that no good could result from such an attempt; but I hope they will be equally candid in acknowledging, that much mischief may flow from it; and that nothing is too extravagant to expect from men, who conceive they are ungratefully and unjustly dealt by; especially too, if they can suppose that characters are not wanting to foment every passion, which leads to discord, and that there are-but time shall reveal the rest. Let it suffice, that the very attempt wd. imply a want of justice, and fix an indelible stain upon our national character; as the whole world, as well from the enemy's publications (without any intention to serve us), as our own, must be strongly impressed with the sufferings of this army from hunger, cold, and nakedness, in almost every stage of the war. Very sincerely and affectionately, I am, &c. SIR, TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. HEAD-QUARTERS, 19 March, 1783. I have the honor to acknowledge your Excellency's favor of the 12th instant, and to thank you most sincerely for the intelligence you were pleased to communicate.1 The articles of treaty between America The packet Washington, commanded by Captain Barney, which sailed from L'Orient on the 17th of January, arrived in Philadelphia on the morning of the 12th of March, and brought the news of the preliminary articles of peace between Great Britain and the United States having been signed by the commissioners at Paris on the 30th of November.-Diplomatic Correspondence, vol. x., P. 117. and Great Britain are as full and satisfactory as we have reason to expect; but, from the connexion in which they stand with a general pacification, they are very inconclusive and contingent. From this circumstance, compared with such other intelligence as I have been able to collect, I must confess, I have my fears that we shall be obliged to worry through another campaign before we arrive at that happy period, which is to crown all our toils. Any intelligence from your Excellency will at all times be very agreeable to me. But, should it be in your power to announce a general peace, you could not make me more happy than in the communication of such an event. I have the honor to be, &c. DEAR LUND, TO LUND WASHINGTON. NEWBURG, 19 March, 1783. I did not write to you by the last post. I was too much engaged at the time, in counteracting a most insidious attempt to disturb the repose of the army, and sow the seeds of discord between the civil and military powers of the continent, to attend to small matters. The author of this attempt, whoever he may be, is yet behind the curtain; and as conjectures might be wrong, I shall be silent at present. The good sense, the virtue and patient forbearance of the army on this, as upon every other trying occasion which has happened to call them into action, has again triumphed; and appeared with more lustre than ever. But if the States will not furnish the supplies required by Congress, thereby enabling the Superintendant of Finance to feed, clothe, and pay the army, if they suppose the war can be carried on without money, or that money can be borrowed without permanent funds to pay the interest of it; if they have no regard to justice, because it is attended with expence; if gratitude to men, who have rescued them from the jaws of danger and brought them to the haven of Independence and Peace, is to subside, as danger is removed; if the sufferings of the army, who have borne and forborne more than any other class of men in the United States, expending their health, and many of them their all, in an unremitted service of near eight years in the field; encountering hunger, cold and nakedness, are to be forgotten; if it is presumed there is no bounds to the patience of the army; or that when peace takes place, their claims for pay due, and rewards promised may die with the military non-existence of its member—if such, I say, should be the sentiments of the States, and that their conduct, or the conduct of some, does but too well warrant the conclusion, well may another anonymous addresser step forward, and with more effect than the last did, say with him, "You have arms in your hands; do justice to yourselves, and never sheath the sword, till you have obtained it." How far men who labor under the pressure of accumulated distress, and are irritated by a belief that they are treated with neglect, ingratitude and injustice in the extreme might be worked upon by design ing men, is worthy of very serious consideration. But justice, policy, yea common sense must tell every man that the creditors of the continent cannot receive payments unless funds are provided for it, and that our national character, if these are much longer neglected, must be stamped with indelible infamy in every nation of the world where the fact is known. DEAR SIR, TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON. 19 March, 1783. I am much obliged to you for your letter of the 12th and for the enclosures-the early communication of such important occurrances rendered the favor doubly acceptable. Would to God the articles for a general pacification were as well advanced as those. between America and Great Britain; but I am not without fears that that event is at a greater distance than the sanguine ones imagine. The policy of G. Britain now, if I have formed a right judgment, is to sooth America as much as possible, in order to weaken the bond and make her uneasy under the Alliance, if the policy, or situation of France with respect to the other Beligerent powers renders it necessary to continue the war another Campaign. This, or some manoeuvre, which may be performed with safety during the equipment of the Fleet at Cadiz must, undoubtedly, be the cause of the present procrastination of the negociations at Paris. What the final issue may be Heaven knows— Such an avidity appears among our People to make money, and so feeble the Reins of Government (where there is an attempt to use them) to restrain the illicit and pernicious intercourse of Trade with the enemy at New York, that the fence between them and us is entirely broken down, and nothing but an Army quite sufficient to form a close investiture of that place can repair it. Five such armies as I have would be incompetent, employed in any other way. The boats which have been Commissioned to obstruct this trade, are instrumental in carrying it on, and have been caught in the act as many other Trading parties also have been by the Guards and patroles I keep for this purpose. But it avails nothing. By Hook or by Crook they are certain of acquittal. In truth I am quite discouraged, and have scarce any thing left but lamentation for the want [of] virtue and depravity of my Countrymen. * * * TO GOVERNOR BENJAMIN HARRISON. DEAR SIR, NEWBURG, 19 March, 1783. About the first of this month I wrote you a long letter. I touched upon the state of the army, the situation of public creditors, and wished to know from you as a friend, what causes had induced the Assembly of Virginia to withdraw their assent to the Impost Law, and how the Continental creditors (without adequate funds) were to come at or obtain security for their money. I little expected at the time of |