoidable and unintentional.So, Ketu, there is no real security in this constitutional principle of your settlement?Then it would amount to nothing; and after all this wasting of life and money, we are at last left to hope, luck, and chance.Alas, then, I swear before all that is holy, "It is time to part." But Ketu, after admitting the possibility of us being in the same position again, proceeds to tell us what we should do in the second dispute; that is, as we have in the present one: throw Millions of fortunes, thousands of heads, in order to sew up the second healing, and open the way for the third dispute: so the fate of the American continent was arranged by Ketu in such an endless and intricate system. The bloody struggle and the insecure peace inside.In case it should be said that I have wronged Ketu, I will transcribe his full text below; he says, "But in case, at any future time, , to bring us to our knees, we trust that we shall once again, with the same courage (if necessary), with defensive weapons in hand, convince it that we are willing to exchange mutual benefits with it by establishing a constitutional union but, though we are subjects of the same King, we shall never consent to be his slaves."—Come, children, for Ketu's murderous hand is driving you to ruin, and remember He who warned you of the end page. In many of his words, Ketu reveals the calm control over passion and excitement that is always characteristic of the heartless.The sentence mentioned earlier, "Our present dispute" belongs to this class of indifference; and this unforgivable indifference is also expressed in the next sentence; The role of stepmother." What an amazing feeling!All the destruction and tragic guns caused by the war against humanity; the heads of thousands of people fell to the ground; the burning and extinction of cities and towns; the destruction and separation of relatives, friends and families; all of these can only be dug out from Ketu Such a ruthless confession.However, Ketu's ruthless zombie-like soul does not understand the great mind of compassion. He does not exist and cannot exist in such a pure state.His soul was used to licking the hand that brought him to life, and breathing the vulgar air of flattery, filth, and slavishness; his soul would now starve to death before virtue, and suffocate on the net of impartial friendship. up. When Ketu wrote, he must not have expected to be questioned, or cared so little about his own reputation, or he would not have tried to convince the masses that the claim to independence came after what he called "the dawn of reconciliation had begun to emerge before our eyes." ", it was proposed in a provocative way. Come forward, Ketu, and confirm your words!Where did this dawn of reconciliation come from?Was it in the King's discourse, was it in the speeches of the Houses of Parliament, or was it in the decree?That statute unleashes a colony of pirates to plunder our property, and appoints another colony of pirates to use pardons to insult those whom they have long sought to destroy by all means.Ketu, come out and prove your words, or receive its retribution, because the function of this set of inflammatory words is to try to deceive readers who are not vigilant with plausible lies.Ketu added that as long as we remain united, and give up all notion of independence, "we have the greatest assurance of adequate rectification of our dissatisfaction, and of any future violation of our just rights. ".If Ketu wishes to suggest that we have received such a guarantee, let him read again the conclusion of the previous paragraph.The same reply is useful for both paragraphs. Perhaps when we recall the long list of undiminished cruelty towards us at the English court, when we remember the many prayers we have said to them and for them, this eloquent passage from Ketu is simply Nothing could be more false and insane; he said: "If we achieve independence now, we must become a ruthless people in the eyes of all mankind, and we cannot expect the trust of any country in the world, nor can we look up to heaven, Sentenced for its approval." Are you mad, Ketu, are you stupid--or are you both--or are you worse than both?In this passage, you are too far away from me.I have no words to drag you back.You have fortified yourself!Then stay in your fortress and wait for the God who fortified you to come and take you away. Ketu seemed to possess that cunning of perpetually insulting what he could not refute.This is what he sometimes does: he twists our words into his arguments, and thus creates a monster, which travels all over the country, and tells good people that it's called Independence.Several passages in his fourth and fifth letters fall into this category, especially when he invokes the phrase "foreign assistance," which he despicably interprets as the surrender.Such a distorted and irrational sophist does not deserve to be treated with courtesy.Again he creates the same confusion by substituting the word peace for merger from time to time; he falsely accuses us by describing us as determined to "reject all proposals for peace."In fact, what we want is peace, not reunification; although we are willing to listen to the voice of peace, we are determined to resist any initiative of merger, no matter where it comes from; because we fully believe that in the present situation Under these circumstances, silencing was the only and best solution that Great Britain and America could find. The following passage is distorted.Ketu said: "Never, even between nations that were born rivals and enemies, or between savage peoples, was there ever a war so irreconcilable that it was unwilling to make peace its aim and end. "But, Ketu, has there ever been a war for mergers in history?No.I do not ask what Ketu meant by "a nation born to be rivals and enemies"; but I know this (at least I know it myself), and neither France nor Spain nor all the other great powers of Europe can To inflict such a wound on us as Britain did, or to kindle in our hearts such an implacable hatred.We feel the same inexpressible indignation at its behavior as we feel when we see an animal eat its young; a peculiar indignation, not due to the momentary produced. Towards the end of his third letter (for which I shall stop my comments for the time being), Ketu compares the situation in England and America to a quarrel between lovers, and deduces from it the possibility that therefore between us Feelings will also be restored.I have to think that this metaphor is extremely far-fetched and misinterpreted.Anyone who is in love or has love experience, please come here to judge us!Between the murmurs of a heart that mourns silently and the tumultuous horrors of war--Between the tears that weep in mournful beauty and the wasted blood that flows in rivers--between the sweet quarrels of love and life and death What can be compared between the grievous struggles of a quarrelsome lover--the hoped-for misery of a quarrelsome lover, and the tragic spectacle of thousands of victims! "Don't show yourself to me again", Ketu, because you have no human feelings. forest dweller April 8, 1776 in Philadelphia