Philadelphia 18 May '93 [see page 44] My dear Sargent. I have received Several ^(2/5) letters from you without Answering them; — be not offended. No decline of affection to you has been the cause of the omission. The arrival of the [undecipherable] may it is hoped afford you the long wished for Opportunity of Visiting the Atlantic States. You will see by the papers what a political Storm pervades Europe. The French vivacity and Ardor is the germinating cause of the whole. They will establish their liberty, if they possess union and perseverance. These qualities are doubted; if they are wanting, they will assuredly fail, for they are attacked by Valor, power, order and Discipline — The writing [undecipherable] one half sheet— [of the thinness of copying paper is entirely illegible and not [undecipherable] I have copied it from the original furnished to me by Col Sargent [undecipherable] son — see next page] Affectionately and doubtfully to [R.?] [undecipherable] Sargent — But still if they stand upon the defensive, and supported by the before recited qualities they may rise superior to their late defeats. Their irruption into Holland appears unjustifiable, by any other principle than that of avarice. But a little misfortune may teach them more moderation, and have a tendency to render their new republic more stable. I am your affectionate friend Knox Col Sargent.