It Is Natural To Man To Indulge

. . . Virtue, Morality, And Religion. This Is The Armor, My Friend, And This Alone That Renders Us Invincible. These Are The Tactics We Should Study. If We Lose These, We Are Conquered, Fallen Indeed . . . So Long As Our Manners And Principles Remain Sound, There Is No Danger.

It Is Natural To Man To Indulge In The Illusion Of Hope. We Are Apt To Shut Our Eyes Against A Painful Truth, Till She Transforms Us Into Beasts.

Are We At Last Brought To Such Humiliating And Debasing Degradation That We Cannot Be Trusted With Arms For Our Defense? Where Is The Difference Between Having Our Arms In Possession And Under Our Direction, And Having Them Under The Management Of Congress? If Our Defense Be The Real Object Of Having Those Arms, In Whose Hands Can They Be Trusted With More Propriety, Or Equal Safety To Us, As In Our Own Hands?

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.

Have We The Means Of Resisting Disciplined Armies, When Our Only Defense, The Militia, Is Put In The Hands Of Congress? Of What Service Would Militia Be To You When, Most Probably, You Will Not Have A Single Musket In The State? For, As Arms Are To Be Provided By Congress, They May Or May Not Provide Them.