From Charles Epp
ALS: American Philosophical Society
<Altorff, July 2, 1778: The English are making a huge mistake
in trying to fight a war overseas, especially against people as
civilized as they are. Your leaders show wisdom in waiting for
the enemy to overextend their supply lines. The danger for
your country will begin after victory, when national consensus
breaks down. My advice is not to give too much play to
popular will, so easily manipulated by the ambitious. My own
experience in the Swiss cantons has shown me that, for all
their defects, the aristocratic ones are better governed than the
democratic, since brotherly love is an unrealistic notion.
Please consider my remarks as coming from a wellwisher.>
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