8927. WAR, Retaliation in.—
England
may burn New York by her ships and congreve
rockets, in which case we must burn the
city of London by hired incendiaries, of which
her starving manufacturers will furnish
abudance. A people in such desperation as
to demand of their government aut panem,
aut furcam, either bread or the gallows, will
not reject the same alternative when offered
by a foreign hand. Hunger will make them
brave every risk for bread.—
To General Kosciusko. Washington ed. vi, 68.
Ford ed., ix, 362.
(M.
June. 1812)
