CHAPTER 3. FREEDOM OF WILL.

January 3, 1777.

"Dear brother!

Praise and glory to your kind house, which knows not a single grain of evil or a single grain of need! Know, know, virtuous servant, virtuous adept, virtuous follower of the cult of John… no, not the Baptist!... but another John, who once quite consciously intended to create freedom... and, it must be admitted, he succeeded very well!... that very freedom, the brightest reflection of which is the freedom of knowledge... or rather, of learning!... know, know, servant of the cult of that very John who, like the aforementioned one, was nothing more and nothing less than the harbinger of the greatest changes, but unlike the first, he created those changes with his own hands — his fate was not predetermined by someone, by some higher, ethereal forces... he was free, he was independent! — know, know, a truly and, importantly, sincerely faithful adept of the cult of Johannes Gutenberg, that today, on this day, that very event occurred which, like the invention of your glorious patron, is capable of igniting... no, not another, but a new!... fuse in the struggle for a just cause — the cause of fighting not only for freedom and independence, but also, importantly... in the struggle for liberation from the oppression of the aforementioned! Today, January 3, 1777, the Army of Independence, at Princeton, showed the army of Great Britain, or rather the army of His Majesty, or, if you will, the detachments of Charles Mawhood, a truly genuine and, importantly, unadulterated spirit of human Freedom!

My friend! Brother! I ask you, I sincerely ask you, or, more correctly, I sincerely urge you that it is your pen, or rather the pen of your publishing house, that can... no, not in the most exquisite, but in the most true and truthful way!... immortalize... no, not those events, but those very representatives of the human race who, in the name of Freedom and Independence, so prematurely left this sublunary world! I ask you, I sincerely ask you in no way to mention those very calamities that we... no, not for some reason, but for something, in the name of something!... were forced to endure at those moments! I ask you, I sincerely ask you, do not mention, do not mention the continuous wet snow, and do not mention the mud that at those moments surrounded not only our completely exhausted bodies, but also, importantly, our no less exhausted souls!... tell, in the name and for the glory of justice, this sublunary world about that very courage that was shown today by every, absolutely every legionary, and importantly, every centurion of the Army of Liberation! And indeed, was it not an exceptional courage by its very nature that continuously moved those representatives of the human race at that very minute... at that very minute, when in order to move significantly closer to Princeton as quickly and, importantly, as effectively as possible, the aforementioned patriots were forced to do nothing more and nothing less than tirelessly trim the centuries-old forest down to stumps? Patriots! They were true patriots! Yes, patriots, but by no means, by no means ordinary representatives of the human race, for a patriot is always, truly always, much more than a human being! Every person... but not a patriot!... has no true, real Homeland — for him, it doesn't matter where to live, but it is of great importance... how to live! A patriot, on the other hand, is ready to defend the independence, freedom, sovereignty, and rights of his Homeland at any cost, including the cost of his life! Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori!

No! Dear brother! I am not asking, I am not asking at all from your lips, or rather from under your pen, for any praise — do not praise us, but give us our due, for our descendants, both near and far, should undoubtedly deeply study not the unusually exquisite and extremely elegant myths, but the unremarkable, of course, with the exception of its nature, truth! Give due, give honor to that very weapon that at those moments was obedient to us as it had never been obedient before! Allow, I ask you, allow our spirit, the spirit of Liberation, the spirit of Freedom, the spirit of Independence, to ignite in perfect measure with that very flame that is called hope! Yes, hope! Hope for the speedy acquisition of... no, not glory, but for the speedy acquisition of Freedom!

Ah! Dear brother! Tell, I ask you, tell this sublunary world about that very spirit, whose motto was the following words: “Victory or death!”... about that very spirit that unceasingly followed to Princeton on the White Horse Road! Yes, it was the White Horse Road that faithfully, in the most unwavering way, led that spirit to success and, what is no less important, to dawn! Ah! Of course! Our descendants will truly be nothing more and nothing less than ungrateful if not a single, if not a single college in that area, and even throughout the country, does not bear the name of the White Horse... just as a certain well-known gymnasium of antiquity bore the name of the White Dog!

So, completely burning with a certain, it must be admitted, not the most extraordinary hope, I once again dirty the whiteness of this parchment with my ink, but by no means black and by no means dark, request — a request by no means to mention the events and names of that day, for these events and these names are perfectly known to all those representatives of the human race who truly, truly revere their freedom, but to mention the most exceptional property of the natural human thirst... the thirst for freedom, the thirst for justice, the thirst for independence!

With wishes of unwavering health, From the Unknown to the still, albeit temporarily, unknown! P.S. You were called to freedom, brothers; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”