Dear Lee,
I received your letter some days ago. I think well of your project. The subject is a fine one—the army of the north “pulling up drowning honor by the locks.”1 A Sallust2 would indeed make something of it, and I see no reason why you should fail. At any rate, whether you rival the brilliant touches of the Roman or not, you may far surpass him in the fullness and frankness of your story. What a mistake to forget such an actor as Cicero, in detailing the conspiring of Catalina! Any aid, in proof as illustrious as facts, that I can give you, you may command. I may soon be treading the same path myself, but as it is abundantly wide for us both, this will create no jostling. Accept the assurance of my entire good will and great regard.
John Armstrong
Dec 6 1825
Maj Lee Washington
Source: Mss 2 Ar573 a 1 Manuscripts, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond
Transcribed by Colin Woodward, 2016 August 15
1. Reference to Shakespeare’s Henry IV, “By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap/To pluck bright honor from the pale-faced moon/Or dive into the bottom of the deep/Where fathom-line could never touch the ground/And pluck up drowned honor by the locks.”
2. Roman historian (86 to ca. 35 BCE) who wrote the Conspiracy of Cataline.
