But the nation must not lose it vision; that incommunicable quality that leads to the light. "Where there is no vision, the people perish."
The past is behind us, with all its solemn monitions. The future beckons us to the shining uplands of limitless progress. The ascent is not easy, but it must and will be made.
LETTERS FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON.
Head Quarters, West Point, July 29th, 1779.
Dr. Sir,
I have been duly favored with your letter of the 10th, the contents of which are of so serious a nature, with respect to the Quarter Masters and Commissary's department, that I thought it my duty to communicate them to General Greene and Col. Wadsworth.
... If there has been neglect in either department, the delinquents must be responsible to the public and these Gentlemen ought to be acquainted with what has been alleged. . . .
I cannot but repeat my entreaties, that you will hasten your operation with all possible dispatch; and that you will disencumber yourself of every article of baggage and stores which is not necessary to the expedition. Not only its success but its execution at all depends on this. 'Tis a kind of service in which both officers and men must expect to dispense with conveniences and endure hardships. . . . They must not and I trust will not expect to carry the same apparatus which is customary in other operations. I am persuaded that if you do not lighten yourself to the greatest possible degree, you will not only eminently hazard a defeat, but you will never be able to penetrate any distance into the Indian Country. . . . The greater part of your provisions will be consumed in preparation, and the remainder in the first stages of a tedious and laborious march.
General Clinton in a letter to the Governor of the 6th instant mentioned his arrival at the south end of Otsego Lake where he was waiting your orders. . . .