Chapter 4 to the people

This is not a time for nonsense.Those who, knowing that they have nothing to gain from their own country, pin their hopes on the regime that tried so hard to enslave you, may give you false ideas about reconciliation, as Ketu did .There is no such thing. Already hopeless!passed!The grave has parted us - the death of the slain, has severed the lifeline between England and America. The British strategy was one of conquest, not reconciliation.But even if it were admitted that the royalists' last hope might come true, it would only be that our enemies, exhausted after a long list of losses, cast down their arms in despair, and propose reunification, in that Under the circumstances, what should be done?

① Commonly known as the "Lexington Massacre". —Original Editor* The Battle of Lexington was the first battle of American Independence. - translator ②In regard to committees, Ketu and I differ substantially: I regard them as the only constitutional body present in this state, and on the following grounds: They are duly elected by the people, Obligations of being elected.The lower houses of state legislatures are also elected by the people, but do what the voters don't want them to do.Their powers are by no means constitutional, but arbitrarily established.My blame is for a group, not for an individual. —The committee mentioned above by the author is mentioned in Note ① on page 64 of this book. - translator

Should the defeated, disappointed tyrant be thought of as a transgressed, converted friend? Is it right to make governors who would hang us as traitors if they were conquerors?Of course not.Reject this proposal, then, and propose another: namely, that we may make peace with you as enemies, but we shall never join you again as friends.When this is carried out, you have the happy prospect of a perpetual peace.If America were far removed from the whole world of strife, it would be free to live.The sea surrounds it, the wilderness supports it, and of whom does America fear but her God? Don't be fooled.It's not a trivial matter.Even if a settlement was brought up, it wouldn't work now.This is a dangerous question; for all eyes are open.Now there is no secret in this question; certainly there should be no secret.This is an issue that concerns everyone, and everyone should take it to heart.Those who are here, and those who were born here, are as much about it.At the same time, there is no need to split the matter into thousands of parts and complicate it with endless and fruitless investigations like a single author who signed the civilian.This is an unprecedented struggle between nations and it cannot be settled with a few pounds, shillings, cents and fractions, like a schoolboy's homework.The author, well-intentioned as he may be, is far from standard: for the first big problem he speaks of includes many others, and from many others all other problems follow; The problem is happiness.Can this continent be happy under the rule of Great Britain?Secondly, can it be happy under a government of our own?To live under the authority of people we cannot love is nothing but misery, slavery, and so on.

In that case there will never be peace.Security would be an impossibility, for a treacherous friend who governs is a most dangerous enemy.To the second question, that of whether America can be happy under its own government, the answer is simply that it can be as happy as it will, a blank sheet of paper on which to write.Don't put it off for too long. ①It is sometimes laborious to tell the truth, yet I cannot fail to hint at the following, for many things, nay, nearly all things depend upon it; namely, to know thoroughly those in whom we trust.At such times it is the duty of the public to scrutinize the actions of their committee members, their State legislatures, and their representatives in the Continental Congress, to know what they do, and why they do it.If we do not do this, we will never know whom to trust; we will often mistake friends for enemies and enemies for friends, and in the confusion of personnel and affairs we will sacrifice our careers.This feeling of mine is derived from the following situation.It is said that the foolish and imperious directions suggested to the representatives of this state, and supported with all his might, were given to those gentlemen, who himself, at the present time, stockpiled timber for shipbuilding, and refused to sell, so that we could not complain of want. — but he is notorious — he is hastily withdrawing from his political scene.

forest dweller ①Don't forget the unfortunate Africans. --author