ENTRY+4--+Common+Sense+1774**

Dearest Companion Mr Richard White,

I have decided to grab some parchment and the inkwell in order to write to you Good Sir. After all, it has been long since I last heard from you and you from me. If I recall correctly, I believe it has been 8 long calendar years since the last time we sat down together and enjoyed the likes of tea on my farm in Norristown.

A lot has happened in household in recent days.

My second son Nicholas, the very bright young lad that he is, has been recognized for his scholarly aptitude and received entry to the University of Pennsylvania, the College found by Benjamin Franklin.

Speaking of Nicholas, he mailed me a pamphlet the day before yesterday, and the pamphlet itself was labeled Common Sense. If you have not exposed yourself to the extraordinary words of this pamphlet and its write, Thomas Paine, I advise you do so swiftly. I just could not agree more with many of his well-informed arguments, especially the one concerning the Monarchy and the Hereditary Succession. If all men are born equal, therefore to consider the Monarch, a mere mortal, to be considered and judged apart from the rest. Enlighten me with your thoughts Good Sir, what is your opinion on Paine’s prose? I sincerely hope all is well with you Mr. White.

I will be waiting for your reply to arrive in the near future.

Yours truly, Caleb Sullivan.

=A Letter to Caleb Sullivan, from Alexandra Winchart=

Mister Caleb Sullivan,

It has been quite a long time since we have written to each other, and even longer since we have met - though we are only but 300 miles apart. How have you been? Is your family well - your wife? Your sons? Your daughter? I cannot believe how fast our children are growing … their maturity is a constant reminder that we are no longer as young as we used to be. My daughter, who is now 18 years of age, is attending a university as well as preparing for her marriage - she has met a wonderful young man, a fellow patriot, if I may brag. My son is following in his father's footsteps, becoming a strong-willed, respectful young man.

I am aware that it is a time of chaos, and has been for the past several years. However, not to worry - I am writing you on account of good news.

Yesterday afternoon, my husband came to me while I was doing my usual needlework. He told me about an amazing document that he had just read, called Common Sense by Thomas Paine, and obliged me to read it as well. It was a truly remarkable declaration in writing! What Paine wrote is exactly what all of us patriots have been demanding for a number of years.

In his pamphlet, Paine illustrates that our nation yearns for independence, and deems the British government as intolerable. He, like us, believes that "America would have flourished as much, and probably much more, had no European power taken any notice of her," and concludes that "to talk of friendship with those in whom our reason forbids us to have faith, and our affections wounded through a thousand pores instruct us to detest, is madness and folly." Do not his words stir up excitement inside of you?

Although his language may be provocative to loyalists, they anger me as well. His statement that "under our present denomination of British subjects, we can neither be received nor heard abroad; the custom of all Courts is against us, and will be so, until by an independence we take rank with other nations," arouses rage in me. How many decades have we wasted under Britain's control? How many good relationships with foreign countries could we have established had we not gone through years of British governmental oppression?

Mister Sullivan, I highly encourage you take a look at Paine's piece, though I am almost certain you have already read it or at least heard of it by now. Not until I read it have I realized that while we have all been praying for a change, nobody has been brave enough to do what Paine has done through Common Sense. I am thankful that somebody was daring enough to take up this task. Now, my husband will no longer feel the need to go out into the dangerous world and openly share his opinions.

Caleb, my family is very content that we know you as our acquaintance. We are all suffering from tyranny, but at least we are not alone. Soon, I hope, we will be able to rise up against the British and prove that America is strong enough on her own.

Good luck to you and your family, until we meet again. Tell your children I said hello, and your wife that I wish her wellbeing.

With sincerity, concern and gratitude, Alexandra Winchart