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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Nuts For Future Historians to Crack, by Horace W. Smith.
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's Nuts for Future Historians to Crack, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Nuts for Future Historians to Crack
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: September 17, 2008 [EBook #26647]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NUTS FOR FUTURE HISTORIANS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Irma Spehar, Christine D. and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+<h1>NUTS</h1>
+
+<h3>FOR</h3>
+
+<h1>Future Historians to Crack.</h1>
+
+<p class='center'>COLLECTED BY</p>
+
+<h2>HORACE W. SMITH.</h2>
+
+
+<p class='center'>CONTAINING THE</p>
+
+<p class='center'>CADWALADER PAMPHLET, VALLEY FORGE LETTERS</p>
+
+<p class='center'>etc., etc., etc.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>
+PHILADELPHIA:<br />
+HORACE W. SMITH, 20 SOUTH SIXTH STREET.<br />
+1856.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION.</h2>
+
+
+<p>For some years I had been engaged in collecting material for a life of my
+great grandfather, the Rev. William Smith, D. D., Provost of the University
+of Pennsylvania, and in doing so, I read all the Bibliographical and
+Historical works which I thought could in any way make mention of him. In
+no case did I find anything said against his character as a man, until I
+read Wm. B. Reed's Life of his grandfather, Gen. Joseph Reed. His remarks
+were uncalled for and <i>ungentlemanly</i>; what they were, <i>amount to nothing</i>,
+as they were <i>untrue</i>; and therefore not worth repeating. My first idea was
+to speak of Gen. Joseph Reed in the same manner, though with more truth;
+but finding the truth had been suppressed, and that to publish all I could
+wish in regard to Reed, would take up too much room in my work, and be
+departing from my original design, I therefore, concluded to publish all
+the historical facts in regard to Reed in a small volume by itself, and to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>publish such an edition, that it could not be bought up and destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>I have taken the liberty of using the following extracts from an article
+published in the Fireside Visitor&mdash;by J. M. Church. Whom it was written by
+I do not know, but the writer evidently understood his subject.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"When it was announced that Mr. Irving was about to present to the public a
+life of Washington, we hailed the information with feelings of delight, not
+unmingled with gratitude, that the illustrious author of 'Columbus,' the
+Sketch Book, and Knickerbocker should make the crowning work of his life
+and literary labors, the history of the greatest and purest of patriots, so
+dear to the hearts of all his countrymen, and one who, the more time and
+investigation develop and explain his motives and actions, the greater and
+nobler he appears. Our expectations were great when we contemplated the
+vast field that time had laid open to the historian; and though Marshall
+and Sparks had left but little to do, we felt there was still enough to
+make Mr. Irving's the greatest history of that greatest of men.</p>
+
+<p>On the appearances of the first volume, a number of errors were noticed by
+the press, which were subsequently corrected. The most important one, that
+in relation to Major Stobo, we are glad to see fully explained and
+corrected in a note at the end of the second volume. In the early part of
+the second volume, however, a far graver error occurs, we mean Mr. Irving's
+estimate of the conduct and character of Gen. Reed, and is it mainly the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>object of this communication to set that matter in its true light.</p>
+
+<p>Who can read without emotion of the trials and difficulties that beset
+Washington throughout the whole of his career? A Congress so corrupt, that
+Livingston writes, 'I am so discouraged by our public mismanagement, and
+the additional load of business thrown upon me by the villainy of those who
+pursue nothing but accumulating fortunes, to the ruin of their country,
+that I almost sink under it.' False friends and traitors intrigue against
+him&mdash;even Gen. Reed, the very man Mr. Irving so delighted to honor, and an
+inmate of his household, writes a letter to Gen. Lee, the aspiring rival of
+Washington, reflecting, with harsh severity, on the conduct and character
+of his commander and benefactor. Lee's answer fell into the hands of
+Washington, and was read by him during the absence of Reed, who made no
+attempt at an explanation until Lee was taken prisoner. He then endeavored
+to explain the delay, by saying that he had been in the meantime
+endeavoring to get possession of his letter, in order that he might show to
+Washington that it contained nothing to call forth the violent answer of
+Gen. Lee, and, 'In the meantime,' writes Reed, 'I most solemnly assure you,
+that you would see in it nothing inconsistent with that respect and
+affection which I have, and ever shall bear to your person and character.'
+Who can read this without being shocked at the falsehood of the man!</p>
+
+<p>It was, indeed, fortunate for Reed, that Washington never saw that letter.
+But how could Mr. Irving quote a portion of so important a document, while
+he suppressed the material part? Indeed, we are tempted to believe that
+some other hand had supervised those pages, before they were presented to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>the public.</p>
+
+<p>We conceive it to be the duty of an impartial historian to collect facts,
+and present them to his readers, and he is guilty of falsifying history who
+suppresses them. His readers have the same right to <i>all</i> the evidence that
+bears upon important occurrence that he has, and though the author may give
+his views and conclusions, the reader is not of necessity compelled to
+agree with him. We for one, must beg leave to differ from Mr. Irving in his
+estimate of Reed's character, and we doubt not that every one reading his
+letter will sustain us in our opinion, that his conduct was false and
+treacherous in the extreme.</p>
+
+<p>In order properly to appreciate the baseness of Reed's conduct, it is
+necessary to consider the circumstances under which it occurred. It was
+immediately after Washington had experienced the most trying reverses. Fort
+Washington had just been captured; over two thousand men had been taken
+prisoners, and his own eyes had beheld his men, partners of his toil,
+bayoneted and cut down while they begged for quarter. The Jerseys were
+overrun, and Philadelphia threatened by the enemy. Add to this, the
+accounts he received from Congress of the state of affairs at home, and it
+wanted but the discovery of such treachery to crush a spirit less mighty
+than his.</p>
+
+<p>It appears strange that Mr. Irving should form such an undue estimate of
+Reed's character, nor can we believe him to be ignorant of what was his
+real position and standing among his brother officers. As early as 1776,
+when Reed contemplated resigning his commission as Adjutant General, the
+announcement was hailed with pleasure, for Reed had few friends. Col.
+Trumbull, writing to a member of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> Congress on the subject, says, "I heard
+Jos. Reed had sent his resignation some time ago; in the name of common
+sense, why is it not accepted? That man's want of abilities in his office
+had introduced the greatest disorders and want of discipline into the army;
+it ought to originate from that office. Then he had done more to raise and
+keep up a jealousy between the New England and other troops, than all the
+men in the army besides. Indeed, his <i>stinking pride</i>, as General George
+Clinton expresses it, has gone so far, that I expect every day to hear he
+is called to account by some officer or other; indeed, he is universally
+hated and despised, and it is high time he was displaced." If Mr. Irving
+has not seen that letter, we refer him to the New York Gazette, of December
+the 9th, 1776, or to Mr. Peter Force's American Archives, if that work be
+more accessible to him.</p>
+
+<p>We have still another complaint of omission to make against Mr. Irving, and
+we think it too important a point in the history of Gen. Reed to be
+overlooked.</p>
+
+<p>A few days previous to the battle of Trenton, when affairs were most
+gloomy, and not a single star appeared to give the faintest glimmer of
+hope, Reed appeared despondent: "He felt the game was up, and there was no
+use of following the wretched remains of a broken army; he had a family,
+and it was but right that he should look after their interests; besides,
+the time had nearly expired during which they could avail themselves of the
+pardon offered by Gen. Howe to all those who should go over to the enemy."
+Such were the lamentations of Gen. Reed, until, in the agony of his fears,
+he communicated them to Gen. Cadwalader. The feelings of that high-minded,
+chivalrous soldier<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> can hardly be imagined&mdash;his first impulse was to order
+Reed under the arrest, but was deterred for fear of the effect the example
+might have on the men. He, however remonstrated with him, and his arguments
+appeared for the time to restore his composure. During the night previous
+to the battle of Trenton, Reed lay concealed in Burlington, in anxious
+expectation of the result of Washington's great master-stroke.</p>
+
+<p>He had opposed the enterprise in his communications with Washington, by the
+most discouraging representations, and now anxiously awaited the result.</p>
+
+<p>His fears were worked up to the highest pitch; and the burthen of his
+conversation was, how he should protect himself. He had with him a
+companion in his weakness, and the determination they both came to was, to
+go over to the enemy early in the morning. Before, however, they could
+execute their intentions, the news arived<a href="#TN">[TN]</a> of the victory of the Americans,
+the turning point in our country's fortunes, which gave hope to the people
+and courage to Gen. Reed.</p>
+
+<p>A few years after these transactions, Reed was accused in the public
+newspapers of having meditated a desertion to the enemy. He replied in a
+pamphlet, in which he attempted to defend himself, and addressed it to Gen.
+Cadwalader, whom he conceived to be the author of the charges and between
+whom and himself there was some unfriendly feelings, arising out of
+pecuniary transactions between them. Cadwalader came out with a crushing<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a>
+"Reply," in which though he denied having published the statements in the
+newspapers, he yet affirmed the truth of them, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> brought such
+overwhelming <i>proofs</i> to sustain his charges, that the public lost all
+confidence in Reed, and failed to re-elect him to the office he had just
+held. It is not within the limits of an article like this to go through
+Gen. Cadwalader's pamphlet, suffice it to say, he was supported by
+Alexander Hamilton, Dickinson, Doct. Rush, Bradford, and numerous others.
+Among other things, it was proved that previous to the battle of Trenton,
+Reed had sent to Count Dunop, who commanded at Bordentown, to ask if he
+could have a <i>protection</i> for himself and <i>a friend</i>. The messenger
+narrowly escaped being hanged, through the intercession of a friend of
+Count Dunop. This is corroborated by an extract from the Diary of "Mrs.
+Margaret Morris."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Extract from a Journal kept by Margaret Morris, for the amusement and
+information of her sister Mitcah Martha Moore. Her residence at the time,
+was on the "bank" at Burlington, N. J., at the corner of Ellis Street.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"January 4th, 1777, we were told by a woman who lodged in the same room
+where General Reed and Colonel C&mdash;&mdash; took shelter, when the battle of
+Trenton dispersed the Americans, that they (Reed and C&mdash;&mdash;) had laid awake
+all night consulting together about the best means of securing themselves,
+and that they came to the determination of setting off next day as soon as
+it was light to the British Camp, and joining them with all the men under
+their command. But when the morning came an express arrived with an account
+that the Americans had gained a great victory. The English made to flee
+before the ragged American Regiments. This report put the rebel General and
+Colonel in high spirits, and they concluded to remain firm to the cause of
+America. They paid me a visit, and though in my heart I despised
+them&mdash;treated them civilly, and was on the point of telling them their
+conversation the preceding night had been conveyed to me on the wings of
+the wind, but on second thought gave it up&mdash;though perhaps the time may
+come when they may hear more about it."</p>
+
+<p>There is still another page in the life of Gen. Reed that remains to be
+told, and that is the attempt alleged to have been made by Mrs. Ferguson to
+bribe him. All are familiar with his intensely patriotic reply, refusing
+<i>ten thousand pounds</i>, and the best office<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> in the colonies, in his
+Majesty's gift. To be sure, Gov. Johnstone,<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> in a speech before
+Parliament, most emphatically denied having employed<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> Mrs. Ferguson to
+offer to Gen. Reed any bribe whatever, while at the same time he admits
+that <i>other</i> means besides persuasion were used. Does he allude to the pair
+of elegant pistols that Reed accepted after the attempt to bribe him, and
+with which he was charged in the public papers? But Mr. Irving has not yet
+approached this delicate subject, and to his able hands we leave it, fully
+conscious he will give it the attention so important a circumstance
+requires.</p>
+
+<p>Should he fail, however, to do justice to Gen. Reed in this matter, he will
+pardon us if we again take the liberty of addressing him on the subject.</p>
+
+<p>We have been careful in our strictures upon the character and conduct of
+Gen. Reed to assert nothing that unquestionable evidence does not sustain;
+and if by our remarks we have lowered him from the undeserved eminence to
+which the injudicious zeal of interested parties has so industriously
+labored to elevate him, this result must rather be attributed to the
+weakness of the support, and the frailty of the statue, than to the vigor
+of the blows we have bestowed upon it.</p>
+
+<p>The most we have done has been to remove the deceptive varnish, and the
+idol has fallen to pieces.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>T. S. P.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Proceedings of a General Court Martial of the line, held at Raritan in the
+State of New Jersey, for the trial of Major General Arnold, Published by
+order of Congress, Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p>Printed by Francis Bailey in Market Street, 1780.</p>
+
+<p>Extract from the defence of General Arnold.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"On this occasion I think I may be allowed to say, without vanity, that my
+conduct, from the earliest period of the war to the present time, has been
+steady and uniform. I have ever obeyed the calls of my country, and stepped
+forth in her defence, in every hour of danger, when many were deserting her
+cause, which appeared desperate. I have often bled in it; the marks that I
+bear, are sufficient evidence of my conduct. The impartial public will
+judge of my services, and whether the returns that I have met with are not
+tinctured with the basest ingratitude. Conscious of my own innocence, and
+the unworthy methods taken to injure me, I can with boldness say to my
+persecutors in general, <i>and to the chief of them in particular</i>, that in
+the hour of <i>danger</i> when the affairs of America wore a <i>gloomy aspect</i>,
+when our illustrious general was retreating through New Jersey, with a
+handful of men, I did not propose to my associates basely to quit the
+general, and sacrifice the cause of my country to my personal safety, by
+going over to the enemy and making my peace.</p>
+
+<p>"I can say I never basked in the sunshine of my general's favour, and
+courted him to his face, when I was at the same time treating him with the
+greatest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> disrespect, and villifying<a href="#TN">[TN]</a> his character when absent. <i>This is
+more than a ruling member of the Council of Pennsylvania can say," as it is
+alleged and believed.</i></p>
+
+<p>The first edition of the Cadwalader Pamphlet was published in the year
+1782, within the last twenty years all the copies, or nearly so, have been
+spirited away&mdash;where or by whom no one knows. They have been stolen from
+the public libraries and from the book cases of private individuals. In
+1848 a second edition was issued. The publisher of this edition was
+threatened with prosecution, and although but six years have passed, it is
+now looked upon as a valuable curiosity. To the second edition was prefixed
+the following Introduction.</p>
+
+<p>"A few years since a writer, over the signature of "Valley Forge,"
+published in an evening paper of Philadelphia, called the "<i>Evening
+Journal</i>," and put forth certain statements connected with our
+revolutionary history, which caused a great excitement, and led to a
+challenge of an interview with the author, by the descendants of a person,
+whose character was considered as involved in doubt, as to his being a
+patriot of 1776. The party challenged failed to attend the proposed
+meeting, and this pamphlet will give a clue to the whole writings of
+"Valley Forge," and justify completely the course pursued by the editor of
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> "<i>Evening Journal</i>," who is not now of this world, and of course a
+matter immaterial perhaps to his friends and relatives.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Notes.</span>&mdash;"The allusion to the disrespectful treatment of the
+General refers in part, (I fancy) to the letter addressed by
+General Charles Lee to Reed, which came to head quarters and was
+opened by Washington."&mdash;See Life of Joseph Reed.</p>
+
+<p>"Joseph Reed at the time of the prosecution of Arnold was
+President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, and as
+is well known, took an active and prominent part against
+him."&mdash;See Spark's Life of Arnold, page 140.</p></div>
+
+<p>The letter of Major Lennox and P. Dickinson refer to a person whose name is
+not mentioned, who was included in the application to Count Donop for a
+protection. There certainly must be in the possession of some of the
+descendants of revolutionary families, evidence to show who this person
+was: and it may yet be produced, to do justice to the memory of the men who
+figured in those times.</p>
+
+<p><i>Trenton, December 26th, 1846.</i></p>
+
+<p>The Valley Forge Letters were originally published in the Evening Journal,
+edited by Reuben Whitney, Esq., in the year 1842. I have given the printer
+the cuttings from that paper, so that the reader will get them in the exact
+condition in which they appeared, perhaps not in the same order.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A REPLY</h2>
+
+<p class='center'>TO</p>
+
+<h1>Genl. <span class="smcap">Joseph Reed's</span> Remarks</h1>
+
+<p class='center'>ON A LATE PUBLICATION IN THE</p>
+
+<h2>INDEPENDENT GAZETTEER;</h2>
+
+<p class='center'>WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS ON HIS</p>
+
+<p class='center'>ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF PENNSYLVANIA.</p>
+
+<h2>By General John Cadwalader.</h2>
+
+<p class='center'>WITH THE LETTERS OF</p>
+
+<p class='center'>
+Gen. George Washington, Gen. Alexander Hamilton, Major David<br />
+Lennox, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Gen. P. Dickinson,<br />
+Gen. Henry Laurens and others.<br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p class='center'>PHILADELPHIA:</p>
+
+<p class='center'>PRINTED AND SOLD BY T. BRADFORD.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>In Front Street, the fourth door below the Coffee-House.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>1783.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>TO THE PUBLIC.</h2>
+
+
+<p>When an appeal is made to the public by a person who has interested himself
+in the affairs of America from the beginning of the present revolution, he
+has a claim to their attention, with respect to transactions that reflect
+either upon his political conduct or principles as a patriot.</p>
+
+<p>I wish, most sincerely, that all prejudices in favor or against General
+Reed or myself, may be laid aside on the present occasion, and that truth
+and justice may influence the determination of the public.</p>
+
+<p>The world is now in possession of General Reed's address to me, relating to
+a conversation I had with him at Bristol, in the winter of 1776, and as it
+contains the grossest reflections upon my character, as a man of veracity
+and a patriot, it is incumbent on me to reply.</p>
+
+<p>Mankind have been much the same, in every age, with respect to their
+conduct in political life. Their minds have been inflamed by the same
+passions, prejudices, and resentments, and parties have been supported by
+complaints and representations, which naturally grow into invective and
+personal abuse.</p>
+
+<p>From these principles, General Reed has deduced those arguments and
+conclusions, which he vainly affects to think will justify him in
+asserting, that my conduct has been influenced by motives of hatred,
+resentment, and disappointed ambition. But when it shall appear, from the
+testimony I have inserted in the following sheets, that the conversation
+alluded to was spoken of by me in confidence, at a time when he asserts
+that all former personal dislike was removed, and that "we united in
+confidence and danger at the battle of Monmouth;" at a time, too, when he
+admits, that "no party or prejudices existed, (at least as to him,") the
+premises from which he has drawn his conclusions must be removed, and
+consequently his arguments fall with them.</p>
+
+<p>If my bare affirmative against his negative was the only foundation on
+which the public were to found their judgment, our several characters, in
+the article of veracity, would be fairly weighed by candor, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> a verdict
+given in favour of the preponderating scale. If, then, I had hazarded an
+assertion, without other (the most respectable) testimony to support it,
+the consciousness of my own integrity would have suppressed any fears with
+respect to the public opinion.</p>
+
+<p>The many and hasty movements of my family during the present contest, have
+displaced several valuable papers relating to property as well as military
+affairs. I do not, however, despair of yet finding important ones relating
+to this matter, that may some time hence be published. But what need is
+there of more than I shall here adduce; since every prejudiced mind must
+feel (if not acknowledge) the testimony too respectable and powerful to
+admit of apology or reply. Testimony, too, obtained, (in many instances,)
+from persons to whom I am scarcely known,&mdash;persons residing in other
+States, who cannot be supposed to be the particular enemies of General
+Reed, or in any way connected with the politics of Pennsylvania.</p>
+
+<p>Many other certificates, supporting and confirming those I shall here offer
+to the public are omitted, as it is thought they will swell the publication
+to an unnecessary size; and affidavits may, if required, be obtained to all
+the certificates which appear in this pamphlet.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>As the publication signed "Brutus," addressed to General Reed, containing
+certain queries, is referred to, it is thought necessary to reprint it.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class='center'><i>To the Printer of the Independent Gazetteer.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&mdash;It is much to the honor of America, that in the present
+revolution, there have not been many instances of defection among
+officers of rank in the Continental army. In Oliver Cromwell's
+time, we frequently see a general fighting one day for the King,
+another for the Parliament; so unstable and wavering were the
+opinions of those republicans.</p>
+
+<p>The corruption of the times is now become a universal complaint,
+and one would be almost tempted to believe, that the former days
+were better than these; that our forefathers were possessed of
+greater moral rectitude than the present generation, did not
+history and experience convince us of the contrary. There is,
+however, one great evil peculiar to this age&mdash;that of assuming the
+credit of being endowed with virtues to which we are perfect
+strangers. Cunning, address, and eloquence, have often misled the
+honest but too credulous multitude, and they have been taught to
+consider many a man as a patriot and a hero, whose real character
+was marked with nothing but deceit and treachery to his country.
+It is also amazing, that such men should meet with the highest
+success, and bear their blushing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> honors thick upon them, whilst
+modest merit and true patriotism could neither gain the suffrages
+of the people, nor the approbation of those who held the reins of
+government.</p>
+
+<p>The reflections I am now making have, in a striking manner, been
+verified in this State. I should be extremely sorry to accuse
+without a just foundation, or to adduce a charge, were I not
+convinced that it is of the utmost importance that the
+public,&mdash;the people at large&mdash;should be enabled to form a right
+opinion of such men, who have been honoured, or may be honoured
+with their suffrages, and thereby exalted to places of the highest
+trust and confidence.</p>
+
+<p>Impressed with this idea, and with a design to elucidate such
+characters, I shall take the liberty to propose to the public the
+following queries:</p>
+
+<p>1. Was not General R&mdash;&mdash;d, in December, 1776, (then A&mdash;&mdash;t G&mdash;&mdash;l
+of the Continental army,) sent by General Washington to the
+commanding officer at Bristol, with orders relative to a general
+attack intended to be made on the enemy's post at Trenton, and
+those below, on the 25th, at night?</p>
+
+<p>2. Two or three days before the intended attack, did not General
+R&mdash;&mdash;d say, in conversation with the said commanding officer at
+his quarters, that our affairs looked very desperate, and that we
+were only making a sacrifice of ourselves?</p>
+
+<p>3. Did he not also say, that the time of General Howe's
+proclamation, offering pardon and protection to persons who should
+come in before the 1st of January, 1777, was nearly expired, and
+that Galloway, the Allens, and others, had gone over, and availed
+themselves of the pardon and protection offered by the said
+proclamation?</p>
+
+<p>4. Did not he, General R&mdash;&mdash;d, at the same time say, that he had a
+family, and ought to take care of them; and that he did not
+understand following the wretched remains of a broken army?</p>
+
+<p>5. Did he not likewise say to the said commanding officer, that
+his brother, (then a colonel or lieutenant-colonel of militia,)
+was at Burlington with his family, and that he had advised him to
+remain there, and if the enemy took possession of the town, to
+take a protection and swear allegiance?</p>
+
+<p>It is well for America, that very few general officers have
+reasoned in this manner; if they had, General Howe would have made
+an easy conquest of the United States. And it is very obvious,
+that officers of high rank, with such sentiments, can have no just
+pretensions to patriotism or public virtue, and can by no means be
+worthy of any post of honour or place of trust, where the
+liberties and interest of the people are immediately concerned.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>BRUTUS.</p>
+
+<p><i>Philadelphia, September 3, 1782.</i></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>
+</p></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>TO GENERAL JOSEPH REED.</h2>
+
+
+<p>In the first part of your late publication, which is no less an invective
+against me, than it is a defence of yourself, you have, with sufficient
+art, insisted on my remarkably contentious, factious,<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> and jealous
+spirit, which suffers no man, undisturbed, to enjoy his well-earned fame; a
+circumstance in my character you expected to derive considerable benefit
+from in the controversy between us. For this point being once gained, every
+suggestion, every article of charge against you, which has its foundation
+and support in me, would naturally be referred to those fierce and
+malignant passions you have so unsparingly bestowed on me, and no longer
+rest upon the general credit and reputation I trust I have acquired and
+maintained. But as I cannot, without injustice to myself, make this
+concession to you, I must declare my general tenor of conduct to have been
+far otherwise,&mdash;that in my private life I have been at peace and harmony
+with all mankind; and in my public, at enmity only with such public men as
+have disgraced their country by their vices or injured it by their crimes.</p>
+
+<p>Wherein until the present, except in a single instance, have I drawn the
+public attention by attacks upon the character of any man? and that
+instance, an impostor, like yourself, who had got into a seat of honor. In
+this, it was virtue to become his accuser.</p>
+
+<p>If you rely upon <i>your</i> instance, as affording a proof of my eagerness for
+controversy, it will not answer your purpose. I have not brought you to the
+public bar; for, whatever was the amount of your offences, I neither urged
+nor wished a public inquiry; another has brought you there, and I appear
+only as a witness against you, challenged and defied by yourself.</p>
+
+<p>This being premised, I shall enter upon my subject, and reply to such parts
+of your pamphlet as respect me, and therefore specially concern me to
+notice.</p>
+
+<p>Your remarks, you say, are with propriety addressed to me; because though
+not the actual author, it is to me you are really indebted for the
+insidious attempt on your reputation.</p>
+
+<p>That the public may have the most authentic proofs of the manner in which I
+have been involved in this controversy, I think it necessary here to insert
+the original letters that passed in the course of our correspondence, last
+fall, on this subject.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&mdash;I have, for a long time, treated the anonymous abuse which
+disgraces our public papers with the contempt it deserves. But in
+Oswald's paper, of last Saturday, are a set of queries, signed
+Brutus, in which the author, not daring to make an open assertion,
+has insinuated, that in 1776 I meditated a desertion to the enemy.
+Though my soul rises with indignation at the infamous slander, I
+should treat it with scorn, if it did not seem to deserve some
+credit from a reference to you. Prejudiced, as I know you are, I
+should be sorry to suppose you capable of propagating such a
+sentiment, or decline the opportunity of doing justice to my
+character, and in some degree your own. And this for two reasons:
+first, the gross falsehood of the insinuation; and, secondly, to
+preserve a consistency in your own character, which must suffer
+from your placing such confidence in me, with respect to the
+military operations of that period, and permitting General
+Washington to do the same, after such a conversation as these
+queries suppose. I need make no apology, in this case, for
+requesting an immediate answer,&mdash;and am, sir,</p>
+
+<p class='right'>
+Your obedient humble servant,<br />
+JOSEPH REED.</p>
+<p>
+<i>Market Street, Sept. 9, 1782.</i><br />
+Gen. Cadwalader.<br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&mdash;In answer to your letter, which I received last evening by
+Mr. Ingersoll, relating to queries published in Mr. Oswald's paper
+of last Saturday, signed Brutus, I can assure you, (as I did Mr.
+Ingersoll,) that I am not the author of that publication; nor have
+I published one single word, since I came from Maryland, relating
+to the politics of this state; yet my character has, unprovoked,
+been traduced by you, or some of your friends. But, sir, I have
+repeatedly mentioned the substance of those queries to individuals
+immediately after the conversation alluded to happened; and since
+that time in many mixed companies. As charges of the same nature
+had some time since been made against you, to which you never made
+a reply, the world very justly concluded they were true;
+especially as the rank and character of the person who made the
+charge (at that time) merited your notice. From this circumstance,
+it occasioned an additional surprise, that you should, in this
+instance, undertake to investigate the matter, and declare in your
+letter to me, that the "insinuation" was "a gross falsehood." I
+therefore now assert, that in a conversation with you at the time
+and place mentioned in the above publication, signed Brutus, that
+you expressed the substance, and I think the very words, contained
+in the queries. If my character for veracity wanted credit with
+the world, one or two other gentlemen could be named, who, at
+nearly the same time, heard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> expressions from you, which created
+in them sentiments unfavourable to your character. You seem to
+insinuate that there is an inconsistency in my conduct, because I
+afterwards reposed a confidence in you, and because I permitted
+General Washington to do the same. It would have been very
+dangerous, at that critical period, to have exposed your weakness
+and timidity to the militia, as such an example might have been
+attended with the most fatal consequences to our cause. And as
+your conduct, upon this occasion, appeared to me to proceed from
+want of fortitude, and not the baser motives,&mdash;and as from the
+observations I made to you at the time, you seemed to resume more
+spirited sentiments in conversation, as well as from political
+motives, I continued to show an appearance of confidence, and
+concluded it best not to mention it to the General. The successes
+that soon followed gave a happy turn to our affairs, and thus,
+you, (with many others,) appeared to possess firmness in
+prosperity who had shown a want of it in times of imminent danger.</p>
+
+<p>If your conduct in civil life had been such as could have been
+approved of, former transactions might have been buried in
+oblivion. But when I see a man endeavouring to injure the
+reputation of those, whose principles and conduct, from the
+beginning of the contest, have been uniformly exerted to obtain
+those ends intended by the revolution; and when he denies all
+merit to those who are not equally violent with himself, it is
+difficult to be silent.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>
+I am, sir, your obedient servant,<br />
+<i>Philadelphia, 10th Sept., 1782.</i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;JOHN&nbsp;CADWALADER.</p>
+<p>General Reed.</p>
+
+
+
+<p class='right'><i>Philadelphia, Sept. 10, 1782.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&mdash;After waiting some time, and being just about to set off for
+Bucks, I received your letter of this morning, and am at a loss
+which to admire most, the depravity of your heart, or the weakness
+of your understanding. Your quoting General Arnold's testimony to
+vindicate your own falsehood is perfectly consistent. You shall
+hear further from me on my return from Bucks. In the mean time, I
+have made inquiry of Messrs. T. Smith and Shippen, whom you
+mentioned to Mr. Ingersoll as hearing from you sentiments similar
+to those in the queries, with a view of communicating them to me;
+which they never did, because they deny the least recollection of
+any such information; which must have been too striking to them,
+and interesting to me, to have passed unnoticed. Your talent for
+invention is also displayed on this occasion most probably.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever you may suppose, several of my friends well know, that I
+have been anxious to trace some loose reports that I had heard,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>
+which your residence in Maryland, and the improbability of your
+saying such things, had induced me to neglect.</p>
+
+<p>As to your insinuation of my writing against you in the
+newspapers, or its being done with my privity, it is equally
+groundless with all the rest. I have not wrote in the newspapers
+for a long time, nor at any time in my life respecting you.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>
+I am, sir, your very humble servant,<br />
+General&nbsp;Cadwalader.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;JOSEPH&nbsp;REED.</p>
+
+
+<p class='center'><i>To General Reed.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&mdash;I shall make no reply, <i>at this time</i>, to the expressions
+contained in your letter of the 10th inst.; but as you inform me
+that you are on the point of setting off for Bucks, I do not think
+it incumbent on me to remain here until you return, especially as
+I informed Mr. Ingersoll, that I intended leaving town as soon as
+the dust was laid, and wished you to take your measures as soon as
+possible, as I should make my arrangements accordingly. Some of my
+servants are gone, and I have every thing packed up; it will,
+therefore, be very inconvenient to detain my family, as you do not
+mention when you purpose returning. As you say I shall hear from
+you on your return from Bucks, I must inform you, that the post
+leaves this city for the Eastern Shore every Wednesday, at three
+o'clock; be pleased to direct to me, in Kent County, Maryland, to
+be left at Stewart's. You shall have my answer by the return of
+the post, or if necessary, I shall attend in person for further
+investigation.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>
+I am, sir, your obedient servant,<br />
+<i>Philadelphia, 12th Sept.,&nbsp;1782.</i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;JOHN&nbsp;&nbsp;CADWALADER.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&mdash;Mr. Clymer delivered me your letter of the 12th instant.
+Your sudden departure from this city was indeed unexpected,&mdash;your
+declaration to Mr. Ingersoll not implying it to be so very
+soon;<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> I should have supposed that my letter of the 10th,
+would have some weight to protract your journey. Before I received
+yours of the 10th, I had prepared a small publication, which the
+receipt of your letter did not influence me to alter or delay; as
+no signature could change the nature of things, and make falsehood
+truth, or truth falsehood. Having there declared the insinuation
+in Oswald's paper of the 7th instant to be false, I now apply the
+same epithet to your avowal of them; and am sorry, though not
+surprised, that your violence of temper should have occasioned
+such a deviation from the line of veracity so essential to the
+character of a gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>I am already possessed of sundry authentic documents; a few days
+will complete them,&mdash;not to show my innocence,&mdash;the improbability
+of your charge, and inconsistency of your own conduct, making that
+unnecessary; but to show to what lengths a rancorous heart, puffed
+up by sudden and accidental wealth, can push a man of weak
+judgment and ungovernable passions.</p>
+
+<p>I need not give you my address, though I think it incumbent on me
+to assure you, that if by investigation you mean a personal
+interview, I will endeavour to make it as convenient as possible,
+and will shorten the distance between us.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>
+I am, sir, your obedient humble servant,<br />
+<i>Philadelphia, 23d Sept.,&nbsp;1782.</i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;JOSEPH&nbsp;REED.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>General Cadwalader.</p>
+<p class='right'><i>Maryland, 30th September, 1782.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&mdash;I received yours of the 23d inst. by the post. From the
+style of your first letter, (9th Sept.) in which you required an
+"immediate answer," I fully expected an immediate interview. As
+you declined the interview I proposed through Mr. Ingersoll, and
+left town the next morning, without saying when you proposed
+returning, and having determined not to "alter or delay" the
+"small publication," which you "had prepared before the receipt of
+my first letter,"&mdash;I am at a loss to know what could have
+occasioned your surprise at my departure, before your return from
+Bucks. After having promised to the public the most satisfactory
+proofs, that no such conversation as alluded to in the queries
+ever passed, it was reasonable to allow you some time to prepare
+your "authentic document." Your last letter (23d Sept) informs
+that they were not <i>then</i> completed. And could you reasonably
+expect that I should have remained in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> town till this is
+completed? or could you suppose I would suffer your publication,
+worked up, as it no doubt will be, with all the cunning and
+misrepresentation you are master of, to pass unanswered? As you
+have protracted this affair by your <i>engagement</i> to the public, I
+shall not put it in the power of <i>accident</i> to deprive me of the
+opportunity of laying the facts I am possessed of open to public
+view. The question will then be, whether what I have avowed is
+true? My wealth, judgment, or passions, can have no influence,
+either way, with impartial men. My own character, the character of
+others concerned, and all the circumstances combined, will
+determine the judgment of the public. This business being ended,
+an interview may reasonably be expected.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>
+I am, sir, your humble servant,<br />
+Gen. Reed,&nbsp;Philadelphia.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;JOHN&nbsp;CADWALADER.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Having for several years given over every expectation of seeing those
+changes made in the constitution of Pennsylvania, which I have ever thought
+necessary to secure that happiness and liberty intended by the revolution,
+I retired, and have never since even expressed my sentiments concerning the
+politics of this state, except among my particular friends. Your vexatious
+administration hath furnished an example, to what a dangerous length the
+authority of government may be carried under such a constitution.</p>
+
+<p>The particular circumstances of my family made it necessary to spend a few
+months in this city, last summer, without an intention of taking up my
+residence here till the conclusion of the war; and though I never
+interfered in politics here, except among my particulr<a href="#TN">[TN]</a> friends, I was
+attacked, in the public papers, by a party blindly devoted to you and your
+measures; I made no reply, from a confidence that such intimations could
+not injure me with those whose good opinion I regarded. But whether a
+friend published the piece signed Brutus, in the mere spirit of
+retaliation, or whether it was calculated for political purposes, at the
+last election, let the author determine. The conversation, alluded to in
+the queries, was known to many long before that period; among whom were
+some of your friends, in proof of which I offer Mr. Prior's
+certificate.<a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Having mentioned the conversation <i>publicly</i>, those who heard it were
+certainly at liberty to make what use of it they saw proper.</p>
+
+<p>Being entrusted with the command of the militia and a New England brigade,
+which lay at Bristol in December, 1776, I had permission from the
+Commander-in-chief to make an attack on the enemy, whenever I thought it
+could be done with success; I was prepared on the evening of the 22d
+December, to attempt the enemy's post, above the Black Horse, with seven
+hundred men; and about nine or ten o'clock, P. M., I received a letter from
+the general, requesting, if the enterprise was not too far advanced, to lay
+it aside, as he intended a general attack on the enemy's posts in a few
+days. From this circumstance, it appears, that the general gave me the
+information relating to the intended attack, the evening before you
+received his letter of the 23d December, in which the precise time was
+fixed. As he knew my intention to command the party myself, and therefore I
+might not be at Bristol the next day, this will account for his letter, of
+the 23d being directed to you. But here you mean to convey an idea that a
+preference in this communication was intended to you, though he had given
+me, in effect, the same information the evening before. This, too, you
+adduce as a proof of the general's "unbounded confidence in you," and you
+say you were sent by General Washington for the "express purpose of
+assisting me;" and "whatever my abilities were, that I had less experience
+of actual service than you had,&mdash;that you were received with cool civility,
+and very few marks of private attention;" though you acknowledge that I, at
+the same time, consulted you without reserve on our "military affairs." I
+will admit, that your opportunities of acquiring experience were greater
+than mine; and considering the extensive command I then had, (which was in
+number nearly equal to the force under the immediate command of General
+Washington,) I should have thought it no reflection on my abilities; nor
+would it have hurt my feelings, if an officer of superior abilities and
+rank had been sent to take the command,&mdash;or even an <i>inferior</i> officer to
+assist me. But whether your appointment was of the mere <i>motion</i> of the
+commander-in-chief, or at your instance, (for assisting me or <i>other
+purposes</i>,) may at least become a <i>question</i>.</p>
+
+<p>That I received you "with cool civility, and very few marks of private
+attention," I do not remember; but to give what you mean to convey its full
+force, I will not hesitate to acknowledge it in its fullest extent; as you
+have granted, that I consulted "without reserve on our military affairs."
+In this instance, the world will do me justice, as it appears that I did
+not suffer personal dislike to interfere with public duty.</p>
+
+<p>Though the world have little to do with the causes of private animosities,
+I shall think myself perfectly excusable, here to say a few<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> words on this
+subject, as you have assigned causes for the interruption of our intimacy
+different from the true ones, and with a view of creating prejudices
+against me.</p>
+
+<p>I acknowledge that such intimacy subsisted between us in early life, and
+you malignantly date its "dissolution" at the time of my sudden accession
+of fortune as owing thereto. If I were to admit, that you could properly
+date this breach from the moment you mention, I flatter myself, you would
+find it very difficult to persuade those who know me, to believe that to be
+the true cause. But this was really not the fact. The unworthy measures you
+took to evade the payment, (till compelled by a judgment of the court,) of
+Mr. Porter's order on you in favor of my brother and myself, which you had
+accepted, (to be paid out of a bond assigned by said Porter to you in
+trust,) was the true motive of that dissolution you complain of. If you
+turn to the records of the court, or review the correspondence with my
+brother on that subject, you must blush at such a subterfuge. From <i>that</i>
+time, and owing thereto, I avoided your company. I could here make the
+proper reflections, with respect to your veracity and integrity, but the
+world will do you justice.</p>
+
+<p>The critical situation of our affairs, in the winter of 1776, is well known
+to every inhabitant of the United States; but those only who were at that
+time in the field, can have a true idea of the circumstances which often
+threatened the dissolution of the militia. My situation gave me better
+opportunities of knowing the feelings and temper of both officers and
+privates, than any other person; and the happy expedients used on several
+occasions, to prevent their going home in a body, are well known to many
+officers whom I then had the honour to command.</p>
+
+<p>The first intimation we had of the capture of General Lee, was received by
+a flag which arrived at my quarters. To determine whether this was a
+misfortune, or an advantage to the cause of America, is at this time
+immaterial. It was then, however, generally thought a matter of great
+magnitude, in the British as well as in the American camp. The effect it
+had on our army is well remembered by those who were present, but
+particularly on the militia.</p>
+
+<p>That men attached to a cause upon principle, should persevere in a
+prosperous situation of affairs, is not uncommon. We were at that time
+separated from our enemies only by a river, which we expected every day
+might be passable on the ice,&mdash;greatly inferior in number and discipline,
+and almost destitute of everything necessary even for defence. Add to this,
+a proclamation of General Howe, offering pardon and protection to those who
+should submit and swear allegiance before the first of January, 1777, and
+this time nearly expired.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> I say, under such circumstances, it would be
+wonderful indeed, if no officer of the army sunk under the apprehension of
+those dangers that threatened him. That there were more than <i>yourself</i>, I
+well know, whose expressions discovered a timidity unworthy an officer and
+a patriot, who, notwithstanding, from the well-timed and spirited
+remonstrances of their friends, were induced to assume a firmer tone of
+behaviour, and have since rendered their country considerable services.</p>
+
+<p>Having fully stated the temper of men's minds at this alarming period, and
+the situation of public affairs, I shall now recite the conversation and
+circumstances relating thereto, which I have avowed in my letter to you of
+the 10th September, as having passed between us at Bristol.</p>
+
+<p>I had occasion to speak with you a few days before the intended attack on
+the 26th December, 1776, and requested you to retire with me to a private
+room at my quarters; the business related to intelligence; a general
+conversation, however, soon took place, concerning the state of public
+affairs; and after running ever a number of topics,&mdash;in an agony of mind,
+and despair strongly expressed in your countenance and tone of voice, you
+spoke your apprehensions concerning the event of the contest,&mdash;that our
+affairs looked very desperate, and we were only making a sacrifice of
+ourselves; that the time of General Howe's offering pardon and protection
+to persons who should come in before the first of January, 1777, was nearly
+expired; and that Galloway, the Allens, and others, had gone over, and
+availed themselves of that pardon and protection, offered by the said
+proclamation; that you had a family, and ought to take care of them, and
+that you did not understand following the wretched remains (or remnants) of
+a broken army; that your brother (then a colonel or lieutenant-colonel of
+militia,&mdash;but you say of the five months' men, which is not material,) was
+then at Burlington, with his family; and that you had advised him to remain
+there, and if the enemy took possession of the town, to take a protection
+and swear allegiance; and in so doing he would be perfectly justifiable.</p>
+
+<p>This was the substance, and I think nearly the very words; but that "<i>you
+did not understand following the wretched remains (or remnants) of a broken
+army</i>," I perfectly remember to be the <i>very words</i> you expressed.</p>
+
+<p>That our situation was critical, and the dangers that threatened us great,
+were universally acknowledged; but I was astonished to hear such
+expressions from the <i>Adjutant-General</i> of the army, as your conduct had
+been approved of by report; for your good behaviour was not personally
+known to me. Judging from appearances, and from all circumstances at the
+time, I imputed these sentiments <i>solely</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> to timidity; and therefore, to
+rouse your feelings, and give new vigor to a mind weakened by fear, I
+recalled to your memory your former public professions and conduct, and
+endeavoured to paint, in the strongest colours, the fatal consequences,
+that would ensue from such an example, particularly to the militia; that if
+officers, (more especially one in your station,) discovered a want of
+firmness, we could not reasonably expect private soldiers to remain in the
+field; and added, that as I was commanding officer there, I should not pass
+over such expressions in future; appearing to be invigorated by these
+remonstrances, your subsequent conversation induced me to hope from you a
+more honourable resolution. The immediate turn in our affairs confirmed
+this hope. I had, besides, at the moment, a still stronger dissuasive. I
+foresaw that an "arrest," or discovery, on my part, would produce all the
+bad effects naturally to be apprehended from actual desertion; I mean with
+respect to the discouragement which such an example would have caused in
+the army, but particularly in the militia; and especially, as at that time
+the militia were assembling at Philadelphia, under General Putnam, from
+every part of the country, influenced by the example of the city troops, as
+well as by a sense of danger and duty. If, then, the city militia had
+disbanded, no person can hesitate to determine what would have been the
+fate of those from the country.</p>
+
+<p>The reasons of my concealing it from the General were, that nothing but an
+arrest, on his part, could have prevented the execution of this plan of
+desertion, and the bad consequences ensuing from it, the betraying of
+secrets; and such arrest would have wrought the <i>other</i> ill consequences I
+have spoken of. In this dilemma, I used a discretion which I considered
+most advantageous to my country; and trusted to my hopes, that so important
+an event, as your defection, would not happen, and thus avoid the
+<i>immediate</i> and <i>certain</i> <span class="smcap">evil</span>. And besides, I have, in every stage of the
+war, shown a disposition to overlook political weaknesses, conceiving that
+every man we could retain in the service an acquisition, tending to draw
+forth the whole strength and abilities of my country against the common
+enemy.</p>
+
+<p>That the conversation alluded to is a new tale, devised in the malignancy
+of party, has been asserted by you; and on this assertion is founded many
+of your strongest conclusions in favour of your own innocence. But what
+must the world think of your effrontery, when they read the following
+letter of Col. Alexander Hamilton, who was then Aid-de-Camp to the
+Commander-in-chief, and now a delegate in Congress; whose conduct and
+character are well known and approved by the citizens of every State in the
+Union,&mdash;a gentleman, who, being a resident of the State of New York, cannot
+be supposed in any manner concerned in the politics of Pennsylvania?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p class='right'><span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>, <i>14th March, 1783</i>.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>:&mdash;Though disagreeable to appear in any manner in a
+personal dispute; yet I cannot, in justice to you, refuse to
+comply with the request contained in your note. I have delayed
+answering it, to endeavour to recollect, with more precision, the
+time, place and circumstances of the conversation, to which you
+allude. I cannot, however, remember with certainty more than this:
+that some time in the campaign of seventy-seven, at head-quarters
+in this State, you mentioned to me and some other gentlemen of
+General Washington's family, in a confidential way, that at some
+period in seventy-six, I think after the American army crossed the
+Delaware in its retreat, Mr. Reed had spoken to you in terms of
+great despondency respecting American affairs, and had intimated,
+that he thought it time for gentlemen to take care of themselves,
+and that it was unwise any longer to follow the fortunes of a
+ruined cause, or something of a similar import. It runs in my
+mind, that the expressions you declared to have been made use of
+by Mr. Reed were, that he thought he ought no longer to "risk his
+life and fortunes with the shattered remains of a broken army:"
+but it is the part of candour to observe, that I am not able to
+distinguish with certainty, whether the recollection I have of
+these words arises from the strong impression made by your
+declaration at the time, or from having heard them more than once
+repeated within a year past.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>I am, dear sir, with great esteem, your obedient servant,</p>
+<p class='right'>A. HAMILTON.</p>
+<p>To General Cadwalader.</p></div>
+
+<p>At the time I communicated the contents of Colonel Hamilton's certificate
+to him, in confidence, it appears by your own acknowledgment, that<a name="FNanchor_G_7" id="FNanchor_G_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_G_7" class="fnanchor">[G]</a> "no
+party or prejudices existed, (at least as to you,")&mdash;"the intercourse
+arising from these mingled duties and services, which were continued until
+the army went into winter quarters, at the <span class="smcap">Valley Forge</span>, soon did away the
+coolness which had for some years subsisted, and in no small degree revived
+our former habits of friendship;"&mdash;"but it was our lot to meet again, a few
+days before the battle of Monmouth; here we were again united in confidence
+and danger. After the battle, we left the army together, and that period
+closed our friendly intercourse forever." From these, (your expressions,)
+you affect to believe, and wish the world to think, that our former
+friendship was restored. It was not so; I cannot call it friendship. The
+transaction I have mentioned occasioned the dissolution of that intimacy,
+contracted in early life, which but little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> accorded with my notion of
+perfect integrity. From that time, and owing solely to that cause, I took
+the resolution to avoid your company, as a private gentleman, and which I
+constantly adhered to. Meeting in the army, where we served most of the
+time in the character of volunteers, I did not think it right to suffer
+former dislikes to interrupt the duties and services required of us by the
+commander-in-chief, so necessary for mutual and general safety. If, then,
+my dislike to you did not proceed from such motives as sometimes induce men
+to seek for opportunities of gratifying their resentments, for what purpose
+could I have invented such a "<i>tale</i>?" or if my resentment was such as you
+represent, why did I not gratify it by making it public immediately? at
+that time, my mind could not have been "inflamed by party;" because you
+admit, that no parties then existed, ("at least as to you;") nor could my
+ambition have been disappointed,&mdash;because, being commanding officer of the
+Pennsylvania Militia, (the council of safety, who then held the powers of
+government,) could not gratify me further. I could not have "mistaken a
+conversation with some other person," because there was not that "distance
+of time," which you suppose, nor can it be conceived by the most credulous
+to be "some jocular expression;" because the situation of affairs rather
+suppressed than excited in you the appearance of mirth. Having mentioned
+this conversation long before parties were formed here, it must appear to
+every impartial person, that it could not have been the mere invention of
+my own "brain," suggested in the spirit of party; and it is still more
+absurd to suppose, that I could have foreseen that you, who then thought as
+I did concerning the essential objections to the constitution of
+Pennsylvania, should refuse the appointment of Chief Justice, because you
+could not, in conscience, take the oath of office; that Mr. Wharton (the
+first President,) should die; and yet that you should afterwards accept the
+chair of government. It is, however, incontestibly proved, that the
+conversation alluded to was spoken of by me at an early period, and long
+before your appointment to the chair of government; and yet you say, "the
+prosecution of General Arnold, I have no doubt, gave rise to it." If I was
+to leave it to your ingenuity to explain to the world my motives for
+inventing such a "tale," to what purposes could you possibly impute my
+design? It could not be to gratify my resentment for the injury you
+attempted upon my property; because I did not then make it public; it could
+not be occasioned by any personal offence taken in 1777, (when I privately
+mentioned it to Colonel Hamilton,) because you contend that our "former
+habits of friendship" were revived, and acknowledge, that I never made it
+public for several years afterwards. Here, then, the man of humanity may
+ask me, why did you, at so late a date, publicly mention a circumstance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>
+injurious to General Reed's reputation, as adjutant-general of the army and
+a patriot, which after-services ought to have consigned to oblivion? The
+question is a natural one, and I will give it an answer. The first occasion
+of my mentioning this matter publicly was this: soon after our return to
+the city, in the year 1778, among the victims selected for public examples,
+there was a young gentleman, with whom I had formed an intimacy in early
+life. I considered him, as he was by many, (and his acquittal justified the
+opinion,) as unjustly persecuted; but General Reed, who had resumed his
+original profession, <i>voluntarily</i> aided the prosecution, and with all the
+force of declamation, labored to inflame his judges and jury against him.
+It was then, recollecting how near he once appeared to the commission of
+the same offence which he charged upon the other, or at least to a
+defection from the cause, that my indignation broke out at the trial,
+saying to those around me, that "<i>it argued the extremity of effrontery and
+baseness, in one man to pursue another to death, for taking a step which
+his own foot had been once raised to take</i>!"<a name="FNanchor_H_8" id="FNanchor_H_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_H_8" class="fnanchor">[H]</a> This was anterior to his
+elevation to the Presidency, and whilst his powers of doing mischief, were
+he so inclined, were circumscribed by the narrowness of his sphere of
+action; at such a time, could I think his loss of fame so essential to the
+public good, or, if he will, to the purposes of party, as to be willing to
+attempt it, at the expense of my private veracity, my honour and
+conscience.</p>
+
+<p>The inconsistency of such ostensible conduct, and the baseness of a
+meditated defection, is not irreconcilable to those who have had
+opportunities of knowing that he is not incapable of such vast extremes;
+who have seen him at the bar of the assembly he himself disqualified by the
+non-compliance with the test of laws, as since fully appears by a
+publication signed Sidney, unblushingly attempt to set aside the famous
+Chester election, upon the suggestion of its having been carried by
+electors disqualified from the like circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>It is thus I would have answered the question, why I have mentioned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>
+publicly your meditated defection, and I trust that such provocation
+merited those reflections which might otherwise have remained in my own
+breast.</p>
+
+<p>The objection to the force of my single testimony thus obviated, did no
+other offer to corroborate it, I should not hesitate to submit it, under
+such circumstances, to the judgment of the public, resting <i>their</i>
+determination upon the credit of <i>my</i> veracity against <i>yours</i>. Having
+supported an unblemished character, I dare defy any person to produce an
+instance where I have even been suspected of an untruth, or of a base or
+dishonourable action. Conscious of the truth of what I have asserted, I
+have no fears that my conduct will ever "dishonour me with the wise and
+virtuous."</p>
+
+<p>The reason I have assigned for the dissolution of our intimacy antecedent
+to the war, will afford a better proof of your ingenuity than your
+integrity; and further, (with respect to your veracity,) if any other
+instance is necessary, let me add one which happened at camp, (at
+head-quarters,) in the year 1777, soon after the battle of Germantown, when
+in my hearing, and in the presence of three officers of the first rank in
+the army, you was charged to your face with a falsehood, and which was
+fully proved the next day, by the general officer who made the charge.</p>
+
+<p>And now, before I introduce the concurrent testimony in support of my
+assertion, I shall take but a momentary notice here of those disrespectful
+expressions with which you have decorated your pamphlet. Weakness of head,
+is an accusation of a kind which it would equally puzzle the fool and the
+wise to reply to; but against that of badness of heart, my known tenor of
+conduct, in private and public life, must be my defence; if that fails, it
+must be needless in me to set up any other.</p>
+
+<p>But if even prejudiced men should still doubt the truth of my assertion,
+with respect to the conversation alluded to, in the above representation,
+every doubt must be removed upon reading the following certificates.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p class='right'><i>Hermitage, 5th October, 1782.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Dear General</span>,&mdash;In the winter of 1776, after we had crossed the
+Delaware, General Reed, in conversation with me, said that he, and
+several others of my friends, were surprised at seeing me there. I
+told him, I did not understand such a conversation; that as I had
+engaged in the cause from principle, I was determined to share the
+fate of my country; to which he made no reply, and the
+conversation ended. As I had the honour of commanding the militia
+of New Jersey, both duty and inclination led me to use every
+exertion, in support of a cause I had engaged in from the purest
+motives. I was really<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> much surprised at General Reed's manner,
+considering the station he then acted in, and his reputation as a
+patriot; but I considered it as the effect of despondency, from
+the then gloomy prospect of our affairs.</p>
+
+<p>This I mentioned to several of my friends at the time, who all
+viewed it in the same point of light.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>I am, dear General, yours,</p>
+<p>General Cadwalader.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>P. DICKINSON.<br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>I do hereby certify, that in December, 1776, while the militia lay
+at Bristol, General Reed, to the best of my recollection and
+belief, upon my inquiring the news, and what he thought of our
+affairs in general, said that appearances were very gloomy and
+unfavourable; that he was fearful or apprehensive the business was
+nearly settled, or the game almost up, or words to the same
+effect. That these sentiments appeared to me very extraordinary
+and dangerous, as I conceived they would, at <i>that time</i>, have a
+very bad tendeney<a href="#TN">[TN]</a>, if publicly known to be the sentiments of
+General Reed, who then held an appointment in the army of the
+first consequence.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>JOHN DIXON.</p>
+<p><i>Philadelphia, March 12,&nbsp;1783.</i></p>
+
+<p>A few days before the battle of Trenton, on the 26th of December,
+1776, I rode with Mr. Reed from Bristol to Head Quarters near New
+Town. In the course of our ride, our conversation turned upon
+public affairs, when Mr. Reed expressed himself in the manner
+following.</p>
+
+<p>He spoke with great respect of the bravery of the British troops,
+and with great contempt of the cowardice of the American, and more
+especially of the New England troops. So great was the terror
+inspired by the British soldiers into the minds of our men, that
+he said, when a British soldier was brought as a prisoner to our
+camp, our soldiers viewed him at a distance as a superior kind of
+being.</p>
+
+<p>Upon my lamenting to him the supposed defection of Mr. Dickinson,
+who it was unjustly said, had deserted his country, he used the
+following words: "Damn him&mdash;I wish the devil had him, when he
+wrote the Farmer's letters. He has began an opposition to Great
+Britain which we have not strength to finish."</p>
+
+<p>Upon my lamenting that a gentleman, of his acquaintance, had
+submitted to the enemy, he said, "that he had acted properly, and
+that a man who had a family, did right to take that care of them."</p>
+
+<p>The whole of his conversation upon the subject of our affairs,
+indicated a great despair of the American cause.</p>
+
+<p>Upon my going to Baltimore, to take my seat in Congress, the
+latter end of January, I mentioned the above conversation to my
+brother. I likewise mentioned it to the Hon. John Adams, Esq.,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>
+with whom I then lived in intimacy, a day or two after his return
+from Boston to Congress. I did not mention it with a view of
+injuring Mr. Reed, for I still respected him, especially as I then
+believed that the victory at Trenton had restored the tone of his
+mind, and dissipated his fears, but to show Mr. Adams an instance
+of a man possessing and exercising military spirit and activity,
+and yet deficient in political fortitude. To which I well remember
+Mr. Adams replied in the following words: "The powers of the human
+mind are combined together in an infinite variety of ways."</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>BENJAMIN RUSH.</p>
+
+<p><i>Philadelphia, March 3, 1783.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>I went with Congress to Baltimore, in 1776. On the arrival of my
+brother there, a few weeks afterwards, I called to see him. To the
+best of my recollection, Mr. Clerk and Dr. Witherspoon, delegates
+from New Jersey, were in the room with him. The two former, after
+some time withdrew, and my brother then mentioned the conversation
+as related by him above. He informed me, also, of some <i>other</i>
+conversation that passed between Mr. Reed and him, which is not
+necessary at present to repeat.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>JACOB RUSH.</p>
+
+<p><i>Philadelphia, March 3, 1783.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>Joseph Ellis, a Colonel of Militia, in the county of Gloucester,
+and State of New Jersey, doth hereby certify, that upon the
+retreat of a body of militia from before Count Donop, in the
+neighborhood of Mount Holly, in Burlington county, in the month of
+December, 1776, he met with Charles Pettit, Esq., <i>then Secretary
+of the said State</i>, that a conversation ensued between them
+respecting the situation of the public dispute at that period;
+that Mr. Pettit, in said conversation, representing that our
+affairs were desperate, Col. Ellis endeavoured to dissuade him
+from such an opinion, when Mr. Pettit replied, "What hurts me more
+than all is, my brother-in-law, General Reed, has, (or I believe
+he has,) given up the contest." That a good deal more passed
+between Mr. Pettit and Col. Ellis, during the said cnnversation<a href="#TN">[TN]</a>,
+but omitted here, as being thought unnecessary.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>JOSEPH ELLIS.</p>
+
+<p><i>Woodbury, March 9, 1783.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>I do certify that I was present at the conversation alluded to
+above; that although I cannot recollect the express words made use
+of in the said conversation, yet such conversation did take place,
+and that the substance of it answers to the certificate of Col.
+Ellis.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>FRANKLIN DAVENPORT.</p>
+
+<p><i>Woodbury, March 9, 1783.</i></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>These are to certify, that in December, 1776, and January, 1777,
+I, the subscriber, was Major of the second battalion of
+Philadelphia Militia, whereof John Bayard was Colonel, and then
+lay at Bristol, and part of the time opposite Trenton, on the
+Pennsylvania side. That while we lay at Bristol, Joseph Reed,
+Esq., joined us; that during his being there and near Trenton, he
+often went out for intelligence, as Col. Bayard told me, over to
+Burlington, in which place the enemy frequently were; that being
+absent frequently all day and all night, I as frequently inquired
+what could become of Gen. Reed. Col. Bayard often answered me, he
+feared he had left us and gone over to the enemy. One time in
+particular, being absent two days and two nights, if not three
+nights, Col. Bayard came to me with great concern, and said he was
+fully persuaded Gen. Reed was gone to join the enemy and make his
+peace. I asked him, how he could possibly think so of a man, who
+had taken so early a part, and had acted steadily. He replied, he
+was persuaded it was so; for he knew the General thought it was
+all over, and that we would not stand against the enemy; and at
+the same time wept much. I endeavoured all I could to drive such
+notions from him, but he was so fully persuaded that he had left
+us and gone over to the enemy, that arguing about the matter was
+only loss of time; Col. Bayard often making mention, that he knew
+his sentiments much better than I did. After being absent two or
+three nights, Gen. Reed returned, and I never saw more joy
+expressed than was by Col. Bayard; he declared to me, that he was
+glad Gen. Reed was returned, for he was fully convinced in his own
+mind that he was gone over to the enemy.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>WILLIAM BRADFORD.</p>
+
+<p><i>Manor of Moreland, Philadelphia County, March 15, 1783.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>Having been called upon by General Cadwalader respecting a report
+which has been propagated concerning Mr. Joseph Reed&mdash;I declare on
+my honour, the circumstances are as follows. In the spring of
+1780, I obtained permission for an interview with my brother at
+Elizabethtown. In the course of conversation, one day, he happened
+to mention that there were men among us, who held the first
+offices, who applied for protection from the British while they
+lay in New Jersey. I was alarmed at this assertion, and insisted
+on knowing who they were;&mdash;he said, that when the British army lay
+in Jersey, in 1776, Count Donop commanded at Bordentown; that he
+was often at that officer's quarters, and possessed some degree of
+his confidence; that one day, <i>an inhabitant came into their
+lines, with an application from Mr. Joseph Reed, the purport of
+which was, to know whether he could have protection for himself
+and his property</i>, (there was another person included in the
+<i>application</i>, whose <i>name</i> it is not necessary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> here to mention.)
+The man was immediately ordered for execution, but it was
+prevented by the interposition of my brother and some other
+persons, who had formerly known him. Perhaps Mr. Reed and his
+friends may say, that Count Donop would not have ordered the man
+executed, had he not thought he came for intelligence. No doubt
+that officer would have justified his conduct by putting upon the
+footing of a spy, but why was another person included in the
+application, and one who was not looked on as a trifling
+character? his name I will mention to any one who will apply to
+me; however, my brother said, the man who was sent with the
+application was a poor peasant, and the most unfit person in the
+world to send for intelligence; this argument was what had weight
+with Count Donop, and which saved his life.<a name="FNanchor_I_9" id="FNanchor_I_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_I_9" class="fnanchor">[I]</a> These circumstances
+being mentioned by a brother, and which he declared to be true,
+naturally produced an alteration in my sentiments of Mr. Reed; for
+previous to this, there were few men of whom I entertained so high
+an opinion. On my return to Philadelphia, I made no secret of what
+I heard; indeed, I thought it my duty to mention it publicly, that
+it might prevent further power being put into the hands of a man
+who might make a bad use of it. The report circulated daily, and I
+was often called on to mention the circumstances, which I always
+did, and which I should have done to Mr. Reed, had he applied to
+me. I remember, among the number who came to me, was Major Thomas
+Moore, who said he intended to inform Mr. Reed; but whether he did
+or not, I cannot pretend to say.</p>
+
+<p>There is another thing I wish to mention. My brother came into the
+river in a flag of truce, on special application of our commissary
+of prisoners, to take a number of prisoners who were exchanged, to
+save us the expense and trouble of sending them by land; this was
+in the month of May, 1781. He was detained, about nine miles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>
+below the city, upwards of four weeks, and never permitted to
+visit it, although application was made for that purpose, by
+several captains of vessels, who had been prisoners, and to whom
+he had rendered civilities. I declined making application myself,
+as I supposed my being in the service from the commencement of the
+war, and having endured a rigorous confinement for eighteen
+months, in the worst of times, to have been sufficient to have
+obtained permission for a brother to have been in my house, in
+preference to a cabin in a small vessel in a river;&mdash;however, I
+endeavoured to make his situation as agreeable as possible, by
+visiting him often, and by taking my friends with me. I <span class="smcap">remember</span>
+Col. Francis Nichols went with me one day, to whom my brother
+mentioned Mr. Reed's intended desertion, and who, I doubt not,
+will acknowledge it, on any person's applying to him; he is at
+present in Virginia, but is expected in town in a few days.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>DAVID LENNOX.</p>
+
+
+<p>Having been called upon by General Cadwalader, to certify, so far
+as my knowledge extends, as to the matter hereinafter mentioned, I
+do declare, that in the spring of the year 1781, I went with Major
+Lennox, of this city, on board of a flag of truce vessel, then
+lying in the river Delaware, where she had arrived from New York,
+and heard Mr. Robert Lennox, deputy commissary of prisoners under
+the British king, say, that in the year of 1776, a person had
+arrived at Count Donop's quarters, near Bordentown, in New Jersey,
+who told the Count, that he had been sent to him by Gen. Reed and
+another person, whose name I do not think necessary to mention, to
+procure a protection for them; that the Count refused to grant
+them a protection in that manner, and was about to treat the
+person who had applied to him as a spy, but was prevented by the
+entreaties of the said Robert Lennox, and some other gentlemen.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>FRANCIS NICHOLS.</p>
+
+<p><i>Philadelphia, 17th March, 1783.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Here, then, it fully appears, that the testimony contained in the above
+certificates, all point to the same object, and to the same period
+mentioned by me, supporting and confirming each other. They likewise
+clearly prove the whole progress of your meditated defection; they prove
+that you deceived me by those professions, by which I had been induced to
+trust to your appearances of fidelity, as you absolutely made an
+application for a protection to Count Donop, in which an intimate friend of
+yours was included.</p>
+
+<p>But what opinion must the world form of your veracity, when you are
+detected in falsely asserting, that you had not mentioned such sentiments
+to your most intimate friends and relations. "Is it not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> utterly
+incredible," you say, "that I should hold such communication or sentiments
+from my most intimate friends and relations, and make it to a person with
+whom I had held no friendship for many years; who had received me with
+coldness." Mr. Pettit is your relation, and Col. Bayard your most intimate
+friend, with whom, at that time, you had the freest intercourse. To these
+you communicated your sentiments, as appears by the certificates of Col.
+Bradford, Col. Ellis, and Mr. Davenport; but your friend, hinted at in
+Major Lennox's certificate, had consented to accompany you in your intended
+desertion. The height of your iniquity does not end here; you endeavoured,
+by your influence, to spread general disaffection, in order to lessen your
+share of the infamy, by dividing it among many. Had you conferred with men
+whose principles were in every instance like your own, you might have
+succeeded, as every person concerned might have carried off his particular
+friend with him.</p>
+
+<p>If all the evidence which now appears against you, had been produced at
+that time, what would have been your fate, as you then, (being
+<i>Adjutant-General</i> of the army,) was subject to the Continental articles of
+war?</p>
+
+<p>In the 10th page you say, you can "truly declare, that the subject of the
+present slander was not known to you, till its appearance in the
+newspaper." Having mentioned it at the Coffee House, (as appears by Mr.
+Pryor's certifiate<a href="#TN">[TN]</a>,) in the presence of some of your friends, it was
+reasonable to expect they would have informed you of it; but it seems there
+is some difference between private information and a public charge made in
+the papers. As a gentleman, there can, in my opinion, be no difference; as
+you say, in your letter of the 9th Sept. last, that this insinuation seems
+to deserve some credit from a <i>reference</i> to <i>me</i>. You insinuate, that if
+you had heard it, you should have noticed it. To this, however, the world
+will give little credit, as you made no public or private inquiry
+respecting the charge made in Major Lennox's certificate, though he
+communicated it to Major Thomas Moore, son of the late President, whose
+permission I have for asserting publicly, that he informed you of what
+Major Lennox had related, the very day he heard it.</p>
+
+<p>The matters mentioned in Major Lennox's certificate, and in that of Col.
+Nichols reach vastly beyond me; here you absolutely apply for protection;
+and if one report demanded your notice, in reference to my authorities, why
+not another, more alarming to you, your notice in reference to Major
+Lennox?</p>
+
+<p>But the consciousness of the communications made to confidential friends,
+and others, suggested the fear of other proofs. As long as it was only
+communicated by private information, you were willing to submit to private
+censure. But when a charge, which originated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> from me, was made in the
+papers, it reduced you to the disagreeable alternative of a tacit
+confession, or the hazard of public proof. And in the present instance, if
+I am rightly informed, you was perfectly disposed to treat the publication
+signed Brutus, with that "silent contempt," which, you say, you have for a
+"long time observed, with respect to the anonymous abuse which disgraces
+our public papers;" but your friends, feeling the weight of the charge,
+goaded you into so unfortunate a measure. <i>"Unhappy man! against whose
+peace and happiness all are combined."</i></p>
+
+<p>What answer can you make to the weight of testimony here produced against
+you? I see nothing left, but to declare to the world, that the whole is a
+wicked combination to destroy you; you may say, "you thought <i>me</i> entitled
+to the whole infamy of the insinuation," till the above mentioned witnesses
+"consented to divide it with me;" and that, "if you did not sufficiently
+measure the malignancy of their dispositions, or thought more favourably of
+them than you ought to have done, you are content to acknowledge your
+error, and do full justice in this respect hereafter;" and if any person
+should ask you, would all these gentlemen hazard such assertions without
+foundation? you may answer, "it is difficult to resolve what men of
+ungovernable passions will or will not say, when their minds are inflamed
+by party, and their breasts burning with disappointed ambition;" may they
+not have "mistaken a conversation with some other person, or at this
+distance of time, converted some <span class="smcap">jocular expression</span> into such suspicions as
+they have mentioned;" and you may add, "the <span class="smcap">memories</span> of <span class="smcap">men</span> may fail; their
+minds are subject to the warp of prejudice and passion; they may convert
+into serious import what was dropped in <span class="smcap">jest</span>; and, from false pride,
+persist in what they have said, because they have said it, even against the
+conviction of their own consciences."</p>
+
+<p>In your letter of the 23d of September last, you say, "you have declared
+the insinuations in Oswald's paper of the 7th inst. false; and you apply
+the same epithet to my avowal of them." This assertion has been fully
+refuted by the concurrent testimony of your <i>intimate friends</i> and others.
+In your friends, you thought yourself perfectly secure; but the weakness of
+two of them has betrayed you, and the third is proved your accomplice.</p>
+
+<p>It would, indeed, have appeared somewhat extraordinary, if you had not
+discovered your intentions to some of your intimate friends and relations;
+and that "no circumstance should occur to correspond with this imputation,"
+after having communicated the same to me. Nor are proofs wanting, if they
+were here necessary, independently of those I have already adduced, with
+respect to some of your friends, who at the time held considerable commands
+in the militia.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And "though specially sent by General Washington," as you say, "for the
+express purpose of assisting me," it may not be here improper to make a
+short observation, in which I conceive I shall be perfectly justifiable.
+Though the duties of an Adjutant General would naturally confine you to the
+Continental army, yet I can easily conceive that there was no difficulty,
+by hints thrown out, or by the interposition of a friend, to induce the
+commander-in-chief to permit you to come to Bristol, under the <i>pretence</i>
+of assisting me; being, as <i>you represent</i>, well acquainted with the
+inhabitants of Burlington, through whom you might obtain information. But
+from the evidence which appears against you, it will not be thought
+uncharitable to conclude, that you conceived your plan could be better
+executed at Bristol, than under the eye of General Washington. Besides, you
+might reasonably hope to shake more easily the constancy of untried
+officers of militia, than those in the army, whose minds might be supposed
+better fortified against such attacks.</p>
+
+<p>I am at a loss for words to express my indignation for the attempt you made
+on my integrity; for though I did not see it in that point of view at the
+time, yet the whole testimony, as now collected, fully proves such to have
+been your intention; and happy I conceive it to be for my own honour and
+the safety of my country, that you found in me that strength of mind, which
+you might not have experienced in some of your particular friends, had they
+been in my situation.</p>
+
+<p>The circumstances relating to the letter you wrote Count Donop, created at
+the time no suspicions; nor do I recollect any publication which alludes to
+it. This affair, and that mentioned by Major Lenox<a href="#TN">[TN]</a>, are distinct
+transactions; but it is not more than probable, that at the interview you
+proposed under cover of serving the inhabitants of Burlington, you intended
+to confer with Count Donop upon the subject of your own interest and
+personal safety? This suspicion, in my opinion, is perfectly warranted by
+the indubitable proofs of your intended desertion. Another circumstance
+relating to this affair was equally unusual and improper. Mr. Daniel
+Ellis,<a name="FNanchor_J_10" id="FNanchor_J_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_J_10" class="fnanchor">[J]</a> by whom you sent the letter with a flag, was universally known to
+be disaffected; having been so long in the service you could not be
+ignorant of those obvious reasons, which prove the propriety of sending men
+with flags, whose attachment to the cause is well known, and men of
+observation.</p>
+
+<p>Every page, almost, of your publication is full of reflections against me,
+and almost upon every subject; so intent have you been to injure my
+reputation. The errors I committed during my command may serve a double
+purpose; because he who committed them is subject to censure, and he who
+points them out claims the merit of the discovery.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> That I committed
+errors, I readily admit; my friends have marked some, and subsequent
+experience discovered others; but I am conscious they proceed from want of
+experience, not a want of integrity. Why, then, need I seek to justify
+myself, when, from the nature of the war, considerable commands were, from
+necessity, entrusted to young officers, there being few amongst us to whom
+the profession was not entirely new. But, I confess, it would give me
+infinite pain, if, by "a strange inattention of mine to the tide and state
+of the river," and the not arriving "one hour" sooner at Dunk's Ferry, we
+had lost the opportunity of striking a blow at Mount Holly, of equal glory
+with that at Trenton. When you insinuated, in the former part of your
+address, a superior knowledge in military matters, by saying you had more
+"experience," I gave up the point, and left you the happiness of thinking
+so; for why should I have contended a point with a man who, throughout his
+pamphlet, assumes to himself the merit of all those brilliant successes, so
+highly commended even by our enemies, and which determined the fate of
+American independence. And if I was sensible that the charge you now make
+was true, or could be thought so, by competent judges, I would scorn to
+defend my error.</p>
+
+<p>My orders were, to make the attack one hour before day, and to effect a
+surprise, if possible. The impropriety, therefore, of sending the boats
+from Bristol to Dunk's Ferry, and marching the troops from the same place
+in open day, is evident, as such a movement must have been observed, and
+communicated to the enemy. And now, tell me the instance, where even
+continental troops have arrived at the point of attack at the given time?
+It was General Washington's intention to have made his attack on Trenton
+before day; yet, from unavoidable delays, he did not arrive there till
+after eight o'clock in the morning. We reached Dunk's Ferry a little before
+low water, and can any person believe, that if we had arrived "one hour
+sooner," we could have passed over near twenty-five hundred men, four
+pieces of cannon, ammunition wagons and horses, and all the horses
+belonging to officers, in that time, in the night too, and the river full
+of ice, with only five large batteauxs and two or three scows; when it took
+us at least six hours, (a day or two afterwards,) to cross above Bristol,
+in open day and the river almost clear of ice. Strange "inattention,"
+unhappy commander! That "<i>a single hour</i>, which we might have enjoyed with
+equal convenience and equal risk," should be the only obstacle to a scene
+of equal glory with that of Trenton, and yet you have represented to
+General Washington, as appears by his letter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span><a name="FNanchor_K_11" id="FNanchor_K_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_K_11" class="fnanchor">[K]</a> dated six o'clock, P. M.,
+25th December, 1776, to me, <i>being the very same night</i>, and before we
+marched to Dunk's Ferry, that you gave him the most discouraging accounts
+of what might be expected from our operations below. What, then, were those
+discouraging accounts? Why was I not acquainted with them? or were they
+thrown out to influence him from making his attempt on Trenton, by
+representing that no co-operation from our quarter could favour his
+enterprise? In the general's opinion, it is plain, it had that tendency.
+But in the heedless fury of this stroke at me, you have incautiously
+unguarded your most tender part.</p>
+
+<p>"Anxious to fill up the part of this glorious plan assigned to us," you
+"passed over, you say, with your horse, to see and judge for yourself." You
+did so. "Having seen the last man re-embarked, you proceeded before day to
+Burlington." Here permit me to correct you, because there is no
+circumstance better ascertained, than that many of the men were not brought
+back till eight o'clock the next morning.</p>
+
+<p>Your motives for going to Burlington that night, were then thought a
+mystery; 'tis now no longer so; and the "<i>other circumstances</i>," that
+permitted you to join us again at Bristol, are now clearly accounted for.
+General Washington's success or defeat was, no doubt, to determine whether
+you were to remain a citizen of the United States of America, or to be a
+shameful deserter of your country.</p>
+
+<p>You say, you went to Philadelphia, at my request, to confer with Gen.
+Putnam; that you set out in the evening, (the 24th December,) and reached
+Philadelphia about midnight; but what credit, can you reasonably expect,
+will be given to your "detail of proceedings," in other particulars, when
+you find yourself detected in such gross contradictions in the following
+instance?</p>
+
+<p>In the 17th page you say, "Upon conference with General Putnam, (at
+Philadelphia,) he represented the state of the militia, the general
+confusion which prevailed, his apprehensions of an insurrection in the city
+in his absence, and many other circumstances, in such strong terms, as
+convinced me, no assistance could be derived from him;" and yet, in your
+letter to me, dated Philadelphia, 25th December, 1776, 11 o'clock, you say;
+"General Putnam has determined to cross the river, with as many men as he
+can collect, which, he says, will be about five hundred; he is now
+mustering them, and endeavouring to get Proctor's company of artillery to
+go with them. I wait to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> know what success he meets with, and the progress
+he makes; but, at all events, I shall be with you this afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>Here the representation stated in your pamphlet is contradicted by a letter
+in your own handwriting. Having forgot, perhaps, that you had written such
+a letter, your ingenuity furnished materials for a plausible narrative,
+suitable to your purposes; not suspecting that such proof could be adduced
+in opposition to it.</p>
+
+<p>Having returned to Bristol about daylight on the 26th December, with the
+greater part of the troops, I received an account, about 11 o'clock, A. M.,
+from a person just arrived from Trenton Ferry, that General Washington had
+succeeded in his attack. I immediately despatched a messenger with a line
+to General Ewing, for information, but all I could learn was, that the
+victory was ours.</p>
+
+<p>From the continuance of the rain and wind, I concluded the ice must be
+destroyed in the course of the day, and instantly sent down to Dunk's Ferry
+for the boats. This being an extraordinary service, required of men who had
+been exposed to the storm the whole night, was, however, cheerfully
+undertaken and executed. I then consulted Col. Hitchcock, who commanded the
+New England brigade, to know whether his troops would willingly accompany
+us to New Jersey, as I had determined to cross the river in the morning, if
+practicable, to co-operate with General Washington. He informed me, that
+his troops could not march, unless they could be supplied with shoes,
+stockings and breeches; upon which I instantly wrote to the Council of
+Safety, and obtained seven hundred pairs of each of the above articles,
+which arrived about sunrise on the morning of the 27th December. This
+second attempt being determined on, I went with several officers, in the
+afternoon of the 26th, to fix upon a proper place for crossing the river
+above Bristol, and the next morning before day viewed the Jersey Shore in a
+barge, for the same purpose. By your relation, one would imagine you had
+been the <i>life and soul</i> of this second movement across the Delaware,&mdash;as
+little privy to it as the emperor of Morocco,&mdash;but it is no unusual thing
+for you to intercept the praise due to others of creditable actions.
+Instead of being present to confirm my proposed movements, by your advice,
+you remained at Burlington, "in a kind of concealment, till the weather and
+<span class="smcap">other circumstances</span> permitted you to join us at Bristol," after all our
+resolutions were taken, and the most of our arrangements made. In the
+tissue of your representations, it is your purpose to insinuate my
+deficiency in military conduct in the subsequent transactions. Let my
+relation of it be heard!</p>
+
+<p>We marched on the 27th, in the morning, and the ice being by this time
+chiefly destroyed, we met with little obstruction in passing. The last
+division of the troops being embarked, and then crossing, we received<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>
+private information, that General Washington had re-crossed the river, and
+returned to Newtown, in Pennsylvania, from whence he dates his letter, 27th
+December, 1776, informing me of the particulars of the action at Trenton,
+and which was not received, contrary to your assertion, till we had marched
+above a mile on our way to Burlington; it was then read to the troops, who
+were halted for this purpose. We had, however, before given full credit to
+the first information of his having re-crossed; on which previous
+information I called together the field officers, to consult what was then
+best to be done. From this circumstance, Col. Hitchcock, and some others,
+proposed returning to Bristol. I instantly declared my determination
+against it, and recommended an attack upon Mount Holly, as from the
+information we had of the force at that post, we might easily carry it, and
+should then have a retreat open towards Philadelphia, if necessary. You
+then, "<i>as a middle course</i>," advised our going to Burlington; in which
+those who had at first proposed our return, joined in opinion. This was the
+true cause of that hesitation you remarked with respect to me. Burlington
+was in a position, in my judgment, very dangerous; as in case we should be
+invested there, and the river impassable, we should be forced to submit at
+discretion, for want of provisions, or hazard an action against troops
+superior in discipline, and perhaps in number, if their whole force was
+collected to that point. Having no other retreat open to us, but that over
+the river, it was evident this could not be effected without the loss, at
+least, of those who might be ordered to cover the retreat. Having passed
+the river in open day, it was probable the enemy might be informed of it;
+and, in that case, the post at Mount Holly reinforced. To determine whether
+we should take a position, unanimously approved by the council, but which I
+thought extremely dangerous; or adhere to my own plan, unsupported by a
+single voice, was certainly a question that required more than a momentary
+consideration, even for an officer, at this stage of the war. Being pressed
+for some resolution, as the day was far spent, I waived my own opinion, and
+acquiesced in the desire of marching to Burlington; but it is ridiculous to
+suppose, as you say, that your brother's intelligence of Count Donop's
+retreat, could have influenced my acquiescence, for it did not arrive till
+after our resolutions were taken,&mdash;and besides, was not credited; because
+if it had reached us before, and been credited, I should not have
+acquiesced in such desire; if even after, I should naturally have taken
+another course, and pursued the flying enemy, instead of going to
+Burlington, which was five miles in the rear.</p>
+
+<p>Late that night, I received certain information, that the enemy had
+evacuated all their posts in the neighborhood, and immediately despatched a
+messenger to General Washington with the intelligence;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> in answer to which,
+I received his orders, very early next morning, to pursue and keep up the
+panic, and that he would cross at Trenton that day. From this circumstance,
+it appears that the General had taken his determination before your
+pretended information or advice from Trenton could have reached him.</p>
+
+<p>In justification to myself, I have thought it necessary to point out your
+false state of facts, in these particulars; the multitude of lesser ones,
+relating to military matters, I shall pass over, as this publication is
+already necessarily lengthened beyond my first intention.</p>
+
+<p>As I hinted, in my letter of 10th September last, that "charges of the same
+nature had been, some time since, made against you," by Arnold; you say,
+you "allow full weight to so respectable a connexion and testimony;" to
+which you made no reply, though from the rank and character of Arnold at
+that time, they merited your notice. Arnold having received his information
+from me, it cannot be concluded, that I meant by his testimony to
+strengthen my own assertion; but merely to show, that having before been
+charged, you did not reply; from which many believed it true. And when he
+apologized to me for inserting it in his defence without my permission, I
+remarked, that an apology was unnecessary, from the public manner in which
+I had mentioned it.</p>
+
+<p>Arnold was commanding officer in this city, very generally visited by
+officers of the army, citizens and strangers. I received the usual
+civilities from him, and returned them; and often met him at the tables of
+gentlemen in the city. To my civilities, at that time, I thought him
+entitled from the signal services he had rendered his country; services
+infinitely superior to those you so much boast of; he stood high, as a
+military character, even in France, and after your prosecution, he was
+continued in command by Congress; appointed first, by the
+commander-in-chief, to the command of the left wing of the army, and
+afterwards to that important post of West Point, where his treacherous
+conduct exceeded, I fancy, even your own idea of his baseness. To what,
+then, do your insinuations amount? They cannot criminate me, without an
+implied censure on Congress and the commander-in-chief. But why contaminate
+my name, by connecting it, in this instance, with such a wretch? when you,
+yourself, at his trial, with a half-shamed face, seemed to apologize for
+being his prosecutor, and became his fulsome panegyrist. It consisted,
+however, with that artifice and cunning which has ever been the sum of your
+<i>abilities</i>, and the whole amount of your <i>wisdom</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Your remarks on my letter of the 10th December, 1777, are so inconsistent,
+that I shall bestow a few observations on them. "So strong and virulent,"
+you say, "was my antipathy to the constitution, and such my enmity to those
+who administered it, that you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> believe I would have preferred <i>any</i>
+government to that of Pennsylvania, if my <i>person</i> and <i>property</i> would
+have been equally secure;" and yet it seems, in the next sentence you say,
+"but it was our lot to meet again, a few days before the battle of
+Monmouth; here we were again united in <i>confidence</i> and <i>danger</i>." If you
+really thought I would prefer <i>any government</i> to that of Pennsylvania, why
+did you then take so much pains to show, that we again united in
+"<i>confidence</i> and <i>danger</i>," at the battle of Monmouth, so many months
+after I had discovered that virulent antipathy, and which now hath extorted
+such gross reflections?</p>
+
+<p>You say, my breast was burning with disappointed ambition; but how does
+this appear, when, immediately upon the formation of the new government, I
+was appointed the first of three brigadiers, which created me commanding
+officer of the militia. Could my ambition be gratified further? But to
+obviate every objection, let me suppose you meant, that I wished to rise to
+power in the civil line,&mdash;which, however, has never been insinuated
+before,&mdash;let me here call to your memory, how easy the task was for <i>any
+character</i> to rise to the first offices of government. I confess, I do not
+think so meanly of myself, as to have dreaded any rivalship from some of
+the candidates of those days; nor do I mean, by this declaration, to
+insinuate any extraordinary merit, when I estimate mine by that of those I
+have alluded to. I could not have consented to make the sacrifices
+required; but you, however, and some others, as much opposed to the
+essential parts of the constitution as I was, freely made them, and broke
+through every obligation of faith and honour.</p>
+
+<p>The charge you have brought against a party in the state, of an opposition
+to its constitution, deserves some attention. I will digress a little from
+my main subject to examine how far this charge is true, and how far the
+thing is in itself criminal.</p>
+
+<p>Government is generally so reverenced among men, that those who attempt to
+subvert any system of it whatever, have to contend against a very natural
+prejudice. But this prejudice can only be in degree with the antiquity of
+its establishment; for modern error, how high soever its authority, has but
+little claim to our veneration. This concession made, could it be expected
+that our novel constitution, liable at first blush to so many important
+objections, should not have its opponents; but that in a moment it should
+be submitted to, as implicitly as if it had had the sanction of ages? What
+circumstance was there, in the production of this whimsical machine, that
+should silence, at once, all the remonstrances of reason and sense against
+it? Was it not worth a pause to examine, whether this coat, wove for ages,
+would fit us or our posterity before we put on; or whether this gift of our
+convention would not prove our destruction?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> From an apprehension that it
+would, an opposition was formed, that included a majority of the state. Did
+those who composed it, think it criminal to prevent the singular ideas of a
+convention, from being carried into execution, against an almost general
+sentiment; or did they not rather conceive it safe and better for the
+community still to go on in the administration of governmental affairs by
+those temporary expedients we had been in the habits of, until their
+constitution could be revised?</p>
+
+<p>This idea, patriotic as it was, was defeated by the obstinate enthusiasm of
+some, who trembled for this New Jerusalem of their hopes, and by the
+scandalous desertion of others, and especially yourself. The ends of
+opposition being thus rendered unattainable, but at the hazard of
+convulsions, that might endanger the great American cause, the same virtue
+that began it, ended it, and it has long since ceased to act.</p>
+
+<p>This is a well-known state of facts; but what it did not suit with your own
+by-purposes to admit, could not be expected from your integrity; you have,
+therefore, constantly kept up the alarm of a constitutional opposition,
+and, on every occasion, referred to this false cause, that honest and
+useful opposition which was created by your weak, though violent and
+tyrannical administration.</p>
+
+<p>That you was called to the chair of government, by the unanimous vote of
+council and assembly, you have often boasted, with a view of conveying to
+the world an idea, that even the gentlemen opposed to the constitution
+approved the choice. But they neither esteemed you as a gentleman, nor
+approved your public conduct. They knew there was a majority in assembly in
+favour of your election, and as their grand object was the obtaining a
+resolution of that body, recommending the calling a convention for revising
+the constitution, some of the party entered into an engagement for this
+purpose, and your election was negotiated. <i>You</i> were to use your
+endeavours to prevail on the Council to enforce the recommendation of the
+assembly by a similar resolution. From your own acknowledgment at the City
+Tavern, the resolution of the Council was never obtained, or even moved
+for, by you, and for this flimsy reason, that no formal information, of
+such resolution having passed, had been communicated to you; though known
+to all the world; and that it could not be expected that Council would
+"tag" after the assembly, in a measure relating to the public. Yet you had
+the effrontery to assert, that "<i>every engagement on your part</i>," was
+strictly performed.</p>
+
+<p>At this meeting, you say, you "in the most open manner called upon us, to
+support our imputations, and that you so effectually vindicated every part
+of your conduct, that every gentleman, (myself excepted,) acknowledged his
+mistake." I own I made no concessions,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> and if the reasons I then gave are
+not thought a sufficient justification to the world, of the opinion I had
+formed, I am content to admit that it was not only "singular," but
+"absurd."</p>
+
+<p>After a reasonable pause, I remarked, that from the repeated conversations
+I had had with you, on this subject, you appeared to me as much opposed as
+I was, to the constitution, before the evacuation of the city; that you had
+refused to accept the appointment of Chief Justice, (because you could not
+in conscience take the oath;<a name="FNanchor_L_12" id="FNanchor_L_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_L_12" class="fnanchor">[L]</a>) that a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> short time before the election, in
+1778, you engaged yourself to the constitutional party, to serve in Council
+for the County, and to the party in the opposition, to serve in Assembly
+for the City; and being chosen in both instances, you hesitated above six
+weeks, (though often pressed to a resolution,) before you determined to
+accept your seat in Council;&mdash;depriving, during this time, the City of a
+vote in Assembly, while an important point was debated concerning the
+contested Chester election; and voluntarily advocating the question in
+favor of the constitutional party; that on the fate of this trial depended
+your hopes of succeeding to the President's chair; that a determination in
+favour of that party gave them a decided majority, and that you instantly
+accepted your seat in Council.&mdash;To which you replied, and in recapitulating
+my arguments, endeavoured to justify your conduct; but conscious of having
+failed in the capital points, you closed your remarks with some warm
+expressions, which conveyed the idea of a threat; of which I desired an
+explanation. After working up your passions to a degree little short of
+frenzy, you expressed yourself in the following terms: I mean this,&mdash;"If
+the publications traducing my public and private character are continued, I
+mean to apply to the law; but if this will not do me that justice, which in
+some instances it cannot do,&mdash;I know I have the affections and command of
+the fighting men of this state; and if necessary, I will make use of that
+influence, and call forth that force,&mdash;and if bloodshed should be the
+consequence be it on your own heads."</p>
+
+<p>Such violent and unwarrantable expressions from the first magistrate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> of
+the state, and in the presence of the whole bench of justices, created the
+highest indignation, and were severely reprobated by several gentlemen
+present; which induced you afterwards to endeavour to soften your
+expressions and meaning.</p>
+
+<p>But if it was singular or absurd, "to expect a President of the State to
+enter into the violence of party on <i>my</i> side of the question," let me
+oppose to this, the <i>treachery</i> of your conduct in deserting the party to
+which you was at first from ("<i>conscientious</i>" principles) attached, and
+yet, as President, enter into all the violence of party on the other side
+of the question.</p>
+
+<p>Again, "upon our return to Philadelphia," you say, "I became the open and
+avowed patron of those who are distinguished by the appellation of tories;
+and my decisive attachment to the British Army,<a name="FNanchor_N_14" id="FNanchor_N_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_N_14" class="fnanchor">[N]</a> and their adherents,
+"has marked every subsequent period of my life, too plainly to admit of
+doubt or denial." If you really entertained such sentiments, why did you,
+in the month of February, (after my marriage,) waiving the indignity
+offered to you in not paying<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> the usual compliments of congratulation, upon
+your appointment, pay me the first visit, and thereby make advances towards
+a reconciliation? Such a condescension, so contrary to the <i>usual forms</i>,
+can scarcely be reconciled even to a character like yours.</p>
+
+<p>Men who acquire popularity by means disgraceful to a gentleman, dare not
+hazard a sentiment that is not approved by the party with which he is
+connected. I have, on all occasions, and in all companies, private and
+public, delivered freely my political opinions; nor has the dread of losing
+the little popularity I possessed in Pennsylvania, ever induced me to make
+a sacrifice of my honour, by adopting opinions or measures which I
+disapproved, or thought injurious to my country. Esteeming it the highest
+honour to deserve the approbation of my fellow-citizens, I have ever been
+solicitous to obtain it. You and some others have industriously propagated
+reports for the purpose of injuring my reputation; but conscious that my
+political opinions and conduct will stand the test, upon the nicest
+scrutiny, and having never experienced any diminution of that esteem,
+respect and warmth of friendship, which my fellow-citizens have ever shown
+towards me, a refutation of such calumny is utterly needless.</p>
+
+<p>From the whole of what I have here laid before the public, supported by the
+testimony of the most respectable witnesses, the following conclusions may
+fairly be deduced:</p>
+
+<p>1. That the conversation alluded to, which I have asserted to have passed
+between us at Bristol, was mentioned by me in confidence to Col. Hamilton
+and some others of General Washington's family, in the year 1777; and
+therefore could not have originated at the time, you mention, or to gratify
+my resentment against you, as at that time, you acknowledge, no parties
+subsisted.</p>
+
+<p>2. It could not have been invented to gratify my resentment for the attempt
+you made to evade the payment of Mr. Porter's order; because I did not make
+it public at the time, nor till several years afterwards, and you
+acknowledge, all that coolness was done away, and our former habits of
+friendship restored.</p>
+
+<p><a href="#TN">[TN]</a> As is appears, by Mr. Clymer's testimony, that I mentioned it publicly
+at Mr. Hamilton's trial, which was before you were elected President of the
+state, it ought to be imputed to another cause than that which you have
+assigned.</p>
+
+<p>4. As it appears, from Mr. Pryor's testimony, that I mentioned it at the
+Coffee House, in the hearing of some of your friends, we may reasonably
+conclude you were informed of it; and this conclusion is strengthened by
+your passing over unnoticed, the information contained in Major Lennox's
+testimony, which was related to you by Major Thomas Moore.</p>
+
+<p>5. It cannot appear improbable that you should have held this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> conversation
+with me, as your expressions to Gen. Dickinson, Col. Nixon, and Doctor
+Rush, convey sentiments equally injurious to your reputation as a patriot
+and Adjutant General of the army.</p>
+
+<p>6. As it fully appears, by the testimony of Col. Ellis and Mr. Davenport,
+and that of Col. Bradford, that you had communicated such sentiments to
+your brother-in-law, Mr. Pettit, and to Col. Bayard, contrary to your
+declaration, we may with propriety assert that you have forfeited that
+veracity, which is essential to the character of a gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>Lastly, from the testimony of Major Lennox and Col. Nichols, it appears
+that you absolutly<a href="#TN">[TN]</a> applied to Count Donop for protection, and that a
+particular and intimate friend of yours was included in it; and therefore,
+from this and the foregoing testimony, all pointing to the same object and
+to the same period, supporting and confirming each other, it cannot leave
+the least room to doubt the truth of my assertion.</p>
+
+<p>In some instances, a man's general good conduct has had great weight to
+invalidate or weaken charges highly criminal; but unfortunately, <i>yours</i>
+can receive no aid from such circumstances. Dissimulation and cunning have
+for a time deceived the most discerning, but the snares you have laid for
+others will most probably accomplish your own destruction.</p>
+
+<p>Having long since known how to estimate your character, I have not any
+where pretended, in this performance, to fix it at a higher value than what
+it generally passes current for; you have, since the term of your
+administration, repeatedly put yourself upon your country. Your name has
+been offered to the people for a seat in the legislature; to the
+legislature, for a seat in Congress; to Congress, for posts of Continental
+trust; but that <i>name</i>, its counterfeit gilding at length rubbed off, and
+the native colour of the contexture exposed, has depreciated, like the
+Continental money, with such velocity, that though a few years ago worth a
+President's chair, it would not, <i>now</i> purchase a constable's staff; nor is
+it more highly rated in the sphere of polite life, than in the great
+theatre of the world; for its unfortunate owner stands alone, unnoticed in
+the midst of company, with full leisure to reflect on the sensible effects
+of the loss of reputation.</p>
+
+<p>My immediate purpose requires nothing further from me; but your
+administration, the theme of your own solitary praise, might not improperly
+have been touched upon, but that it is a field too extensive for me, and
+that I have not asperity enough in my nature to do justice to the subject.
+I will yet observe upon some matters in your pamphlet, not in direct
+connexion with one or the other subject; but which are extremly<a href="#TN">[TN]</a>
+demonstrative of a temper in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> writer to wish evil to the community,
+after the power of doing it has ceased.</p>
+
+<p>You, who have ever been a rapacious lawyer, and have never omitted any
+means of amassing a fortune, have, with a truly consistent spirit, shown an
+implacable enmity to all those who are raised to a condition above want and
+dependence. And though you kick against the parallel drawn between you and
+the Cataline of antiquity, you have in this point proved its exactness; he
+haranguing in the circle of his conspirators, exasperates them against the
+opulent citizens of Rome; you, in your pamphlet, labor to create invidious
+distinctions, would pervert the order of well regulated society, and make
+fortune's larger gifts, or even its moderate blessings, criterions of
+disqualification for public trust and honours in Pennsylvania; and under a
+spacious description of men, offer with your <i>sword</i> to lead the indigent,
+the bankrupt, and the desperate, into all the authority of government. But
+in the shallowness of your understanding, you have mistaken the spirit of
+the times; it will not countenance or support a Cataline.</p>
+
+<p>You would also, no doubt, as may be inferred from your pamphlet, <i>you</i>, who
+are so deficient in morality, draw your sword in religious quarrels, to
+bring you once more into play; but 'tis to no purpose you would raise an
+alarm, as a very great and respectable part of your opponents consist of
+persons belonging to that society, of which you profess yourself to be a
+member; and there is a general and commendable coolness and indifference
+for such quarrels, that will not easily take fire on your false and
+inflammatory suggestions; so that whatever you have catched at to raise you
+from the earth, has broke in your hands and brought you again to the
+ground.</p>
+
+
+<p>JOHN CADWALADER.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class='padding'>
+<h2>VALLEY FORGE LETTERS,</h2>
+
+<p class='center'>AS</p>
+
+<p class='center'>PUBLISHED IN THE EVENING JOURNAL.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>1842.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p>
+<p class='center'>From the Evening Journal.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Whitney</span>&mdash;At this distant day from the American Revolution, a new dawn
+seems to be breaking upon the darkness of that period, and much that has
+heretofore been shrouded in seemingly inscrutable mystery, is beginning to
+be made plain even to the naked vision. The "seventeen trunks" of
+revolutionary papers, a selection from which Colonel Beekman, the grandson
+and heir of Gen. George Clinton, has just published, in one of the New York
+papers, must necessarily contain much of exceeding value: and I should not
+be surprised if the Colonel were to receive a visit, at his place on Long
+Island, from Mr. William Bradford Reed, to request to be permitted to
+<i>rummage</i> their contents, and abstract or destroy any "document" that might
+likely prove prejudicial to the fame of his grandfather, the late General
+Joseph Reed. The Colonel must keep a sharp look out for Mr. Reed, and turn
+a deaf ear to his blandishments, when he arrives.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Johnson, in one of his Lives of the Poets, makes an observation
+strictly applicable to the claim of patriotism, which, originally set up
+for himself by General Reed, has been perpetuated for him by his
+descendants. Speaking of the boast a certain poet was accustomed to make,
+of the sternness with which he had driven back an ass laden with gold, that
+had sought to invade the citadel of his integrity, the Doctor remarked,
+"but the tale has too little evidence to deserve a disquisition; <i>large
+offers and sturdy rejections are among the most common topics of
+falsehood</i>." That portion of the quotation which I have italicised, fits
+the case of General Reed to a hair; but "the tale" of his patriotism,
+however "little evidence" there may to support it, <i>does</i> "deserve a
+disquisition," if only on account of the pertinacity with which it is
+endeavoured to engraft it upon the public mind.</p>
+
+<p>I have already given the <i>truth</i> concerning General Reed's famous reply to
+the British commissioners, and I propose to follow it up with the
+publication of a few letters, interesting on account of the light which
+they shed upon our revolutionary history.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the citizens of Philadelphia must remember Mrs. Sarah Kemp, who
+died in Race street, in 1820, at the advanced age of eighty-four years.
+Andrew Kemp, the only son of this respectable matron,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> entered the American
+army, almost at the very commencement of the struggle, and before, as his
+mother has often informed me, he had reached his majority. As he shall be
+my first witness against General Reed, it is proper to make the reader well
+acquainted with him. His gallantry, and a personal service which he had the
+good fortune to render to one of General Washingston's<a href="#TN">[TN]</a> immediate staff,
+soon promoted him from the ranks, and he fought with great bravery, at the
+battles of White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown and
+Monmouth. Sergeant Kemp was one of the garrison of Fort Mercer, under the
+command of Colonel Greene, when that fortress was assailed in the autumn of
+1777, by the Hessian troops, commanded by Colonel Donop. In this affair,
+which, though not one of the most remarkable, was one of the most brilliant
+of the Revolution, Sergeant Kemp particularly distinguished himself, and
+was wounded slightly in the arm, and severely in the left thigh by a musket
+ball: at the subsequent capture of Fort Mercer by Cornwallis, Kemp was one
+of the few who fell into the hands of the enemy&mdash;the remainder of the
+garrison succeeding in safely evacuating the fort. In a few weeks, he
+managed to effect his escape from Howe's winter quarters at Philadelphia,
+and immediately joined the American army at Valley Forge. The privations of
+that encampment, dreadfully aggravated the sufferings of poor Kemp; but,
+after languishing during the season in one of the military hospitals, he
+resumed active service in the spring, and served in May under Lafayette at
+the affair of Barren Hill. At the battle of Monmouth, he fought with his
+usual intrepidity, but the fatigues of the engagement renewed the affection
+of his imperfectly healed leg; and, about three weeks after, he was obliged
+to submit to its amputation. Upon leaving the army, he received from
+General Washington himself a certificate of conduct and character, which I
+copy from the original before me.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p class='right'><i>Head Quarters, June 23, 1778.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>Sergeant Andrew Kemp is personally known to me as a brave and
+faithful soldier, who has served in several engagements, and who
+desires his discharge only in consequence of the loss of a limb,
+which unfits him for further service. His dutiful conduct is
+reported to me to be equal to his bravery; and he retires from the
+army with my good opinion and that of all whom I have heard speak
+of him.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>(Signed,)    G. WASHINGTON.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>From among other testimonials to Mr. Kemp's worth and conduct, which formed
+to her dying day, the pride and solace of his aged mother, I select the
+following, given by Col. Samuel Smith, the late<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> Mayor of Baltimore, and
+the gallant defender of Fort Mifflin against the six days' attacks of the
+British.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>"Andrew Kemp has served with me three times; the last nearly four
+months. He was discharged from the army last month, in consequence
+of the loss of his leg and other bodily infirmities. I have always
+found his conduct exemplary. He came to me with high
+recommendations from officers whom he had previously served with,
+and fully realized what they had prepared me to expect from him.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>(Signed,)    SAMUEL SMITH.</p>
+
+<p><i>September 3, 1778."</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>This brave fellow fell a victim to his benevolent daring, during the
+prevalence of the yellow fever in this city, in 1798. Upon the death of his
+mother, the certificates of character which I have transcribed, and a
+number of his letters, of various dates, written while he was in the army,
+passed into the hands of the veteran, to whom in my former article, I
+referred, but whose name I am not <i>yet</i> at liberty to mention. From among
+them, I make two selections&mdash;the first a letter to his mother, who then
+resided in Chester County.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class='right'><i>Camp, June 13th; 1788.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>My Dear Mother,&mdash;You must be very uneasy not hearing from me so
+long, and the only wonder is that I am alive to give any account
+of myself. After my escape from Philadelphia, last November, I
+wrote to you, but whether you received my letter or not I cannot
+tell, for I have never heard a word of you since. We have had a
+dreadful time of it through the winter at Valley Forge. Sometimes
+for a week at a time with nothing but frozen potatoes, and even
+worse off still for clothing; sometimes the men obliged to sleep
+by turns for want of blankets to cover the whole, and the rest
+keeping watch by the fires. There is hardly a man whose feet have
+not been frost bitten. I have been laid by nearly the whole time
+on account of my leg, from which I suffered very much; and Doctor
+Le Brean insisted upon taking it off, but I would not suffer him;
+for which I have great reason to be joyful, for it is now nearly
+as well as ever, except a little stiffness, particularly after
+marching. But our distress from want of food and comfortable
+raiment, was nothing compared to the grumbling of some of the men,
+and I am sorry to say, of some of the officers. I really thought
+we should have a meeting once or twice; but we weathered through
+without it. Some hard things are said since about some of the
+officers, but the whole talk of the army is now about General
+Reed. There have been a good many attempts to conceal it from the
+men, but it has pretty much leaked out. This spring, it seems,
+King George sent over some Commissioners, as they call them,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> to
+endeavour to make a peace with us; and it turns out that General
+Reed has been in secret correspondence with them all the time, and
+was offered large amounts to play into their hands; but the
+bargain was broken off by his wanting more than they were willing
+to give. I know this much for certain; that one of their letters
+was taken to General Washington, and that the men were all called
+up at the dead of night, by beat of drum, and most of the officers
+called to Head Quarters. In the morning, General Reed was placed
+under guard, but released in about two hours. The letter was from
+one of the British Commissioners, in answer to one of his&mdash;he gave
+some explation<a href="#TN">[TN]</a>, but it did not satisfy the General, but he was
+obliged to accept it, as the contrary could not be proved. I heard
+Captain Anderson tell Dr. Le Brean, that General Washington was
+fully satisfied that Reed had been on the very point of betraying
+us all to the British, but that it could not be fully proved; and
+at such a time, it was better to keep a strict eye upon him,
+without getting the army into disgrace by exposure.</p>
+
+<p>"Near the last of May, we had a smart little affair with the
+British at Barren Hill; it was the first time I was under marching
+orders since I left the hospital. The British army came very near
+surprising us after night&mdash;two of the sentinels of the picket
+guard having fallen asleep on their posts. But we managed to get
+across the river again with very little loss, only eight men
+killed and wounded, and three prisoners. I made a narrow escape,
+for I heard a bullet whistling by my ear as close as it could,
+without hitting. All well at home, I hope. Tell Sally not to
+forget to knit me a supply of woollen stockings, and a couple pair
+of mittens for next winter, for I dread the idea of another Valley
+Forge; and give her and Ann my kind love.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>"From your affectionate son,</p>
+<p class='right'>"ANDREW KEMP."</p></div>
+
+<p>My object in giving this <i>introductory</i> letter is to show Mr. William B.
+Reed that the treachery of his grandfather was understood by the army at
+large, and that the knowledge of it was not confined to a few leading
+officers. <i>Documents of a more precise, specific, and important character</i>,
+are in my possession, or within my means of access; and shall seasonably
+appear; but, unlike "<i>McDonough</i>," I do not choose to put my best foot
+foremost, and limp ever aftewards<a href="#TN">[TN]</a>. I subjoin another letter from Sergeant
+Kemp, for the edification of Mr. Reed.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class='right'><i>"Monmouth Court House, N. J., July 2d, 1778."</i></p>
+
+
+<p>"Dear Mother,&mdash;I am laid up again, but after the fatigues of a
+great battle, and a great victory, which we fought on the 28th of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>
+June,&mdash;James Maris, who had his hand shattered by a bullet, has
+leave of absence for four weeks; and I drop a few lines by the
+opportunity which his going gives me. God be thanked, we have had
+a glorious victory! The British troops, commanded by Sir Henry
+Clinton, and ours by General Washington, were nearly matched&mdash;say
+ten thousand each. We fought from the forenoon till nigh dark; and
+our whole loss, killed and missing, is short of seventy, while the
+British lost about three hundred, and among them one Colonel Monks
+or Monkston. I have no great time for particulars. The men behaved
+very nobly; and the morning after, when we found that the British
+had decamped over night, the General [Washington,] thanked us all,
+from horseback. But one thing there is which has occasioned much
+disturbance among us. I mean the conduct of General Lee, who
+attempted to retreat, and who has since been put under order, to
+be court martialed.</p>
+
+<p>"Then there's that General Reed has been behaving very strangely
+again. Not a man nor officer in the army that does not hate the
+sight of him; we all believe that he came very near betraying us,
+only that the General [Washington] found him out in time. We all
+remember Valley Forge last winter. Before the battle began, I
+myself heard Gen. Washington whisper to General Greene and Wayne,
+to keep a sharp eye upon Reed's movements, and if he made any
+suspicious attempt, to order him under arrest, and shoot him if he
+resisted. During the whole battle, I never saw him; but after the
+last gun was fired, and when it was almost dark, General Reed
+suddenly made his appearance from the rear, and gave out that he
+had just had a horse shot in two under him, and asked for two men
+to go and remove his saddle and holsters. I was one of them; we
+examined the horse very carefully, and found him to be without
+hurt or scratch; and he had plain enough died from mere heat,
+which killed several horses and a number of men during the day.
+The story has got wind&mdash;some laugh, but others shake their heads
+about it. Jim Maris heard General Washington say to General Wayne
+in the evening, that he abhorred the very sight of Reed, and could
+never again put the least faith in him. This is not the first time
+that General Reed has showed the white feather. He pretended to
+have a horse killed under him, in the same way at the Battle of
+Brandywine, and had two men put in irons for talking about it. I
+am afraid my leg is going to give me a good deal of trouble again
+It is very much swollen, and discharges continually. They have me
+on the sick list. My best love to Sarah and Ann.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>"Your dutitful<a href="#TN">[TN]</a> son,</p>
+<p class='right'>(Signed)    "ANDREW KEMP."<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Having given the testimony of Sergeant Kemp, I will now have the pleasure
+of introducing to the notice of Mr. William B. Reed a letter from Col.
+Samuel Smith, to his old friend in arms, Colonel &mdash;&mdash;, by whom I have been
+so kindly supplied with much of the reminiscences which I have given to the
+readers of the Journal, and who had addressed to Col. Smith a letter, the
+nature and object of which will best be explained by the following reply:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class='right'><i>"Senate Chamber, Washington, Feb. 15th, 1832.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Friend</span>,&mdash;Yours of the 9th was received yesterday, having
+been forwarded to me by my family from Baltimore, to which place
+you had addressed it, forgetting my still being in public life at
+Washington. I suppose you think that so old a man, and one who has
+led so busy and active a life, should take the evening of his days
+to his comfort and quiet reflection, and I am not sure but that
+you are right. Public life ought to have but little charms for
+either you or me; we have both seen enough of active service, and
+should devote the remnant of time which is left us, to settling
+our accounts with this world, and preparing for a better.</p>
+
+<p>"I am gratified to hear of the task in which you tell me you are
+engaged. I do not know that it is in my power to afford you much
+of the assistance which you seem to think I can give; but such
+information as I can communicate is very cheerfully at your
+service. Upon my return to Baltimore, I will examine my papers;
+and whatever letters I can spare, which I may think likely to aid
+you in your labors, or illustrate the times of which you propose
+to write, shall be forwarded to your direction.</p>
+
+<p>"I agree with you that many of the men, and not few of the events,
+of the Revolution, are very imperfectly understood. Take General
+Washington himself, for example: he is represented as having been
+cold and repulsive in his manner, when the very reverse was the
+fact. True, he was dignified and reserved, but always courteous,
+and, what I admired above all, always sincere. I never knew a man
+capable of stronger attachments; he had none of the vices of
+humanity, and fewer of its weaknesses than any man I ever knew. I
+do not believe Mr. Jefferson <i>meant</i> to be unjust; but the
+character drawn of Washington, which appears in his recently
+published papers and correspondence, falls, in all respects, very
+far short of doing him justice. Mr. Jefferson had not the sort of
+mind which was entirely capable of appreciating, or even exactly
+understanding, a character like that of Washington's. I saw much
+of the old General in his latter days; visited him several times
+at Mount Vernon, and frequently at Washington. Doctor Craih, (my
+near connexion by marriage,) was long his physician and intimate
+friend, and was in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> attendance upon his death-bed. He has given me
+anecdotes innumerable of Washington's generosity and kindness of
+heart, which, though, not known to the world, ought to be. Of
+these, I will write to you more fully from home.</p>
+
+<p>"I can communicate but little concerning Gen. Wayne, which you do
+not know already. His son, who lives somewhere in your state, I
+should take to be a proper person to whom to apply. I wish it were
+in my power to answer more fully than I can, your inquiries
+concerning General Reed. My personal acquaintance with him was
+limited. I shared in the deep dislike with which he was regarded,
+and his negotiations with the British commissioners, in the spring
+of 1778, made him obnoxious to the whole army, from the
+commander-in-chief to the lowest subaltern. You and I talked this
+matter over nearly fifty years since, and I have found nothing to
+change, but much to confirm, my opinions. It is a little too bad
+that this man should be reverenced by posterity as one of the
+purest of the men of the revolution, when you and I, and all who
+were really active in those times, know that nothing but accident
+prevented his taking the start of Benedict Arnold. Though not
+communicative, General Washington was always candid, and upon the
+subject of Reed's premeditated betrayal of the country to England,
+he has frequently conversed with me very freely. None of the
+correspondence between Reed and the British commissioners, fell
+into his hands except the letter from Governor Johnston, and an
+enclosed note in cypher from Lord Carlisle, but these contained
+sufficient to assure Washington that a long correspondence had
+passed&mdash;that proposals had been made and debated, and that Reed
+had finally submitted a proposition which the commissioners were
+endeavouring to reduce. With the explanation Reed gave you are
+familiar. No one believed it, but it passed muster, for the only
+proofs which <i>at the time</i> could be had, were the intercepted
+papers. But ever after, Washington regarded Reed with great
+dislike, and treated him with a manner strictly marked by the
+display of his feelings. I was present when General Washington
+took his final leave of his officers at New York, after the close
+of the revolution, in the winter of 1783. The general's eyes
+streamed with tears, he grasped each officer by the hand, but when
+Reed approached him with extended hand, he started as if bitten by
+a serpent, made a cold bow, and passed on. Afterwards, at
+Annapolis, where Congress was then sitting, I was present when
+General Reed was repeating to some half a dozen of delegates, the
+old story of his refusal of the commissioner's offer. Washington,
+who was within three yards of him, turned away, and remarked to
+General Knox, "I know the fellow well; he wanted but a price, and
+an opportunity, to play us false as Arnold," and passed out of
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> room. There was a general titter, and upon Reed's enquiring
+of General Knox what it was that General W. had remarked, Knox
+replied, "If you did not hear it, I advise you to follow the
+general, and request him to repeat his observation." Reed was not
+a fighting man. I do not say that he was a coward, but he was
+always very careful of his person. His visit to England in 1784, I
+could never understand. His circumstances, just before, were very
+much embarrassed, he had borrowed of all who were willing to lend,
+and he paid nobody. Immediately upon his return, he paid off all
+his debts, including one of three thousand dollars to General
+Wayne, and commenced speculating in real estate largly<a href="#TN">[TN]</a>, when he
+was taken ill and died.</p>
+
+<p>I have given you very near all I have concerning this person. I
+have anecdotes from others, of which I will inform you hereafter;
+as also, the particulars of several conversations which I had with
+Washington respecting him. I have always, from principle, been
+opposed to making mischief; but I have always, at the same time,
+been opposed to trickery and unfounded pretensions. Why the
+survivors of the Revolution have so long permitted General Reed's
+treachery and baseness to be glossed over, and himself converted
+into a patriot, is to me a mystery; but the veil must be raised at
+last, and I know of no one more capable of performing the task
+than yourself.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me hear often from you&mdash;and always be assured that I am
+sincerely your friend,</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>SAMUEL SMITH.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>I will close my budget of "documents" as "<i>McDonough</i>" would call them, for
+the present. When I open it again, the information to be drawn forth will
+be even more definite than that just given, and possibly, even still less
+palatable to Mr. Reed. He will pardon me for troubling him with two
+questions: Among the papers left by your grandfather, did you ever come
+across a copy of a very remarkable correspondence had between that person
+and General Anthony Wayne in 1781? If yea, why have you withheld it from
+publication? Although <i>you</i> can answer this last question, I cannot; but I
+will tell you, Mr. Reed, what I can do: I can lay my hands upon a copy of
+the same correspondence, and I propose to entertain the readers of the
+Journal with a few selections, upon some not very distant occasion.</p>
+
+<p>In Mr. Reed's selection of a <i>period of time</i> to be illustrated by the
+labors of "McDonough," it appears to me he has been unfortunate. If he had
+gone further back, he might have recounted some of the <i>real</i> exploits of
+his grandfather, and spared <i>me</i> the labor which his deficiencies have
+compelled me to undertake. If he had come a little further down, he might
+have dilated upon the performances of his father, a Recorder of the city of
+Philadelphia, and Treasurer and Secretary of the University of
+Pennsylvania. <i>That</i> labor, also, I fear, will devolve upon me.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>VALLEY FORGE.</p>
+
+<p>Monday, Sept. 25, 1842.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p class='center'>From the Evening Journal.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Whitney</span>&mdash;The communication of "McDonough" (alias U. S. Bank Reed,) in
+this Morning's Court Chronicle, manifests that there is no small degree of
+fluttering among the wounded pigeons of the "Holy Alliance." The assumption
+of "McDonough" that <i>you</i> and "Valley Forge" are one and the same person,
+is a more novel than logical mode of disproving the truth of my
+allegations. But let Mr. Reed rest easy upon that score. <i>Who</i> I am, is
+very little to the purpose; <i>what</i> I assert is more germain to the
+matter&mdash;and let this lacquay of Nicholas Biddle deny <i>that</i> if he dare, or
+disprove it if he can. If my charges are <i>true</i>, the identity of their
+author with the editor of the Evening Journal could not detract from their
+truth; if <i>false</i>, a more obvious as well as conclusive mode of
+establishing their falsity presents itself.</p>
+
+<p>But the truth is, that no arrow which has been shot into the camp of the
+"Holy Alliance" rankles more deeply, or has worked worse execution, than
+the exposure of the authorship of "McDonough." Not that Mr. Reed is by any
+means, either intellectually or extrinsically, the most formidable member
+of the combination; but now it is known that <i>he</i> is the author of those
+attacks upon the character of a good citizen, of a man against whom for
+years the minions of the Bank have been directing their warfare without the
+ability to discover a crevice in his coat of mail, the arm of the puny
+assailant falls paralyzed to his side, and his intended victim laughs at
+him in a tone of scorn, in which the whole community participates.</p>
+
+<p><i>William B. Reed</i> to prate of patriotism! <i>William B. Reed</i> to declaim upon
+honor and patriotism! For the chimney-sweep to prate of cleanliness would
+not be more anomalous. With what grace does the defence of the United
+States Bank come from this "McDonough" of the Chronicle, when we know him
+to be the veriest lick-spittle that Nicholas Biddle, in his day of pride
+and power, ever retained in his service? As the friend of Nicholas Biddle,
+as his purchased tool and agent, rather, Mr. Reed has never, for an
+instant, hesitated to sacrifice to the promotion of the interests of the
+Bank, every public trust which for the time being was confided to his
+keeping. Why is it that Mr. Reed has never yet explained away or answered
+the very extraordinary and <i>specific</i> disclosures of <i>bribery</i> which a
+correspondent of the Ledger made against him in the summer of 1841?
+Disclosures so astonishing that the eyes of the public, although long
+accustomed to look upon the doings of the man with distrust, dilated with
+astonishment. He was accused by the correspondent of the Ledger with having
+as a member of the House of Representatives, <i>accepted bribes from the Bank
+of the United States</i>; the several amounts were specified;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> documents were
+even refered<a href="#TN">[TN]</a> to; and yet Mr. Reed, instead of maintaining his good ground
+and confronting his accuser, flies the city, absents himself for some time
+upon the plea of a previously arranged excursion of pleasure; and when,
+after his return, driven at length to a show of explanation, he parades in
+print an evasion of charges, so paltry that its sophistry would degrade the
+merest pettifoger in Mr. Biddle's Court of Criminal Sessions.</p>
+
+<p>But since Mr. William B. Reed, alias Mr. U. S. B. McDonough, is so pure a
+patriot, and has such a holy horror of "treason" and "traitors," I will
+give him a few facts upon which to reflect, and with which he may enrich
+and illustrate his future lucubrations.</p>
+
+<p><i>Fact No. 1.</i>&mdash;That Mr. William B. Reed is, or claims to be, the grandson
+of General Joseph Reed, of Revolutionary memory.</p>
+
+<p><i>Fact No. 2.</i>&mdash;That Mr. William B. Reed is feelingly alive upon the subject
+of his grandfather's memory, and has devoted the labors of nearly his whole
+life to establish the popular delusion that his grandfather's patriotism
+underwent the severest test and ordeal of the revolutionary struggle.</p>
+
+<p><i>Fact No. 3.</i>&mdash;That Mr. William B. Reed has written essays, reviews and
+paragraphs innumerable, to induce the public to believe, that when in 1778
+or 1779, Governor Johnstone and the other British Commissioners, proposed
+to General Reed a reward of 10,000 pounds sterling, and a lucrative office,
+upon condition that he would lend himself to the views of Great Britain, he
+indignantly spurned the proposal, and replied, "I am not worth the
+purchase, but such as I am, King George is not rich enough to make it."</p>
+
+<p><i>Fact No. 4.</i>&mdash;That no such proposal was ever made to General Joseph Reed,
+and that General Joseph Reed never made any such reply.</p>
+
+<p><i>Fact No. 5.</i>&mdash;That General Joseph Reed endeavoured to effect a negotiation
+with the British Commissioners, and actually commenced it, to ascertain
+what he might expect, in money and office, in case he succeeded in
+effecting a reconciliation between the colonies and the mother country, or
+in other words, that he would be instrumental in causing the revolted
+colonies to return to their allegiance to Great Britain!</p>
+
+<p><i>Fact No. 6.</i>&mdash;That General Joseph Reed, after much chaffering as to the
+price, finally proffered his services to the British Commissioners, to
+effect the objects mentioned in "Fact No. 5," for the sum of 10,000 pounds
+sterling in hand, a Chief Justiceship, and the right to a tract of land
+West and North-West of the then city of Philadelphia, upon a part of which
+the Cherry Hill Penitentiary is now erected, and the whole of which, is at
+this time probably worth from five to seven millions of dollars.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><i>Fact No. 7.</i>&mdash;That while this negotiation was pending, and while the
+hucksters were haggling as to the terms upon which it should close, it came
+to the ears of the American Commander-in-Chief, that General Reed was
+engaged in a very suspicious correspondence with the British Commissioners;
+that General Washington sent for General Reed, and in the presence of his
+staff, informed him of what he had heard, and demanded an explanation; and
+that General Reed, finding denial out of the question, admitted that
+overtures had been made to him by Governor Johnstone and his colleagues,
+but that he had replied to them; "I am not worth the purchase, but such as
+I am, King George is not rich enough to make it."</p>
+
+<p><i>Fact No. 8.</i>&mdash;That this patriotic reply of General Joseph Reed, to the
+attributed overtures of the British Commissioners, had its <i>sole origin</i> in
+the explanation with which he sought to dispel the suspicions of General
+Washington; that General Washington ever after continued to regard him with
+great distrust; and that several years subsequently, when General Reed, in
+the presence of General Washington, was descanting upon the patriotic reply
+with which he had foiled the British Commissioners, General Washington
+turned away in disgust, and remarked to a friend, in a tone of voice
+sufficiently audible to be heard by all present&mdash;<i>"I know the fellow well,
+and am satisfied that he wanted but a price and an opportunity to play us
+as false as Arnold."</i></p>
+
+<p>When Mr. Reed shall have sufficiently pondered over the facts thus
+enumerated, I shall descend the ladder a step from his grandfather, and
+come to his more immediate progenitor! Of him, I shall have the great
+question to ask&mdash;what is the reason of his aversion to sunshine, that he
+secludes himself all day like an owl or a bat? But the grandfather will
+suffice for the present. Mr. Reed has certainly taken uncommon pains to
+keep up the public delusion upon this subject. Let him know (what he will
+soon know to his mortification,) that there yet survives a veteran of the
+revolution&mdash;one whose mental faculties are undimmed by age&mdash;whose very
+physical frame, time has treated with tenderness and respect&mdash;whose keen
+and lively intelligence retains its ancient vigour&mdash;a Revolutionary
+soldier, who well knew Joseph Reed; who equally well knew George
+Washington; and who intends to give to the world, at no very distant day,
+his knowledge of them, and of much beside.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Reed has fair warning&mdash;let him look to it.</p>
+
+
+<p class='center'>Monday,&nbsp;Sept.&nbsp;19,&nbsp;1842.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;VALLEY&nbsp;FORGE.</p>
+
+
+
+<p class='center'>From the Evening Journal.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Whitney</span>:&mdash;Since your publication of my last, "McDonough" has slacked
+his fire wonderfully. It is surprising how one's tone becomes altered after
+the discovery is made that the former idea of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> <i>invulnerability</i> was a
+great mistake. The home truths pressed upon Mr. William Bradford Reed (I
+believe this is the first time that the public have been made acquainted
+with the learned gentleman's name in full) have proved to be of unpalatable
+flavor and difficult digestion; and it is not, therefore to be wondered at
+that they should have for him no relish. I have not yet done with the
+revolutionary reminiscences of his grandfather; that worthy whom "King
+George was not rich enough to buy," although, as he himself modestly
+admitted, he was "<i>not worth purchasing</i>:"</p>
+
+<p>The writer of this paragraph had an opportunity, very many years since,
+when Mr. Reed was a student of the Pennsylvania University, of becoming
+somewhat intimately acquainted with his bent of mind; and if there ever was
+a school-boy despised and detested by his fellows, William was that youth.
+"The boy's the father of the man," and those who have known him only in his
+ripened years, if they apply the truth of this axiom, will have no
+difficulty in correctly conjecturing what must have been his early youth.
+Even then his predominant weakness was to almost daily, and by the hour,
+expatiate upon the merits of his <i>great</i> "grandfather," and to entertain
+boys, smaller and younger than himself, with the revolutionary
+exploits&mdash;more numerous and diversified far than those with a narration of
+which Othello beguiled the fair Desdemona, performed by that distinguished
+personage: and in particular, how "the General" had repulsed the proffered
+bribe of the Treasury of Great Britain, and his pick and choice of the most
+lucrative office in the Colonies.</p>
+
+<p>Down to this day, this has continued to be the habit of Mr. Reed; and to
+such an extent has he indulged it, that he has become the butt and laughing
+stock of his acquaintance.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"O, wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To see oursels as others see us!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It wad frae manie a blunder free us,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">An foolish notion!"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The extraordinary pains taken by Mr. Reed, to circulate the notion of his
+grandfather's more than Roman patriotism, would, of itself, be a
+circumstance calculated to induce suspicion of their being "something
+rotten in Denmark;" but, fortunately for the truth of history, the <i>proofs</i>
+of General Reed's treachery and meditated "treason," <a href="#TN">[TN]</a>(if not <i>actual</i>
+treason, are extant&mdash;and the veteran, to whom in my last I referred, will,
+in due time, give them to the world. The descendants of General Reed have
+succeeded long enough in imposing upon the American people, as a patriot
+and a hero of the "times that tried men's souls," a wretch, who, in the
+emphatic language of General Washington, spoke in his presence and hearing,
+"wanted but a price<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> and an opportunity to play us false as Arnold!" who,
+while his fellow soldiers were stinted of food and scant of clothing, was
+in actual treaty with the British Commissioners, to betray the American
+Army, and their Commander-in-Chief, and their cause, <i>and their Country</i>,
+to Great Britain, for the consideration of ten thousand pounds sterling, a
+judicial office, and a tract of land!!!</p>
+
+<p>By a monstrous suppression of truth, and an adroit perversion of the
+explanation which General Reed gave to the demands of the American
+Commander-in-Chief, respecting his correspondence with the British
+Commissioners, his descendants have managed, so far, with tolerably general
+success, to thrust into the ranks of the Carrolls and Hancocks, the Putnams
+and Warrens of the Revolution, a "traitor," who entered into the struggle
+as a matter of speculation; and who, from the date of his appointment, in
+1774, as one of the Committee of Correspondence of Philadelphia, down to
+the detection of the fact, some years after, that he was engaged in a
+correspondence with the British Commissioners, watched with untiring
+vigilance, for a proper "opportunity" to betray, for a sufficient "price,"
+the cause, and the country, to the tender mercies of George the Third and
+his ministry! There is scarcely a Review or Magazine, published in the
+country, into which, under the pretext of reviewing some publication, Mr.
+William B. Reed has not contrived to obtrude some panegyric of his
+grandfather's patriotism&mdash;fulsome, even if true, but most monstrous when
+considered with reference to its unworthy object.</p>
+
+<p>Not content with chaunting Gen. Reed's praise as an "invisible singer," Mr.
+Reed has not hesitated to take the field openly, and in person, and sound
+the trumpet in the ears and before the eyes of the astonished lookers on.
+Before every literary or collegiate association which he has been called
+on, or <i>finefied</i> to have himself invited to address, the eternal burden of
+his song has been, "I am the grandson of the great and good patriot,
+General Joseph Reed, of revolutionary memory, who replied to the emissaries
+of Great Britain, when they offered him his own terms to further the views
+of England, 'I am not worth the purchase, but poor as I am, King George is
+not rich enough to make it.'" At New York, a few years since&mdash;afterwards,
+in the Musical Fund Hall, in this city&mdash;more recently at Dickinson
+College&mdash;quite lately at Harvard University, in short, everywhere, and on
+all occasions, the self same tune has lulled his audiences into a general
+slumber. How any one whose cheek is not formed of brass, can stand up as
+Mr. Reed has accustomed himself to do, and thus dole out, on all occasions,
+and before all assemblies, the patriotism of a grandfather for whose
+"treason" he should blush, I am at a loss to imagine. Even if deserved
+modesty ought to insinuate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> that the tribute would be more appropriately
+paid, and in better taste, by other voices.</p>
+
+<p>But the strongest part of all is, that Mr. Reed, with that full knowledge
+which I know him to possess (and which I will satisfy him that I <i>know</i> him
+to possess) of his grandfather's traitorous designs and conduct, should,
+nevertheless, have succeeded in steeling himself to the habit which has
+made him so supremely and universally ridiculous.</p>
+
+<p>Whenever it is announced that a new work is in preparation, in any way
+connected with the events of the American Revolution, poor Mr. William B.
+Reed "gets the fidgets." He throws business, as Macbeth did physic,&mdash;to the
+dogs; he can hardly delay for the introduction of a supply of clean linen
+into his carpet-bag; but, jumping into the next steamboat or railroad car,
+he travels post-haste till he has reached the residence of the author, whom
+he never leaves till he has fully satisfied himself that the projected work
+is to contain nothing that can detract from the spurious fame of General
+Reed, or call into question the truth of his attributed reply to the
+British Commissioners. Poor Mr. Jared Sparks must have had a hard time of
+annoyance during the long series of years in which he was engaged in
+preparing for the press his editions of the correspondence of Washington
+and Franklin. Mr. Bancroft, the author of <i>the</i> History of the United
+States, is, at present, a particularly prominent object of Mr. Reed's
+dread. Indefatigable in his researches he cannot have failed to become
+possessed of some of the evidences of General Reed's "treason," and, stern
+in his impartiality, it is not to be supposed that he will hesitate to
+place before the world the character and doings of this miscreant in their
+true colours. Fearful of this, Mr. Reed has long been engaged in playing
+the <i>toady</i> to Mr. Bancroft: with what success thus far, remains to be
+seen: but one thing is certain, that Mr. Bancroft will have placed in his
+hands, in time to inform him fully for his preparation of that volume of
+his history in which it will become necessary for him to introduce the name
+of General Joseph Reed, letters and documents that will establish the
+"treason" of that worthy beyond a doubt.</p>
+
+<p>The last volume of Mr. Bancroft's work comes down no later than 1784; so
+that there will probably appear another volume before the period of General
+Reed's exploits will become the subject of his composition; and of this
+length of time Mr. Reed will doubtless endeavor to take advantage and make
+good use. He has just made a formidable demonstration upon Mr. Bancroft.
+"At the recent literary festival at Cambridge," (to borrow the language of
+Mr Reed, contained in his late letter to the editors of the National
+Intelligencer, concerning Mr. Graham, the historian,) Mr. Reed's <i>toadying</i>
+of Mr. Bancroft was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> the subject of general comment. Not content with the
+display of his fulsome civilities on that occasion, Mr. Reed has since
+forced an opportunity of volunteering to the editors of the National
+Intelligencer, the letter to which I have just alluded; in which under the
+pretext of honouring the memory of the late James Graham, Esq., the English
+author of a History of American Colonies, Mr. Bancroft is plastered with
+praise. It is thus that Mr. Reed seeks either to impose upon Mr. Bancroft
+the same "Romance of American History," in which the grandfather is the
+principal personage, with which he flatters himself he has duped every body
+else, or to disarm him of any intention of publishing the <i>true</i> history of
+his connection with the British Commissioners.&mdash;And what most of all
+enhances the meanness of Mr. Reed's conduct is the fact, that, but a year
+or two since, he was accustomed, at the Whig political meetings of this
+city, to make Mr. Bancroft (who then held the office of Collector of the
+Port of Boston, and was a prominent Democrat,) the especial object of his
+abuse, lavished upon him in the most unmeasured terms.</p>
+
+<p>Such is the man, who, with a thorough knowledge of his grandfather's
+delinquencies, persists in upholding him to the world as a true and
+sterling patriot; who, knowing him to be a "<i>Traitor</i>," steeped in
+"<i>Treason</i>" to the very eyelids, and seeking to barter away his country and
+its liberties for British gold and office, represents him, unblushingly, as
+the worthy compeer of Washington, a fellow labourer in the same vineyard,
+toiling from the rising to the setting of the sun!!! But Mr. Reed's race of
+eulogy of his ancestors is nearly run. The proof of that man's treachery,
+long known to the <i>few</i>, will soon be promulgated to the <i>many</i>&mdash;to the
+<span class="smcap">world</span>. How <i>then</i>, will Mr. William B. Reed feel, when he remembers his
+itinerant career of laudation; his journeyings by sea and by land, that the
+trumpet of General Joseph Reed's praises might be sounded? His essays,
+reviews, addresses, and heaven only knows what all besides? But, above all,
+how will he <i>then</i> feel when he remembers that, under the stolen name of a
+naval hero of the Late War, he, this worthy descendant of a Traitor and
+Tory of the Revolution, once devoted whole weeks to the malignant endeavour
+to fasten upon a pure and unoffending citizen the very crime of "Treason,"
+of which he knew his own grandfather to have been guilty?</p>
+
+<p>With one or two little anecdotes, (the character of which may somewhat
+surprise Mr. Reed at the extent and accuracy of my information,) I close
+for the present. I will select those which Mr. Reed has the best reasons
+for knowing to be true. During the visit of Lafayette to this country, the
+father of Mr. William B. Reed, (Mr. Joseph Reed, the late Recorder of
+Philadelphia,) called on the General at his quarters, in this city, and
+requested the honour of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> private interview. The General (who had been
+waited upon by Mr. Reed before, in company with the authorities, and other
+citizens) intimated his numerous and pressing engagements; but Mr. Reed
+persisting, the interview was granted; one not strictly private, however,
+there being two other gentlemen present. Mr. Reed informed the General that
+his object was to obtain from him some revolutionary anecdotes, of which he
+was convinced he must possess a stock, of his father, the late General
+Joseph Reed. General Lafayette's countenance immediately fell: he
+endeavoured politely to evade Mr. Reed's request; at last, as Mr. Reed
+would take nothing short of downright refusal, the General was, at length,
+compelled to remark, "I am sorry to say, sir, that I am acquainted with no
+anecdotes of the late General Reed which it would be pleasant for his son
+or any of his friends to hear." Mr. R. having bowed himself out of the room
+in great confusion, the General remarked to one of the gentleman present,
+in surprise, "This is very strange! Can it be possible that Mr. Reed is
+ignorant of the opinion which the officers of the Revolution entertained of
+his father?" And now for another, in which Mr. William B. Reed himself
+figured. A year or two before the death of Bishop White, he called on the
+venerable prelate and made a request precisely similar to that with which
+his father had troubled General Lafayette. Anxious to spare his feelings,
+the good Bishop endeavoured to change the subject; but, no other mode
+offering of escaping from the pertinacity of Mr. Reed, he said to him,
+"Young man, upon the subject of your grandfather, the least that's said,
+will be soonest mended!"</p>
+
+<p>In my next, I will so far follow the example of McDonough, as to publish a
+few "Documents," the original of which will be consigned, before long, to
+Mr. Bancroft.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>VALLEY FORGE.</p>
+
+<p>Sept. 23d, 1842.</p>
+
+
+
+<p class='center'>From the Evening Journal,</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Whitney</span>:&mdash;The Jeremiads of the Forum and the Evening Courier shall not
+deter me from the task which I have deliberately assumed, and which I mean
+to carry out, of exposing the treachery of the late General Joseph Reed,
+and the delinquencies of his living grandson, Mr. William Bradford Reed.
+Why, instead of <i>deprecation</i>, do not these journals give <i>disproof</i>? Is a
+fellow to be canonized as a saint, because he is no longer of the living?
+Then let all history be rewritten, and let the puling mawkishness which the
+hypocrites call manly indignation, reject from the page of history the
+infamy of a Nero, the cruelty of a Tiberius, and the treason of an Arnold.
+If it be proper for the entertainment or instruction of posterity, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>
+the vices and crimes of the men of history shall be faithfully detailed,
+why should not the "<i>treason</i>" of General Reed, contemplated or effected,
+be spread upon his country's annals? Above all, when he and his descendants
+have adroitly disguised his villainy with the varnish of incorruptible
+patriotism, why should the hand which has the power to tear off the mask,
+and expose the enormity of guilt, be made to fall, self-withheld and
+self-paralyzed, from the effort? These are questions which admit of but one
+reply. I shall <i>go on</i>, and in continuation of my developments, I here
+subjoin another letter from Col. Samuel Smith to the same gentleman to whom
+was addressed his last.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p class='right'><i>Baltimore, October 2d, 1832.</i></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">My Dear Colonel</span>&mdash;I acknowledge the receipt of your two very kind
+letters since I left Washington, and thank you for the acceptable
+accompaniment of the last. Also, for the pamphlet on Cholera which
+you have sent&mdash;I loaned it to several of our medical gentlemen,
+and they all seem to think highly of it. Our people have been much
+alarmed, and I think with good reason. For my own part, I
+entertain but little uneasiness. I have lived a long life, and
+though I am far from tired of it, I am ready to go whenever it
+pleases him who gave it to take it away.</p>
+
+<p>Looking over my paper, I have directed copies to be made up such
+as seem adapted to your purpose. These, and some original, I will
+send to your direction, whenever I hear from you again, and you
+inform me how to send them. I have but few letters from Gen.
+Washington&mdash;the <i>originals</i> I cannot consent to part with; but
+copies are cheerfully at your service. I have had a copy taken of
+a very remarkable correspondence between General Wayne and General
+Reed, which awaits your directions. I was on a visit to Wayne
+shortly after its close; he read it to me, and I was so much
+struck with it, that I requested leave to take a copy, which he
+gave me. You will find it a curiosity, and it is another
+development of the real character of Reed. I think I formerly
+mentioned I knew but little of Gen. Wayne, with which you are not
+already acquainted, and I may say much the same as to Putnam,
+except what I had from conversation with General Washington. I
+have never been able to make up my mind how far Gen. Gates was
+concerned in the movement for his promotion, at Washington's
+expense. He certainly did not openly encourage it. It is so
+delicate a matter, I did not like to directly question General
+Washington. Once or twice, in conversation, I thought he was
+coming to the point, but he broke off without reaching it. Many of
+Conway's movements against Washington had a tact and address about
+them, for which Gates generally received the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> credit. Towards the
+close, his calumnies of Washington were disgustingly obscene&mdash;I
+mean Conway's. General Reed was well known to be deeply engaged in
+this conspiracy. But he lacked the courage of Conway, and was
+wholly without the rashness which so frequently marked the latter.
+Reed was a cautious and cunning plotter&mdash;he never looked one in
+the eye. Lee, who mortally hated him, had a common saying, "that
+Reed's face was stamped with the devil's favorite brand." I was
+once present when he made the remark in the presence of Reed,
+without observing him. Reed stepped forward, and angrily demanded
+"what was that, sir?" Lee bowed and repeated the observation, amid
+roars of laughter from all present. General Reed left the spot,
+remarking, "you shall hear from me shortly;" to which Lee replied,
+"I doubt that." Nothing further ever came of it.</p>
+
+<p>Conway and Reed were decidedly the two most unpopular men in the
+army&mdash;with this difference, that Conway, though disliked, was
+respected, until his calumnies of Washington were carried to their
+extent. Of Conway's duel with General Cadwalader I have no
+particulars which you do not possess. Conway became nearly
+involved in another duel on Reed's account. He took up a quarrel
+of Reed's but it was compromised. Reed was publicly insulted, and
+submitted like a boarding-school miss. My sentiments on some
+subjects have changed with my advancing years; but I well remember
+the surprise which I felt, and which the whole army expressed,
+that a soldier, and one wearing epaulettes, should patiently
+submit to the epithet of "liar," and a threat of having his nose
+pulled. It may have been a conscientious scruple; but he did not
+hesitate to get others into difficulties.</p>
+
+<p>In 1783 or '84, I had business which called me to Alexandria. To
+my delight, I met General Washington there, and he insisted upon
+my accompanying him home. The weather was wet and cold, and, for a
+wonder, as he expressed himself, he was without visiters but me. I
+remained at Mount Vernon several days and had many and long
+conversations with the General. While there, one of his newspapers
+mentioned the return of General Reed from England, in feeble
+health; and this induced a conversation concerning that person. I
+reminded the General of the coolness with which I had seen him
+treat Reed at the final leave-taking of his officers; and of the
+remark I had afterwards heard him make at Annapolis. The
+particulars I gave you in my letter from the Senate. General
+Washington rose, stamped his foot somewhat violently; then
+instantly checking himself, he paced the room slowly, speaking
+while he walked. I remember every thing he said as plainly as if
+it had been spoken only yesterday. He stated to me, that he had no
+doubt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> that General Reed had long been in treaty with the British
+before the arrival of their Commissioners in Philadelphia in 1778;
+and that, after the treaty of peace, in 1783, he received
+information, which placed it beyond question, that, in the
+appointment of the Commissioners, the British Ministry had
+selected Lord Carlisle with express reference to an acquaintance
+which he had had with Reed, when Reed was in England, seventeen or
+eighteen years before.</p>
+
+<p>He mentioned that, in 1777, while the army was yet encamped at
+Valley Forge, Mrs. &mdash;&mdash;, a lady from Philadelphia, with whom Reed
+was long known to have had a criminal intercourse, was arrested
+within the lines, and that her suspicious conduct induced a
+search, which led to the discovery of a letter upon her person,
+from Governor Johnstone to General Reed, and enclosing a note from
+Lord Carlisle, which was in <i>cypher</i>. This letter related to
+overtures upon which Donop, the Hessian officer, and General Reed,
+had already exchanged their views; pronounced them to be somewhat
+extravagant; and suggested that Reed had better close the
+arrangement which had been proposed to Count Donop, and he would
+have no reason to complain. The ten thousand pounds of which Donop
+spoke, Johnstone said would be immediately paid, and he did not
+think there would be any difficulty about the land or its
+equivalent; but of the <i>office</i> that Donop mentioned, he (Governor
+Johnstone,) could not speak with confidence; upon that subject,
+the enclosed note from Lord Carlisle, Governor Johnstone said,
+would inform General Reed more definitely. This note being in
+cypher, General Washington informed me he never succeeded in
+having unravelled. Immediately upon receiving these papers,
+General Washington informed me he called a council, and sent for
+Reed. He placed the two letters in General Reed's hands, and
+demanded an explanation. Unfortunately, the officer whom he had
+sent for Reed had informed him what had happened and he had thus
+some time and opportunity for preparation. Reed professed himself
+unable to read the note in cypher, and said he did not know what
+it meant.</p>
+
+<p>As to the letter from Governor Johnstone, he explained that
+overtures had been some time before made to him, offering him his
+own reward, upon condition of his bringing about a peace, but that
+he had replied, "that he was not worth the purchase, but poor as
+he was, King George was not rich enough to make it." When General
+Washington demanded why he had not before informed him of this
+communication, Reed replied, that though <i>he</i> was incorruptible,
+he was afraid of letting it be known what offers had been made,
+lest other officers might have been tempted to accept them. Reed
+was placed under arrest until further inquiries were made, but
+they were not successful, and he was released. The female upon
+whom the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> letters were detected, had been released, after being
+searched, and though every effort was made to get her again it was
+fruitless. General Washington added, that through the rest of the
+war, he watched Reed narrowly, and trusted him with nothing; and
+though he had no further <i>proof</i> of his guilt, he was satisfied
+that his treason had existed. But General Washington informed me,
+that <i>after the peace</i>, he had received information, the source of
+which he was not at liberty to divulge, but the truth of which he
+had satisfied himself of, that nothing but the accidental
+intercepting of Johnstone's and Carlisle's letters, had prevented
+Reed's consummation of treason. He had become fully convinced,
+after the disbanding of the army, that Reed had had numerous
+personal interviews during the war, with leading British officers;
+that he had seen Donop at Burlington; that he had been repeatedly
+within the British lines, and that he <i>now</i> knew that, after the
+battle of Germantown, he had visited the English General, Howe, at
+his Head Quarters, in Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p>I have now given you, accurately, the substance of General
+Washington's conversations upon this subject. It fully accounts
+for his marked treatment of Reed at New York and Annapolis; and it
+must convince you what a precious rogue in grain this counterfeit
+patriot was.</p>
+
+<p>My letter will not reach you for some time after its date. My arm
+is stiff, and I write slowly; and, although I have but one date, I
+have written a little each day for four days. God bless you, my
+old friend, and make me hear frequently from you.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>
+Yours very truly,<br />
+SAMUEL SMITH.<br />
+</p></div>
+
+<p>I allow Mr. William Bradford Reed till Saturday to meditate upon this
+epistle. On that day, unless <i>he</i> should anticipate me, and publish the
+correspondence with Wayne, to which Colonel Smith refers, <i>I</i> shall have
+the pleasure of presenting it to the public eye. It is a light that ought
+not to be hidden under a bushel; but should be placed upon an elevation
+high as the summit of the Bunker Hill Monument, that it may be seen far and
+wide.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>VALLEY FORGE.</p>
+
+<p><i>October 1st, 1842.</i></p>
+
+<p class='right'><i>October 5th, 1842.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Whitney</span>.&mdash;While exposing the demerits of Mr. William Bradford Reed, I
+have no disposition to disparage whatever of ability or information he may
+really possess; and concerning the letter, I cheerfully acknowledge that he
+has made himself very thoroughly acquainted with the true character of the
+leading men and events of the American Revolution.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But it is <i>this</i> that constitutes his chief shame. In his absurd panegyrics
+of his "Grandfather," he has not been imposed upon; he is seeking to impose
+upon others, and in this he has, to a very considerable extent, succeeded;
+he is sinning against the excess of light and the superfluity of knowledge.
+Possessing the most ample proofs of his grandfather's treachery to his
+country in the darkest hour of his country's peril, Mr. William B. Reed has
+not hesitated to hold him up to that very country which he sought to
+betray, and <i>did</i> well nigh betray, and <i>would</i> have betrayed, but for the
+timely interception of his treasonable correspondence with the British
+Commissioners, as one of the most glorious and incorruptible of the
+patriots who fought and suffered for the establishment of American
+Independence! The guilt of this will cling to Mr. Reed enduringly.</p>
+
+<p>Never can he shake off its contamination. Could he escape from the odium of
+his more immediate personal delinquencies; his fawning sycophancy of
+Nicholas Biddle; his dirty work in behalf of that man for money, not for
+love; could he deluge with Lethean ocean the public memory, his
+malpractices as attorney-general; his venal career as a member of the
+Legislature; could he induce the public to overlook the bribes which he
+pocketed under the pretext of <i>fees</i> received for services never
+performed&mdash;bribes, the amount of which and the dates of whose reception,
+are well known, and sustainable by documentary reference;&mdash;could all this
+be erased, as systematic and persevering labours, from his boyhood upward,
+to delude a much injured country into reverence for the memory, not of the
+contemporary, but of the <i>predecessor</i> of Benedict Arnold in "treason" have
+won for him an infamy from the consequences of which escape is impossible.</p>
+
+<p>I have heretofore referred, in general terms, to Mr. Reed's numerous
+applications, by writing and in person, to such survivors of the
+Revolution, or their descendants, as he supposed could furnish the
+information he desired, for anecdotes of General Reed; a part of my
+labours, hereafter to be entered upon, will be to narrate not a few of the
+rebuffs and rebukes this unfortunate Doctor Syntax in search of the
+biographical Pickenesque has experienced, and the minute fidelity with
+which my sketches shall be marked, will contribute, let me assure Mr. Reed,
+no less to his surprise than mortification, nay, I will establish that much
+of the information, that many of the documents, which <i>I</i> propose to lay
+before the readers of the Evening Journal, <i>he</i> and his brother, the
+Professor, possess; that copies of some of the latter have long been in
+their hands; and that Mr. William B. Reed has solicited the transfer or
+destruction of the originals. But I will even do more than all this, I
+will, in at least two instances, <i>publish his own letter</i>, praying for the
+loan if not the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> gift, of original papers affecting the fame of his
+grandfather. <i>Even here</i> I do not mean to stop. I shall show that Mr. Reed
+succeeded in inveigling from the possession of a gentleman of my
+acquaintance, for a pretended temporary purpose, a letter, the publication
+of which he supposed; and a part, I may say a prominent part, of Mr. Reed's
+scheme to perpetuate the delusion of his grandfather's patriotism, has been
+to write or call upon, every person projecting any work connected with the
+Revolution; and by tendering information, or otherwise volunteering his
+assistance, to deceive or disarm. He has played his game, so far, with very
+clever success; and, as I formerly mentioned, it is one which he is at
+present engaged in practising upon Mr. Bancroft&mdash;that same Mr. George
+Bancroft, whom, at a political meeting in this city, held some four or five
+years since, he so delicately described as a "tin cannister tied to the
+tail of Martin Van Buren, while Martin Van Buren, was running through the
+street, like a hot slut, with the whole kennel of loco-focoism bawling at
+her heels!" Adapting this figure to circumstances, as it might be
+introduced with great effect, into Mr. Reed's collegiate eulogy upon the
+services and patriotism of his grandfather.</p>
+
+<p>In Col. Smith's last published letter to Col. &mdash;&mdash;, he promised to furnish
+the latter with copies of certain letters, and in another he says.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"I cannot answer your inquiry about Captain Anderson. I knew
+several officers of that name, but can recal nothing particular
+concerning any of them. I once received a letter from a person
+some where in the State of Delaware, calling himself Henry
+Anderson, inquiring about his uncle Captain Anderson, of the
+Revolutionary army, but I have not retained, or mislaid the
+letter, and cannot call to mind his more particular address. But
+even this defective information may serve to put you on the scent.</p>
+
+<p>"Your son will tell you much for me that I would otherwise write.
+My rheumatism has prevented my showing him as much of the
+civilities of our town as I would have liked, but you will excuse
+me.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>
+"Most truly and sincerely,<br />
+"your old friend,</p>
+<p class='right'>"SAMUEL SMITH.</p></div>
+
+<p>From among the accompaniments of this letter transmitted by Col. Smith, I
+select, for incorporation in the present article, the following
+correspondence between General Anthony Wayne and General Joseph Reed. The
+"<i>Numbers</i>" with which they are prefixed appear to be of General Wayne's
+own addition.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class='center'>No. 1.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Gen. A. Wayne</span>,</p>
+
+<p class='center'>My Dear General&mdash;</p>
+
+
+<p>Only the day before yesterday I heard of your being here, and then
+but by accident, or I should have addressed you upon the subject
+of this communication. For several months there has been a rumor
+industriously circulated in this city, that during the last
+summer, you stated while in "South Carolina," in the presence of
+General Greene and other officers, that my conduct at the battles
+of Brandywine and Monmouth had subjected me to the imputation of
+timidity. It is added that you referred disparagingly to
+circumstances which occurred at <i>Valley Forge</i>, and revived the
+exploded calumny, for the truth of which you personally vouched,
+that I had signified my acceptance of the terms then offered me by
+the Commissioners, which you know that I spurned with scorn.</p>
+
+<p>Of course you will understand me to be satisfied that you never
+did use any language of the kind, but, as these remarks have been
+propogated by persons who, I have every reason to believe, are no
+less your enemies than mine. I am anxious to afford you an
+opportunity for their contradiction, and this I have to request
+you will promptly give me.</p>
+
+<p>I should be sorry that malicious and designing persons should have
+it in their power to disturb the harmony of the relations which I
+have so long enjoyed with one upon whose friendship I set so high
+a value, and for whom I entertain a peculiar esteem.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>
+With great respect and cordiality,<br />
+I am my Dear General, yours, &amp;c.,</p>
+<p class='right'>JOS. REED</p>
+<p>Dec'r 26th, 1783.</p>
+
+
+<p class='center'>No. 2.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'><i>Philadelphia, December 27th, 1783.</i></p>
+
+
+<p>Sir&mdash;The cool effrontery of your note yesterday surprised me. By
+what right you presume to refer to any harmony of relations
+between us, and to speak of the value of my "friendship" I am at a
+loss to comprehend. That harmony was first disturbed by the
+pecuniary difficulties in which you so dishonestly involved me,
+and from which I am only now beginning to extricate myself, apart
+from which I could entertain no feelings of "friendship" for an
+officer for whom I have such abundance of reasons for entertaining
+sentiments of a very different description. I have no doubt that
+my remarks to General Greene and others have been correctly
+reported to you, not only in South Carolina and Georgia, but years
+ago in Pennsylvania,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> and within the immediate reach of your
+personal demand. I have never hesitated, on all proper occasions
+to express myself in similar terms. I never merely intimated that
+your conduct at the battles of Brandywine and Monmouth had
+subjected you "to the imputations of timidity," but I have always
+said that your behaviour at those battles, particularly that of
+Chad's Ford, should have secured your dismissal from the army.</p>
+
+<p>What you refer to as "the exploded calumny" of your negotiations
+with the enemy at Valley Forge, I in common with every officer in
+the army, with whom I have ever conversed upon the subject,
+including the Commander-in-chief, believe to be strictly
+well-founded.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>
+I am Sir, yours,</p>
+<p class='right'>ANTHONY WAYNE.</p>
+
+<p>To Joseph Reed.</p></div>
+
+
+<p class='center'>VALLEY FORGE.</p>
+
+<p>We take the following communication of Mr. Smith, from the North American
+of this morning.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"In compliance with this arrangement, I came to this city this
+evening, accompanied by three of my friends conversant with my
+father's handwriting, viz; Hon. Louis McLane, Robert Gilmore, and
+Robert Purviance, Esqrs., and was met at the place and hour of
+appointment by William B. Reed and Henry Reed, Esqrs., and waited
+there until half-past eight o'clock, without the appearance of the
+author of "Valley Forge," or any of his friends.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>JNO. SPEAR SMITH.</p>
+
+<p class='right'><i>Washington House, Parlor No. 3,</i></p>
+<p><i>Monday, October 24th, 1842.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>In relation to this matter, we received through the Post-Office this
+morning, the following explanation from Valley Forge.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Mr. <span class="smcap">Whitney</span>:&mdash;I am unable to express my mortification at the
+unhappy and unexpected accident which has prevented my meeting the
+Messrs. Reed and Mr. John Spear Smith this evening, at the time
+and place appointed by them, for the purpose of having tested the
+authenticity of General Samuel Smith's letters to Colonel &mdash;&mdash;,
+Col. &mdash;&mdash; is my near relative, and though in his ninety-third
+year, has till last Thursday, enjoyed the most excellent health
+for one of so advanced an age. As he will not permit the originals
+to be taken out his sight, I intended of course that he should
+accompany me as one of my three friends. His sudden and severe
+illness has rendered this impossible; he refuses to part with the
+documents even for a temporary purpose, and I have thus been
+compelled to submit for the present to this most mortifying piece
+of ill-fortune.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>No doubt the exultation of the Messrs. Reed will be violent, but
+let me say to them, it will be but short-lived. But a brief time
+will pass, and all the papers which I have published, and many
+more which are yet to come, will be fully proved and laid before
+the public. When Colonel &mdash;&mdash;'s health is restored, I do not doubt
+that I shall prevail upon him to place them in my hands, when I
+shall see Mr. John Spear Smith with them at Baltimore and have the
+Messrs. Reed see them here.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'>VALLEY FORGE.</p>
+
+<p><i>October 24th, 1842."</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>We do not approve of this course of procedure on the part of Valley Forge,
+nor do we think it a proper one. We think he ought to have met Mr. Smith
+and the Messrs. Reed at the place and time appointed, and made the
+explanation in person. Under any circumstances, we think it was due to them
+as well as to ourselves. The proposition which was made by Valley Forge
+having been accepted by the above-named gentlemen, what reason can there be
+for longer preserving his incognito? Indeed he expressed his willingness,
+in one of his notes, which we publish below, to unveil himself as soon as
+the proposition he made was accepted.</p>
+
+<p>We had, from the first, as we have now, the fullest confidence that the
+letters purporting to be from the late General S. Smith were genuine, as
+well as that the intentions of Valley Forge, so far as concerned ourselves,
+were fair, and that he would establish the authenticity of those letters,
+and the other documents contained in his communications.</p>
+
+<p>Our belief in the genuineness of the letters of General Smith, was
+strengthened by the perusal of a letter which we now have before us,
+addressed to General Joseph Reed, by General John Cadwalader, in 1783,
+which corroborates what those letters contain. In that letter the latter
+gentleman says, "Having fully stated the temper of men's minds at this
+alarming period, and the situation of public affairs, I shall now recite
+the conversation and circumstances relating thereto, which I have avowed in
+my letter to you of the 10th September, as having passed between us at
+Bristol.</p>
+
+<p>"I had occasion to speak with you, a few days before the intended attack on
+the 20th December, 1776, and requested you to retire with me to a private
+room at my quarters; the business related to intelligence&mdash;a general
+conversation, however, soon took place concerning the state of public
+affairs, and after running over a number of topics, in an agony of mind,
+and despair strongly expressed on your countenance, and tone of voice, you
+spoke your apprehensions concerning the event of the contest; that our
+affairs looked very desperate, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> we were only making a sacrifice of
+ourselves; that the time Gen. Howe's offering pardon and protection to
+persons who should come in before the 1st January, 1777, was nearly
+expired; and that Galloway, the Allens, and others, had gone over and
+availed themselves of that pardon and protection offered by said
+proclamation; that you had a family, and ought to take care of them, and
+that you did not understand following the wretched remains (or remnants) of
+a broken army; that your brother (then Colonel or Lieutenant Colonel of the
+militia&mdash;but you say of the five month's men, which is not material) was
+then at Burlington with his family, and that you had ordered him to remain
+there, and if the enemy took possession of the town, to take a protection
+and swear allegiance&mdash;and in so doing he would be perfectly justifiable.</p>
+
+<p>"This was the substance, and I think nearly the very words; but that, "<i>you
+did not understand following the wretched remains (or remnants) of a broken
+army</i>! I perfectly remember to be the <i>very words</i>!"</p>
+
+<p>The letter of General Cadwalader contains the letters of P. Dickinson, John
+Nixon, Benjamin Rush, David Lenox<a href="#TN">[TN]</a>, A. Hamilton, and a numbers of other
+persons, confirming what we have quoted.</p>
+
+<p>The subjoined notes from Valley Forge gave us confidence in the fairness of
+his intentions.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">R. M. Whitney</span>, Esq: Dear Sir&mdash;I observe an invitation in
+yesterday's Journal, for me to call at, or send to, your office,
+for some information which you have to impart. For reasons which I
+shall have the pleasure of expressing to you hereafter in person,
+I am anxious to preserve my <i>incognito</i>, for the present, even
+with my nearest friends; and this consideration will prevent my
+<i>calling</i>. I am also at a loss to know how to <i>send</i>; but if you
+will drop me a few lines in the letter box of the Post-office, I
+shall not fail to receive them.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>Very truly, &amp;c.,</p>
+<p class='right'>VALLEY FORGE.</p>
+<p><i>September 23d, 1842.</i></p>
+
+<p>Please direct to "Ambrose Anderson, Philadelphia."</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">R. M. Whitney</span>, Esq., Dear Sir,&mdash;I am favored with your note,
+refering me to General Cadwalader's pamphlet, which you inform me
+has been abstracted from the Philadelphia Library. I have access
+to <i>material</i>, far beyond any thing in importance and value which
+could possibly be obtained by General Cadwalader; nevertheless the
+<i>abstraction</i> of his pamphlet is a circumstance which I will not
+fail to turn to good account. The gentleman to which I so often
+refer, in my communications<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> as the revolutionary soldier who has
+furnished me with information, is a near relative of mine, who
+knew Gen. Joseph Reed thoroughly. I shall continue my
+communications from time to time; and you may rely upon my giving
+you nothing, which does not admit of literal substantiation. Among
+other letters which I have, are several from "George Clymer,"
+(whom you mention in your note,) which hit the nail on the head.</p>
+
+<p>Will you permit me the liberty of suggesting a continuance of your
+vigorous editorials upon Stephen Girard? The word "finessed" in my
+last, your compositor has transformed into <i>finified</i>.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>Respectfully &amp;c.,</p>
+<p class='right'>VALLEY FORGE.</p>
+<p>Sept. 25, 1842.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Reuben M. Whitney</span>, Esq., Dear Sir,&mdash;I am afraid that, in copying
+Sergt. Kemp's first letter, I have made an error of date, on which
+account I am glad my communication has not appeared to-day, as it
+gives me an opportunity of correction. I am anxious to avoid even
+the slightest mistake in my communications. The letter is dated
+"June 23rd, 1778." I am not certain that I did not so transcribe
+it; but if I did not, be good enough to make the correction. I
+particularly wish you would <i>italicise</i> my interrogatory to Reed
+relative to his grandfather's correspondence with General Wayne.
+There is a <i>point</i> in it which <i>he</i> will fully understand, and
+which will give him more uneasiness than all else. I intend
+reserving my extracts from that correspondence for the very last.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>Respectfully &amp;c.,</p>
+<p class='right'>VALLEY FORGE.</p>
+<p>Sept. 27, 1842.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">R. M. Whitney</span>, Esq.,&mdash;Dear Sir&mdash;I am provoked to find that, upon
+comparing my copy of Col. Smith's letter to Col. &mdash;&mdash;, with the
+original, that I have made another error! I hope this will reach
+you in time for its correction. Speaking of his visit to Gen.
+Washington at Mount Vernon and <i>Washington</i>, it should be, and
+<i>Philadelphia</i>.</p>
+
+
+<p class='center'>Respectfully &amp;c.,</p>
+<p class='right'>VALLEY FORGE.</p>
+<p>Sept. 28, 1842.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">R. M. Whitney</span>,&mdash;Dear Sir&mdash;I have been absent for a day or two from
+the city, and did not receive your note until to-day. I enclose a
+note for publication&mdash;oblige me by letting it appear to-morrow. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>
+cannot imagine how so stupid an error could have occured as the
+erroneous date of Kemp's discharge by Gen. Washington. But the
+error almost corrects itself&mdash;as Kemp's letter of July 2d, speaks
+of the battle of Monmouth on the 28th. I do not know whether the
+blunder is that of your workman, or mine in the haste of
+transcribing. One or two other errors, which are mine, I made the
+subject of two notes, which I addressed you through the
+Post-office. My absence from town, and my intended absence
+to-morrow, prevent my preparing another article for Saturday.
+Possibly, I will have it ready for Monday, and certainly for
+Tuesday. Acknowledge its receipt, and that it will appear on
+Monday or Tuesday. I have not yet come to the <i>real gems</i> of my
+budget. Reed shall have a surfeit.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>Respectfully &amp;c.,</p>
+<p class='right'>VALLEY FORGE.</p>
+<p>Sept. 30, 1842.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">R. M. Whitney</span>, Esq: Dear Sir&mdash;Nothing could have afforded me more
+pleasure than the publication which has been made by the Reeds. It
+has given me the opportunity, which I have from the first been
+seeking, of bringing the question of General Reed's revolutionary
+exploits to a <i>crisis</i>. I pledge myself to you, that I will
+overwhelm them with confusion and shame.</p>
+
+<p>I have not called for your letter at the Post-office, because <i>I
+know that I am watched</i>; and I do not desire to be known till the
+adoption of my proposition to the Reeds, of which I speak in the
+accompanying communication, and which I will furnish for
+publication in Monday's Journal. They have fallen completely into
+the snare.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>Yours, &amp;c., very truly,</p>
+<p class='right'>VALLEY FORGE.</p>
+<p>October 14, 1842.</p></div>
+
+<p>In his explanatory communication of yesterday's date, Valley Forge speaks
+of many more papers "which are yet to come:" we suppose he means yet to be
+published. If so, we feel constrained to say now, that we cannot publish
+any thing more relating to the matter until he announces to us, at least,
+his real name.</p>
+
+
+<p class='center'>From the Evening Journal.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">R. M. Whitney</span>, Esq: Dear Sir,&mdash;I am pained beyond measure, at the
+situation in which I have been so unfortunately instrumental in
+placing you. But for circumstances <i>which I cannot possibly
+control</i>,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> I would promptly communicate to you my name and
+residence. A pledge, rigidly exacted by my venerable relative,
+Col. &mdash;&mdash;, and solemnly given by me at the time he consented that
+I should communicate to you the letters of the late General Smith,
+and the other papers with which he furnished me, that I should not
+make either him or myself known without his consent, binds me as
+with links of iron. Col. &mdash;&mdash; is slowly recovering from the
+paralytic affection with which he was seized on the 20th of this
+month; and let me assure you, most sacredly and solemnly, that as
+soon as his health is sufficiently restored to allow a
+conversation of any length to be had with him, I will not fail to
+convince him of the propriety&mdash;of the <i>necessity</i>&mdash;of permitting
+me to call upon you, or invite you to his residence, where,
+preliminary to my taking the proper steps to convince the public
+of their authenticity, I may exhibit to you all the writings which
+have been so exultingly prounounced<a href="#TN">[TN]</a> to be "audacious forgeries."</p>
+
+<p>You do me but justice, when you say, that "a careful perusal of
+the letters of Valley Forge, confirms the belief, that he is
+neither an impostor nor a forger of letters." Why should I be?
+What motive could induce any rational being to originate a
+<i>fabrication</i> so sure to be detected? You will find, ere very
+long, that I have given you nothing but the truth. Only <i>one</i>
+liberty did I venture to take with any of the correspondence&mdash;that
+was from considerations of delicacy, which I now believe to have
+been <i>fastidious</i>, and to which, at the time, I reluctantly
+yielded. In Gen. Smith's letter to Col. &mdash;&mdash;, dated Oct. 2d, 1832,
+I substituted a <i>blank</i> for the name of <i>Mrs. Ferguson</i>," which
+Gen. Smith gives as that of the lady from whom was taken the
+letter of Governor Jonstone to Gen. Reed. This, the <i>only</i>
+alteration I ever made, you must allow, was a pardonable error.</p>
+
+<p>"Truth is mighty and must prevail;" and in this case, to the joy
+of your friends, and the consternation of your enemies, it shall
+be signally exemplified. <i>For the present</i>, let me entreat you to
+rest satisfied with my assurances; assurances which will soon be
+most thoroughly redeemed; and that you will desist from your
+endeavor to discover who I am&mdash;efforts which can give you but vain
+trouble, which <i>must</i> prove fruitless; for the precautions which I
+have adopted for the preservation of my <i>incognito</i>, it is
+impossible to overcome.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>Very truly, &amp;c.,</p>
+<p class='right'>VALLEY FORGE.</p>
+<p>October 29th, 1842.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p></div>
+
+<p class='center'>From the Evening Journal, October 31st.</p>
+
+<p><i>"Valley Forge" and General Joseph Reed&mdash;Is there a Sepulchral Sanctuary
+for Public Men?&mdash;The success of the American Revolution&mdash;Justice and Truth
+essential Elements of History&mdash;"Forgery"&mdash;The Editor, &amp;c.</i></p>
+
+<p>Whatever motives may have actuated "Valley Forge" to the publication of
+documents affecting the revolutionary services and fame of General Joseph
+Reed, and we pretend not either to scan them, or doubt their honorable
+complexion&mdash;for truth, when on the side of country and patriotism, admits
+not of suspicion or mistrust&mdash;whatever motive, we say, may have impelled
+him to the revelation of these important historical documents, there can
+exist no doubt as it respects the principle which sustains the ransacking
+of the grave, for the sake of <i>truth</i>. Begin at any period of history,
+however early, and it will be found that <i>public men</i> have always been
+considered as public property&mdash;their characters, their conduct and their
+opinions, belonging to the world, with no privilege of sanctuary, either in
+life or in the <i>tomb</i>. It was so with the Hebrews, it was so with Persians,
+the Babylonians, the Grecians, the Romans, the French, the English, and
+even the Chinese. Indeed, so obvious is the principle, as almost to
+dispense with argument. It bears on its very face, the irresistible force
+of a first principle; for if the grave cannot cover up the <i>good</i> deeds of
+men, it never can be made to conceal their evil ones. The lessons of
+history, like the lessons of life, are derived more from the wicked than
+the good. The striking contrast of example, comes from the man who has
+perpetuated deeds that curdle the blood with fear, or crimson the cheeks
+with shame. Virtue is negative, quiet, undismayed&mdash;but vice rides aloft on
+the back of desecrated principles and violated laws, accompanied by the
+tumultuous rush of a moral whirlwind, overturning the fruits, blossoms and
+harvest of life; bearing blasts upon its brow, and leaving havoc in its
+train. And so do the laws of all well governed countries dispose of the
+remains of notorious felons, who, instead of being suffered to repose in
+the grave, are denied all interment; their bodies being delivered over to
+the surgeons for the benefit of science, or exposed on a gibbet, till the
+crows, eagles and vultures, devour their flesh, and then, even their bones
+are left to blacken in the winter's blast, as a warning to man, to shun the
+deeds that led them to their doom.</p>
+
+<p>Where is the sepulchral sanctuary for Buonaparte? or for Nero? or for
+Marius, Sylla, Otho, Galba, Charles of Burgundy, or Ferdinand of Spain? How
+many patriots are commemorated in the Lives of Plutarch? Expunge from the
+History of England the great scoundrels who disgraced their diadems, on the
+plea of sepulchral sanctuary, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> how many kings will remain to grace
+their pages with the splendor of their virtues? The same question may be
+asked in reference to all histories, and the same answers given; there
+would be no history, if the grave silenced the tongue to speak of the vices
+and crimes of the dead who disgraced their nature.</p>
+
+<p>To return to the principle of success, as a standard of virtue, in great
+revolutionary movements. The intrinsic merit of a civil movement, or
+commotion, to produce a change of government by force of arms, or social
+intimidation without bloodshed, is not sufficient to glorify its actors.
+Success is essential to give renown which confers fame and glory on its
+authors. This was fully understood during the American Revolution. A host
+of calculating spirits stood mute, inactive, or luke-warm, watching the
+changes of the contest, and fearful of embarking in a cause that might
+miscarry. In such a crisis, the wavering, the doubtful and the timid, were
+more dangerous to their country's cause than the open traitor in arms
+against freedom. The generous, the brave, the frank, the self-devoted
+patriot, rushed headlong into the contest, putting in peril, life, honor,
+property, fame, family, friends, children&mdash;all that is dear to life, and
+all that life endears. The calculating and timid palsied their daring
+counsels by weak irresolution of wicked duplicity. Among these
+time-servers, it seems General Joseph Reed stood prominent. Careful of his
+person, he shunned danger. Calculating the probable miscarriage of the
+Revolution, he occupied the prudent ground of a tory royalist, seeming to
+battle for liberty, but ready, at any moment; to assume the scarlet
+uniform, and shout "God save King George!" A traitor in his heart to the
+cause of Independence, lest that cause, by failing, should make him a
+traitor to his king, for whom he felt a warmer affection than for the
+rebels&mdash;he stood always on the alert, to join the British, or to appear
+their greatest foe; practising the meanest arts to seem brave, yet always
+held in open contempt for his timidity and cowardice. If the Revolution
+succeeded, he calculated to pass for a patriot. If the royal arms
+triumphed, he stood prepared to claim the rewards of his fidelity to the
+<span class="smcap">king</span>, more valuable than an open adherent because a secret spy, who
+betrayed the cause of the rebels, while pretending to fight under its
+colors, in the uniform of an American Officer of the army of George
+Washington!</p>
+
+<p>Such appears to have been the character of General Joseph Reed, from
+documents decidedly authentic&mdash;so authentic as to have led to their partial
+destruction, by his vain and silly descendants, who imagined that <i>truth</i>
+could be extinguished, while vanity was kindling a spurious flame to
+consummate an imaginery<a href="#TN">[TN]</a> <i>apotheosis</i>, for one whose actual deeds consigned
+him to the keeping of the furies and his country's execration.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>If such men are to be allowed an enrolment on the page of fame, as
+revolutionary patriots, who achieved our independence, there is no merits
+in those who stood side by side with Washington, in the darkest hour of the
+Revolution, when dismay sat on the bravest brow&mdash;spurning the temptation of
+British bribes&mdash;bidding defiance to British battalions, and enduring the
+pangs of hunger, thirst, and howling blasts&mdash;naked amidst winter's snow,
+with earth for a pillow, and the canopy of heaven for a covering&mdash;treason
+thundering in their ears&mdash;rewards offered for their heads, and nothing but
+liberty and independence, with the secret assurance of heaven's succour
+from a just God, to cheer and console them&mdash;bleeding, dying, desolate.
+Shall the <i>time-serving</i> traitor take his position by the side of such men?
+Shall all merit be levelled into one common mass of calculating
+selfishness? For such must be the effect, if General Joseph Reed is to
+occupy a niche of glory in the same temple with George Washington. But
+there is no moral crucible to melt down such deeds into a general and
+indiscriminate mass. Truth revolts from such profanation. Justice spurns
+the contamination. Nature herself rises up in arms against the thought, as
+doing violence to all her holiest sympathies; her purest heart-throbs, her
+noblest aspirations. God himself denounces the impiety.</p>
+
+<p>Having demonstrated the importance of the revelations of "Valley Forge" to
+the truth and accuracy of history&mdash;of that history, in which we are all so
+intensely interested&mdash;as belonging to the fame of the fathers, and as
+destined for an inheritance to our children, to the end of time&mdash;it remains
+to consider how the editor of the Evening Journal, in giving publicity to
+corroborative materials for history, has merited that torrent of
+scurrility, that has been vomited upon him from the sympathisers in the
+royal cause of George the Third&mdash;who, even up to this day, still retain in
+their veins, the poison of tory blood! "Valley Forge" makes no <i>fresh</i>
+charge against the tories of 1776. He but deals in specifications of
+treasonable designs, common to every history of our Revolution, and to be
+found in every life of George Washington. If he has ventured on the daring
+task of committing fabrications of letters from General Smith to Colonel
+----, he has perpetrated <i>supererogatory</i> crime, for no sensible
+purpose&mdash;for all that General Smith's letters told us, we knew before, as
+notorious facts of history. For this reason, we do not believe he has
+committed "forgery"&mdash;from the mere love of crime, or any other motive. If,
+then, the sympathisers in the Royal cause, are so offended by these
+letters, as to pour forth the phials of their wrath upon the editor of this
+paper, it must be from some other motive than virtuous sensibility or
+wounded patriotism. But this is not all. What was the character&mdash;what the
+tendency of the letters of "Valley Forge" who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> has unquestionably committed
+a deep injury, in maintaining his anonymous character, and failing to
+redeem "his gage," thrown down with so much defiance to Mr. Spear
+Smith&mdash;what, we say, was the tendency of his letters? It was laudable,
+noble, exemplary. It was to vindicate Washington, and his co-patriots, from
+all suspicion of being associated with General Joseph Reed, the secret
+royalist&mdash;the wavering tory&mdash;all which he is known to be, on the authority
+of Cadwalader, as well as Washington himself&mdash;from all suspicion of being
+associated, we say, with Reed as <i>a friend</i>&mdash;a bosom, and confidental<a href="#TN">[TN]</a>
+friend. Their direct tendency is, to exalt the patriots of the Revolution,
+and to depress those English spies in the American uniform, who correspond
+in cypher, with the royal commissioners, and sought to sell the liberties
+of their country, for a price, at the very crisis of her fate. And what
+reply is made to "Valley Forge?" Do the parties criminated, defend their
+ancestor? No.&mdash;Do they question the truth of history? No.&mdash;But they charge
+"Valley Forge," with fabrication. Yet, if he be guilty, does it make Reed
+innocent? No.&mdash;Then why not defend themselves?</p>
+
+
+<p class='center'>VALLEY FORGE.</p>
+
+
+<p class='right'><i>October, 31st,</i></p>
+
+
+<p>We give another communication to-day, from the writer of the articles under
+this signature. We are satisfied that Valley Forge is what he represents
+himself to be&mdash;that he is sincere, honest, and will, as soon as
+circumstances will permit, establish the authenticity of every document he
+has furnished for publication. We shall refrain from pushing our searches
+any further, for the purpose of discovering the person of Valley Forge, for
+the good reason that we are satisfied that we know him already. On
+comparing the note of the 14th inst., to us, written evidently by Valley
+Forge himself, but in a disguised hand, with a letter of a recent date, in
+the natural handwriting of the person who we believe assumes that name,
+there are innumerable evidences that most clearly establish his identity,
+satisfactorily to us.</p>
+
+<p>A word to our enemies now. Let them go on and pour forth their malice, give
+full vent to their venom, and pile obloquy, mountain high; we regard it as
+the idle wind, that passeth by and harmeth not. We have long been
+accustomed to be traduced and slandered. For making the exposition of the
+mal-appropriation of the money of the Bank of the United States, by Mr.
+Biddle, the first that was ever made, we brought down on our head the whole
+weight of the power of that institution and its legions of friends and
+supporters. We were charged with having perjured ourselves in that matter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>
+And what has become of that charge now? No one believes it. We have
+triumphed over all the allegations made against us in the matter, and
+thousands of individuals are left to weep now, because they did not
+believe, and act on our testimony at the time it was given.</p>
+
+<p>So in the present case, we are charged with publishing forged letters, and
+even with forging them ourselves. But on what authority? Why, on the
+assertion of Mr. John Spear Smith, of Baltimore, made, we do not doubt, in
+all sincerity, but evidently hastily, and without giving a single reason
+for his coming to that conclusion.</p>
+
+<p>We do not entertain a single apprehenson<a href="#TN">[TN]</a> but that in this case, every thing
+will very soon come out right, and that we shall triumph over our enemies
+and their slanders, as we did in the affair of the Bank of the United
+States. <i>Nous Verrons.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> Reed always said that this reply was the joint protection of
+Benj. Rush, Dr Wm. Smith and Gen. John Cadwalader.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> See Gov. Johnstone's speech in the House of Commons, March,
+9th, 1779, to be found in the Philadelphia Library in a volume of the
+Pennsylvania Packet, February 20th, 1779, No. 384.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> Mrs. Ferguson's letter will be found in the same volume in the
+Numbers for February 20th, and March 9th.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> Here the following anecdote will afford an occasion of
+recriminating. When Mr. Reed was proposed as a Brigadier in the army, Mr.
+John Adams, now our minister in Holland, openly objected, in Congress, to
+his appointment, saying he was of a factious spirit, and had been
+notoriously instrumental in fomenting discords between the troops of the
+different States.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> When Mr. Ingersoll waited on me with General Reed's first
+letter, 9th of September last, I mentioned to him the situation of my
+family, and the necessity of my leaving the city. This has been candidly
+related by Mr. Ingersoll to Mr. Reed, as appears by the following extract
+from his letter, in answer to mine on the 17th of March, on this subject.
+</p><p>
+<i>Extract from Mr. Ingersoll's letter, dated Philadelphia, 8th March, 1783.</i>
+</p>
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"The conversation that passed, I reported with candour, and I
+believe with precision, but still supposed, that the reply from
+General Reed would be founded entirely upon your answer. Your
+declaration, with respect to your intention of leaving town, I
+think I can repeat in nearly the words in which you expressed
+yourself.
+</p><p>
+"After discoursing upon the subject of the letter I had put into
+your hands, you mentioned to me that your furniture was packed up
+to go to Maryland; that you had been waiting for rain to lay the
+dust, and that if anything was to come of this business, it must
+be <i>speedily</i>.
+</p><p>
+"I <span class="smcap">endeavour</span> to give the <i>words</i> used,&mdash;I certainly do not deviate
+from the <i>purport</i> of what was said."
+</p><p>
+This is not the least of the many <i>misrepresentations</i> in which
+Mr. Reed is convicted in the course of my reply.</p></div></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> Being called upon by General Cadwalader to recollect
+the conversation we had at the Coffee-House, in the fall of the
+year seventy-eight, when he related what had passed between him
+and Mr. Reed at Bristol, I remember the subject corroborates with
+those queries I have since seen published in Mr. Oswald's paper,
+of the 7th of September, 1782. I likewise remember giving him a
+hint, that some of Mr. Reed's friends were present, on which he
+repeated what he had related before, and then addressed himself to
+the gentlemen, and informed them, if any of Mr. Reed's friends
+were present, they were at liberty to make what use they pleased
+of it.
+</p><p class='right'>
+THOMAS PRYOR.
+</p><p>
+<i>Philadelphia, March 8, 1783.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_G_7" id="Footnote_G_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_G_7"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> See Gen. Reed's Address to the Public, pages 24, 25.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_H_8" id="Footnote_H_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_H_8"><span class="label">[H]</span></a> As a proof of my having made this declaration, and the
+occasion of it, I offer the following letter:
+</p><p>
+<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>:&mdash;I have, at your request, charged my recollection with what fell
+from you, in the hearing of myself and several others, at the trial of Mr.
+William Hamilton, on the subject of Mr. Reed, who assisted the prosecution;
+it was in terms to this effect; that it indicated the extremity of baseness
+in him, to attempt to destroy another for taking the very step he had once
+lifted his own foot to take. This, at the instant, made a deeper impression
+me, as having never till then, though living in the closest intimacy, heard
+you drop the most distant hint of any intended defection of Mr. Reed, of
+which I myself had no suspicion.
+</p>
+
+<p class='center'>Your humble servant,</p>
+<p class='right'>GEORGE CLYMER.</p>
+<p><i>March 2d, 1783.</i><br />
+General Cadwalader.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_I_9" id="Footnote_I_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_I_9"><span class="label">[I]</span></a> If the countryman was sent, as he insinuated, for
+intelligence, and not for a protection for Mr. Reed and his friend, is it
+not very extraordinary, in a case of this nature, after the man had so
+narrowly escaped with his life, that no circumstance relating to so
+delicate an affair, (transacted in so private a manner) should ever have
+come to my knowledge, till I heard this testimony from Major Lennox?
+</p><p>
+I will venture to say that no officer of the army, at that critical period,
+would have risked his reputation, though he had afforded no cause to
+suspect his firmness, by instructing a spy to apply for a protection for
+him, with a view of gaining intelligence, without mentioning it to his
+commanding officer before the transaction. But in the instance before us,
+it is worthy notice, that in so critical a situation of public affairs, Mr.
+Reed, knowing how dangerous such a plea as the messenger had used might
+prove to his reputation, in the hands of the enemy, should not have
+endeavoured to obviate such a tale, by mentioning the circumstance to the
+commanding officer at Bristol, who might have vouched for his innocence, in
+case Donop should attempt to injure him afterwards.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_J_10" id="Footnote_J_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_J_10"><span class="label">[J]</span></a> I have ample proofs of Mr. Ellis's attachment to the enemy,
+which may be produced, if necessary.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_K_11" id="Footnote_K_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_K_11"><span class="label">[K]</span></a>
+</p><p>
+<i>M'Kenney's Ferry, 25th December, 1776, 6 o'clock, P. M.</i>
+</p><p>
+Dear Sir,&mdash;Notwithstanding the discouraging accounts I have received from
+Col. Reed, of what might be expected from the operations below, I am
+determined, as the night is favourable, to cross the river, and make the
+attack on Trenton in the morning. If you can do nothing real, at least
+create as great a diversion as possible.
+</p><p class='center'>
+I am, sir, your most obedient servant,
+</p><p class='right'>
+GEO. WASHINGTON. </p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_L_12" id="Footnote_L_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_L_12"><span class="label">[L]</span></a> The following extracts from General Reed's letter to his
+Excellency the President and the Honorable the Executive Council of the
+State of Pennsylvania, dated Philadelphia, 22d July, 1777, assigning his
+reasons for not accepting the office of Chief Justice, may serve to prove
+his opinions of the constitution at that time. "If there is any radical
+weakness of authority proceeding from the Constitution; if in any respects
+it opposes the genius, temper or habits of the governed, <i>I fear, unless a
+remedy can be provided, in less than seven years, government will sink in a
+spiritless langour, or expire in a sudden</i> <span class="smcap">convulsion</span>. It would be foreign
+to my present purpose to suggest any of those <i>alterations</i>, which, in my
+<i>apprehension are necessary</i> to enable the constitution to support itself
+with <i>dignity</i> and <i>efficiency</i>, and its friends with <i>security</i>. <i>That
+some are necessary I cannot entertain the least doubt.</i> With this
+sentiment, I feel an <i>insuperable difficulty</i> to enter into an engagement
+of the <i>most solemn nature</i>, leading to the <i>support</i> and <i>confirmation</i> of
+an entire system of government, which I cannot wholly <i>approve</i>." Again,
+"the dispensation from this engagement,<a name="FNanchor_M_13" id="FNanchor_M_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_M_13" class="fnanchor">[M]</a> first allowed to several members
+of the Assembly, and afterwards to the militia officers, has added to my
+<i>difficulties</i>, as I cannot reconcile it to my ideas of propriety, the
+members of the same state being under different obligations to support and
+enforce its authority." But he adds, "If the sense of the people who have
+the right of decision, leads to some alterations, I firmly believe it will
+conduce to our happiness and security; if otherwise, I shall esteem it my
+duty, not only to acquiesce, but to support as far as lays in my power, a
+form of government confirmed and sanctified by the voice of the people."
+Here, then, he says, "he feels an <i>insuperable difficulty</i> to enter into an
+engagement of the most solemn nature, leading to the support and
+confirmation of an entire system of government, which he cannot wholly
+<i>approve</i>; but he shall think it his duty to acquiesce, and support the
+government,&mdash;if confirmed and sanctified by the voice of the people." How
+inconsistent, then, must his conduct appear, when it is notorious, that he
+took a decided part in support of government, accepted of his seat in
+Council, and afterwards the Presidency, long before the sense of the people
+was expressd<a href="#TN">[TN]</a> by the <i>fabricated instructions</i> to the members of Assembly,
+requiring them to rescind the resolution for calling a convention for the
+purpose of revising the constitution. And yet he says, in the 27th page of
+his pamphlet, he "so effectually vindicated every part of his conduct, that
+every gentleman present, (myself excepted,) acknowledged his mistake."
+</p><p>
+These were the ostensible reasons for not accepting the Chief Justiceship,
+and taking the oath of office; but an oath of another kind, no doubt,
+induced him to decline this appointment. He had not taken the oath of
+allegiance which the law, (passed the 13th June, 1777,) required of every
+male white inhabitant; nor did he take it, as appears by the publication
+signed Sidney, in the Pennsylvania Journal, No. 1565, 12th February, 1783,)
+till the 9th of October, 1778, which was the very day he was elected a
+Councillor for the County of Philadelphia. And though disfranchised of all
+the rights of citizenship, and incapable of being elected into, or serving
+in any office, place, or trust, in this commonwealth, Mr. Reed dared to
+disregard the voice of the people, and violate the law, by accepting the
+Presidency, and exercising the powers of government annexed to that office.
+If he had taken the oath of allegiance, agreeable to law, why did he take
+it <i>again</i>, on the day he was elected a councillor? as the mere oath of
+office only, upon that occasion, would have been required of him.
+</p><p>
+As Mr. Reed has not touched this point in his pamphlet, or furnished his
+friends with a single argument to defend him, against a charge supported by
+authentic proofs from public records, the public have very justly
+pronounced him guilty. If certificates can be produced of his oaths of
+abjuration and allegiance, agreeable to law, why have they not been
+published? If he is not defranchised<a href="#TN">[TN]</a> of the rights of citizenship, why
+was his vote refused at the last election? or is this one of the subjects
+reserved for "<i>legal examination</i>?" and if so, why does he not suspend the
+public opinion by such information?</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_M_13" id="Footnote_M_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_M_13"><span class="label">[M]</span></a> <i>By the "dispensation from this engagement," above mentioned,
+is meant, that the oath prescribed by the constitution was dispensed with,
+and many members of Assembly were permitted to take another oath, in which
+they were not bound to support the constitution.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_N_14" id="Footnote_N_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_N_14"><span class="label">[N]</span></a> That this opinion was not entertained by Congress, may
+reasonably be inferred from the following letter:
+</p><p class='right'>
+<i>"Philadelphia, 12th September, 1778.</i>
+</p>
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&mdash;His excellency, General Washington, having recommended to Congress
+the appointment of a General of horse, the House took that subject under
+consideration the 10th instant, when you were unanimously elected Brigadier
+and commander of the cavalry in the service of the United States.
+</p><p>
+"From the general view above mentioned, you will perceive, sir, the earnest
+desire of the house, that you will accept a commission, and enter as early
+as your convenience will admit of, upon the duties of the office; and I
+flatter myself with hopes of congratulating you in a few days upon this
+occasion.
+</p><p>
+"I have the honour to be, with particular regard and esteem, sir, your most
+humble servant,
+</p><p class='right'>
+HENRY LAURENS,</p>
+<p>"The Hon. Brigadier-General Cadwalader.   "President of Congress,"<br />
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+But not wishing to have it suggested, that I entered into the service at so
+late a period of the war for the sake of rank, as the French treaty had
+taken place, and I had conceived all offensive operations at an end, I
+declined the appointment in these terms.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquot"><p class='right'><i>Maryland, 19th September, 1778.</i>
+</p><p>
+<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&mdash;I have the highest sense of the honour conferred upon me by Congress,
+in appointing me a Brigadier in the Continental service, with the command
+of the cavalry, more particularly as the voice of Congress was unanimous.
+</p><p>
+I cannot consent to enter into the service at this time, as the war appears
+to me to be near the close. But should any misfortune give an unhappy turn
+to our affairs, I shall immediately apply to Congress for a command in the
+army.
+</p><p>
+I have the honour to be, with the greatest regard and esteem, your
+excellency's most obedient humble servant,
+</p><p class='right'>
+JOHN CADWALADER.
+</p><p>
+His Excellency Henry Laurens, Esq., President of Congress.
+</p></div>
+</div>
+
+</div>
+
+<p class='trnote'><a name="TN" id="TN">Transcriber's note:</a> Many instances of misspelled words and
+inconsistent punctuation occur in this e-book. They have been
+retained as printed in the original. The most obvious instances
+have been marked [TN].</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
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+Project Gutenberg's Nuts for Future Historians to Crack, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Nuts for Future Historians to Crack
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: September 17, 2008 [EBook #26647]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NUTS FOR FUTURE HISTORIANS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Irma Spehar, Christine D. and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+   [Transcriber's note: Many instances of misspelled words and
+   inconsistent punctuation occur in this e-book. They have been
+   retained as printed in the original. The most obvious instances
+   have been marked [TN].]
+
+
+
+
+NUTS
+
+FOR
+
+Future Historians to Crack.
+
+COLLECTED BY
+
+HORACE W. SMITH.
+
+
+CONTAINING THE
+
+CADWALADER PAMPHLET, VALLEY FORGE LETTERS
+
+etc., etc., etc.
+
+               PHILADELPHIA:
+  HORACE W. SMITH, 20 SOUTH SIXTH STREET.
+                  1856.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+For some years I had been engaged in collecting material for a life of my
+great grandfather, the Rev. William Smith, D. D., Provost of the University
+of Pennsylvania, and in doing so, I read all the Bibliographical and
+Historical works which I thought could in any way make mention of him. In
+no case did I find anything said against his character as a man, until I
+read Wm. B. Reed's Life of his grandfather, Gen. Joseph Reed. His remarks
+were uncalled for and _ungentlemanly_; what they were, _amount to nothing_,
+as they were _untrue_; and therefore not worth repeating. My first idea was
+to speak of Gen. Joseph Reed in the same manner, though with more truth;
+but finding the truth had been suppressed, and that to publish all I could
+wish in regard to Reed, would take up too much room in my work, and be
+departing from my original design, I therefore, concluded to publish all
+the historical facts in regard to Reed in a small volume by itself, and to
+publish such an edition, that it could not be bought up and destroyed.
+
+I have taken the liberty of using the following extracts from an article
+published in the Fireside Visitor--by J. M. Church. Whom it was written by
+I do not know, but the writer evidently understood his subject.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"When it was announced that Mr. Irving was about to present to the public a
+life of Washington, we hailed the information with feelings of delight, not
+unmingled with gratitude, that the illustrious author of 'Columbus,' the
+Sketch Book, and Knickerbocker should make the crowning work of his life
+and literary labors, the history of the greatest and purest of patriots, so
+dear to the hearts of all his countrymen, and one who, the more time and
+investigation develop and explain his motives and actions, the greater and
+nobler he appears. Our expectations were great when we contemplated the
+vast field that time had laid open to the historian; and though Marshall
+and Sparks had left but little to do, we felt there was still enough to
+make Mr. Irving's the greatest history of that greatest of men.
+
+On the appearances of the first volume, a number of errors were noticed by
+the press, which were subsequently corrected. The most important one, that
+in relation to Major Stobo, we are glad to see fully explained and
+corrected in a note at the end of the second volume. In the early part of
+the second volume, however, a far graver error occurs, we mean Mr. Irving's
+estimate of the conduct and character of Gen. Reed, and is it mainly the
+object of this communication to set that matter in its true light.
+
+Who can read without emotion of the trials and difficulties that beset
+Washington throughout the whole of his career? A Congress so corrupt, that
+Livingston writes, 'I am so discouraged by our public mismanagement, and
+the additional load of business thrown upon me by the villainy of those who
+pursue nothing but accumulating fortunes, to the ruin of their country,
+that I almost sink under it.' False friends and traitors intrigue against
+him--even Gen. Reed, the very man Mr. Irving so delighted to honor, and an
+inmate of his household, writes a letter to Gen. Lee, the aspiring rival of
+Washington, reflecting, with harsh severity, on the conduct and character
+of his commander and benefactor. Lee's answer fell into the hands of
+Washington, and was read by him during the absence of Reed, who made no
+attempt at an explanation until Lee was taken prisoner. He then endeavored
+to explain the delay, by saying that he had been in the meantime
+endeavoring to get possession of his letter, in order that he might show to
+Washington that it contained nothing to call forth the violent answer of
+Gen. Lee, and, 'In the meantime,' writes Reed, 'I most solemnly assure you,
+that you would see in it nothing inconsistent with that respect and
+affection which I have, and ever shall bear to your person and character.'
+Who can read this without being shocked at the falsehood of the man!
+
+It was, indeed, fortunate for Reed, that Washington never saw that letter.
+But how could Mr. Irving quote a portion of so important a document, while
+he suppressed the material part? Indeed, we are tempted to believe that
+some other hand had supervised those pages, before they were presented to
+the public.
+
+We conceive it to be the duty of an impartial historian to collect facts,
+and present them to his readers, and he is guilty of falsifying history who
+suppresses them. His readers have the same right to _all_ the evidence that
+bears upon important occurrence that he has, and though the author may give
+his views and conclusions, the reader is not of necessity compelled to
+agree with him. We for one, must beg leave to differ from Mr. Irving in his
+estimate of Reed's character, and we doubt not that every one reading his
+letter will sustain us in our opinion, that his conduct was false and
+treacherous in the extreme.
+
+In order properly to appreciate the baseness of Reed's conduct, it is
+necessary to consider the circumstances under which it occurred. It was
+immediately after Washington had experienced the most trying reverses. Fort
+Washington had just been captured; over two thousand men had been taken
+prisoners, and his own eyes had beheld his men, partners of his toil,
+bayoneted and cut down while they begged for quarter. The Jerseys were
+overrun, and Philadelphia threatened by the enemy. Add to this, the
+accounts he received from Congress of the state of affairs at home, and it
+wanted but the discovery of such treachery to crush a spirit less mighty
+than his.
+
+It appears strange that Mr. Irving should form such an undue estimate of
+Reed's character, nor can we believe him to be ignorant of what was his
+real position and standing among his brother officers. As early as 1776,
+when Reed contemplated resigning his commission as Adjutant General, the
+announcement was hailed with pleasure, for Reed had few friends. Col.
+Trumbull, writing to a member of Congress on the subject, says, "I heard
+Jos. Reed had sent his resignation some time ago; in the name of common
+sense, why is it not accepted? That man's want of abilities in his office
+had introduced the greatest disorders and want of discipline into the army;
+it ought to originate from that office. Then he had done more to raise and
+keep up a jealousy between the New England and other troops, than all the
+men in the army besides. Indeed, his _stinking pride_, as General George
+Clinton expresses it, has gone so far, that I expect every day to hear he
+is called to account by some officer or other; indeed, he is universally
+hated and despised, and it is high time he was displaced." If Mr. Irving
+has not seen that letter, we refer him to the New York Gazette, of December
+the 9th, 1776, or to Mr. Peter Force's American Archives, if that work be
+more accessible to him.
+
+We have still another complaint of omission to make against Mr. Irving, and
+we think it too important a point in the history of Gen. Reed to be
+overlooked.
+
+A few days previous to the battle of Trenton, when affairs were most
+gloomy, and not a single star appeared to give the faintest glimmer of
+hope, Reed appeared despondent: "He felt the game was up, and there was no
+use of following the wretched remains of a broken army; he had a family,
+and it was but right that he should look after their interests; besides,
+the time had nearly expired during which they could avail themselves of the
+pardon offered by Gen. Howe to all those who should go over to the enemy."
+Such were the lamentations of Gen. Reed, until, in the agony of his fears,
+he communicated them to Gen. Cadwalader. The feelings of that high-minded,
+chivalrous soldier can hardly be imagined--his first impulse was to order
+Reed under the arrest, but was deterred for fear of the effect the example
+might have on the men. He, however remonstrated with him, and his arguments
+appeared for the time to restore his composure. During the night previous
+to the battle of Trenton, Reed lay concealed in Burlington, in anxious
+expectation of the result of Washington's great master-stroke.
+
+He had opposed the enterprise in his communications with Washington, by the
+most discouraging representations, and now anxiously awaited the result.
+
+His fears were worked up to the highest pitch; and the burthen of his
+conversation was, how he should protect himself. He had with him a
+companion in his weakness, and the determination they both came to was, to
+go over to the enemy early in the morning. Before, however, they could
+execute their intentions, the news arived[TN] of the victory of the
+Americans, the turning point in our country's fortunes, which gave hope to
+the people and courage to Gen. Reed.
+
+A few years after these transactions, Reed was accused in the public
+newspapers of having meditated a desertion to the enemy. He replied in a
+pamphlet, in which he attempted to defend himself, and addressed it to Gen.
+Cadwalader, whom he conceived to be the author of the charges and between
+whom and himself there was some unfriendly feelings, arising out of
+pecuniary transactions between them. Cadwalader came out with a crushing[A]
+"Reply," in which though he denied having published the statements in the
+newspapers, he yet affirmed the truth of them, and brought such
+overwhelming _proofs_ to sustain his charges, that the public lost all
+confidence in Reed, and failed to re-elect him to the office he had just
+held. It is not within the limits of an article like this to go through
+Gen. Cadwalader's pamphlet, suffice it to say, he was supported by
+Alexander Hamilton, Dickinson, Doct. Rush, Bradford, and numerous others.
+Among other things, it was proved that previous to the battle of Trenton,
+Reed had sent to Count Dunop, who commanded at Bordentown, to ask if he
+could have a _protection_ for himself and _a friend_. The messenger
+narrowly escaped being hanged, through the intercession of a friend of
+Count Dunop. This is corroborated by an extract from the Diary of "Mrs.
+Margaret Morris."
+
+Extract from a Journal kept by Margaret Morris, for the amusement and
+information of her sister Mitcah Martha Moore. Her residence at the time,
+was on the "bank" at Burlington, N. J., at the corner of Ellis Street.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"January 4th, 1777, we were told by a woman who lodged in the same room
+where General Reed and Colonel C---- took shelter, when the battle of
+Trenton dispersed the Americans, that they (Reed and C----) had laid awake
+all night consulting together about the best means of securing themselves,
+and that they came to the determination of setting off next day as soon as
+it was light to the British Camp, and joining them with all the men under
+their command. But when the morning came an express arrived with an account
+that the Americans had gained a great victory. The English made to flee
+before the ragged American Regiments. This report put the rebel General and
+Colonel in high spirits, and they concluded to remain firm to the cause of
+America. They paid me a visit, and though in my heart I despised
+them--treated them civilly, and was on the point of telling them their
+conversation the preceding night had been conveyed to me on the wings of
+the wind, but on second thought gave it up--though perhaps the time may
+come when they may hear more about it."
+
+There is still another page in the life of Gen. Reed that remains to be
+told, and that is the attempt alleged to have been made by Mrs. Ferguson to
+bribe him. All are familiar with his intensely patriotic reply, refusing
+_ten thousand pounds_, and the best office in the colonies, in his
+Majesty's gift. To be sure, Gov. Johnstone,[B] in a speech before
+Parliament, most emphatically denied having employed[C] Mrs. Ferguson to
+offer to Gen. Reed any bribe whatever, while at the same time he admits
+that _other_ means besides persuasion were used. Does he allude to the pair
+of elegant pistols that Reed accepted after the attempt to bribe him, and
+with which he was charged in the public papers? But Mr. Irving has not yet
+approached this delicate subject, and to his able hands we leave it, fully
+conscious he will give it the attention so important a circumstance
+requires.
+
+Should he fail, however, to do justice to Gen. Reed in this matter, he will
+pardon us if we again take the liberty of addressing him on the subject.
+
+We have been careful in our strictures upon the character and conduct of
+Gen. Reed to assert nothing that unquestionable evidence does not sustain;
+and if by our remarks we have lowered him from the undeserved eminence to
+which the injudicious zeal of interested parties has so industriously
+labored to elevate him, this result must rather be attributed to the
+weakness of the support, and the frailty of the statue, than to the vigor
+of the blows we have bestowed upon it.
+
+The most we have done has been to remove the deceptive varnish, and the
+idol has fallen to pieces.
+
+                                                               T. S. P.
+
+Proceedings of a General Court Martial of the line, held at Raritan in the
+State of New Jersey, for the trial of Major General Arnold, Published by
+order of Congress, Philadelphia.
+
+Printed by Francis Bailey in Market Street, 1780.
+
+Extract from the defence of General Arnold.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"On this occasion I think I may be allowed to say, without vanity, that my
+conduct, from the earliest period of the war to the present time, has been
+steady and uniform. I have ever obeyed the calls of my country, and stepped
+forth in her defence, in every hour of danger, when many were deserting her
+cause, which appeared desperate. I have often bled in it; the marks that I
+bear, are sufficient evidence of my conduct. The impartial public will
+judge of my services, and whether the returns that I have met with are not
+tinctured with the basest ingratitude. Conscious of my own innocence, and
+the unworthy methods taken to injure me, I can with boldness say to my
+persecutors in general, _and to the chief of them in particular_, that in
+the hour of _danger_ when the affairs of America wore a _gloomy aspect_,
+when our illustrious general was retreating through New Jersey, with a
+handful of men, I did not propose to my associates basely to quit the
+general, and sacrifice the cause of my country to my personal safety, by
+going over to the enemy and making my peace.
+
+"I can say I never basked in the sunshine of my general's favour, and
+courted him to his face, when I was at the same time treating him with the
+greatest disrespect, and villifying[TN] his character when absent. _This is
+more than a ruling member of the Council of Pennsylvania can say," as it is
+alleged and believed._
+
+The first edition of the Cadwalader Pamphlet was published in the year
+1782, within the last twenty years all the copies, or nearly so, have been
+spirited away--where or by whom no one knows. They have been stolen from
+the public libraries and from the book cases of private individuals. In
+1848 a second edition was issued. The publisher of this edition was
+threatened with prosecution, and although but six years have passed, it is
+now looked upon as a valuable curiosity. To the second edition was prefixed
+the following Introduction.
+
+"A few years since a writer, over the signature of "Valley Forge,"
+published in an evening paper of Philadelphia, called the "_Evening
+Journal_," and put forth certain statements connected with our
+revolutionary history, which caused a great excitement, and led to a
+challenge of an interview with the author, by the descendants of a person,
+whose character was considered as involved in doubt, as to his being a
+patriot of 1776. The party challenged failed to attend the proposed
+meeting, and this pamphlet will give a clue to the whole writings of
+"Valley Forge," and justify completely the course pursued by the editor of
+the "_Evening Journal_," who is not now of this world, and of course a
+matter immaterial perhaps to his friends and relatives.
+
+    NOTES.--"The allusion to the disrespectful treatment of the
+    General refers in part, (I fancy) to the letter addressed by
+    General Charles Lee to Reed, which came to head quarters and
+    was opened by Washington."--See Life of Joseph Reed.
+
+    "Joseph Reed at the time of the prosecution of Arnold was
+    President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania,
+    and as is well known, took an active and prominent part
+    against him."--See Spark's Life of Arnold, page 140.
+
+The letter of Major Lennox and P. Dickinson refer to a person whose name is
+not mentioned, who was included in the application to Count Donop for a
+protection. There certainly must be in the possession of some of the
+descendants of revolutionary families, evidence to show who this person
+was: and it may yet be produced, to do justice to the memory of the men who
+figured in those times.
+
+_Trenton, December 26th, 1846._
+
+The Valley Forge Letters were originally published in the Evening Journal,
+edited by Reuben Whitney, Esq., in the year 1842. I have given the printer
+the cuttings from that paper, so that the reader will get them in the exact
+condition in which they appeared, perhaps not in the same order.
+
+
+
+
+A REPLY
+
+TO
+
+Genl. JOSEPH REED'S Remarks
+
+ON A LATE PUBLICATION IN THE
+
+INDEPENDENT GAZETTEER;
+
+WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS ON HIS
+
+ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
+
+By General John Cadwalader.
+
+WITH THE LETTERS OF
+
+  Gen. George Washington, Gen. Alexander Hamilton, Major David
+  Lennox, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Gen. P. Dickinson,
+  Gen. Henry Laurens and others.
+
+       *       *       *
+
+PHILADELPHIA:
+
+PRINTED AND SOLD BY T. BRADFORD.
+
+In Front Street, the fourth door below the Coffee-House.
+
+1783.
+
+
+
+
+TO THE PUBLIC.
+
+
+When an appeal is made to the public by a person who has interested himself
+in the affairs of America from the beginning of the present revolution, he
+has a claim to their attention, with respect to transactions that reflect
+either upon his political conduct or principles as a patriot.
+
+I wish, most sincerely, that all prejudices in favor or against General
+Reed or myself, may be laid aside on the present occasion, and that truth
+and justice may influence the determination of the public.
+
+The world is now in possession of General Reed's address to me, relating to
+a conversation I had with him at Bristol, in the winter of 1776, and as it
+contains the grossest reflections upon my character, as a man of veracity
+and a patriot, it is incumbent on me to reply.
+
+Mankind have been much the same, in every age, with respect to their
+conduct in political life. Their minds have been inflamed by the same
+passions, prejudices, and resentments, and parties have been supported by
+complaints and representations, which naturally grow into invective and
+personal abuse.
+
+From these principles, General Reed has deduced those arguments and
+conclusions, which he vainly affects to think will justify him in
+asserting, that my conduct has been influenced by motives of hatred,
+resentment, and disappointed ambition. But when it shall appear, from the
+testimony I have inserted in the following sheets, that the conversation
+alluded to was spoken of by me in confidence, at a time when he asserts
+that all former personal dislike was removed, and that "we united in
+confidence and danger at the battle of Monmouth;" at a time, too, when he
+admits, that "no party or prejudices existed, (at least as to him,") the
+premises from which he has drawn his conclusions must be removed, and
+consequently his arguments fall with them.
+
+If my bare affirmative against his negative was the only foundation on
+which the public were to found their judgment, our several characters, in
+the article of veracity, would be fairly weighed by candor, and a verdict
+given in favour of the preponderating scale. If, then, I had hazarded an
+assertion, without other (the most respectable) testimony to support it,
+the consciousness of my own integrity would have suppressed any fears with
+respect to the public opinion.
+
+The many and hasty movements of my family during the present contest, have
+displaced several valuable papers relating to property as well as military
+affairs. I do not, however, despair of yet finding important ones relating
+to this matter, that may some time hence be published. But what need is
+there of more than I shall here adduce; since every prejudiced mind must
+feel (if not acknowledge) the testimony too respectable and powerful to
+admit of apology or reply. Testimony, too, obtained, (in many instances,)
+from persons to whom I am scarcely known,--persons residing in other
+States, who cannot be supposed to be the particular enemies of General
+Reed, or in any way connected with the politics of Pennsylvania.
+
+Many other certificates, supporting and confirming those I shall here offer
+to the public are omitted, as it is thought they will swell the publication
+to an unnecessary size; and affidavits may, if required, be obtained to all
+the certificates which appear in this pamphlet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the publication signed "Brutus," addressed to General Reed, containing
+certain queries, is referred to, it is thought necessary to reprint it.
+
+          _To the Printer of the Independent Gazetteer._
+
+    SIR,--It is much to the honor of America, that in the present
+    revolution, there have not been many instances of defection
+    among officers of rank in the Continental army. In Oliver
+    Cromwell's time, we frequently see a general fighting one day
+    for the King, another for the Parliament; so unstable and
+    wavering were the opinions of those republicans.
+
+    The corruption of the times is now become a universal
+    complaint, and one would be almost tempted to believe, that
+    the former days were better than these; that our forefathers
+    were possessed of greater moral rectitude than the present
+    generation, did not history and experience convince us of the
+    contrary. There is, however, one great evil peculiar to this
+    age--that of assuming the credit of being endowed with virtues
+    to which we are perfect strangers. Cunning, address, and
+    eloquence, have often misled the honest but too credulous
+    multitude, and they have been taught to consider many a man as
+    a patriot and a hero, whose real character was marked with
+    nothing but deceit and treachery to his country. It is also
+    amazing, that such men should meet with the highest success,
+    and bear their blushing honors thick upon them, whilst modest
+    merit and true patriotism could neither gain the suffrages of
+    the people, nor the approbation of those who held the reins of
+    government.
+
+    The reflections I am now making have, in a striking manner,
+    been verified in this State. I should be extremely sorry to
+    accuse without a just foundation, or to adduce a charge, were
+    I not convinced that it is of the utmost importance that the
+    public,--the people at large--should be enabled to form a
+    right opinion of such men, who have been honoured, or may be
+    honoured with their suffrages, and thereby exalted to places
+    of the highest trust and confidence.
+
+    Impressed with this idea, and with a design to elucidate such
+    characters, I shall take the liberty to propose to the public
+    the following queries:
+
+    1. Was not General R----d, in December, 1776, (then A----t
+    G----l of the Continental army,) sent by General Washington to
+    the commanding officer at Bristol, with orders relative to a
+    general attack intended to be made on the enemy's post at
+    Trenton, and those below, on the 25th, at night?
+
+    2. Two or three days before the intended attack, did not
+    General R----d say, in conversation with the said commanding
+    officer at his quarters, that our affairs looked very
+    desperate, and that we were only making a sacrifice of
+    ourselves?
+
+    3. Did he not also say, that the time of General Howe's
+    proclamation, offering pardon and protection to persons who
+    should come in before the 1st of January, 1777, was nearly
+    expired, and that Galloway, the Allens, and others, had gone
+    over, and availed themselves of the pardon and protection
+    offered by the said proclamation?
+
+    4. Did not he, General R----d, at the same time say, that he
+    had a family, and ought to take care of them; and that he did
+    not understand following the wretched remains of a broken
+    army?
+
+    5. Did he not likewise say to the said commanding officer,
+    that his brother, (then a colonel or lieutenant-colonel of
+    militia,) was at Burlington with his family, and that he had
+    advised him to remain there, and if the enemy took possession
+    of the town, to take a protection and swear allegiance?
+
+    It is well for America, that very few general officers have
+    reasoned in this manner; if they had, General Howe would have
+    made an easy conquest of the United States. And it is very
+    obvious, that officers of high rank, with such sentiments, can
+    have no just pretensions to patriotism or public virtue, and
+    can by no means be worthy of any post of honour or place of
+    trust, where the liberties and interest of the people are
+    immediately concerned.
+
+                                                           BRUTUS.
+
+    _Philadelphia, September 3, 1782._
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TO GENERAL JOSEPH REED.
+
+
+In the first part of your late publication, which is no less an invective
+against me, than it is a defence of yourself, you have, with sufficient
+art, insisted on my remarkably contentious, factious,[D] and jealous
+spirit, which suffers no man, undisturbed, to enjoy his well-earned fame; a
+circumstance in my character you expected to derive considerable benefit
+from in the controversy between us. For this point being once gained, every
+suggestion, every article of charge against you, which has its foundation
+and support in me, would naturally be referred to those fierce and
+malignant passions you have so unsparingly bestowed on me, and no longer
+rest upon the general credit and reputation I trust I have acquired and
+maintained. But as I cannot, without injustice to myself, make this
+concession to you, I must declare my general tenor of conduct to have been
+far otherwise,--that in my private life I have been at peace and harmony
+with all mankind; and in my public, at enmity only with such public men as
+have disgraced their country by their vices or injured it by their crimes.
+
+Wherein until the present, except in a single instance, have I drawn the
+public attention by attacks upon the character of any man? and that
+instance, an impostor, like yourself, who had got into a seat of honor. In
+this, it was virtue to become his accuser.
+
+If you rely upon _your_ instance, as affording a proof of my eagerness for
+controversy, it will not answer your purpose. I have not brought you to the
+public bar; for, whatever was the amount of your offences, I neither urged
+nor wished a public inquiry; another has brought you there, and I appear
+only as a witness against you, challenged and defied by yourself.
+
+This being premised, I shall enter upon my subject, and reply to such parts
+of your pamphlet as respect me, and therefore specially concern me to
+notice.
+
+Your remarks, you say, are with propriety addressed to me; because though
+not the actual author, it is to me you are really indebted for the
+insidious attempt on your reputation.
+
+That the public may have the most authentic proofs of the manner in which I
+have been involved in this controversy, I think it necessary here to insert
+the original letters that passed in the course of our correspondence, last
+fall, on this subject.
+
+    SIR,--I have, for a long time, treated the anonymous abuse
+    which disgraces our public papers with the contempt it
+    deserves. But in Oswald's paper, of last Saturday, are a set
+    of queries, signed Brutus, in which the author, not daring to
+    make an open assertion, has insinuated, that in 1776 I
+    meditated a desertion to the enemy. Though my soul rises with
+    indignation at the infamous slander, I should treat it with
+    scorn, if it did not seem to deserve some credit from a
+    reference to you. Prejudiced, as I know you are, I should be
+    sorry to suppose you capable of propagating such a sentiment,
+    or decline the opportunity of doing justice to my character,
+    and in some degree your own. And this for two reasons: first,
+    the gross falsehood of the insinuation; and, secondly, to
+    preserve a consistency in your own character, which must
+    suffer from your placing such confidence in me, with respect
+    to the military operations of that period, and permitting
+    General Washington to do the same, after such a conversation
+    as these queries suppose. I need make no apology, in this
+    case, for requesting an immediate answer,--and am, sir,
+
+                              Your obedient humble servant,
+                                                     JOSEPH REED.
+
+    _Market Street, Sept. 9, 1782._
+      Gen. Cadwalader.
+
+
+    SIR,--In answer to your letter, which I received last evening
+    by Mr. Ingersoll, relating to queries published in Mr.
+    Oswald's paper of last Saturday, signed Brutus, I can assure
+    you, (as I did Mr. Ingersoll,) that I am not the author of
+    that publication; nor have I published one single word, since
+    I came from Maryland, relating to the politics of this state;
+    yet my character has, unprovoked, been traduced by you, or
+    some of your friends. But, sir, I have repeatedly mentioned
+    the substance of those queries to individuals immediately
+    after the conversation alluded to happened; and since that
+    time in many mixed companies. As charges of the same nature
+    had some time since been made against you, to which you never
+    made a reply, the world very justly concluded they were true;
+    especially as the rank and character of the person who made
+    the charge (at that time) merited your notice. From this
+    circumstance, it occasioned an additional surprise, that you
+    should, in this instance, undertake to investigate the matter,
+    and declare in your letter to me, that the "insinuation" was
+    "a gross falsehood." I therefore now assert, that in a
+    conversation with you at the time and place mentioned in the
+    above publication, signed Brutus, that you expressed the
+    substance, and I think the very words, contained in the
+    queries. If my character for veracity wanted credit with the
+    world, one or two other gentlemen could be named, who, at
+    nearly the same time, heard expressions from you, which
+    created in them sentiments unfavourable to your character. You
+    seem to insinuate that there is an inconsistency in my
+    conduct, because I afterwards reposed a confidence in you, and
+    because I permitted General Washington to do the same. It
+    would have been very dangerous, at that critical period, to
+    have exposed your weakness and timidity to the militia, as
+    such an example might have been attended with the most fatal
+    consequences to our cause. And as your conduct, upon this
+    occasion, appeared to me to proceed from want of fortitude,
+    and not the baser motives,--and as from the observations I
+    made to you at the time, you seemed to resume more spirited
+    sentiments in conversation, as well as from political motives,
+    I continued to show an appearance of confidence, and concluded
+    it best not to mention it to the General. The successes that
+    soon followed gave a happy turn to our affairs, and thus, you,
+    (with many others,) appeared to possess firmness in prosperity
+    who had shown a want of it in times of imminent danger.
+
+    If your conduct in civil life had been such as could have been
+    approved of, former transactions might have been buried in
+    oblivion. But when I see a man endeavouring to injure the
+    reputation of those, whose principles and conduct, from the
+    beginning of the contest, have been uniformly exerted to
+    obtain those ends intended by the revolution; and when he
+    denies all merit to those who are not equally violent with
+    himself, it is difficult to be silent.
+
+                I am, sir, your obedient servant,
+
+    _Philadelphia, 10th Sept., 1782._              JOHN CADWALADER.
+
+      General Reed.
+
+
+                                   _Philadelphia, Sept. 10, 1782._
+
+    SIR,--After waiting some time, and being just about to set off
+    for Bucks, I received your letter of this morning, and am at a
+    loss which to admire most, the depravity of your heart, or the
+    weakness of your understanding. Your quoting General Arnold's
+    testimony to vindicate your own falsehood is perfectly
+    consistent. You shall hear further from me on my return from
+    Bucks. In the mean time, I have made inquiry of Messrs. T.
+    Smith and Shippen, whom you mentioned to Mr. Ingersoll as
+    hearing from you sentiments similar to those in the queries,
+    with a view of communicating them to me; which they never did,
+    because they deny the least recollection of any such
+    information; which must have been too striking to them, and
+    interesting to me, to have passed unnoticed. Your talent for
+    invention is also displayed on this occasion most probably.
+
+    Whatever you may suppose, several of my friends well know,
+    that I have been anxious to trace some loose reports that I
+    had heard, which your residence in Maryland, and the
+    improbability of your saying such things, had induced me to
+    neglect.
+
+    As to your insinuation of my writing against you in the
+    newspapers, or its being done with my privity, it is equally
+    groundless with all the rest. I have not wrote in the
+    newspapers for a long time, nor at any time in my life
+    respecting you.
+
+                 I am, sir, your very humble servant,
+
+    General Cadwalader.                              JOSEPH REED.
+
+                      _To General Reed._
+
+    SIR,--I shall make no reply, _at this time_, to the
+    expressions contained in your letter of the 10th inst.; but as
+    you inform me that you are on the point of setting off for
+    Bucks, I do not think it incumbent on me to remain here until
+    you return, especially as I informed Mr. Ingersoll, that I
+    intended leaving town as soon as the dust was laid, and wished
+    you to take your measures as soon as possible, as I should
+    make my arrangements accordingly. Some of my servants are
+    gone, and I have every thing packed up; it will, therefore, be
+    very inconvenient to detain my family, as you do not mention
+    when you purpose returning. As you say I shall hear from you
+    on your return from Bucks, I must inform you, that the post
+    leaves this city for the Eastern Shore every Wednesday, at
+    three o'clock; be pleased to direct to me, in Kent County,
+    Maryland, to be left at Stewart's. You shall have my answer by
+    the return of the post, or if necessary, I shall attend in
+    person for further investigation.
+
+               I am, sir, your obedient servant,
+
+    _Philadelphia, 12th Sept., 1782._             JOHN CADWALADER.
+
+    SIR,--Mr. Clymer delivered me your letter of the 12th instant.
+    Your sudden departure from this city was indeed
+    unexpected,--your declaration to Mr. Ingersoll not implying it
+    to be so very soon;[E] and I should have supposed that my
+    letter of the 10th, would have some weight to protract your
+    journey. Before I received yours of the 10th, I had prepared a
+    small publication, which the receipt of your letter did not
+    influence me to alter or delay; as no signature could change
+    the nature of things, and make falsehood truth, or truth
+    falsehood. Having there declared the insinuation in Oswald's
+    paper of the 7th instant to be false, I now apply the same
+    epithet to your avowal of them; and am sorry, though not
+    surprised, that your violence of temper should have occasioned
+    such a deviation from the line of veracity so essential to the
+    character of a gentleman.
+
+    I am already possessed of sundry authentic documents; a few
+    days will complete them,--not to show my innocence,--the
+    improbability of your charge, and inconsistency of your own
+    conduct, making that unnecessary; but to show to what lengths
+    a rancorous heart, puffed up by sudden and accidental wealth,
+    can push a man of weak judgment and ungovernable passions.
+
+    I need not give you my address, though I think it incumbent on
+    me to assure you, that if by investigation you mean a personal
+    interview, I will endeavour to make it as convenient as
+    possible, and will shorten the distance between us.
+
+              I am, sir, your obedient humble servant,
+
+    _Philadelphia, 23d Sept., 1782._                JOSEPH REED.
+
+    General Cadwalader.
+
+                                _Maryland, 30th September, 1782._
+
+    SIR,--I received yours of the 23d inst. by the post. From the
+    style of your first letter, (9th Sept.) in which you required
+    an "immediate answer," I fully expected an immediate
+    interview. As you declined the interview I proposed through
+    Mr. Ingersoll, and left town the next morning, without saying
+    when you proposed returning, and having determined not to
+    "alter or delay" the "small publication," which you "had
+    prepared before the receipt of my first letter,"--I am at a
+    loss to know what could have occasioned your surprise at my
+    departure, before your return from Bucks. After having
+    promised to the public the most satisfactory proofs, that no
+    such conversation as alluded to in the queries ever passed, it
+    was reasonable to allow you some time to prepare your
+    "authentic document." Your last letter (23d Sept) informs that
+    they were not _then_ completed. And could you reasonably
+    expect that I should have remained in town till this is
+    completed? or could you suppose I would suffer your
+    publication, worked up, as it no doubt will be, with all the
+    cunning and misrepresentation you are master of, to pass
+    unanswered? As you have protracted this affair by your
+    _engagement_ to the public, I shall not put it in the power of
+    _accident_ to deprive me of the opportunity of laying the
+    facts I am possessed of open to public view. The question will
+    then be, whether what I have avowed is true? My wealth,
+    judgment, or passions, can have no influence, either way, with
+    impartial men. My own character, the character of others
+    concerned, and all the circumstances combined, will determine
+    the judgment of the public. This business being ended, an
+    interview may reasonably be expected.
+
+                 I am, sir, your humble servant,
+      Gen. Reed, Philadelphia.                   JOHN CADWALADER.
+
+
+Having for several years given over every expectation of seeing those
+changes made in the constitution of Pennsylvania, which I have ever thought
+necessary to secure that happiness and liberty intended by the revolution,
+I retired, and have never since even expressed my sentiments concerning the
+politics of this state, except among my particular friends. Your vexatious
+administration hath furnished an example, to what a dangerous length the
+authority of government may be carried under such a constitution.
+
+The particular circumstances of my family made it necessary to spend a few
+months in this city, last summer, without an intention of taking up my
+residence here till the conclusion of the war; and though I never
+interfered in politics here, except among my particulr[TN] friends, I was
+attacked, in the public papers, by a party blindly devoted to you and your
+measures; I made no reply, from a confidence that such intimations could
+not injure me with those whose good opinion I regarded. But whether a
+friend published the piece signed Brutus, in the mere spirit of
+retaliation, or whether it was calculated for political purposes, at the
+last election, let the author determine. The conversation, alluded to in
+the queries, was known to many long before that period; among whom were
+some of your friends, in proof of which I offer Mr. Prior's
+certificate.[F]
+
+Having mentioned the conversation _publicly_, those who heard it were
+certainly at liberty to make what use of it they saw proper.
+
+Being entrusted with the command of the militia and a New England brigade,
+which lay at Bristol in December, 1776, I had permission from the
+Commander-in-chief to make an attack on the enemy, whenever I thought it
+could be done with success; I was prepared on the evening of the 22d
+December, to attempt the enemy's post, above the Black Horse, with seven
+hundred men; and about nine or ten o'clock, P. M., I received a letter from
+the general, requesting, if the enterprise was not too far advanced, to lay
+it aside, as he intended a general attack on the enemy's posts in a few
+days. From this circumstance, it appears, that the general gave me the
+information relating to the intended attack, the evening before you
+received his letter of the 23d December, in which the precise time was
+fixed. As he knew my intention to command the party myself, and therefore I
+might not be at Bristol the next day, this will account for his letter, of
+the 23d being directed to you. But here you mean to convey an idea that a
+preference in this communication was intended to you, though he had given
+me, in effect, the same information the evening before. This, too, you
+adduce as a proof of the general's "unbounded confidence in you," and you
+say you were sent by General Washington for the "express purpose of
+assisting me;" and "whatever my abilities were, that I had less experience
+of actual service than you had,--that you were received with cool civility,
+and very few marks of private attention;" though you acknowledge that I, at
+the same time, consulted you without reserve on our "military affairs." I
+will admit, that your opportunities of acquiring experience were greater
+than mine; and considering the extensive command I then had, (which was in
+number nearly equal to the force under the immediate command of General
+Washington,) I should have thought it no reflection on my abilities; nor
+would it have hurt my feelings, if an officer of superior abilities and
+rank had been sent to take the command,--or even an _inferior_ officer to
+assist me. But whether your appointment was of the mere _motion_ of the
+commander-in-chief, or at your instance, (for assisting me or _other
+purposes_,) may at least become a _question_.
+
+That I received you "with cool civility, and very few marks of private
+attention," I do not remember; but to give what you mean to convey its full
+force, I will not hesitate to acknowledge it in its fullest extent; as you
+have granted, that I consulted "without reserve on our military affairs."
+In this instance, the world will do me justice, as it appears that I did
+not suffer personal dislike to interfere with public duty.
+
+Though the world have little to do with the causes of private animosities,
+I shall think myself perfectly excusable, here to say a few words on this
+subject, as you have assigned causes for the interruption of our intimacy
+different from the true ones, and with a view of creating prejudices
+against me.
+
+I acknowledge that such intimacy subsisted between us in early life, and
+you malignantly date its "dissolution" at the time of my sudden accession
+of fortune as owing thereto. If I were to admit, that you could properly
+date this breach from the moment you mention, I flatter myself, you would
+find it very difficult to persuade those who know me, to believe that to be
+the true cause. But this was really not the fact. The unworthy measures you
+took to evade the payment, (till compelled by a judgment of the court,) of
+Mr. Porter's order on you in favor of my brother and myself, which you had
+accepted, (to be paid out of a bond assigned by said Porter to you in
+trust,) was the true motive of that dissolution you complain of. If you
+turn to the records of the court, or review the correspondence with my
+brother on that subject, you must blush at such a subterfuge. From _that_
+time, and owing thereto, I avoided your company. I could here make the
+proper reflections, with respect to your veracity and integrity, but the
+world will do you justice.
+
+The critical situation of our affairs, in the winter of 1776, is well known
+to every inhabitant of the United States; but those only who were at that
+time in the field, can have a true idea of the circumstances which often
+threatened the dissolution of the militia. My situation gave me better
+opportunities of knowing the feelings and temper of both officers and
+privates, than any other person; and the happy expedients used on several
+occasions, to prevent their going home in a body, are well known to many
+officers whom I then had the honour to command.
+
+The first intimation we had of the capture of General Lee, was received by
+a flag which arrived at my quarters. To determine whether this was a
+misfortune, or an advantage to the cause of America, is at this time
+immaterial. It was then, however, generally thought a matter of great
+magnitude, in the British as well as in the American camp. The effect it
+had on our army is well remembered by those who were present, but
+particularly on the militia.
+
+That men attached to a cause upon principle, should persevere in a
+prosperous situation of affairs, is not uncommon. We were at that time
+separated from our enemies only by a river, which we expected every day
+might be passable on the ice,--greatly inferior in number and discipline,
+and almost destitute of everything necessary even for defence. Add to this,
+a proclamation of General Howe, offering pardon and protection to those who
+should submit and swear allegiance before the first of January, 1777, and
+this time nearly expired. I say, under such circumstances, it would be
+wonderful indeed, if no officer of the army sunk under the apprehension of
+those dangers that threatened him. That there were more than _yourself_, I
+well know, whose expressions discovered a timidity unworthy an officer and
+a patriot, who, notwithstanding, from the well-timed and spirited
+remonstrances of their friends, were induced to assume a firmer tone of
+behaviour, and have since rendered their country considerable services.
+
+Having fully stated the temper of men's minds at this alarming period, and
+the situation of public affairs, I shall now recite the conversation and
+circumstances relating thereto, which I have avowed in my letter to you of
+the 10th September, as having passed between us at Bristol.
+
+I had occasion to speak with you a few days before the intended attack on
+the 26th December, 1776, and requested you to retire with me to a private
+room at my quarters; the business related to intelligence; a general
+conversation, however, soon took place, concerning the state of public
+affairs; and after running ever a number of topics,--in an agony of mind,
+and despair strongly expressed in your countenance and tone of voice, you
+spoke your apprehensions concerning the event of the contest,--that our
+affairs looked very desperate, and we were only making a sacrifice of
+ourselves; that the time of General Howe's offering pardon and protection
+to persons who should come in before the first of January, 1777, was nearly
+expired; and that Galloway, the Allens, and others, had gone over, and
+availed themselves of that pardon and protection, offered by the said
+proclamation; that you had a family, and ought to take care of them, and
+that you did not understand following the wretched remains (or remnants) of
+a broken army; that your brother (then a colonel or lieutenant-colonel of
+militia,--but you say of the five months' men, which is not material,) was
+then at Burlington, with his family; and that you had advised him to remain
+there, and if the enemy took possession of the town, to take a protection
+and swear allegiance; and in so doing he would be perfectly justifiable.
+
+This was the substance, and I think nearly the very words; but that "_you
+did not understand following the wretched remains (or remnants) of a broken
+army_," I perfectly remember to be the _very words_ you expressed.
+
+That our situation was critical, and the dangers that threatened us great,
+were universally acknowledged; but I was astonished to hear such
+expressions from the _Adjutant-General_ of the army, as your conduct had
+been approved of by report; for your good behaviour was not personally
+known to me. Judging from appearances, and from all circumstances at the
+time, I imputed these sentiments _solely_ to timidity; and therefore, to
+rouse your feelings, and give new vigor to a mind weakened by fear, I
+recalled to your memory your former public professions and conduct, and
+endeavoured to paint, in the strongest colours, the fatal consequences,
+that would ensue from such an example, particularly to the militia; that if
+officers, (more especially one in your station,) discovered a want of
+firmness, we could not reasonably expect private soldiers to remain in the
+field; and added, that as I was commanding officer there, I should not pass
+over such expressions in future; appearing to be invigorated by these
+remonstrances, your subsequent conversation induced me to hope from you a
+more honourable resolution. The immediate turn in our affairs confirmed
+this hope. I had, besides, at the moment, a still stronger dissuasive. I
+foresaw that an "arrest," or discovery, on my part, would produce all the
+bad effects naturally to be apprehended from actual desertion; I mean with
+respect to the discouragement which such an example would have caused in
+the army, but particularly in the militia; and especially, as at that time
+the militia were assembling at Philadelphia, under General Putnam, from
+every part of the country, influenced by the example of the city troops, as
+well as by a sense of danger and duty. If, then, the city militia had
+disbanded, no person can hesitate to determine what would have been the
+fate of those from the country.
+
+The reasons of my concealing it from the General were, that nothing but an
+arrest, on his part, could have prevented the execution of this plan of
+desertion, and the bad consequences ensuing from it, the betraying of
+secrets; and such arrest would have wrought the _other_ ill consequences I
+have spoken of. In this dilemma, I used a discretion which I considered
+most advantageous to my country; and trusted to my hopes, that so important
+an event, as your defection, would not happen, and thus avoid the
+_immediate_ and _certain_ EVIL. And besides, I have, in every stage of the
+war, shown a disposition to overlook political weaknesses, conceiving that
+every man we could retain in the service an acquisition, tending to draw
+forth the whole strength and abilities of my country against the common
+enemy.
+
+That the conversation alluded to is a new tale, devised in the malignancy
+of party, has been asserted by you; and on this assertion is founded many
+of your strongest conclusions in favour of your own innocence. But what
+must the world think of your effrontery, when they read the following
+letter of Col. Alexander Hamilton, who was then Aid-de-Camp to the
+Commander-in-chief, and now a delegate in Congress; whose conduct and
+character are well known and approved by the citizens of every State in the
+Union,--a gentleman, who, being a resident of the State of New York, cannot
+be supposed in any manner concerned in the politics of Pennsylvania?
+
+
+                                 PHILADELPHIA, _14th March, 1783_.
+
+    DEAR SIR:--Though disagreeable to appear in any manner in a
+    personal dispute; yet I cannot, in justice to you, refuse to
+    comply with the request contained in your note. I have delayed
+    answering it, to endeavour to recollect, with more precision,
+    the time, place and circumstances of the conversation, to
+    which you allude. I cannot, however, remember with certainty
+    more than this: that some time in the campaign of
+    seventy-seven, at head-quarters in this State, you mentioned
+    to me and some other gentlemen of General Washington's family,
+    in a confidential way, that at some period in seventy-six, I
+    think after the American army crossed the Delaware in its
+    retreat, Mr. Reed had spoken to you in terms of great
+    despondency respecting American affairs, and had intimated,
+    that he thought it time for gentlemen to take care of
+    themselves, and that it was unwise any longer to follow the
+    fortunes of a ruined cause, or something of a similar import.
+    It runs in my mind, that the expressions you declared to have
+    been made use of by Mr. Reed were, that he thought he ought no
+    longer to "risk his life and fortunes with the shattered
+    remains of a broken army:" but it is the part of candour to
+    observe, that I am not able to distinguish with certainty,
+    whether the recollection I have of these words arises from the
+    strong impression made by your declaration at the time, or
+    from having heard them more than once repeated within a year
+    past.
+
+    I am, dear sir, with great esteem, your obedient servant,
+                                                       A. HAMILTON.
+    To General Cadwalader.
+
+
+At the time I communicated the contents of Colonel Hamilton's certificate
+to him, in confidence, it appears by your own acknowledgment, that[G] "no
+party or prejudices existed, (at least as to you,")--"the intercourse
+arising from these mingled duties and services, which were continued until
+the army went into winter quarters, at the VALLEY FORGE, soon did away the
+coolness which had for some years subsisted, and in no small degree revived
+our former habits of friendship;"--"but it was our lot to meet again, a few
+days before the battle of Monmouth; here we were again united in confidence
+and danger. After the battle, we left the army together, and that period
+closed our friendly intercourse forever." From these, (your expressions,)
+you affect to believe, and wish the world to think, that our former
+friendship was restored. It was not so; I cannot call it friendship. The
+transaction I have mentioned occasioned the dissolution of that intimacy,
+contracted in early life, which but little accorded with my notion of
+perfect integrity. From that time, and owing solely to that cause, I took
+the resolution to avoid your company, as a private gentleman, and which I
+constantly adhered to. Meeting in the army, where we served most of the
+time in the character of volunteers, I did not think it right to suffer
+former dislikes to interrupt the duties and services required of us by the
+commander-in-chief, so necessary for mutual and general safety. If, then,
+my dislike to you did not proceed from such motives as sometimes induce men
+to seek for opportunities of gratifying their resentments, for what purpose
+could I have invented such a "_tale_?" or if my resentment was such as you
+represent, why did I not gratify it by making it public immediately? at
+that time, my mind could not have been "inflamed by party;" because you
+admit, that no parties then existed, ("at least as to you;") nor could my
+ambition have been disappointed,--because, being commanding officer of the
+Pennsylvania Militia, (the council of safety, who then held the powers of
+government,) could not gratify me further. I could not have "mistaken a
+conversation with some other person," because there was not that "distance
+of time," which you suppose, nor can it be conceived by the most credulous
+to be "some jocular expression;" because the situation of affairs rather
+suppressed than excited in you the appearance of mirth. Having mentioned
+this conversation long before parties were formed here, it must appear to
+every impartial person, that it could not have been the mere invention of
+my own "brain," suggested in the spirit of party; and it is still more
+absurd to suppose, that I could have foreseen that you, who then thought as
+I did concerning the essential objections to the constitution of
+Pennsylvania, should refuse the appointment of Chief Justice, because you
+could not, in conscience, take the oath of office; that Mr. Wharton (the
+first President,) should die; and yet that you should afterwards accept the
+chair of government. It is, however, incontestibly proved, that the
+conversation alluded to was spoken of by me at an early period, and long
+before your appointment to the chair of government; and yet you say, "the
+prosecution of General Arnold, I have no doubt, gave rise to it." If I was
+to leave it to your ingenuity to explain to the world my motives for
+inventing such a "tale," to what purposes could you possibly impute my
+design? It could not be to gratify my resentment for the injury you
+attempted upon my property; because I did not then make it public; it could
+not be occasioned by any personal offence taken in 1777, (when I privately
+mentioned it to Colonel Hamilton,) because you contend that our "former
+habits of friendship" were revived, and acknowledge, that I never made it
+public for several years afterwards. Here, then, the man of humanity may
+ask me, why did you, at so late a date, publicly mention a circumstance
+injurious to General Reed's reputation, as adjutant-general of the army and
+a patriot, which after-services ought to have consigned to oblivion? The
+question is a natural one, and I will give it an answer. The first occasion
+of my mentioning this matter publicly was this: soon after our return to
+the city, in the year 1778, among the victims selected for public examples,
+there was a young gentleman, with whom I had formed an intimacy in early
+life. I considered him, as he was by many, (and his acquittal justified the
+opinion,) as unjustly persecuted; but General Reed, who had resumed his
+original profession, _voluntarily_ aided the prosecution, and with all the
+force of declamation, labored to inflame his judges and jury against him.
+It was then, recollecting how near he once appeared to the commission of
+the same offence which he charged upon the other, or at least to a
+defection from the cause, that my indignation broke out at the trial,
+saying to those around me, that "_it argued the extremity of effrontery and
+baseness, in one man to pursue another to death, for taking a step which
+his own foot had been once raised to take_!"[H] This was anterior to his
+elevation to the Presidency, and whilst his powers of doing mischief, were
+he so inclined, were circumscribed by the narrowness of his sphere of
+action; at such a time, could I think his loss of fame so essential to the
+public good, or, if he will, to the purposes of party, as to be willing to
+attempt it, at the expense of my private veracity, my honour and
+conscience.
+
+The inconsistency of such ostensible conduct, and the baseness of a
+meditated defection, is not irreconcilable to those who have had
+opportunities of knowing that he is not incapable of such vast extremes;
+who have seen him at the bar of the assembly he himself disqualified by the
+non-compliance with the test of laws, as since fully appears by a
+publication signed Sidney, unblushingly attempt to set aside the famous
+Chester election, upon the suggestion of its having been carried by
+electors disqualified from the like circumstances.
+
+It is thus I would have answered the question, why I have mentioned
+publicly your meditated defection, and I trust that such provocation
+merited those reflections which might otherwise have remained in my own
+breast.
+
+The objection to the force of my single testimony thus obviated, did no
+other offer to corroborate it, I should not hesitate to submit it, under
+such circumstances, to the judgment of the public, resting _their_
+determination upon the credit of _my_ veracity against _yours_. Having
+supported an unblemished character, I dare defy any person to produce an
+instance where I have even been suspected of an untruth, or of a base or
+dishonourable action. Conscious of the truth of what I have asserted, I
+have no fears that my conduct will ever "dishonour me with the wise and
+virtuous."
+
+The reason I have assigned for the dissolution of our intimacy antecedent
+to the war, will afford a better proof of your ingenuity than your
+integrity; and further, (with respect to your veracity,) if any other
+instance is necessary, let me add one which happened at camp, (at
+head-quarters,) in the year 1777, soon after the battle of Germantown, when
+in my hearing, and in the presence of three officers of the first rank in
+the army, you was charged to your face with a falsehood, and which was
+fully proved the next day, by the general officer who made the charge.
+
+And now, before I introduce the concurrent testimony in support of my
+assertion, I shall take but a momentary notice here of those disrespectful
+expressions with which you have decorated your pamphlet. Weakness of head,
+is an accusation of a kind which it would equally puzzle the fool and the
+wise to reply to; but against that of badness of heart, my known tenor of
+conduct, in private and public life, must be my defence; if that fails, it
+must be needless in me to set up any other.
+
+But if even prejudiced men should still doubt the truth of my assertion,
+with respect to the conversation alluded to, in the above representation,
+every doubt must be removed upon reading the following certificates.
+
+
+                                   _Hermitage, 5th October, 1782._
+
+    DEAR GENERAL,--In the winter of 1776, after we had crossed the
+    Delaware, General Reed, in conversation with me, said that he,
+    and several others of my friends, were surprised at seeing me
+    there. I told him, I did not understand such a conversation;
+    that as I had engaged in the cause from principle, I was
+    determined to share the fate of my country; to which he made
+    no reply, and the conversation ended. As I had the honour of
+    commanding the militia of New Jersey, both duty and
+    inclination led me to use every exertion, in support of a
+    cause I had engaged in from the purest motives. I was really
+    much surprised at General Reed's manner, considering the
+    station he then acted in, and his reputation as a patriot; but
+    I considered it as the effect of despondency, from the then
+    gloomy prospect of our affairs.
+
+    This I mentioned to several of my friends at the time, who all
+    viewed it in the same point of light.
+
+                     I am, dear General, yours,
+
+    General Cadwalader.                              P. DICKINSON.
+
+
+    I do hereby certify, that in December, 1776, while the militia
+    lay at Bristol, General Reed, to the best of my recollection
+    and belief, upon my inquiring the news, and what he thought of
+    our affairs in general, said that appearances were very gloomy
+    and unfavourable; that he was fearful or apprehensive the
+    business was nearly settled, or the game almost up, or words
+    to the same effect. That these sentiments appeared to me very
+    extraordinary and dangerous, as I conceived they would, at
+    _that time_, have a very bad tendeney[TN], if publicly known to be
+    the sentiments of General Reed, who then held an appointment
+    in the army of the first consequence.
+
+
+    _Philadelphia, March 12, 1783._                    JOHN DIXON.
+
+    A few days before the battle of Trenton, on the 26th of
+    December, 1776, I rode with Mr. Reed from Bristol to Head
+    Quarters near New Town. In the course of our ride, our
+    conversation turned upon public affairs, when Mr. Reed
+    expressed himself in the manner following.
+
+    He spoke with great respect of the bravery of the British
+    troops, and with great contempt of the cowardice of the
+    American, and more especially of the New England troops. So
+    great was the terror inspired by the British soldiers into the
+    minds of our men, that he said, when a British soldier was
+    brought as a prisoner to our camp, our soldiers viewed him at
+    a distance as a superior kind of being.
+
+    Upon my lamenting to him the supposed defection of Mr.
+    Dickinson, who it was unjustly said, had deserted his country,
+    he used the following words: "Damn him--I wish the devil had
+    him, when he wrote the Farmer's letters. He has began an
+    opposition to Great Britain which we have not strength to
+    finish."
+
+    Upon my lamenting that a gentleman, of his acquaintance, had
+    submitted to the enemy, he said, "that he had acted properly,
+    and that a man who had a family, did right to take that care
+    of them."
+
+    The whole of his conversation upon the subject of our affairs,
+    indicated a great despair of the American cause.
+
+    Upon my going to Baltimore, to take my seat in Congress, the
+    latter end of January, I mentioned the above conversation to
+    my brother. I likewise mentioned it to the Hon. John Adams,
+    Esq., with whom I then lived in intimacy, a day or two after
+    his return from Boston to Congress. I did not mention it with
+    a view of injuring Mr. Reed, for I still respected him,
+    especially as I then believed that the victory at Trenton had
+    restored the tone of his mind, and dissipated his fears, but
+    to show Mr. Adams an instance of a man possessing and
+    exercising military spirit and activity, and yet deficient in
+    political fortitude. To which I well remember Mr. Adams
+    replied in the following words: "The powers of the human mind
+    are combined together in an infinite variety of ways."
+
+                                                    BENJAMIN RUSH.
+
+    _Philadelphia, March 3, 1783._
+
+    I went with Congress to Baltimore, in 1776. On the arrival of
+    my brother there, a few weeks afterwards, I called to see him.
+    To the best of my recollection, Mr. Clerk and Dr. Witherspoon,
+    delegates from New Jersey, were in the room with him. The two
+    former, after some time withdrew, and my brother then
+    mentioned the conversation as related by him above. He
+    informed me, also, of some _other_ conversation that passed
+    between Mr. Reed and him, which is not necessary at present to
+    repeat.
+
+                                                       JACOB RUSH.
+
+    _Philadelphia, March 3, 1783._
+
+    Joseph Ellis, a Colonel of Militia, in the county of
+    Gloucester, and State of New Jersey, doth hereby certify, that
+    upon the retreat of a body of militia from before Count Donop,
+    in the neighborhood of Mount Holly, in Burlington county, in
+    the month of December, 1776, he met with Charles Pettit, Esq.,
+    _then Secretary of the said State_, that a conversation ensued
+    between them respecting the situation of the public dispute at
+    that period; that Mr. Pettit, in said conversation,
+    representing that our affairs were desperate, Col. Ellis
+    endeavoured to dissuade him from such an opinion, when Mr.
+    Pettit replied, "What hurts me more than all is, my
+    brother-in-law, General Reed, has, (or I believe he has,)
+    given up the contest." That a good deal more passed between
+    Mr. Pettit and Col. Ellis, during the said cnnversation[TN], but
+    omitted here, as being thought unnecessary.
+
+                                                     JOSEPH ELLIS.
+
+    _Woodbury, March 9, 1783._
+
+    I do certify that I was present at the conversation alluded to
+    above; that although I cannot recollect the express words made
+    use of in the said conversation, yet such conversation did
+    take place, and that the substance of it answers to the
+    certificate of Col. Ellis.
+
+                                               FRANKLIN DAVENPORT.
+
+    _Woodbury, March 9, 1783._
+
+    These are to certify, that in December, 1776, and January,
+    1777, I, the subscriber, was Major of the second battalion of
+    Philadelphia Militia, whereof John Bayard was Colonel, and
+    then lay at Bristol, and part of the time opposite Trenton, on
+    the Pennsylvania side. That while we lay at Bristol, Joseph
+    Reed, Esq., joined us; that during his being there and near
+    Trenton, he often went out for intelligence, as Col. Bayard
+    told me, over to Burlington, in which place the enemy
+    frequently were; that being absent frequently all day and all
+    night, I as frequently inquired what could become of Gen.
+    Reed. Col. Bayard often answered me, he feared he had left us
+    and gone over to the enemy. One time in particular, being
+    absent two days and two nights, if not three nights, Col.
+    Bayard came to me with great concern, and said he was fully
+    persuaded Gen. Reed was gone to join the enemy and make his
+    peace. I asked him, how he could possibly think so of a man,
+    who had taken so early a part, and had acted steadily. He
+    replied, he was persuaded it was so; for he knew the General
+    thought it was all over, and that we would not stand against
+    the enemy; and at the same time wept much. I endeavoured all I
+    could to drive such notions from him, but he was so fully
+    persuaded that he had left us and gone over to the enemy, that
+    arguing about the matter was only loss of time; Col. Bayard
+    often making mention, that he knew his sentiments much better
+    than I did. After being absent two or three nights, Gen. Reed
+    returned, and I never saw more joy expressed than was by Col.
+    Bayard; he declared to me, that he was glad Gen. Reed was
+    returned, for he was fully convinced in his own mind that he
+    was gone over to the enemy.
+
+                                                WILLIAM BRADFORD.
+
+    _Manor of Moreland, Philadelphia County, March 15, 1783._
+
+    Having been called upon by General Cadwalader respecting a
+    report which has been propagated concerning Mr. Joseph Reed--I
+    declare on my honour, the circumstances are as follows. In the
+    spring of 1780, I obtained permission for an interview with my
+    brother at Elizabethtown. In the course of conversation, one
+    day, he happened to mention that there were men among us, who
+    held the first offices, who applied for protection from the
+    British while they lay in New Jersey. I was alarmed at this
+    assertion, and insisted on knowing who they were;--he said,
+    that when the British army lay in Jersey, in 1776, Count Donop
+    commanded at Bordentown; that he was often at that officer's
+    quarters, and possessed some degree of his confidence; that
+    one day, _an inhabitant came into their lines, with an
+    application from Mr. Joseph Reed, the purport of which was, to
+    know whether he could have protection for himself and his
+    property_, (there was another person included in the
+    _application_, whose _name_ it is not necessary here to
+    mention.) The man was immediately ordered for execution, but
+    it was prevented by the interposition of my brother and some
+    other persons, who had formerly known him. Perhaps Mr. Reed
+    and his friends may say, that Count Donop would not have
+    ordered the man executed, had he not thought he came for
+    intelligence. No doubt that officer would have justified his
+    conduct by putting upon the footing of a spy, but why was
+    another person included in the application, and one who was
+    not looked on as a trifling character? his name I will mention
+    to any one who will apply to me; however, my brother said, the
+    man who was sent with the application was a poor peasant, and
+    the most unfit person in the world to send for intelligence;
+    this argument was what had weight with Count Donop, and which
+    saved his life.[I] These circumstances being mentioned by a
+    brother, and which he declared to be true, naturally produced
+    an alteration in my sentiments of Mr. Reed; for previous to
+    this, there were few men of whom I entertained so high an
+    opinion. On my return to Philadelphia, I made no secret of
+    what I heard; indeed, I thought it my duty to mention it
+    publicly, that it might prevent further power being put into
+    the hands of a man who might make a bad use of it. The report
+    circulated daily, and I was often called on to mention the
+    circumstances, which I always did, and which I should have
+    done to Mr. Reed, had he applied to me. I remember, among the
+    number who came to me, was Major Thomas Moore, who said he
+    intended to inform Mr. Reed; but whether he did or not, I
+    cannot pretend to say.
+
+    There is another thing I wish to mention. My brother came into
+    the river in a flag of truce, on special application of our
+    commissary of prisoners, to take a number of prisoners who
+    were exchanged, to save us the expense and trouble of sending
+    them by land; this was in the month of May, 1781. He was
+    detained, about nine miles below the city, upwards of four
+    weeks, and never permitted to visit it, although application
+    was made for that purpose, by several captains of vessels, who
+    had been prisoners, and to whom he had rendered civilities. I
+    declined making application myself, as I supposed my being in
+    the service from the commencement of the war, and having
+    endured a rigorous confinement for eighteen months, in the
+    worst of times, to have been sufficient to have obtained
+    permission for a brother to have been in my house, in
+    preference to a cabin in a small vessel in a river;--however,
+    I endeavoured to make his situation as agreeable as possible,
+    by visiting him often, and by taking my friends with me. I
+    REMEMBER Col. Francis Nichols went with me one day, to whom my
+    brother mentioned Mr. Reed's intended desertion, and who, I
+    doubt not, will acknowledge it, on any person's applying to
+    him; he is at present in Virginia, but is expected in town in
+    a few days.
+
+                                                    DAVID LENNOX.
+
+    Having been called upon by General Cadwalader, to certify, so
+    far as my knowledge extends, as to the matter hereinafter
+    mentioned, I do declare, that in the spring of the year 1781,
+    I went with Major Lennox, of this city, on board of a flag of
+    truce vessel, then lying in the river Delaware, where she had
+    arrived from New York, and heard Mr. Robert Lennox, deputy
+    commissary of prisoners under the British king, say, that in
+    the year of 1776, a person had arrived at Count Donop's
+    quarters, near Bordentown, in New Jersey, who told the Count,
+    that he had been sent to him by Gen. Reed and another person,
+    whose name I do not think necessary to mention, to procure a
+    protection for them; that the Count refused to grant them a
+    protection in that manner, and was about to treat the person
+    who had applied to him as a spy, but was prevented by the
+    entreaties of the said Robert Lennox, and some other
+    gentlemen.
+
+    _Philadelphia, 17th March, 1783._            FRANCIS NICHOLS.
+
+
+Here, then, it fully appears, that the testimony contained in the above
+certificates, all point to the same object, and to the same period
+mentioned by me, supporting and confirming each other. They likewise
+clearly prove the whole progress of your meditated defection; they prove
+that you deceived me by those professions, by which I had been induced to
+trust to your appearances of fidelity, as you absolutely made an
+application for a protection to Count Donop, in which an intimate friend of
+yours was included.
+
+But what opinion must the world form of your veracity, when you are
+detected in falsely asserting, that you had not mentioned such sentiments
+to your most intimate friends and relations. "Is it not utterly
+incredible," you say, "that I should hold such communication or sentiments
+from my most intimate friends and relations, and make it to a person with
+whom I had held no friendship for many years; who had received me with
+coldness." Mr. Pettit is your relation, and Col. Bayard your most intimate
+friend, with whom, at that time, you had the freest intercourse. To these
+you communicated your sentiments, as appears by the certificates of Col.
+Bradford, Col. Ellis, and Mr. Davenport; but your friend, hinted at in
+Major Lennox's certificate, had consented to accompany you in your intended
+desertion. The height of your iniquity does not end here; you endeavoured,
+by your influence, to spread general disaffection, in order to lessen your
+share of the infamy, by dividing it among many. Had you conferred with men
+whose principles were in every instance like your own, you might have
+succeeded, as every person concerned might have carried off his particular
+friend with him.
+
+If all the evidence which now appears against you, had been produced at
+that time, what would have been your fate, as you then, (being
+_Adjutant-General_ of the army,) was subject to the Continental articles of
+war?
+
+In the 10th page you say, you can "truly declare, that the subject of the
+present slander was not known to you, till its appearance in the
+newspaper." Having mentioned it at the Coffee House, (as appears by Mr.
+Pryor's certifiate[TN],) in the presence of some of your friends, it was
+reasonable to expect they would have informed you of it; but it seems there
+is some difference between private information and a public charge made in
+the papers. As a gentleman, there can, in my opinion, be no difference; as
+you say, in your letter of the 9th Sept. last, that this insinuation seems
+to deserve some credit from a _reference_ to _me_. You insinuate, that if
+you had heard it, you should have noticed it. To this, however, the world
+will give little credit, as you made no public or private inquiry
+respecting the charge made in Major Lennox's certificate, though he
+communicated it to Major Thomas Moore, son of the late President, whose
+permission I have for asserting publicly, that he informed you of what
+Major Lennox had related, the very day he heard it.
+
+The matters mentioned in Major Lennox's certificate, and in that of Col.
+Nichols reach vastly beyond me; here you absolutely apply for protection;
+and if one report demanded your notice, in reference to my authorities, why
+not another, more alarming to you, your notice in reference to Major
+Lennox?
+
+But the consciousness of the communications made to confidential friends,
+and others, suggested the fear of other proofs. As long as it was only
+communicated by private information, you were willing to submit to private
+censure. But when a charge, which originated from me, was made in the
+papers, it reduced you to the disagreeable alternative of a tacit
+confession, or the hazard of public proof. And in the present instance, if
+I am rightly informed, you was perfectly disposed to treat the publication
+signed Brutus, with that "silent contempt," which, you say, you have for a
+"long time observed, with respect to the anonymous abuse which disgraces
+our public papers;" but your friends, feeling the weight of the charge,
+goaded you into so unfortunate a measure. _"Unhappy man! against whose
+peace and happiness all are combined."_
+
+What answer can you make to the weight of testimony here produced against
+you? I see nothing left, but to declare to the world, that the whole is a
+wicked combination to destroy you; you may say, "you thought _me_ entitled
+to the whole infamy of the insinuation," till the above mentioned witnesses
+"consented to divide it with me;" and that, "if you did not sufficiently
+measure the malignancy of their dispositions, or thought more favourably of
+them than you ought to have done, you are content to acknowledge your
+error, and do full justice in this respect hereafter;" and if any person
+should ask you, would all these gentlemen hazard such assertions without
+foundation? you may answer, "it is difficult to resolve what men of
+ungovernable passions will or will not say, when their minds are inflamed
+by party, and their breasts burning with disappointed ambition;" may they
+not have "mistaken a conversation with some other person, or at this
+distance of time, converted some JOCULAR EXPRESSION into such suspicions as
+they have mentioned;" and you may add, "the MEMORIES of MEN may fail; their
+minds are subject to the warp of prejudice and passion; they may convert
+into serious import what was dropped in JEST; and, from false pride,
+persist in what they have said, because they have said it, even against the
+conviction of their own consciences."
+
+In your letter of the 23d of September last, you say, "you have declared
+the insinuations in Oswald's paper of the 7th inst. false; and you apply
+the same epithet to my avowal of them." This assertion has been fully
+refuted by the concurrent testimony of your _intimate friends_ and others.
+In your friends, you thought yourself perfectly secure; but the weakness of
+two of them has betrayed you, and the third is proved your accomplice.
+
+It would, indeed, have appeared somewhat extraordinary, if you had not
+discovered your intentions to some of your intimate friends and relations;
+and that "no circumstance should occur to correspond with this imputation,"
+after having communicated the same to me. Nor are proofs wanting, if they
+were here necessary, independently of those I have already adduced, with
+respect to some of your friends, who at the time held considerable commands
+in the militia.
+
+And "though specially sent by General Washington," as you say, "for the
+express purpose of assisting me," it may not be here improper to make a
+short observation, in which I conceive I shall be perfectly justifiable.
+Though the duties of an Adjutant General would naturally confine you to the
+Continental army, yet I can easily conceive that there was no difficulty,
+by hints thrown out, or by the interposition of a friend, to induce the
+commander-in-chief to permit you to come to Bristol, under the _pretence_
+of assisting me; being, as _you represent_, well acquainted with the
+inhabitants of Burlington, through whom you might obtain information. But
+from the evidence which appears against you, it will not be thought
+uncharitable to conclude, that you conceived your plan could be better
+executed at Bristol, than under the eye of General Washington. Besides, you
+might reasonably hope to shake more easily the constancy of untried
+officers of militia, than those in the army, whose minds might be supposed
+better fortified against such attacks.
+
+I am at a loss for words to express my indignation for the attempt you made
+on my integrity; for though I did not see it in that point of view at the
+time, yet the whole testimony, as now collected, fully proves such to have
+been your intention; and happy I conceive it to be for my own honour and
+the safety of my country, that you found in me that strength of mind, which
+you might not have experienced in some of your particular friends, had they
+been in my situation.
+
+The circumstances relating to the letter you wrote Count Donop, created at
+the time no suspicions; nor do I recollect any publication which alludes to
+it. This affair, and that mentioned by Major Lenox[TN], are distinct
+transactions; but it is not more than probable, that at the interview you
+proposed under cover of serving the inhabitants of Burlington, you intended
+to confer with Count Donop upon the subject of your own interest and
+personal safety? This suspicion, in my opinion, is perfectly warranted by
+the indubitable proofs of your intended desertion. Another circumstance
+relating to this affair was equally unusual and improper. Mr. Daniel
+Ellis,[J] by whom you sent the letter with a flag, was universally known to
+be disaffected; having been so long in the service you could not be
+ignorant of those obvious reasons, which prove the propriety of sending men
+with flags, whose attachment to the cause is well known, and men of
+observation.
+
+Every page, almost, of your publication is full of reflections against me,
+and almost upon every subject; so intent have you been to injure my
+reputation. The errors I committed during my command may serve a double
+purpose; because he who committed them is subject to censure, and he who
+points them out claims the merit of the discovery. That I committed
+errors, I readily admit; my friends have marked some, and subsequent
+experience discovered others; but I am conscious they proceed from want of
+experience, not a want of integrity. Why, then, need I seek to justify
+myself, when, from the nature of the war, considerable commands were, from
+necessity, entrusted to young officers, there being few amongst us to whom
+the profession was not entirely new. But, I confess, it would give me
+infinite pain, if, by "a strange inattention of mine to the tide and state
+of the river," and the not arriving "one hour" sooner at Dunk's Ferry, we
+had lost the opportunity of striking a blow at Mount Holly, of equal glory
+with that at Trenton. When you insinuated, in the former part of your
+address, a superior knowledge in military matters, by saying you had more
+"experience," I gave up the point, and left you the happiness of thinking
+so; for why should I have contended a point with a man who, throughout his
+pamphlet, assumes to himself the merit of all those brilliant successes, so
+highly commended even by our enemies, and which determined the fate of
+American independence. And if I was sensible that the charge you now make
+was true, or could be thought so, by competent judges, I would scorn to
+defend my error.
+
+My orders were, to make the attack one hour before day, and to effect a
+surprise, if possible. The impropriety, therefore, of sending the boats
+from Bristol to Dunk's Ferry, and marching the troops from the same place
+in open day, is evident, as such a movement must have been observed, and
+communicated to the enemy. And now, tell me the instance, where even
+continental troops have arrived at the point of attack at the given time?
+It was General Washington's intention to have made his attack on Trenton
+before day; yet, from unavoidable delays, he did not arrive there till
+after eight o'clock in the morning. We reached Dunk's Ferry a little before
+low water, and can any person believe, that if we had arrived "one hour
+sooner," we could have passed over near twenty-five hundred men, four
+pieces of cannon, ammunition wagons and horses, and all the horses
+belonging to officers, in that time, in the night too, and the river full
+of ice, with only five large batteauxs and two or three scows; when it took
+us at least six hours, (a day or two afterwards,) to cross above Bristol,
+in open day and the river almost clear of ice. Strange "inattention,"
+unhappy commander! That "_a single hour_, which we might have enjoyed with
+equal convenience and equal risk," should be the only obstacle to a scene
+of equal glory with that of Trenton, and yet you have represented to
+General Washington, as appears by his letter,[K] dated six o'clock, P. M.,
+25th December, 1776, to me, _being the very same night_, and before we
+marched to Dunk's Ferry, that you gave him the most discouraging accounts
+of what might be expected from our operations below. What, then, were those
+discouraging accounts? Why was I not acquainted with them? or were they
+thrown out to influence him from making his attempt on Trenton, by
+representing that no co-operation from our quarter could favour his
+enterprise? In the general's opinion, it is plain, it had that tendency.
+But in the heedless fury of this stroke at me, you have incautiously
+unguarded your most tender part.
+
+"Anxious to fill up the part of this glorious plan assigned to us," you
+"passed over, you say, with your horse, to see and judge for yourself." You
+did so. "Having seen the last man re-embarked, you proceeded before day to
+Burlington." Here permit me to correct you, because there is no
+circumstance better ascertained, than that many of the men were not brought
+back till eight o'clock the next morning.
+
+Your motives for going to Burlington that night, were then thought a
+mystery; 'tis now no longer so; and the "_other circumstances_," that
+permitted you to join us again at Bristol, are now clearly accounted for.
+General Washington's success or defeat was, no doubt, to determine whether
+you were to remain a citizen of the United States of America, or to be a
+shameful deserter of your country.
+
+You say, you went to Philadelphia, at my request, to confer with Gen.
+Putnam; that you set out in the evening, (the 24th December,) and reached
+Philadelphia about midnight; but what credit, can you reasonably expect,
+will be given to your "detail of proceedings," in other particulars, when
+you find yourself detected in such gross contradictions in the following
+instance?
+
+In the 17th page you say, "Upon conference with General Putnam, (at
+Philadelphia,) he represented the state of the militia, the general
+confusion which prevailed, his apprehensions of an insurrection in the city
+in his absence, and many other circumstances, in such strong terms, as
+convinced me, no assistance could be derived from him;" and yet, in your
+letter to me, dated Philadelphia, 25th December, 1776, 11 o'clock, you say;
+"General Putnam has determined to cross the river, with as many men as he
+can collect, which, he says, will be about five hundred; he is now
+mustering them, and endeavouring to get Proctor's company of artillery to
+go with them. I wait to know what success he meets with, and the progress
+he makes; but, at all events, I shall be with you this afternoon."
+
+Here the representation stated in your pamphlet is contradicted by a letter
+in your own handwriting. Having forgot, perhaps, that you had written such
+a letter, your ingenuity furnished materials for a plausible narrative,
+suitable to your purposes; not suspecting that such proof could be adduced
+in opposition to it.
+
+Having returned to Bristol about daylight on the 26th December, with the
+greater part of the troops, I received an account, about 11 o'clock, A. M.,
+from a person just arrived from Trenton Ferry, that General Washington had
+succeeded in his attack. I immediately despatched a messenger with a line
+to General Ewing, for information, but all I could learn was, that the
+victory was ours.
+
+From the continuance of the rain and wind, I concluded the ice must be
+destroyed in the course of the day, and instantly sent down to Dunk's Ferry
+for the boats. This being an extraordinary service, required of men who had
+been exposed to the storm the whole night, was, however, cheerfully
+undertaken and executed. I then consulted Col. Hitchcock, who commanded the
+New England brigade, to know whether his troops would willingly accompany
+us to New Jersey, as I had determined to cross the river in the morning, if
+practicable, to co-operate with General Washington. He informed me, that
+his troops could not march, unless they could be supplied with shoes,
+stockings and breeches; upon which I instantly wrote to the Council of
+Safety, and obtained seven hundred pairs of each of the above articles,
+which arrived about sunrise on the morning of the 27th December. This
+second attempt being determined on, I went with several officers, in the
+afternoon of the 26th, to fix upon a proper place for crossing the river
+above Bristol, and the next morning before day viewed the Jersey Shore in a
+barge, for the same purpose. By your relation, one would imagine you had
+been the _life and soul_ of this second movement across the Delaware,--as
+little privy to it as the emperor of Morocco,--but it is no unusual thing
+for you to intercept the praise due to others of creditable actions.
+Instead of being present to confirm my proposed movements, by your advice,
+you remained at Burlington, "in a kind of concealment, till the weather and
+OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES permitted you to join us at Bristol," after all our
+resolutions were taken, and the most of our arrangements made. In the
+tissue of your representations, it is your purpose to insinuate my
+deficiency in military conduct in the subsequent transactions. Let my
+relation of it be heard!
+
+We marched on the 27th, in the morning, and the ice being by this time
+chiefly destroyed, we met with little obstruction in passing. The last
+division of the troops being embarked, and then crossing, we received
+private information, that General Washington had re-crossed the river, and
+returned to Newtown, in Pennsylvania, from whence he dates his letter, 27th
+December, 1776, informing me of the particulars of the action at Trenton,
+and which was not received, contrary to your assertion, till we had marched
+above a mile on our way to Burlington; it was then read to the troops, who
+were halted for this purpose. We had, however, before given full credit to
+the first information of his having re-crossed; on which previous
+information I called together the field officers, to consult what was then
+best to be done. From this circumstance, Col. Hitchcock, and some others,
+proposed returning to Bristol. I instantly declared my determination
+against it, and recommended an attack upon Mount Holly, as from the
+information we had of the force at that post, we might easily carry it, and
+should then have a retreat open towards Philadelphia, if necessary. You
+then, "_as a middle course_," advised our going to Burlington; in which
+those who had at first proposed our return, joined in opinion. This was the
+true cause of that hesitation you remarked with respect to me. Burlington
+was in a position, in my judgment, very dangerous; as in case we should be
+invested there, and the river impassable, we should be forced to submit at
+discretion, for want of provisions, or hazard an action against troops
+superior in discipline, and perhaps in number, if their whole force was
+collected to that point. Having no other retreat open to us, but that over
+the river, it was evident this could not be effected without the loss, at
+least, of those who might be ordered to cover the retreat. Having passed
+the river in open day, it was probable the enemy might be informed of it;
+and, in that case, the post at Mount Holly reinforced. To determine whether
+we should take a position, unanimously approved by the council, but which I
+thought extremely dangerous; or adhere to my own plan, unsupported by a
+single voice, was certainly a question that required more than a momentary
+consideration, even for an officer, at this stage of the war. Being pressed
+for some resolution, as the day was far spent, I waived my own opinion, and
+acquiesced in the desire of marching to Burlington; but it is ridiculous to
+suppose, as you say, that your brother's intelligence of Count Donop's
+retreat, could have influenced my acquiescence, for it did not arrive till
+after our resolutions were taken,--and besides, was not credited; because
+if it had reached us before, and been credited, I should not have
+acquiesced in such desire; if even after, I should naturally have taken
+another course, and pursued the flying enemy, instead of going to
+Burlington, which was five miles in the rear.
+
+Late that night, I received certain information, that the enemy had
+evacuated all their posts in the neighborhood, and immediately despatched a
+messenger to General Washington with the intelligence; in answer to which,
+I received his orders, very early next morning, to pursue and keep up the
+panic, and that he would cross at Trenton that day. From this circumstance,
+it appears that the General had taken his determination before your
+pretended information or advice from Trenton could have reached him.
+
+In justification to myself, I have thought it necessary to point out your
+false state of facts, in these particulars; the multitude of lesser ones,
+relating to military matters, I shall pass over, as this publication is
+already necessarily lengthened beyond my first intention.
+
+As I hinted, in my letter of 10th September last, that "charges of the same
+nature had been, some time since, made against you," by Arnold; you say,
+you "allow full weight to so respectable a connexion and testimony;" to
+which you made no reply, though from the rank and character of Arnold at
+that time, they merited your notice. Arnold having received his information
+from me, it cannot be concluded, that I meant by his testimony to
+strengthen my own assertion; but merely to show, that having before been
+charged, you did not reply; from which many believed it true. And when he
+apologized to me for inserting it in his defence without my permission, I
+remarked, that an apology was unnecessary, from the public manner in which
+I had mentioned it.
+
+Arnold was commanding officer in this city, very generally visited by
+officers of the army, citizens and strangers. I received the usual
+civilities from him, and returned them; and often met him at the tables of
+gentlemen in the city. To my civilities, at that time, I thought him
+entitled from the signal services he had rendered his country; services
+infinitely superior to those you so much boast of; he stood high, as a
+military character, even in France, and after your prosecution, he was
+continued in command by Congress; appointed first, by the
+commander-in-chief, to the command of the left wing of the army, and
+afterwards to that important post of West Point, where his treacherous
+conduct exceeded, I fancy, even your own idea of his baseness. To what,
+then, do your insinuations amount? They cannot criminate me, without an
+implied censure on Congress and the commander-in-chief. But why contaminate
+my name, by connecting it, in this instance, with such a wretch? when you,
+yourself, at his trial, with a half-shamed face, seemed to apologize for
+being his prosecutor, and became his fulsome panegyrist. It consisted,
+however, with that artifice and cunning which has ever been the sum of your
+_abilities_, and the whole amount of your _wisdom_.
+
+Your remarks on my letter of the 10th December, 1777, are so inconsistent,
+that I shall bestow a few observations on them. "So strong and virulent,"
+you say, "was my antipathy to the constitution, and such my enmity to those
+who administered it, that you believe I would have preferred _any_
+government to that of Pennsylvania, if my _person_ and _property_ would
+have been equally secure;" and yet it seems, in the next sentence you say,
+"but it was our lot to meet again, a few days before the battle of
+Monmouth; here we were again united in _confidence_ and _danger_." If you
+really thought I would prefer _any government_ to that of Pennsylvania, why
+did you then take so much pains to show, that we again united in
+"_confidence_ and _danger_," at the battle of Monmouth, so many months
+after I had discovered that virulent antipathy, and which now hath extorted
+such gross reflections?
+
+You say, my breast was burning with disappointed ambition; but how does
+this appear, when, immediately upon the formation of the new government, I
+was appointed the first of three brigadiers, which created me commanding
+officer of the militia. Could my ambition be gratified further? But to
+obviate every objection, let me suppose you meant, that I wished to rise to
+power in the civil line,--which, however, has never been insinuated
+before,--let me here call to your memory, how easy the task was for _any
+character_ to rise to the first offices of government. I confess, I do not
+think so meanly of myself, as to have dreaded any rivalship from some of
+the candidates of those days; nor do I mean, by this declaration, to
+insinuate any extraordinary merit, when I estimate mine by that of those I
+have alluded to. I could not have consented to make the sacrifices
+required; but you, however, and some others, as much opposed to the
+essential parts of the constitution as I was, freely made them, and broke
+through every obligation of faith and honour.
+
+The charge you have brought against a party in the state, of an opposition
+to its constitution, deserves some attention. I will digress a little from
+my main subject to examine how far this charge is true, and how far the
+thing is in itself criminal.
+
+Government is generally so reverenced among men, that those who attempt to
+subvert any system of it whatever, have to contend against a very natural
+prejudice. But this prejudice can only be in degree with the antiquity of
+its establishment; for modern error, how high soever its authority, has but
+little claim to our veneration. This concession made, could it be expected
+that our novel constitution, liable at first blush to so many important
+objections, should not have its opponents; but that in a moment it should
+be submitted to, as implicitly as if it had had the sanction of ages? What
+circumstance was there, in the production of this whimsical machine, that
+should silence, at once, all the remonstrances of reason and sense against
+it? Was it not worth a pause to examine, whether this coat, wove for ages,
+would fit us or our posterity before we put on; or whether this gift of our
+convention would not prove our destruction? From an apprehension that it
+would, an opposition was formed, that included a majority of the state. Did
+those who composed it, think it criminal to prevent the singular ideas of a
+convention, from being carried into execution, against an almost general
+sentiment; or did they not rather conceive it safe and better for the
+community still to go on in the administration of governmental affairs by
+those temporary expedients we had been in the habits of, until their
+constitution could be revised?
+
+This idea, patriotic as it was, was defeated by the obstinate enthusiasm of
+some, who trembled for this New Jerusalem of their hopes, and by the
+scandalous desertion of others, and especially yourself. The ends of
+opposition being thus rendered unattainable, but at the hazard of
+convulsions, that might endanger the great American cause, the same virtue
+that began it, ended it, and it has long since ceased to act.
+
+This is a well-known state of facts; but what it did not suit with your own
+by-purposes to admit, could not be expected from your integrity; you have,
+therefore, constantly kept up the alarm of a constitutional opposition,
+and, on every occasion, referred to this false cause, that honest and
+useful opposition which was created by your weak, though violent and
+tyrannical administration.
+
+That you was called to the chair of government, by the unanimous vote of
+council and assembly, you have often boasted, with a view of conveying to
+the world an idea, that even the gentlemen opposed to the constitution
+approved the choice. But they neither esteemed you as a gentleman, nor
+approved your public conduct. They knew there was a majority in assembly in
+favour of your election, and as their grand object was the obtaining a
+resolution of that body, recommending the calling a convention for revising
+the constitution, some of the party entered into an engagement for this
+purpose, and your election was negotiated. _You_ were to use your
+endeavours to prevail on the Council to enforce the recommendation of the
+assembly by a similar resolution. From your own acknowledgment at the City
+Tavern, the resolution of the Council was never obtained, or even moved
+for, by you, and for this flimsy reason, that no formal information, of
+such resolution having passed, had been communicated to you; though known
+to all the world; and that it could not be expected that Council would
+"tag" after the assembly, in a measure relating to the public. Yet you had
+the effrontery to assert, that "_every engagement on your part_," was
+strictly performed.
+
+At this meeting, you say, you "in the most open manner called upon us, to
+support our imputations, and that you so effectually vindicated every part
+of your conduct, that every gentleman, (myself excepted,) acknowledged his
+mistake." I own I made no concessions, and if the reasons I then gave are
+not thought a sufficient justification to the world, of the opinion I had
+formed, I am content to admit that it was not only "singular," but
+"absurd."
+
+After a reasonable pause, I remarked, that from the repeated conversations
+I had had with you, on this subject, you appeared to me as much opposed as
+I was, to the constitution, before the evacuation of the city; that you had
+refused to accept the appointment of Chief Justice, (because you could not
+in conscience take the oath;[L]) that a short time before the election, in
+1778, you engaged yourself to the constitutional party, to serve in Council
+for the County, and to the party in the opposition, to serve in Assembly
+for the City; and being chosen in both instances, you hesitated above six
+weeks, (though often pressed to a resolution,) before you determined to
+accept your seat in Council;--depriving, during this time, the City of a
+vote in Assembly, while an important point was debated concerning the
+contested Chester election; and voluntarily advocating the question in
+favor of the constitutional party; that on the fate of this trial depended
+your hopes of succeeding to the President's chair; that a determination in
+favour of that party gave them a decided majority, and that you instantly
+accepted your seat in Council.--To which you replied, and in recapitulating
+my arguments, endeavoured to justify your conduct; but conscious of having
+failed in the capital points, you closed your remarks with some warm
+expressions, which conveyed the idea of a threat; of which I desired an
+explanation. After working up your passions to a degree little short of
+frenzy, you expressed yourself in the following terms: I mean this,--"If
+the publications traducing my public and private character are continued, I
+mean to apply to the law; but if this will not do me that justice, which in
+some instances it cannot do,--I know I have the affections and command of
+the fighting men of this state; and if necessary, I will make use of that
+influence, and call forth that force,--and if bloodshed should be the
+consequence be it on your own heads."
+
+Such violent and unwarrantable expressions from the first magistrate of
+the state, and in the presence of the whole bench of justices, created the
+highest indignation, and were severely reprobated by several gentlemen
+present; which induced you afterwards to endeavour to soften your
+expressions and meaning.
+
+But if it was singular or absurd, "to expect a President of the State to
+enter into the violence of party on _my_ side of the question," let me
+oppose to this, the _treachery_ of your conduct in deserting the party to
+which you was at first from ("_conscientious_" principles) attached, and
+yet, as President, enter into all the violence of party on the other side
+of the question.
+
+Again, "upon our return to Philadelphia," you say, "I became the open and
+avowed patron of those who are distinguished by the appellation of tories;
+and my decisive attachment to the British Army,[N] and their adherents,
+"has marked every subsequent period of my life, too plainly to admit of
+doubt or denial." If you really entertained such sentiments, why did you,
+in the month of February, (after my marriage,) waiving the indignity
+offered to you in not paying the usual compliments of congratulation, upon
+your appointment, pay me the first visit, and thereby make advances towards
+a reconciliation? Such a condescension, so contrary to the _usual forms_,
+can scarcely be reconciled even to a character like yours.
+
+Men who acquire popularity by means disgraceful to a gentleman, dare not
+hazard a sentiment that is not approved by the party with which he is
+connected. I have, on all occasions, and in all companies, private and
+public, delivered freely my political opinions; nor has the dread of losing
+the little popularity I possessed in Pennsylvania, ever induced me to make
+a sacrifice of my honour, by adopting opinions or measures which I
+disapproved, or thought injurious to my country. Esteeming it the highest
+honour to deserve the approbation of my fellow-citizens, I have ever been
+solicitous to obtain it. You and some others have industriously propagated
+reports for the purpose of injuring my reputation; but conscious that my
+political opinions and conduct will stand the test, upon the nicest
+scrutiny, and having never experienced any diminution of that esteem,
+respect and warmth of friendship, which my fellow-citizens have ever shown
+towards me, a refutation of such calumny is utterly needless.
+
+From the whole of what I have here laid before the public, supported by the
+testimony of the most respectable witnesses, the following conclusions may
+fairly be deduced:
+
+1. That the conversation alluded to, which I have asserted to have passed
+between us at Bristol, was mentioned by me in confidence to Col. Hamilton
+and some others of General Washington's family, in the year 1777; and
+therefore could not have originated at the time, you mention, or to gratify
+my resentment against you, as at that time, you acknowledge, no parties
+subsisted.
+
+2. It could not have been invented to gratify my resentment for the attempt
+you made to evade the payment of Mr. Porter's order; because I did not make
+it public at the time, nor till several years afterwards, and you
+acknowledge, all that coolness was done away, and our former habits of
+friendship restored.
+
+[TN] As is appears, by Mr. Clymer's testimony, that I mentioned it publicly
+at Mr. Hamilton's trial, which was before you were elected President of the
+state, it ought to be imputed to another cause than that which you have
+assigned.
+
+4. As it appears, from Mr. Pryor's testimony, that I mentioned it at the
+Coffee House, in the hearing of some of your friends, we may reasonably
+conclude you were informed of it; and this conclusion is strengthened by
+your passing over unnoticed, the information contained in Major Lennox's
+testimony, which was related to you by Major Thomas Moore.
+
+5. It cannot appear improbable that you should have held this conversation
+with me, as your expressions to Gen. Dickinson, Col. Nixon, and Doctor
+Rush, convey sentiments equally injurious to your reputation as a patriot
+and Adjutant General of the army.
+
+6. As it fully appears, by the testimony of Col. Ellis and Mr. Davenport,
+and that of Col. Bradford, that you had communicated such sentiments to
+your brother-in-law, Mr. Pettit, and to Col. Bayard, contrary to your
+declaration, we may with propriety assert that you have forfeited that
+veracity, which is essential to the character of a gentleman.
+
+Lastly, from the testimony of Major Lennox and Col. Nichols, it appears
+that you absolutly[TN] applied to Count Donop for protection, and that a
+particular and intimate friend of yours was included in it; and therefore,
+from this and the foregoing testimony, all pointing to the same object and
+to the same period, supporting and confirming each other, it cannot leave
+the least room to doubt the truth of my assertion.
+
+In some instances, a man's general good conduct has had great weight to
+invalidate or weaken charges highly criminal; but unfortunately, _yours_
+can receive no aid from such circumstances. Dissimulation and cunning have
+for a time deceived the most discerning, but the snares you have laid for
+others will most probably accomplish your own destruction.
+
+Having long since known how to estimate your character, I have not any
+where pretended, in this performance, to fix it at a higher value than what
+it generally passes current for; you have, since the term of your
+administration, repeatedly put yourself upon your country. Your name has
+been offered to the people for a seat in the legislature; to the
+legislature, for a seat in Congress; to Congress, for posts of Continental
+trust; but that _name_, its counterfeit gilding at length rubbed off, and
+the native colour of the contexture exposed, has depreciated, like the
+Continental money, with such velocity, that though a few years ago worth a
+President's chair, it would not, _now_ purchase a constable's staff; nor is
+it more highly rated in the sphere of polite life, than in the great
+theatre of the world; for its unfortunate owner stands alone, unnoticed in
+the midst of company, with full leisure to reflect on the sensible effects
+of the loss of reputation.
+
+My immediate purpose requires nothing further from me; but your
+administration, the theme of your own solitary praise, might not improperly
+have been touched upon, but that it is a field too extensive for me, and
+that I have not asperity enough in my nature to do justice to the subject.
+I will yet observe upon some matters in your pamphlet, not in direct
+connexion with one or the other subject; but which are extremly[TN]
+demonstrative of a temper in the writer to wish evil to the community,
+after the power of doing it has ceased.
+
+You, who have ever been a rapacious lawyer, and have never omitted any
+means of amassing a fortune, have, with a truly consistent spirit, shown an
+implacable enmity to all those who are raised to a condition above want and
+dependence. And though you kick against the parallel drawn between you and
+the Cataline of antiquity, you have in this point proved its exactness; he
+haranguing in the circle of his conspirators, exasperates them against the
+opulent citizens of Rome; you, in your pamphlet, labor to create invidious
+distinctions, would pervert the order of well regulated society, and make
+fortune's larger gifts, or even its moderate blessings, criterions of
+disqualification for public trust and honours in Pennsylvania; and under a
+spacious description of men, offer with your _sword_ to lead the indigent,
+the bankrupt, and the desperate, into all the authority of government. But
+in the shallowness of your understanding, you have mistaken the spirit of
+the times; it will not countenance or support a Cataline.
+
+You would also, no doubt, as may be inferred from your pamphlet, _you_, who
+are so deficient in morality, draw your sword in religious quarrels, to
+bring you once more into play; but 'tis to no purpose you would raise an
+alarm, as a very great and respectable part of your opponents consist of
+persons belonging to that society, of which you profess yourself to be a
+member; and there is a general and commendable coolness and indifference
+for such quarrels, that will not easily take fire on your false and
+inflammatory suggestions; so that whatever you have catched at to raise you
+from the earth, has broke in your hands and brought you again to the
+ground.
+
+                                                        JOHN CADWALADER.
+
+
+
+
+VALLEY FORGE LETTERS,
+
+AS
+
+PUBLISHED IN THE EVENING JOURNAL.
+
+1842.
+
+
+                      From the Evening Journal.
+
+MR. WHITNEY--At this distant day from the American Revolution, a new dawn
+seems to be breaking upon the darkness of that period, and much that has
+heretofore been shrouded in seemingly inscrutable mystery, is beginning to
+be made plain even to the naked vision. The "seventeen trunks" of
+revolutionary papers, a selection from which Colonel Beekman, the grandson
+and heir of Gen. George Clinton, has just published, in one of the New York
+papers, must necessarily contain much of exceeding value: and I should not
+be surprised if the Colonel were to receive a visit, at his place on Long
+Island, from Mr. William Bradford Reed, to request to be permitted to
+_rummage_ their contents, and abstract or destroy any "document" that might
+likely prove prejudicial to the fame of his grandfather, the late General
+Joseph Reed. The Colonel must keep a sharp look out for Mr. Reed, and turn
+a deaf ear to his blandishments, when he arrives.
+
+Doctor Johnson, in one of his Lives of the Poets, makes an observation
+strictly applicable to the claim of patriotism, which, originally set up
+for himself by General Reed, has been perpetuated for him by his
+descendants. Speaking of the boast a certain poet was accustomed to make,
+of the sternness with which he had driven back an ass laden with gold, that
+had sought to invade the citadel of his integrity, the Doctor remarked,
+"but the tale has too little evidence to deserve a disquisition; _large
+offers and sturdy rejections are among the most common topics of
+falsehood_." That portion of the quotation which I have italicised, fits
+the case of General Reed to a hair; but "the tale" of his patriotism,
+however "little evidence" there may to support it, _does_ "deserve a
+disquisition," if only on account of the pertinacity with which it is
+endeavoured to engraft it upon the public mind.
+
+I have already given the _truth_ concerning General Reed's famous reply to
+the British commissioners, and I propose to follow it up with the
+publication of a few letters, interesting on account of the light which
+they shed upon our revolutionary history.
+
+Many of the citizens of Philadelphia must remember Mrs. Sarah Kemp, who
+died in Race street, in 1820, at the advanced age of eighty-four years.
+Andrew Kemp, the only son of this respectable matron, entered the American
+army, almost at the very commencement of the struggle, and before, as his
+mother has often informed me, he had reached his majority. As he shall be
+my first witness against General Reed, it is proper to make the reader well
+acquainted with him. His gallantry, and a personal service which he had the
+good fortune to render to one of General Washingston's[TN] immediate staff,
+soon promoted him from the ranks, and he fought with great bravery, at the
+battles of White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown and
+Monmouth. Sergeant Kemp was one of the garrison of Fort Mercer, under the
+command of Colonel Greene, when that fortress was assailed in the autumn of
+1777, by the Hessian troops, commanded by Colonel Donop. In this affair,
+which, though not one of the most remarkable, was one of the most brilliant
+of the Revolution, Sergeant Kemp particularly distinguished himself, and
+was wounded slightly in the arm, and severely in the left thigh by a musket
+ball: at the subsequent capture of Fort Mercer by Cornwallis, Kemp was one
+of the few who fell into the hands of the enemy--the remainder of the
+garrison succeeding in safely evacuating the fort. In a few weeks, he
+managed to effect his escape from Howe's winter quarters at Philadelphia,
+and immediately joined the American army at Valley Forge. The privations of
+that encampment, dreadfully aggravated the sufferings of poor Kemp; but,
+after languishing during the season in one of the military hospitals, he
+resumed active service in the spring, and served in May under Lafayette at
+the affair of Barren Hill. At the battle of Monmouth, he fought with his
+usual intrepidity, but the fatigues of the engagement renewed the affection
+of his imperfectly healed leg; and, about three weeks after, he was obliged
+to submit to its amputation. Upon leaving the army, he received from
+General Washington himself a certificate of conduct and character, which I
+copy from the original before me.
+
+
+                                   _Head Quarters, June 23, 1778._
+
+    Sergeant Andrew Kemp is personally known to me as a brave and
+    faithful soldier, who has served in several engagements, and
+    who desires his discharge only in consequence of the loss of a
+    limb, which unfits him for further service. His dutiful
+    conduct is reported to me to be equal to his bravery; and he
+    retires from the army with my good opinion and that of all
+    whom I have heard speak of him.
+
+                                       (Signed,)    G. WASHINGTON.
+
+
+From among other testimonials to Mr. Kemp's worth and conduct, which formed
+to her dying day, the pride and solace of his aged mother, I select the
+following, given by Col. Samuel Smith, the late Mayor of Baltimore, and
+the gallant defender of Fort Mifflin against the six days' attacks of the
+British.
+
+
+    "Andrew Kemp has served with me three times; the last nearly
+    four months. He was discharged from the army last month, in
+    consequence of the loss of his leg and other bodily
+    infirmities. I have always found his conduct exemplary. He
+    came to me with high recommendations from officers whom he had
+    previously served with, and fully realized what they had
+    prepared me to expect from him.
+
+                                        (Signed,)    SAMUEL SMITH.
+    _September 3, 1778."_
+
+
+This brave fellow fell a victim to his benevolent daring, during the
+prevalence of the yellow fever in this city, in 1798. Upon the death of his
+mother, the certificates of character which I have transcribed, and a
+number of his letters, of various dates, written while he was in the army,
+passed into the hands of the veteran, to whom in my former article, I
+referred, but whose name I am not _yet_ at liberty to mention. From among
+them, I make two selections--the first a letter to his mother, who then
+resided in Chester County.
+
+
+    _Camp, June 13th; 1788._
+
+    My Dear Mother,--You must be very uneasy not hearing from me
+    so long, and the only wonder is that I am alive to give any
+    account of myself. After my escape from Philadelphia, last
+    November, I wrote to you, but whether you received my letter
+    or not I cannot tell, for I have never heard a word of you
+    since. We have had a dreadful time of it through the winter at
+    Valley Forge. Sometimes for a week at a time with nothing but
+    frozen potatoes, and even worse off still for clothing;
+    sometimes the men obliged to sleep by turns for want of
+    blankets to cover the whole, and the rest keeping watch by the
+    fires. There is hardly a man whose feet have not been frost
+    bitten. I have been laid by nearly the whole time on account
+    of my leg, from which I suffered very much; and Doctor Le
+    Brean insisted upon taking it off, but I would not suffer him;
+    for which I have great reason to be joyful, for it is now
+    nearly as well as ever, except a little stiffness,
+    particularly after marching. But our distress from want of
+    food and comfortable raiment, was nothing compared to the
+    grumbling of some of the men, and I am sorry to say, of some
+    of the officers. I really thought we should have a meeting
+    once or twice; but we weathered through without it. Some hard
+    things are said since about some of the officers, but the
+    whole talk of the army is now about General Reed. There have
+    been a good many attempts to conceal it from the men, but it
+    has pretty much leaked out. This spring, it seems, King George
+    sent over some Commissioners, as they call them, to endeavour
+    to make a peace with us; and it turns out that General Reed
+    has been in secret correspondence with them all the time, and
+    was offered large amounts to play into their hands; but the
+    bargain was broken off by his wanting more than they were
+    willing to give. I know this much for certain; that one of
+    their letters was taken to General Washington, and that the
+    men were all called up at the dead of night, by beat of drum,
+    and most of the officers called to Head Quarters. In the
+    morning, General Reed was placed under guard, but released in
+    about two hours. The letter was from one of the British
+    Commissioners, in answer to one of his--he gave some
+    explation[TN], but it did not satisfy the General, but he was
+    obliged to accept it, as the contrary could not be proved. I
+    heard Captain Anderson tell Dr. Le Brean, that General
+    Washington was fully satisfied that Reed had been on the very
+    point of betraying us all to the British, but that it could
+    not be fully proved; and at such a time, it was better to keep
+    a strict eye upon him, without getting the army into disgrace
+    by exposure.
+
+    "Near the last of May, we had a smart little affair with the
+    British at Barren Hill; it was the first time I was under
+    marching orders since I left the hospital. The British army
+    came very near surprising us after night--two of the sentinels
+    of the picket guard having fallen asleep on their posts. But
+    we managed to get across the river again with very little
+    loss, only eight men killed and wounded, and three prisoners.
+    I made a narrow escape, for I heard a bullet whistling by my
+    ear as close as it could, without hitting. All well at home, I
+    hope. Tell Sally not to forget to knit me a supply of woollen
+    stockings, and a couple pair of mittens for next winter, for I
+    dread the idea of another Valley Forge; and give her and Ann
+    my kind love.
+
+                     "From your affectionate son,
+                                                    "ANDREW KEMP."
+
+
+
+My object in giving this _introductory_ letter is to show Mr. William B.
+Reed that the treachery of his grandfather was understood by the army at
+large, and that the knowledge of it was not confined to a few leading
+officers. _Documents of a more precise, specific, and important character_,
+are in my possession, or within my means of access; and shall seasonably
+appear; but, unlike "_McDonough_," I do not choose to put my best foot
+foremost, and limp ever aftewards[TN]. I subjoin another letter from
+Sergeant Kemp, for the edification of Mr. Reed.
+
+
+                   _"Monmouth Court House, N. J., July 2d, 1778."_
+
+    "Dear Mother,--I am laid up again, but after the fatigues of a
+    great battle, and a great victory, which we fought on the 28th
+    of June,--James Maris, who had his hand shattered by a
+    bullet, has leave of absence for four weeks; and I drop a few
+    lines by the opportunity which his going gives me. God be
+    thanked, we have had a glorious victory! The British troops,
+    commanded by Sir Henry Clinton, and ours by General
+    Washington, were nearly matched--say ten thousand each. We
+    fought from the forenoon till nigh dark; and our whole loss,
+    killed and missing, is short of seventy, while the British
+    lost about three hundred, and among them one Colonel Monks or
+    Monkston. I have no great time for particulars. The men
+    behaved very nobly; and the morning after, when we found that
+    the British had decamped over night, the General [Washington,]
+    thanked us all, from horseback. But one thing there is which
+    has occasioned much disturbance among us. I mean the conduct
+    of General Lee, who attempted to retreat, and who has since
+    been put under order, to be court martialed.
+
+    "Then there's that General Reed has been behaving very
+    strangely again. Not a man nor officer in the army that does
+    not hate the sight of him; we all believe that he came very
+    near betraying us, only that the General [Washington] found
+    him out in time. We all remember Valley Forge last winter.
+    Before the battle began, I myself heard Gen. Washington
+    whisper to General Greene and Wayne, to keep a sharp eye upon
+    Reed's movements, and if he made any suspicious attempt, to
+    order him under arrest, and shoot him if he resisted. During
+    the whole battle, I never saw him; but after the last gun was
+    fired, and when it was almost dark, General Reed suddenly made
+    his appearance from the rear, and gave out that he had just
+    had a horse shot in two under him, and asked for two men to go
+    and remove his saddle and holsters. I was one of them; we
+    examined the horse very carefully, and found him to be without
+    hurt or scratch; and he had plain enough died from mere heat,
+    which killed several horses and a number of men during the
+    day. The story has got wind--some laugh, but others shake
+    their heads about it. Jim Maris heard General Washington say
+    to General Wayne in the evening, that he abhorred the very
+    sight of Reed, and could never again put the least faith in
+    him. This is not the first time that General Reed has showed
+    the white feather. He pretended to have a horse killed under
+    him, in the same way at the Battle of Brandywine, and had two
+    men put in irons for talking about it. I am afraid my leg is
+    going to give me a good deal of trouble again It is very much
+    swollen, and discharges continually. They have me on the sick
+    list. My best love to Sarah and Ann.
+
+                                    "Your dutitful[TN] son,
+                                       (Signed)    "ANDREW KEMP."
+
+
+
+Having given the testimony of Sergeant Kemp, I will now have the pleasure
+of introducing to the notice of Mr. William B. Reed a letter from Col.
+Samuel Smith, to his old friend in arms, Colonel ----, by whom I have been
+so kindly supplied with much of the reminiscences which I have given to the
+readers of the Journal, and who had addressed to Col. Smith a letter, the
+nature and object of which will best be explained by the following reply:
+
+
+              _"Senate Chamber, Washington, Feb. 15th, 1832._
+
+    "MY DEAR FRIEND,--Yours of the 9th was received yesterday,
+    having been forwarded to me by my family from Baltimore, to
+    which place you had addressed it, forgetting my still being in
+    public life at Washington. I suppose you think that so old a
+    man, and one who has led so busy and active a life, should
+    take the evening of his days to his comfort and quiet
+    reflection, and I am not sure but that you are right. Public
+    life ought to have but little charms for either you or me; we
+    have both seen enough of active service, and should devote the
+    remnant of time which is left us, to settling our accounts
+    with this world, and preparing for a better.
+
+    "I am gratified to hear of the task in which you tell me you
+    are engaged. I do not know that it is in my power to afford
+    you much of the assistance which you seem to think I can give;
+    but such information as I can communicate is very cheerfully
+    at your service. Upon my return to Baltimore, I will examine
+    my papers; and whatever letters I can spare, which I may think
+    likely to aid you in your labors, or illustrate the times of
+    which you propose to write, shall be forwarded to your
+    direction.
+
+    "I agree with you that many of the men, and not few of the
+    events, of the Revolution, are very imperfectly understood.
+    Take General Washington himself, for example: he is
+    represented as having been cold and repulsive in his manner,
+    when the very reverse was the fact. True, he was dignified and
+    reserved, but always courteous, and, what I admired above all,
+    always sincere. I never knew a man capable of stronger
+    attachments; he had none of the vices of humanity, and fewer
+    of its weaknesses than any man I ever knew. I do not believe
+    Mr. Jefferson _meant_ to be unjust; but the character drawn of
+    Washington, which appears in his recently published papers and
+    correspondence, falls, in all respects, very far short of
+    doing him justice. Mr. Jefferson had not the sort of mind
+    which was entirely capable of appreciating, or even exactly
+    understanding, a character like that of Washington's. I saw
+    much of the old General in his latter days; visited him
+    several times at Mount Vernon, and frequently at Washington.
+    Doctor Craih, (my near connexion by marriage,) was long his
+    physician and intimate friend, and was in attendance upon his
+    death-bed. He has given me anecdotes innumerable of
+    Washington's generosity and kindness of heart, which, though,
+    not known to the world, ought to be. Of these, I will write to
+    you more fully from home.
+
+    "I can communicate but little concerning Gen. Wayne, which you
+    do not know already. His son, who lives somewhere in your
+    state, I should take to be a proper person to whom to apply. I
+    wish it were in my power to answer more fully than I can, your
+    inquiries concerning General Reed. My personal acquaintance
+    with him was limited. I shared in the deep dislike with which
+    he was regarded, and his negotiations with the British
+    commissioners, in the spring of 1778, made him obnoxious to
+    the whole army, from the commander-in-chief to the lowest
+    subaltern. You and I talked this matter over nearly fifty
+    years since, and I have found nothing to change, but much to
+    confirm, my opinions. It is a little too bad that this man
+    should be reverenced by posterity as one of the purest of the
+    men of the revolution, when you and I, and all who were really
+    active in those times, know that nothing but accident
+    prevented his taking the start of Benedict Arnold. Though not
+    communicative, General Washington was always candid, and upon
+    the subject of Reed's premeditated betrayal of the country to
+    England, he has frequently conversed with me very freely. None
+    of the correspondence between Reed and the British
+    commissioners, fell into his hands except the letter from
+    Governor Johnston, and an enclosed note in cypher from Lord
+    Carlisle, but these contained sufficient to assure Washington
+    that a long correspondence had passed--that proposals had been
+    made and debated, and that Reed had finally submitted a
+    proposition which the commissioners were endeavouring to
+    reduce. With the explanation Reed gave you are familiar. No
+    one believed it, but it passed muster, for the only proofs
+    which _at the time_ could be had, were the intercepted papers.
+    But ever after, Washington regarded Reed with great dislike,
+    and treated him with a manner strictly marked by the display
+    of his feelings. I was present when General Washington took
+    his final leave of his officers at New York, after the close
+    of the revolution, in the winter of 1783. The general's eyes
+    streamed with tears, he grasped each officer by the hand, but
+    when Reed approached him with extended hand, he started as if
+    bitten by a serpent, made a cold bow, and passed on.
+    Afterwards, at Annapolis, where Congress was then sitting, I
+    was present when General Reed was repeating to some half a
+    dozen of delegates, the old story of his refusal of the
+    commissioner's offer. Washington, who was within three yards
+    of him, turned away, and remarked to General Knox, "I know the
+    fellow well; he wanted but a price, and an opportunity, to
+    play us false as Arnold," and passed out of the room. There
+    was a general titter, and upon Reed's enquiring of General
+    Knox what it was that General W. had remarked, Knox replied,
+    "If you did not hear it, I advise you to follow the general,
+    and request him to repeat his observation." Reed was not a
+    fighting man. I do not say that he was a coward, but he was
+    always very careful of his person. His visit to England in
+    1784, I could never understand. His circumstances, just
+    before, were very much embarrassed, he had borrowed of all who
+    were willing to lend, and he paid nobody. Immediately upon his
+    return, he paid off all his debts, including one of three
+    thousand dollars to General Wayne, and commenced speculating
+    in real estate largly[TN], when he was taken ill and died.
+
+    I have given you very near all I have concerning this person.
+    I have anecdotes from others, of which I will inform you
+    hereafter; as also, the particulars of several conversations
+    which I had with Washington respecting him. I have always,
+    from principle, been opposed to making mischief; but I have
+    always, at the same time, been opposed to trickery and
+    unfounded pretensions. Why the survivors of the Revolution
+    have so long permitted General Reed's treachery and baseness
+    to be glossed over, and himself converted into a patriot, is
+    to me a mystery; but the veil must be raised at last, and I
+    know of no one more capable of performing the task than
+    yourself.
+
+    "Let me hear often from you--and always be assured that I am
+    sincerely your friend,
+
+                                                   SAMUEL SMITH.
+
+
+I will close my budget of "documents" as "_McDonough_" would call them, for
+the present. When I open it again, the information to be drawn forth will
+be even more definite than that just given, and possibly, even still less
+palatable to Mr. Reed. He will pardon me for troubling him with two
+questions: Among the papers left by your grandfather, did you ever come
+across a copy of a very remarkable correspondence had between that person
+and General Anthony Wayne in 1781? If yea, why have you withheld it from
+publication? Although _you_ can answer this last question, I cannot; but I
+will tell you, Mr. Reed, what I can do: I can lay my hands upon a copy of
+the same correspondence, and I propose to entertain the readers of the
+Journal with a few selections, upon some not very distant occasion.
+
+In Mr. Reed's selection of a _period of time_ to be illustrated by the
+labors of "McDonough," it appears to me he has been unfortunate. If he had
+gone further back, he might have recounted some of the _real_ exploits of
+his grandfather, and spared _me_ the labor which his deficiencies have
+compelled me to undertake. If he had come a little further down, he might
+have dilated upon the performances of his father, a Recorder of the city of
+Philadelphia, and Treasurer and Secretary of the University of
+Pennsylvania. _That_ labor, also, I fear, will devolve upon me.
+
+                                                            VALLEY FORGE.
+
+  Monday, Sept. 25, 1842.
+
+
+                      From the Evening Journal.
+
+MR. WHITNEY--The communication of "McDonough" (alias U. S. Bank Reed,) in
+this Morning's Court Chronicle, manifests that there is no small degree of
+fluttering among the wounded pigeons of the "Holy Alliance." The assumption
+of "McDonough" that _you_ and "Valley Forge" are one and the same person,
+is a more novel than logical mode of disproving the truth of my
+allegations. But let Mr. Reed rest easy upon that score. _Who_ I am, is
+very little to the purpose; _what_ I assert is more germain to the
+matter--and let this lacquay of Nicholas Biddle deny _that_ if he dare, or
+disprove it if he can. If my charges are _true_, the identity of their
+author with the editor of the Evening Journal could not detract from their
+truth; if _false_, a more obvious as well as conclusive mode of
+establishing their falsity presents itself.
+
+But the truth is, that no arrow which has been shot into the camp of the
+"Holy Alliance" rankles more deeply, or has worked worse execution, than
+the exposure of the authorship of "McDonough." Not that Mr. Reed is by any
+means, either intellectually or extrinsically, the most formidable member
+of the combination; but now it is known that _he_ is the author of those
+attacks upon the character of a good citizen, of a man against whom for
+years the minions of the Bank have been directing their warfare without the
+ability to discover a crevice in his coat of mail, the arm of the puny
+assailant falls paralyzed to his side, and his intended victim laughs at
+him in a tone of scorn, in which the whole community participates.
+
+_William B. Reed_ to prate of patriotism! _William B. Reed_ to declaim upon
+honor and patriotism! For the chimney-sweep to prate of cleanliness would
+not be more anomalous. With what grace does the defence of the United
+States Bank come from this "McDonough" of the Chronicle, when we know him
+to be the veriest lick-spittle that Nicholas Biddle, in his day of pride
+and power, ever retained in his service? As the friend of Nicholas Biddle,
+as his purchased tool and agent, rather, Mr. Reed has never, for an
+instant, hesitated to sacrifice to the promotion of the interests of the
+Bank, every public trust which for the time being was confided to his
+keeping. Why is it that Mr. Reed has never yet explained away or answered
+the very extraordinary and _specific_ disclosures of _bribery_ which a
+correspondent of the Ledger made against him in the summer of 1841?
+Disclosures so astonishing that the eyes of the public, although long
+accustomed to look upon the doings of the man with distrust, dilated with
+astonishment. He was accused by the correspondent of the Ledger with having
+as a member of the House of Representatives, _accepted bribes from the Bank
+of the United States_; the several amounts were specified; documents were
+even refered[TN] to; and yet Mr. Reed, instead of maintaining his good
+ground and confronting his accuser, flies the city, absents himself for
+some time upon the plea of a previously arranged excursion of pleasure; and
+when, after his return, driven at length to a show of explanation, he
+parades in print an evasion of charges, so paltry that its sophistry would
+degrade the merest pettifoger in Mr. Biddle's Court of Criminal Sessions.
+
+But since Mr. William B. Reed, alias Mr. U. S. B. McDonough, is so pure a
+patriot, and has such a holy horror of "treason" and "traitors," I will
+give him a few facts upon which to reflect, and with which he may enrich
+and illustrate his future lucubrations.
+
+_Fact No. 1._--That Mr. William B. Reed is, or claims to be, the grandson
+of General Joseph Reed, of Revolutionary memory.
+
+_Fact No. 2._--That Mr. William B. Reed is feelingly alive upon the subject
+of his grandfather's memory, and has devoted the labors of nearly his whole
+life to establish the popular delusion that his grandfather's patriotism
+underwent the severest test and ordeal of the revolutionary struggle.
+
+_Fact No. 3._--That Mr. William B. Reed has written essays, reviews and
+paragraphs innumerable, to induce the public to believe, that when in 1778
+or 1779, Governor Johnstone and the other British Commissioners, proposed
+to General Reed a reward of 10,000 pounds sterling, and a lucrative office,
+upon condition that he would lend himself to the views of Great Britain, he
+indignantly spurned the proposal, and replied, "I am not worth the
+purchase, but such as I am, King George is not rich enough to make it."
+
+_Fact No. 4._--That no such proposal was ever made to General Joseph Reed,
+and that General Joseph Reed never made any such reply.
+
+_Fact No. 5._--That General Joseph Reed endeavoured to effect a negotiation
+with the British Commissioners, and actually commenced it, to ascertain
+what he might expect, in money and office, in case he succeeded in
+effecting a reconciliation between the colonies and the mother country, or
+in other words, that he would be instrumental in causing the revolted
+colonies to return to their allegiance to Great Britain!
+
+_Fact No. 6._--That General Joseph Reed, after much chaffering as to the
+price, finally proffered his services to the British Commissioners, to
+effect the objects mentioned in "Fact No. 5," for the sum of 10,000 pounds
+sterling in hand, a Chief Justiceship, and the right to a tract of land
+West and North-West of the then city of Philadelphia, upon a part of which
+the Cherry Hill Penitentiary is now erected, and the whole of which, is at
+this time probably worth from five to seven millions of dollars.
+
+_Fact No. 7._--That while this negotiation was pending, and while the
+hucksters were haggling as to the terms upon which it should close, it came
+to the ears of the American Commander-in-Chief, that General Reed was
+engaged in a very suspicious correspondence with the British Commissioners;
+that General Washington sent for General Reed, and in the presence of his
+staff, informed him of what he had heard, and demanded an explanation; and
+that General Reed, finding denial out of the question, admitted that
+overtures had been made to him by Governor Johnstone and his colleagues,
+but that he had replied to them; "I am not worth the purchase, but such as
+I am, King George is not rich enough to make it."
+
+_Fact No. 8._--That this patriotic reply of General Joseph Reed, to the
+attributed overtures of the British Commissioners, had its _sole origin_ in
+the explanation with which he sought to dispel the suspicions of General
+Washington; that General Washington ever after continued to regard him with
+great distrust; and that several years subsequently, when General Reed, in
+the presence of General Washington, was descanting upon the patriotic reply
+with which he had foiled the British Commissioners, General Washington
+turned away in disgust, and remarked to a friend, in a tone of voice
+sufficiently audible to be heard by all present--_"I know the fellow well,
+and am satisfied that he wanted but a price and an opportunity to play us
+as false as Arnold."_
+
+When Mr. Reed shall have sufficiently pondered over the facts thus
+enumerated, I shall descend the ladder a step from his grandfather, and
+come to his more immediate progenitor! Of him, I shall have the great
+question to ask--what is the reason of his aversion to sunshine, that he
+secludes himself all day like an owl or a bat? But the grandfather will
+suffice for the present. Mr. Reed has certainly taken uncommon pains to
+keep up the public delusion upon this subject. Let him know (what he will
+soon know to his mortification,) that there yet survives a veteran of the
+revolution--one whose mental faculties are undimmed by age--whose very
+physical frame, time has treated with tenderness and respect--whose keen
+and lively intelligence retains its ancient vigour--a Revolutionary
+soldier, who well knew Joseph Reed; who equally well knew George
+Washington; and who intends to give to the world, at no very distant day,
+his knowledge of them, and of much beside.
+
+Mr. Reed has fair warning--let him look to it.
+
+  Monday, Sept. 19, 1842.                                  VALLEY FORGE.
+
+
+                        From the Evening Journal.
+
+MR. WHITNEY:--Since your publication of my last, "McDonough" has slacked
+his fire wonderfully. It is surprising how one's tone becomes altered after
+the discovery is made that the former idea of _invulnerability_ was a
+great mistake. The home truths pressed upon Mr. William Bradford Reed (I
+believe this is the first time that the public have been made acquainted
+with the learned gentleman's name in full) have proved to be of unpalatable
+flavor and difficult digestion; and it is not, therefore to be wondered at
+that they should have for him no relish. I have not yet done with the
+revolutionary reminiscences of his grandfather; that worthy whom "King
+George was not rich enough to buy," although, as he himself modestly
+admitted, he was "_not worth purchasing_:"
+
+The writer of this paragraph had an opportunity, very many years since,
+when Mr. Reed was a student of the Pennsylvania University, of becoming
+somewhat intimately acquainted with his bent of mind; and if there ever was
+a school-boy despised and detested by his fellows, William was that youth.
+"The boy's the father of the man," and those who have known him only in his
+ripened years, if they apply the truth of this axiom, will have no
+difficulty in correctly conjecturing what must have been his early youth.
+Even then his predominant weakness was to almost daily, and by the hour,
+expatiate upon the merits of his _great_ "grandfather," and to entertain
+boys, smaller and younger than himself, with the revolutionary
+exploits--more numerous and diversified far than those with a narration of
+which Othello beguiled the fair Desdemona, performed by that distinguished
+personage: and in particular, how "the General" had repulsed the proffered
+bribe of the Treasury of Great Britain, and his pick and choice of the most
+lucrative office in the Colonies.
+
+Down to this day, this has continued to be the habit of Mr. Reed; and to
+such an extent has he indulged it, that he has become the butt and laughing
+stock of his acquaintance.
+
+    "O, wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us
+    To see oursels as others see us!
+    It wad frae manie a blunder free us,
+                        An foolish notion!"
+
+The extraordinary pains taken by Mr. Reed, to circulate the notion of his
+grandfather's more than Roman patriotism, would, of itself, be a
+circumstance calculated to induce suspicion of their being "something
+rotten in Denmark;" but, fortunately for the truth of history, the _proofs_
+of General Reed's treachery and meditated "treason," [TN](if not _actual_
+treason, are extant--and the veteran, to whom in my last I referred, will,
+in due time, give them to the world. The descendants of General Reed have
+succeeded long enough in imposing upon the American people, as a patriot
+and a hero of the "times that tried men's souls," a wretch, who, in the
+emphatic language of General Washington, spoke in his presence and hearing,
+"wanted but a price and an opportunity to play us false as Arnold!" who,
+while his fellow soldiers were stinted of food and scant of clothing, was
+in actual treaty with the British Commissioners, to betray the American
+Army, and their Commander-in-Chief, and their cause, _and their Country_,
+to Great Britain, for the consideration of ten thousand pounds sterling, a
+judicial office, and a tract of land!!!
+
+By a monstrous suppression of truth, and an adroit perversion of the
+explanation which General Reed gave to the demands of the American
+Commander-in-Chief, respecting his correspondence with the British
+Commissioners, his descendants have managed, so far, with tolerably general
+success, to thrust into the ranks of the Carrolls and Hancocks, the Putnams
+and Warrens of the Revolution, a "traitor," who entered into the struggle
+as a matter of speculation; and who, from the date of his appointment, in
+1774, as one of the Committee of Correspondence of Philadelphia, down to
+the detection of the fact, some years after, that he was engaged in a
+correspondence with the British Commissioners, watched with untiring
+vigilance, for a proper "opportunity" to betray, for a sufficient "price,"
+the cause, and the country, to the tender mercies of George the Third and
+his ministry! There is scarcely a Review or Magazine, published in the
+country, into which, under the pretext of reviewing some publication, Mr.
+William B. Reed has not contrived to obtrude some panegyric of his
+grandfather's patriotism--fulsome, even if true, but most monstrous when
+considered with reference to its unworthy object.
+
+Not content with chaunting Gen. Reed's praise as an "invisible singer," Mr.
+Reed has not hesitated to take the field openly, and in person, and sound
+the trumpet in the ears and before the eyes of the astonished lookers on.
+Before every literary or collegiate association which he has been called
+on, or _finefied_ to have himself invited to address, the eternal burden of
+his song has been, "I am the grandson of the great and good patriot,
+General Joseph Reed, of revolutionary memory, who replied to the emissaries
+of Great Britain, when they offered him his own terms to further the views
+of England, 'I am not worth the purchase, but poor as I am, King George is
+not rich enough to make it.'" At New York, a few years since--afterwards,
+in the Musical Fund Hall, in this city--more recently at Dickinson
+College--quite lately at Harvard University, in short, everywhere, and on
+all occasions, the self same tune has lulled his audiences into a general
+slumber. How any one whose cheek is not formed of brass, can stand up as
+Mr. Reed has accustomed himself to do, and thus dole out, on all occasions,
+and before all assemblies, the patriotism of a grandfather for whose
+"treason" he should blush, I am at a loss to imagine. Even if deserved
+modesty ought to insinuate that the tribute would be more appropriately
+paid, and in better taste, by other voices.
+
+But the strongest part of all is, that Mr. Reed, with that full knowledge
+which I know him to possess (and which I will satisfy him that I _know_ him
+to possess) of his grandfather's traitorous designs and conduct, should,
+nevertheless, have succeeded in steeling himself to the habit which has
+made him so supremely and universally ridiculous.
+
+Whenever it is announced that a new work is in preparation, in any way
+connected with the events of the American Revolution, poor Mr. William B.
+Reed "gets the fidgets." He throws business, as Macbeth did physic,--to the
+dogs; he can hardly delay for the introduction of a supply of clean linen
+into his carpet-bag; but, jumping into the next steamboat or railroad car,
+he travels post-haste till he has reached the residence of the author, whom
+he never leaves till he has fully satisfied himself that the projected work
+is to contain nothing that can detract from the spurious fame of General
+Reed, or call into question the truth of his attributed reply to the
+British Commissioners. Poor Mr. Jared Sparks must have had a hard time of
+annoyance during the long series of years in which he was engaged in
+preparing for the press his editions of the correspondence of Washington
+and Franklin. Mr. Bancroft, the author of _the_ History of the United
+States, is, at present, a particularly prominent object of Mr. Reed's
+dread. Indefatigable in his researches he cannot have failed to become
+possessed of some of the evidences of General Reed's "treason," and, stern
+in his impartiality, it is not to be supposed that he will hesitate to
+place before the world the character and doings of this miscreant in their
+true colours. Fearful of this, Mr. Reed has long been engaged in playing
+the _toady_ to Mr. Bancroft: with what success thus far, remains to be
+seen: but one thing is certain, that Mr. Bancroft will have placed in his
+hands, in time to inform him fully for his preparation of that volume of
+his history in which it will become necessary for him to introduce the name
+of General Joseph Reed, letters and documents that will establish the
+"treason" of that worthy beyond a doubt.
+
+The last volume of Mr. Bancroft's work comes down no later than 1784; so
+that there will probably appear another volume before the period of General
+Reed's exploits will become the subject of his composition; and of this
+length of time Mr. Reed will doubtless endeavor to take advantage and make
+good use. He has just made a formidable demonstration upon Mr. Bancroft.
+"At the recent literary festival at Cambridge," (to borrow the language of
+Mr Reed, contained in his late letter to the editors of the National
+Intelligencer, concerning Mr. Graham, the historian,) Mr. Reed's _toadying_
+of Mr. Bancroft was the subject of general comment. Not content with the
+display of his fulsome civilities on that occasion, Mr. Reed has since
+forced an opportunity of volunteering to the editors of the National
+Intelligencer, the letter to which I have just alluded; in which under the
+pretext of honouring the memory of the late James Graham, Esq., the English
+author of a History of American Colonies, Mr. Bancroft is plastered with
+praise. It is thus that Mr. Reed seeks either to impose upon Mr. Bancroft
+the same "Romance of American History," in which the grandfather is the
+principal personage, with which he flatters himself he has duped every body
+else, or to disarm him of any intention of publishing the _true_ history of
+his connection with the British Commissioners.--And what most of all
+enhances the meanness of Mr. Reed's conduct is the fact, that, but a year
+or two since, he was accustomed, at the Whig political meetings of this
+city, to make Mr. Bancroft (who then held the office of Collector of the
+Port of Boston, and was a prominent Democrat,) the especial object of his
+abuse, lavished upon him in the most unmeasured terms.
+
+Such is the man, who, with a thorough knowledge of his grandfather's
+delinquencies, persists in upholding him to the world as a true and
+sterling patriot; who, knowing him to be a "_Traitor_," steeped in
+"_Treason_" to the very eyelids, and seeking to barter away his country and
+its liberties for British gold and office, represents him, unblushingly, as
+the worthy compeer of Washington, a fellow labourer in the same vineyard,
+toiling from the rising to the setting of the sun!!! But Mr. Reed's race of
+eulogy of his ancestors is nearly run. The proof of that man's treachery,
+long known to the _few_, will soon be promulgated to the _many_--to the
+WORLD. How _then_, will Mr. William B. Reed feel, when he remembers his
+itinerant career of laudation; his journeyings by sea and by land, that the
+trumpet of General Joseph Reed's praises might be sounded? His essays,
+reviews, addresses, and heaven only knows what all besides? But, above all,
+how will he _then_ feel when he remembers that, under the stolen name of a
+naval hero of the Late War, he, this worthy descendant of a Traitor and
+Tory of the Revolution, once devoted whole weeks to the malignant endeavour
+to fasten upon a pure and unoffending citizen the very crime of "Treason,"
+of which he knew his own grandfather to have been guilty?
+
+With one or two little anecdotes, (the character of which may somewhat
+surprise Mr. Reed at the extent and accuracy of my information,) I close
+for the present. I will select those which Mr. Reed has the best reasons
+for knowing to be true. During the visit of Lafayette to this country, the
+father of Mr. William B. Reed, (Mr. Joseph Reed, the late Recorder of
+Philadelphia,) called on the General at his quarters, in this city, and
+requested the honour of a private interview. The General (who had been
+waited upon by Mr. Reed before, in company with the authorities, and other
+citizens) intimated his numerous and pressing engagements; but Mr. Reed
+persisting, the interview was granted; one not strictly private, however,
+there being two other gentlemen present. Mr. Reed informed the General that
+his object was to obtain from him some revolutionary anecdotes, of which he
+was convinced he must possess a stock, of his father, the late General
+Joseph Reed. General Lafayette's countenance immediately fell: he
+endeavoured politely to evade Mr. Reed's request; at last, as Mr. Reed
+would take nothing short of downright refusal, the General was, at length,
+compelled to remark, "I am sorry to say, sir, that I am acquainted with no
+anecdotes of the late General Reed which it would be pleasant for his son
+or any of his friends to hear." Mr. R. having bowed himself out of the room
+in great confusion, the General remarked to one of the gentleman present,
+in surprise, "This is very strange! Can it be possible that Mr. Reed is
+ignorant of the opinion which the officers of the Revolution entertained of
+his father?" And now for another, in which Mr. William B. Reed himself
+figured. A year or two before the death of Bishop White, he called on the
+venerable prelate and made a request precisely similar to that with which
+his father had troubled General Lafayette. Anxious to spare his feelings,
+the good Bishop endeavoured to change the subject; but, no other mode
+offering of escaping from the pertinacity of Mr. Reed, he said to him,
+"Young man, upon the subject of your grandfather, the least that's said,
+will be soonest mended!"
+
+In my next, I will so far follow the example of McDonough, as to publish a
+few "Documents," the original of which will be consigned, before long, to
+Mr. Bancroft.
+
+                                                            VALLEY FORGE.
+
+  Sept. 23d, 1842.
+
+
+                        From the Evening Journal,
+
+MR. WHITNEY:--The Jeremiads of the Forum and the Evening Courier shall not
+deter me from the task which I have deliberately assumed, and which I mean
+to carry out, of exposing the treachery of the late General Joseph Reed,
+and the delinquencies of his living grandson, Mr. William Bradford Reed.
+Why, instead of _deprecation_, do not these journals give _disproof_? Is a
+fellow to be canonized as a saint, because he is no longer of the living?
+Then let all history be rewritten, and let the puling mawkishness which the
+hypocrites call manly indignation, reject from the page of history the
+infamy of a Nero, the cruelty of a Tiberius, and the treason of an Arnold.
+If it be proper for the entertainment or instruction of posterity, that
+the vices and crimes of the men of history shall be faithfully detailed,
+why should not the "_treason_" of General Reed, contemplated or effected,
+be spread upon his country's annals? Above all, when he and his descendants
+have adroitly disguised his villainy with the varnish of incorruptible
+patriotism, why should the hand which has the power to tear off the mask,
+and expose the enormity of guilt, be made to fall, self-withheld and
+self-paralyzed, from the effort? These are questions which admit of but one
+reply. I shall _go on_, and in continuation of my developments, I here
+subjoin another letter from Col. Samuel Smith to the same gentleman to whom
+was addressed his last.
+
+
+                                 _Baltimore, October 2d, 1832._
+
+    MY DEAR COLONEL--I acknowledge the receipt of your two very
+    kind letters since I left Washington, and thank you for the
+    acceptable accompaniment of the last. Also, for the pamphlet
+    on Cholera which you have sent--I loaned it to several of our
+    medical gentlemen, and they all seem to think highly of it.
+    Our people have been much alarmed, and I think with good
+    reason. For my own part, I entertain but little uneasiness. I
+    have lived a long life, and though I am far from tired of it,
+    I am ready to go whenever it pleases him who gave it to take
+    it away.
+
+    Looking over my paper, I have directed copies to be made up
+    such as seem adapted to your purpose. These, and some
+    original, I will send to your direction, whenever I hear from
+    you again, and you inform me how to send them. I have but few
+    letters from Gen. Washington--the _originals_ I cannot consent
+    to part with; but copies are cheerfully at your service. I
+    have had a copy taken of a very remarkable correspondence
+    between General Wayne and General Reed, which awaits your
+    directions. I was on a visit to Wayne shortly after its close;
+    he read it to me, and I was so much struck with it, that I
+    requested leave to take a copy, which he gave me. You will
+    find it a curiosity, and it is another development of the real
+    character of Reed. I think I formerly mentioned I knew but
+    little of Gen. Wayne, with which you are not already
+    acquainted, and I may say much the same as to Putnam, except
+    what I had from conversation with General Washington. I have
+    never been able to make up my mind how far Gen. Gates was
+    concerned in the movement for his promotion, at Washington's
+    expense. He certainly did not openly encourage it. It is so
+    delicate a matter, I did not like to directly question General
+    Washington. Once or twice, in conversation, I thought he was
+    coming to the point, but he broke off without reaching it.
+    Many of Conway's movements against Washington had a tact and
+    address about them, for which Gates generally received the
+    credit. Towards the close, his calumnies of Washington were
+    disgustingly obscene--I mean Conway's. General Reed was well
+    known to be deeply engaged in this conspiracy. But he lacked
+    the courage of Conway, and was wholly without the rashness
+    which so frequently marked the latter. Reed was a cautious and
+    cunning plotter--he never looked one in the eye. Lee, who
+    mortally hated him, had a common saying, "that Reed's face was
+    stamped with the devil's favorite brand." I was once present
+    when he made the remark in the presence of Reed, without
+    observing him. Reed stepped forward, and angrily demanded
+    "what was that, sir?" Lee bowed and repeated the observation,
+    amid roars of laughter from all present. General Reed left the
+    spot, remarking, "you shall hear from me shortly;" to which
+    Lee replied, "I doubt that." Nothing further ever came of it.
+
+    Conway and Reed were decidedly the two most unpopular men in
+    the army--with this difference, that Conway, though disliked,
+    was respected, until his calumnies of Washington were carried
+    to their extent. Of Conway's duel with General Cadwalader I
+    have no particulars which you do not possess. Conway became
+    nearly involved in another duel on Reed's account. He took up
+    a quarrel of Reed's but it was compromised. Reed was publicly
+    insulted, and submitted like a boarding-school miss. My
+    sentiments on some subjects have changed with my advancing
+    years; but I well remember the surprise which I felt, and
+    which the whole army expressed, that a soldier, and one
+    wearing epaulettes, should patiently submit to the epithet of
+    "liar," and a threat of having his nose pulled. It may have
+    been a conscientious scruple; but he did not hesitate to get
+    others into difficulties.
+
+    In 1783 or '84, I had business which called me to Alexandria.
+    To my delight, I met General Washington there, and he insisted
+    upon my accompanying him home. The weather was wet and cold,
+    and, for a wonder, as he expressed himself, he was without
+    visiters but me. I remained at Mount Vernon several days and
+    had many and long conversations with the General. While there,
+    one of his newspapers mentioned the return of General Reed
+    from England, in feeble health; and this induced a
+    conversation concerning that person. I reminded the General of
+    the coolness with which I had seen him treat Reed at the final
+    leave-taking of his officers; and of the remark I had
+    afterwards heard him make at Annapolis. The particulars I gave
+    you in my letter from the Senate. General Washington rose,
+    stamped his foot somewhat violently; then instantly checking
+    himself, he paced the room slowly, speaking while he walked. I
+    remember every thing he said as plainly as if it had been
+    spoken only yesterday. He stated to me, that he had no doubt
+    that General Reed had long been in treaty with the British
+    before the arrival of their Commissioners in Philadelphia in
+    1778; and that, after the treaty of peace, in 1783, he
+    received information, which placed it beyond question, that,
+    in the appointment of the Commissioners, the British Ministry
+    had selected Lord Carlisle with express reference to an
+    acquaintance which he had had with Reed, when Reed was in
+    England, seventeen or eighteen years before.
+
+    He mentioned that, in 1777, while the army was yet encamped at
+    Valley Forge, Mrs. ----, a lady from Philadelphia, with whom
+    Reed was long known to have had a criminal intercourse, was
+    arrested within the lines, and that her suspicious conduct
+    induced a search, which led to the discovery of a letter upon
+    her person, from Governor Johnstone to General Reed, and
+    enclosing a note from Lord Carlisle, which was in _cypher_.
+    This letter related to overtures upon which Donop, the Hessian
+    officer, and General Reed, had already exchanged their views;
+    pronounced them to be somewhat extravagant; and suggested that
+    Reed had better close the arrangement which had been proposed
+    to Count Donop, and he would have no reason to complain. The
+    ten thousand pounds of which Donop spoke, Johnstone said would
+    be immediately paid, and he did not think there would be any
+    difficulty about the land or its equivalent; but of the
+    _office_ that Donop mentioned, he (Governor Johnstone,) could
+    not speak with confidence; upon that subject, the enclosed
+    note from Lord Carlisle, Governor Johnstone said, would inform
+    General Reed more definitely. This note being in cypher,
+    General Washington informed me he never succeeded in having
+    unravelled. Immediately upon receiving these papers, General
+    Washington informed me he called a council, and sent for Reed.
+    He placed the two letters in General Reed's hands, and
+    demanded an explanation. Unfortunately, the officer whom he
+    had sent for Reed had informed him what had happened and he
+    had thus some time and opportunity for preparation. Reed
+    professed himself unable to read the note in cypher, and said
+    he did not know what it meant.
+
+    As to the letter from Governor Johnstone, he explained that
+    overtures had been some time before made to him, offering him
+    his own reward, upon condition of his bringing about a peace,
+    but that he had replied, "that he was not worth the purchase,
+    but poor as he was, King George was not rich enough to make
+    it." When General Washington demanded why he had not before
+    informed him of this communication, Reed replied, that though
+    _he_ was incorruptible, he was afraid of letting it be known
+    what offers had been made, lest other officers might have been
+    tempted to accept them. Reed was placed under arrest until
+    further inquiries were made, but they were not successful, and
+    he was released. The female upon whom the letters were
+    detected, had been released, after being searched, and though
+    every effort was made to get her again it was fruitless.
+    General Washington added, that through the rest of the war, he
+    watched Reed narrowly, and trusted him with nothing; and
+    though he had no further _proof_ of his guilt, he was
+    satisfied that his treason had existed. But General Washington
+    informed me, that _after the peace_, he had received
+    information, the source of which he was not at liberty to
+    divulge, but the truth of which he had satisfied himself of,
+    that nothing but the accidental intercepting of Johnstone's
+    and Carlisle's letters, had prevented Reed's consummation of
+    treason. He had become fully convinced, after the disbanding
+    of the army, that Reed had had numerous personal interviews
+    during the war, with leading British officers; that he had
+    seen Donop at Burlington; that he had been repeatedly within
+    the British lines, and that he _now_ knew that, after the
+    battle of Germantown, he had visited the English General,
+    Howe, at his Head Quarters, in Philadelphia.
+
+    I have now given you, accurately, the substance of General
+    Washington's conversations upon this subject. It fully
+    accounts for his marked treatment of Reed at New York and
+    Annapolis; and it must convince you what a precious rogue in
+    grain this counterfeit patriot was.
+
+    My letter will not reach you for some time after its date. My
+    arm is stiff, and I write slowly; and, although I have but one
+    date, I have written a little each day for four days. God
+    bless you, my old friend, and make me hear frequently from
+    you.
+
+                                Yours very truly,
+                                                  SAMUEL SMITH.
+
+
+
+I allow Mr. William Bradford Reed till Saturday to meditate upon this
+epistle. On that day, unless _he_ should anticipate me, and publish the
+correspondence with Wayne, to which Colonel Smith refers, _I_ shall have
+the pleasure of presenting it to the public eye. It is a light that ought
+not to be hidden under a bushel; but should be placed upon an elevation
+high as the summit of the Bunker Hill Monument, that it may be seen far and
+wide.
+
+                                                           VALLEY FORGE.
+
+  _October 1st, 1842._
+
+
+                                                     _October 5th, 1842._
+
+MR. WHITNEY.--While exposing the demerits of Mr. William Bradford Reed, I
+have no disposition to disparage whatever of ability or information he may
+really possess; and concerning the letter, I cheerfully acknowledge that he
+has made himself very thoroughly acquainted with the true character of the
+leading men and events of the American Revolution.
+
+But it is _this_ that constitutes his chief shame. In his absurd panegyrics
+of his "Grandfather," he has not been imposed upon; he is seeking to impose
+upon others, and in this he has, to a very considerable extent, succeeded;
+he is sinning against the excess of light and the superfluity of knowledge.
+Possessing the most ample proofs of his grandfather's treachery to his
+country in the darkest hour of his country's peril, Mr. William B. Reed has
+not hesitated to hold him up to that very country which he sought to
+betray, and _did_ well nigh betray, and _would_ have betrayed, but for the
+timely interception of his treasonable correspondence with the British
+Commissioners, as one of the most glorious and incorruptible of the
+patriots who fought and suffered for the establishment of American
+Independence! The guilt of this will cling to Mr. Reed enduringly.
+
+Never can he shake off its contamination. Could he escape from the odium of
+his more immediate personal delinquencies; his fawning sycophancy of
+Nicholas Biddle; his dirty work in behalf of that man for money, not for
+love; could he deluge with Lethean ocean the public memory, his
+malpractices as attorney-general; his venal career as a member of the
+Legislature; could he induce the public to overlook the bribes which he
+pocketed under the pretext of _fees_ received for services never
+performed--bribes, the amount of which and the dates of whose reception,
+are well known, and sustainable by documentary reference;--could all this
+be erased, as systematic and persevering labours, from his boyhood upward,
+to delude a much injured country into reverence for the memory, not of the
+contemporary, but of the _predecessor_ of Benedict Arnold in "treason" have
+won for him an infamy from the consequences of which escape is impossible.
+
+I have heretofore referred, in general terms, to Mr. Reed's numerous
+applications, by writing and in person, to such survivors of the
+Revolution, or their descendants, as he supposed could furnish the
+information he desired, for anecdotes of General Reed; a part of my
+labours, hereafter to be entered upon, will be to narrate not a few of the
+rebuffs and rebukes this unfortunate Doctor Syntax in search of the
+biographical Pickenesque has experienced, and the minute fidelity with
+which my sketches shall be marked, will contribute, let me assure Mr. Reed,
+no less to his surprise than mortification, nay, I will establish that much
+of the information, that many of the documents, which _I_ propose to lay
+before the readers of the Evening Journal, _he_ and his brother, the
+Professor, possess; that copies of some of the latter have long been in
+their hands; and that Mr. William B. Reed has solicited the transfer or
+destruction of the originals. But I will even do more than all this, I
+will, in at least two instances, _publish his own letter_, praying for the
+loan if not the gift, of original papers affecting the fame of his
+grandfather. _Even here_ I do not mean to stop. I shall show that Mr. Reed
+succeeded in inveigling from the possession of a gentleman of my
+acquaintance, for a pretended temporary purpose, a letter, the publication
+of which he supposed; and a part, I may say a prominent part, of Mr. Reed's
+scheme to perpetuate the delusion of his grandfather's patriotism, has been
+to write or call upon, every person projecting any work connected with the
+Revolution; and by tendering information, or otherwise volunteering his
+assistance, to deceive or disarm. He has played his game, so far, with very
+clever success; and, as I formerly mentioned, it is one which he is at
+present engaged in practising upon Mr. Bancroft--that same Mr. George
+Bancroft, whom, at a political meeting in this city, held some four or five
+years since, he so delicately described as a "tin cannister tied to the
+tail of Martin Van Buren, while Martin Van Buren, was running through the
+street, like a hot slut, with the whole kennel of loco-focoism bawling at
+her heels!" Adapting this figure to circumstances, as it might be
+introduced with great effect, into Mr. Reed's collegiate eulogy upon the
+services and patriotism of his grandfather.
+
+In Col. Smith's last published letter to Col. ----, he promised to furnish
+the latter with copies of certain letters, and in another he says.
+
+    "I cannot answer your inquiry about Captain Anderson. I knew
+    several officers of that name, but can recal nothing
+    particular concerning any of them. I once received a letter
+    from a person some where in the State of Delaware, calling
+    himself Henry Anderson, inquiring about his uncle Captain
+    Anderson, of the Revolutionary army, but I have not retained,
+    or mislaid the letter, and cannot call to mind his more
+    particular address. But even this defective information may
+    serve to put you on the scent.
+
+    "Your son will tell you much for me that I would otherwise
+    write. My rheumatism has prevented my showing him as much of
+    the civilities of our town as I would have liked, but you will
+    excuse me.
+
+                    "Most truly and sincerely,
+                                  "your old friend,
+                                                "SAMUEL SMITH.
+
+
+
+From among the accompaniments of this letter transmitted by Col. Smith, I
+select, for incorporation in the present article, the following
+correspondence between General Anthony Wayne and General Joseph Reed. The
+"_Numbers_" with which they are prefixed appear to be of General Wayne's
+own addition.
+
+
+                                  No. 1.
+
+    GEN. A. WAYNE,
+
+              My Dear General--
+
+    Only the day before yesterday I heard of your being here, and
+    then but by accident, or I should have addressed you upon the
+    subject of this communication. For several months there has
+    been a rumor industriously circulated in this city, that
+    during the last summer, you stated while in "South Carolina,"
+    in the presence of General Greene and other officers, that my
+    conduct at the battles of Brandywine and Monmouth had
+    subjected me to the imputation of timidity. It is added that
+    you referred disparagingly to circumstances which occurred at
+    _Valley Forge_, and revived the exploded calumny, for the
+    truth of which you personally vouched, that I had signified my
+    acceptance of the terms then offered me by the Commissioners,
+    which you know that I spurned with scorn.
+
+    Of course you will understand me to be satisfied that you
+    never did use any language of the kind, but, as these remarks
+    have been propogated by persons who, I have every reason to
+    believe, are no less your enemies than mine. I am anxious to
+    afford you an opportunity for their contradiction, and this I
+    have to request you will promptly give me.
+
+    I should be sorry that malicious and designing persons should
+    have it in their power to disturb the harmony of the relations
+    which I have so long enjoyed with one upon whose friendship I
+    set so high a value, and for whom I entertain a peculiar
+    esteem.
+
+                 With great respect and cordiality,
+                           I am my Dear General, yours, &c.,
+                                                         JOS. REED
+
+  Dec'r 26th, 1783.
+
+
+                                        No. 2.
+
+                             _Philadelphia, December 27th, 1783._
+
+    Sir--The cool effrontery of your note yesterday surprised me.
+    By what right you presume to refer to any harmony of relations
+    between us, and to speak of the value of my "friendship" I am
+    at a loss to comprehend. That harmony was first disturbed by
+    the pecuniary difficulties in which you so dishonestly
+    involved me, and from which I am only now beginning to
+    extricate myself, apart from which I could entertain no
+    feelings of "friendship" for an officer for whom I have such
+    abundance of reasons for entertaining sentiments of a very
+    different description. I have no doubt that my remarks to
+    General Greene and others have been correctly reported to you,
+    not only in South Carolina and Georgia, but years ago in
+    Pennsylvania, and within the immediate reach of your personal
+    demand. I have never hesitated, on all proper occasions to
+    express myself in similar terms. I never merely intimated that
+    your conduct at the battles of Brandywine and Monmouth had
+    subjected you "to the imputations of timidity," but I have
+    always said that your behaviour at those battles, particularly
+    that of Chad's Ford, should have secured your dismissal from
+    the army.
+
+    What you refer to as "the exploded calumny" of your
+    negotiations with the enemy at Valley Forge, I in common with
+    every officer in the army, with whom I have ever conversed
+    upon the subject, including the Commander-in-chief, believe to
+    be strictly well-founded.
+
+                           I am Sir, yours,
+                                             ANTHONY WAYNE.
+
+  To Joseph Reed.
+
+
+
+
+                              VALLEY FORGE.
+
+We take the following communication of Mr. Smith, from the North American
+of this morning.
+
+    "In compliance with this arrangement, I came to this city this
+    evening, accompanied by three of my friends conversant with my
+    father's handwriting, viz; Hon. Louis McLane, Robert Gilmore,
+    and Robert Purviance, Esqrs., and was met at the place and
+    hour of appointment by William B. Reed and Henry Reed, Esqrs.,
+    and waited there until half-past eight o'clock, without the
+    appearance of the author of "Valley Forge," or any of his
+    friends.
+
+                                                 JNO. SPEAR SMITH.
+
+                           _Washington House, Parlor No. 3,
+
+                                      Monday, October 24th, 1842._
+
+
+In relation to this matter, we received through the Post-Office this
+morning, the following explanation from Valley Forge.
+
+    "Mr. WHITNEY:--I am unable to express my mortification at the
+    unhappy and unexpected accident which has prevented my meeting
+    the Messrs. Reed and Mr. John Spear Smith this evening, at the
+    time and place appointed by them, for the purpose of having
+    tested the authenticity of General Samuel Smith's letters to
+    Colonel ----, Col. ---- is my near relative, and though in his
+    ninety-third year, has till last Thursday, enjoyed the most
+    excellent health for one of so advanced an age. As he will not
+    permit the originals to be taken out his sight, I intended of
+    course that he should accompany me as one of my three friends.
+    His sudden and severe illness has rendered this impossible; he
+    refuses to part with the documents even for a temporary
+    purpose, and I have thus been compelled to submit for the
+    present to this most mortifying piece of ill-fortune.
+
+    No doubt the exultation of the Messrs. Reed will be violent,
+    but let me say to them, it will be but short-lived. But a
+    brief time will pass, and all the papers which I have
+    published, and many more which are yet to come, will be fully
+    proved and laid before the public. When Colonel ----'s health
+    is restored, I do not doubt that I shall prevail upon him to
+    place them in my hands, when I shall see Mr. John Spear Smith
+    with them at Baltimore and have the Messrs. Reed see them
+    here.
+
+                                                    VALLEY FORGE.
+
+  _October 24th, 1842."_
+
+
+We do not approve of this course of procedure on the part of Valley Forge,
+nor do we think it a proper one. We think he ought to have met Mr. Smith
+and the Messrs. Reed at the place and time appointed, and made the
+explanation in person. Under any circumstances, we think it was due to them
+as well as to ourselves. The proposition which was made by Valley Forge
+having been accepted by the above-named gentlemen, what reason can there be
+for longer preserving his incognito? Indeed he expressed his willingness,
+in one of his notes, which we publish below, to unveil himself as soon as
+the proposition he made was accepted.
+
+We had, from the first, as we have now, the fullest confidence that the
+letters purporting to be from the late General S. Smith were genuine, as
+well as that the intentions of Valley Forge, so far as concerned ourselves,
+were fair, and that he would establish the authenticity of those letters,
+and the other documents contained in his communications.
+
+Our belief in the genuineness of the letters of General Smith, was
+strengthened by the perusal of a letter which we now have before us,
+addressed to General Joseph Reed, by General John Cadwalader, in 1783,
+which corroborates what those letters contain. In that letter the latter
+gentleman says, "Having fully stated the temper of men's minds at this
+alarming period, and the situation of public affairs, I shall now recite
+the conversation and circumstances relating thereto, which I have avowed in
+my letter to you of the 10th September, as having passed between us at
+Bristol.
+
+"I had occasion to speak with you, a few days before the intended attack on
+the 20th December, 1776, and requested you to retire with me to a private
+room at my quarters; the business related to intelligence--a general
+conversation, however, soon took place concerning the state of public
+affairs, and after running over a number of topics, in an agony of mind,
+and despair strongly expressed on your countenance, and tone of voice, you
+spoke your apprehensions concerning the event of the contest; that our
+affairs looked very desperate, and we were only making a sacrifice of
+ourselves; that the time Gen. Howe's offering pardon and protection to
+persons who should come in before the 1st January, 1777, was nearly
+expired; and that Galloway, the Allens, and others, had gone over and
+availed themselves of that pardon and protection offered by said
+proclamation; that you had a family, and ought to take care of them, and
+that you did not understand following the wretched remains (or remnants) of
+a broken army; that your brother (then Colonel or Lieutenant Colonel of the
+militia--but you say of the five month's men, which is not material) was
+then at Burlington with his family, and that you had ordered him to remain
+there, and if the enemy took possession of the town, to take a protection
+and swear allegiance--and in so doing he would be perfectly justifiable.
+
+"This was the substance, and I think nearly the very words; but that, "_you
+did not understand following the wretched remains (or remnants) of a broken
+army_! I perfectly remember to be the _very words_!"
+
+The letter of General Cadwalader contains the letters of P. Dickinson, John
+Nixon, Benjamin Rush, David Lenox[TN], A. Hamilton, and a numbers of other
+persons, confirming what we have quoted.
+
+The subjoined notes from Valley Forge gave us confidence in the fairness of
+his intentions.
+
+    R. M. WHITNEY, Esq: Dear Sir--I observe an invitation in
+    yesterday's Journal, for me to call at, or send to, your
+    office, for some information which you have to impart. For
+    reasons which I shall have the pleasure of expressing to you
+    hereafter in person, I am anxious to preserve my _incognito_,
+    for the present, even with my nearest friends; and this
+    consideration will prevent my _calling_. I am also at a loss
+    to know how to _send_; but if you will drop me a few lines in
+    the letter box of the Post-office, I shall not fail to receive
+    them.
+
+                                          Very truly, &c.,
+                                                     VALLEY FORGE.
+      _September 23d, 1842._
+
+    Please direct to "Ambrose Anderson, Philadelphia."
+
+    R. M. WHITNEY, Esq., Dear Sir,--I am favored with your note,
+    refering me to General Cadwalader's pamphlet, which you inform
+    me has been abstracted from the Philadelphia Library. I have
+    access to _material_, far beyond any thing in importance and
+    value which could possibly be obtained by General Cadwalader;
+    nevertheless the _abstraction_ of his pamphlet is a
+    circumstance which I will not fail to turn to good account.
+    The gentleman to which I so often refer, in my communications
+    as the revolutionary soldier who has furnished me with
+    information, is a near relative of mine, who knew Gen. Joseph
+    Reed thoroughly. I shall continue my communications from time
+    to time; and you may rely upon my giving you nothing, which
+    does not admit of literal substantiation. Among other letters
+    which I have, are several from "George Clymer," (whom you
+    mention in your note,) which hit the nail on the head.
+
+    Will you permit me the liberty of suggesting a continuance of
+    your vigorous editorials upon Stephen Girard? The word
+    "finessed" in my last, your compositor has transformed into
+    _finified_.
+
+                                      Respectfully &c.,
+                                                    VALLEY FORGE.
+    Sept. 25, 1842.
+
+    REUBEN M. WHITNEY, Esq., Dear Sir,--I am afraid that, in
+    copying Sergt. Kemp's first letter, I have made an error of
+    date, on which account I am glad my communication has not
+    appeared to-day, as it gives me an opportunity of correction.
+    I am anxious to avoid even the slightest mistake in my
+    communications. The letter is dated "June 23rd, 1778." I am
+    not certain that I did not so transcribe it; but if I did not,
+    be good enough to make the correction. I particularly wish you
+    would _italicise_ my interrogatory to Reed relative to his
+    grandfather's correspondence with General Wayne. There is a
+    _point_ in it which _he_ will fully understand, and which will
+    give him more uneasiness than all else. I intend reserving my
+    extracts from that correspondence for the very last.
+
+                                      Respectfully, &c.
+                                                     VALLEY FORGE.
+    Sept. 27, 1842.
+
+    R. M. WHITNEY, Esq.,--Dear Sir--I am provoked to find that,
+    upon comparing my copy of Col. Smith's letter to Col. ----,
+    with the original, that I have made another error! I hope this
+    will reach you in time for its correction. Speaking of his
+    visit to Gen. Washington at Mount Vernon and _Washington_, it
+    should be, and _Philadelphia_.
+
+                                      Respectfully, &c.,
+                                                     VALLEY FORGE.
+    Sept. 28, 1842.
+
+    R. M. WHITNEY,--Dear Sir--I have been absent for a day or two
+    from the city, and did not receive your note until to-day. I
+    enclose a note for publication--oblige me by letting it appear
+    to-morrow. I cannot imagine how so stupid an error could have
+    occured as the erroneous date of Kemp's discharge by Gen.
+    Washington. But the error almost corrects itself--as Kemp's
+    letter of July 2d, speaks of the battle of Monmouth on the
+    28th. I do not know whether the blunder is that of your
+    workman, or mine in the haste of transcribing. One or two
+    other errors, which are mine, I made the subject of two notes,
+    which I addressed you through the Post-office. My absence from
+    town, and my intended absence to-morrow, prevent my preparing
+    another article for Saturday. Possibly, I will have it ready
+    for Monday, and certainly for Tuesday. Acknowledge its
+    receipt, and that it will appear on Monday or Tuesday. I have
+    not yet come to the _real gems_ of my budget. Reed shall have
+    a surfeit.
+
+                                      Respectfully, &c.,
+                                                     VALLEY FORGE
+    Sept. 30, 1842.
+
+    R. M. WHITNEY, Esq: Dear Sir--Nothing could have afforded me
+    more pleasure than the publication which has been made by the
+    Reeds. It has given me the opportunity, which I have from the
+    first been seeking, of bringing the question of General Reed's
+    revolutionary exploits to a _crisis_. I pledge myself to you,
+    that I will overwhelm them with confusion and shame.
+
+    I have not called for your letter at the Post-office, because
+    _I know that I am watched_; and I do not desire to be known
+    till the adoption of my proposition to the Reeds, of which I
+    speak in the accompanying communication, and which I will
+    furnish for publication in Monday's Journal. They have fallen
+    completely into the snare.
+
+                                      Yours, &c., very truly,
+                                                VALLEY FORGE.
+  October 14, 1842.
+
+
+In his explanatory communication of yesterday's date, Valley Forge speaks
+of many more papers "which are yet to come:" we suppose he means yet to be
+published. If so, we feel constrained to say now, that we cannot publish
+any thing more relating to the matter until he announces to us, at least,
+his real name.
+
+
+                     From the Evening Journal.
+
+R. M. WHITNEY, Esq: Dear Sir,--I am pained beyond measure, at the situation
+in which I have been so unfortunately instrumental in placing you. But for
+circumstances _which I cannot possibly control_, I would promptly
+communicate to you my name and residence. A pledge, rigidly exacted by my
+venerable relative, Col. ----, and solemnly given by me at the time he
+consented that I should communicate to you the letters of the late General
+Smith, and the other papers with which he furnished me, that I should not
+make either him or myself known without his consent, binds me as with links
+of iron. Col. ---- is slowly recovering from the paralytic affection with
+which he was seized on the 20th of this month; and let me assure you, most
+sacredly and solemnly, that as soon as his health is sufficiently restored
+to allow a conversation of any length to be had with him, I will not fail
+to convince him of the propriety--of the _necessity_--of permitting me to
+call upon you, or invite you to his residence, where, preliminary to my
+taking the proper steps to convince the public of their authenticity, I may
+exhibit to you all the writings which have been so exultingly
+prounounced[TN] to be "audacious forgeries."
+
+You do me but justice, when you say, that "a careful perusal of the letters
+of Valley Forge, confirms the belief, that he is neither an impostor nor a
+forger of letters." Why should I be? What motive could induce any rational
+being to originate a _fabrication_ so sure to be detected? You will find,
+ere very long, that I have given you nothing but the truth. Only _one_
+liberty did I venture to take with any of the correspondence--that was from
+considerations of delicacy, which I now believe to have been _fastidious_,
+and to which, at the time, I reluctantly yielded. In Gen. Smith's letter to
+Col. ----, dated Oct. 2d, 1832, I substituted a _blank_ for the name of
+_Mrs. Ferguson_," which Gen. Smith gives as that of the lady from whom was
+taken the letter of Governor Jonstone to Gen. Reed. This, the _only_
+alteration I ever made, you must allow, was a pardonable error.
+
+"Truth is mighty and must prevail;" and in this case, to the joy of your
+friends, and the consternation of your enemies, it shall be signally
+exemplified. _For the present_, let me entreat you to rest satisfied with
+my assurances; assurances which will soon be most thoroughly redeemed; and
+that you will desist from your endeavor to discover who I am--efforts which
+can give you but vain trouble, which _must_ prove fruitless; for the
+precautions which I have adopted for the preservation of my _incognito_, it
+is impossible to overcome.
+
+                       Very truly, &c.,
+                                                           VALLEY FORGE.
+
+  October 29th, 1842.
+
+
+                 From the Evening Journal, October 31st.
+
+_"Valley Forge" and General Joseph Reed--Is there a Sepulchral Sanctuary
+for Public Men?--The success of the American Revolution--Justice and Truth
+essential Elements of History--"Forgery"--The Editor, &c._
+
+Whatever motives may have actuated "Valley Forge" to the publication of
+documents affecting the revolutionary services and fame of General Joseph
+Reed, and we pretend not either to scan them, or doubt their honorable
+complexion--for truth, when on the side of country and patriotism, admits
+not of suspicion or mistrust--whatever motive, we say, may have impelled
+him to the revelation of these important historical documents, there can
+exist no doubt as it respects the principle which sustains the ransacking
+of the grave, for the sake of _truth_. Begin at any period of history,
+however early, and it will be found that _public men_ have always been
+considered as public property--their characters, their conduct and their
+opinions, belonging to the world, with no privilege of sanctuary, either in
+life or in the _tomb_. It was so with the Hebrews, it was so with Persians,
+the Babylonians, the Grecians, the Romans, the French, the English, and
+even the Chinese. Indeed, so obvious is the principle, as almost to
+dispense with argument. It bears on its very face, the irresistible force
+of a first principle; for if the grave cannot cover up the _good_ deeds of
+men, it never can be made to conceal their evil ones. The lessons of
+history, like the lessons of life, are derived more from the wicked than
+the good. The striking contrast of example, comes from the man who has
+perpetuated deeds that curdle the blood with fear, or crimson the cheeks
+with shame. Virtue is negative, quiet, undismayed--but vice rides aloft on
+the back of desecrated principles and violated laws, accompanied by the
+tumultuous rush of a moral whirlwind, overturning the fruits, blossoms and
+harvest of life; bearing blasts upon its brow, and leaving havoc in its
+train. And so do the laws of all well governed countries dispose of the
+remains of notorious felons, who, instead of being suffered to repose in
+the grave, are denied all interment; their bodies being delivered over to
+the surgeons for the benefit of science, or exposed on a gibbet, till the
+crows, eagles and vultures, devour their flesh, and then, even their bones
+are left to blacken in the winter's blast, as a warning to man, to shun the
+deeds that led them to their doom.
+
+Where is the sepulchral sanctuary for Buonaparte? or for Nero? or for
+Marius, Sylla, Otho, Galba, Charles of Burgundy, or Ferdinand of Spain? How
+many patriots are commemorated in the Lives of Plutarch? Expunge from the
+History of England the great scoundrels who disgraced their diadems, on the
+plea of sepulchral sanctuary, and how many kings will remain to grace
+their pages with the splendor of their virtues? The same question may be
+asked in reference to all histories, and the same answers given; there
+would be no history, if the grave silenced the tongue to speak of the vices
+and crimes of the dead who disgraced their nature.
+
+To return to the principle of success, as a standard of virtue, in great
+revolutionary movements. The intrinsic merit of a civil movement, or
+commotion, to produce a change of government by force of arms, or social
+intimidation without bloodshed, is not sufficient to glorify its actors.
+Success is essential to give renown which confers fame and glory on its
+authors. This was fully understood during the American Revolution. A host
+of calculating spirits stood mute, inactive, or luke-warm, watching the
+changes of the contest, and fearful of embarking in a cause that might
+miscarry. In such a crisis, the wavering, the doubtful and the timid, were
+more dangerous to their country's cause than the open traitor in arms
+against freedom. The generous, the brave, the frank, the self-devoted
+patriot, rushed headlong into the contest, putting in peril, life, honor,
+property, fame, family, friends, children--all that is dear to life, and
+all that life endears. The calculating and timid palsied their daring
+counsels by weak irresolution of wicked duplicity. Among these
+time-servers, it seems General Joseph Reed stood prominent. Careful of his
+person, he shunned danger. Calculating the probable miscarriage of the
+Revolution, he occupied the prudent ground of a tory royalist, seeming to
+battle for liberty, but ready, at any moment; to assume the scarlet
+uniform, and shout "God save King George!" A traitor in his heart to the
+cause of Independence, lest that cause, by failing, should make him a
+traitor to his king, for whom he felt a warmer affection than for the
+rebels--he stood always on the alert, to join the British, or to appear
+their greatest foe; practising the meanest arts to seem brave, yet always
+held in open contempt for his timidity and cowardice. If the Revolution
+succeeded, he calculated to pass for a patriot. If the royal arms
+triumphed, he stood prepared to claim the rewards of his fidelity to the
+KING, more valuable than an open adherent because a secret spy, who
+betrayed the cause of the rebels, while pretending to fight under its
+colors, in the uniform of an American Officer of the army of George
+Washington!
+
+Such appears to have been the character of General Joseph Reed, from
+documents decidedly authentic--so authentic as to have led to their partial
+destruction, by his vain and silly descendants, who imagined that _truth_
+could be extinguished, while vanity was kindling a spurious flame to
+consummate an imaginery[TN] _apotheosis_, for one whose actual deeds
+consigned him to the keeping of the furies and his country's execration.
+
+If such men are to be allowed an enrolment on the page of fame, as
+revolutionary patriots, who achieved our independence, there is no merits
+in those who stood side by side with Washington, in the darkest hour of the
+Revolution, when dismay sat on the bravest brow--spurning the temptation of
+British bribes--bidding defiance to British battalions, and enduring the
+pangs of hunger, thirst, and howling blasts--naked amidst winter's snow,
+with earth for a pillow, and the canopy of heaven for a covering--treason
+thundering in their ears--rewards offered for their heads, and nothing but
+liberty and independence, with the secret assurance of heaven's succour
+from a just God, to cheer and console them--bleeding, dying, desolate.
+Shall the _time-serving_ traitor take his position by the side of such men?
+Shall all merit be levelled into one common mass of calculating
+selfishness? For such must be the effect, if General Joseph Reed is to
+occupy a niche of glory in the same temple with George Washington. But
+there is no moral crucible to melt down such deeds into a general and
+indiscriminate mass. Truth revolts from such profanation. Justice spurns
+the contamination. Nature herself rises up in arms against the thought, as
+doing violence to all her holiest sympathies; her purest heart-throbs, her
+noblest aspirations. God himself denounces the impiety.
+
+Having demonstrated the importance of the revelations of "Valley Forge" to
+the truth and accuracy of history--of that history, in which we are all so
+intensely interested--as belonging to the fame of the fathers, and as
+destined for an inheritance to our children, to the end of time--it remains
+to consider how the editor of the Evening Journal, in giving publicity to
+corroborative materials for history, has merited that torrent of
+scurrility, that has been vomited upon him from the sympathisers in the
+royal cause of George the Third--who, even up to this day, still retain in
+their veins, the poison of tory blood! "Valley Forge" makes no _fresh_
+charge against the tories of 1776. He but deals in specifications of
+treasonable designs, common to every history of our Revolution, and to be
+found in every life of George Washington. If he has ventured on the daring
+task of committing fabrications of letters from General Smith to Colonel
+----, he has perpetrated _supererogatory_ crime, for no sensible
+purpose--for all that General Smith's letters told us, we knew before, as
+notorious facts of history. For this reason, we do not believe he has
+committed "forgery"--from the mere love of crime, or any other motive. If,
+then, the sympathisers in the Royal cause, are so offended by these
+letters, as to pour forth the phials of their wrath upon the editor of this
+paper, it must be from some other motive than virtuous sensibility or
+wounded patriotism. But this is not all. What was the character--what the
+tendency of the letters of "Valley Forge" who has unquestionably committed
+a deep injury, in maintaining his anonymous character, and failing to
+redeem "his gage," thrown down with so much defiance to Mr. Spear
+Smith--what, we say, was the tendency of his letters? It was laudable,
+noble, exemplary. It was to vindicate Washington, and his co-patriots, from
+all suspicion of being associated with General Joseph Reed, the secret
+royalist--the wavering tory--all which he is known to be, on the authority
+of Cadwalader, as well as Washington himself--from all suspicion of being
+associated, we say, with Reed as _a friend_--a bosom, and confidental[TN]
+friend. Their direct tendency is, to exalt the patriots of the Revolution,
+and to depress those English spies in the American uniform, who correspond
+in cypher, with the royal commissioners, and sought to sell the liberties
+of their country, for a price, at the very crisis of her fate. And what
+reply is made to "Valley Forge?" Do the parties criminated, defend their
+ancestor? No.--Do they question the truth of history? No.--But they charge
+"Valley Forge," with fabrication. Yet, if he be guilty, does it make Reed
+innocent? No.--Then why not defend themselves?
+
+
+                         VALLEY FORGE.
+
+                                                          _October, 31st,_
+
+We give another communication to-day, from the writer of the articles under
+this signature. We are satisfied that Valley Forge is what he represents
+himself to be--that he is sincere, honest, and will, as soon as
+circumstances will permit, establish the authenticity of every document he
+has furnished for publication. We shall refrain from pushing our searches
+any further, for the purpose of discovering the person of Valley Forge, for
+the good reason that we are satisfied that we know him already. On
+comparing the note of the 14th inst., to us, written evidently by Valley
+Forge himself, but in a disguised hand, with a letter of a recent date, in
+the natural handwriting of the person who we believe assumes that name,
+there are innumerable evidences that most clearly establish his identity,
+satisfactorily to us.
+
+A word to our enemies now. Let them go on and pour forth their malice, give
+full vent to their venom, and pile obloquy, mountain high; we regard it as
+the idle wind, that passeth by and harmeth not. We have long been
+accustomed to be traduced and slandered. For making the exposition of the
+mal-appropriation of the money of the Bank of the United States, by Mr.
+Biddle, the first that was ever made, we brought down on our head the whole
+weight of the power of that institution and its legions of friends and
+supporters. We were charged with having perjured ourselves in that matter.
+And what has become of that charge now? No one believes it. We have
+triumphed over all the allegations made against us in the matter, and
+thousands of individuals are left to weep now, because they did not
+believe, and act on our testimony at the time it was given.
+
+So in the present case, we are charged with publishing forged letters, and
+even with forging them ourselves. But on what authority? Why, on the
+assertion of Mr. John Spear Smith, of Baltimore, made, we do not doubt, in
+all sincerity, but evidently hastily, and without giving a single reason
+for his coming to that conclusion.
+
+We do not entertain a single apprehenson[TN] but that in this case, every
+thing will very soon come out right, and that we shall triumph over our
+enemies and their slanders, as we did in the affair of the Bank of the
+United States. _Nous Verrons._
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[A] Reed always said that this reply was the joint protection of Benj.
+Rush, Dr Wm. Smith and Gen. John Cadwalader.
+
+[B] See Gov. Johnstone's speech in the House of Commons, March, 9th, 1779,
+to be found in the Philadelphia Library in a volume of the Pennsylvania
+Packet, February 20th, 1779, No. 384.
+
+[C] Mrs. Ferguson's letter will be found in the same volume in the Numbers
+for February 20th, and March 9th.
+
+[D] Here the following anecdote will afford an occasion of recriminating.
+When Mr. Reed was proposed as a Brigadier in the army, Mr. John Adams, now
+our minister in Holland, openly objected, in Congress, to his appointment,
+saying he was of a factious spirit, and had been notoriously instrumental
+in fomenting discords between the troops of the different States.
+
+[E] When Mr. Ingersoll waited on me with General Reed's first letter, 9th
+of September last, I mentioned to him the situation of my family, and the
+necessity of my leaving the city. This has been candidly related by Mr.
+Ingersoll to Mr. Reed, as appears by the following extract from his letter,
+in answer to mine on the 17th of March, on this subject.
+
+_Extract from Mr. Ingersoll's letter, dated Philadelphia, 8th March, 1783._
+
+    "The conversation that passed, I reported with candour, and I
+    believe with precision, but still supposed, that the reply
+    from General Reed would be founded entirely upon your answer.
+    Your declaration, with respect to your intention of leaving
+    town, I think I can repeat in nearly the words in which you
+    expressed yourself.
+
+    "After discoursing upon the subject of the letter I had put
+    into your hands, you mentioned to me that your furniture was
+    packed up to go to Maryland; that you had been waiting for
+    rain to lay the dust, and that if anything was to come of this
+    business, it must be _speedily_.
+
+    "I ENDEAVOUR to give the _words_ used,--I certainly do not
+    deviate from the _purport_ of what was said."
+
+    This is not the least of the many _misrepresentations_ in
+    which Mr. Reed is convicted in the course of my reply.
+
+[F] Being called upon by General Cadwalader to recollect the conversation
+we had at the Coffee-House, in the fall of the year seventy-eight, when he
+related what had passed between him and Mr. Reed at Bristol, I remember the
+subject corroborates with those queries I have since seen published in Mr.
+Oswald's paper, of the 7th of September, 1782. I likewise remember giving
+him a hint, that some of Mr. Reed's friends were present, on which he
+repeated what he had related before, and then addressed himself to the
+gentlemen, and informed them, if any of Mr. Reed's friends were present,
+they were at liberty to make what use they pleased of it.
+
+                                                    THOMAS PRYOR.
+
+    _Philadelphia, March 8, 1783._
+
+[G] See Gen. Reed's Address to the Public, pages 24, 25.
+
+[H] As a proof of my having made this declaration, and the occasion of it,
+I offer the following letter:
+
+DEAR SIR:--I have, at your request, charged my recollection with what fell
+from you, in the hearing of myself and several others, at the trial of Mr.
+William Hamilton, on the subject of Mr. Reed, who assisted the prosecution;
+it was in terms to this effect; that it indicated the extremity of baseness
+in him, to attempt to destroy another for taking the very step he had once
+lifted his own foot to take. This, at the instant, made a deeper impression
+me, as having never till then, though living in the closest intimacy, heard
+you drop the most distant hint of any intended defection of Mr. Reed, of
+which I myself had no suspicion.
+
+                           Your humble servant,
+                                                      GEORGE CLYMER.
+  _March 2d, 1783._
+  General Cadwalader.
+
+[I] If the countryman was sent, as he insinuated, for intelligence, and not
+for a protection for Mr. Reed and his friend, is it not very extraordinary,
+in a case of this nature, after the man had so narrowly escaped with his
+life, that no circumstance relating to so delicate an affair, (transacted
+in so private a manner) should ever have come to my knowledge, till I heard
+this testimony from Major Lennox?
+
+I will venture to say that no officer of the army, at that critical period,
+would have risked his reputation, though he had afforded no cause to
+suspect his firmness, by instructing a spy to apply for a protection for
+him, with a view of gaining intelligence, without mentioning it to his
+commanding officer before the transaction. But in the instance before us,
+it is worthy notice, that in so critical a situation of public affairs, Mr.
+Reed, knowing how dangerous such a plea as the messenger had used might
+prove to his reputation, in the hands of the enemy, should not have
+endeavoured to obviate such a tale, by mentioning the circumstance to the
+commanding officer at Bristol, who might have vouched for his innocence, in
+case Donop should attempt to injure him afterwards.
+
+[J] I have ample proofs of Mr. Ellis's attachment to the enemy, which may
+be produced, if necessary.
+
+[K]
+
+_M'Kenney's Ferry, 25th December, 1776, 6 o'clock, P. M._
+
+Dear Sir,--Notwithstanding the discouraging accounts I have received from
+Col. Reed, of what might be expected from the operations below, I am
+determined, as the night is favourable, to cross the river, and make the
+attack on Trenton in the morning. If you can do nothing real, at least
+create as great a diversion as possible.
+
+                I am, sir, your most obedient servant,
+
+                                                          GEO. WASHINGTON.
+
+[L] The following extracts from General Reed's letter to his Excellency the
+President and the Honorable the Executive Council of the State of
+Pennsylvania, dated Philadelphia, 22d July, 1777, assigning his reasons for
+not accepting the office of Chief Justice, may serve to prove his opinions
+of the constitution at that time. "If there is any radical weakness of
+authority proceeding from the Constitution; if in any respects it opposes
+the genius, temper or habits of the governed, _I fear, unless a remedy can
+be provided, in less than seven years, government will sink in a spiritless
+langour, or expire in a sudden_ CONVULSION. It would be foreign to my
+present purpose to suggest any of those _alterations_, which, in my
+_apprehension are necessary_ to enable the constitution to support itself
+with _dignity_ and _efficiency_, and its friends with _security_. _That
+some are necessary I cannot entertain the least doubt._ With this
+sentiment, I feel an _insuperable difficulty_ to enter into an engagement
+of the _most solemn nature_, leading to the _support_ and _confirmation_ of
+an entire system of government, which I cannot wholly _approve_." Again,
+"the dispensation from this engagement,[M] first allowed to several members
+of the Assembly, and afterwards to the militia officers, has added to my
+_difficulties_, as I cannot reconcile it to my ideas of propriety, the
+members of the same state being under different obligations to support and
+enforce its authority." But he adds, "If the sense of the people who have
+the right of decision, leads to some alterations, I firmly believe it will
+conduce to our happiness and security; if otherwise, I shall esteem it my
+duty, not only to acquiesce, but to support as far as lays in my power, a
+form of government confirmed and sanctified by the voice of the people."
+Here, then, he says, "he feels an _insuperable difficulty_ to enter into an
+engagement of the most solemn nature, leading to the support and
+confirmation of an entire system of government, which he cannot wholly
+_approve_; but he shall think it his duty to acquiesce, and support the
+government,--if confirmed and sanctified by the voice of the people." How
+inconsistent, then, must his conduct appear, when it is notorious, that he
+took a decided part in support of government, accepted of his seat in
+Council, and afterwards the Presidency, long before the sense of the people
+was expressd[TN] by the _fabricated instructions_ to the members of Assembly,
+requiring them to rescind the resolution for calling a convention for the
+purpose of revising the constitution. And yet he says, in the 27th page of
+his pamphlet, he "so effectually vindicated every part of his conduct, that
+every gentleman present, (myself excepted,) acknowledged his mistake."
+
+These were the ostensible reasons for not accepting the Chief Justiceship,
+and taking the oath of office; but an oath of another kind, no doubt,
+induced him to decline this appointment. He had not taken the oath of
+allegiance which the law, (passed the 13th June, 1777,) required of every
+male white inhabitant; nor did he take it, as appears by the publication
+signed Sidney, in the Pennsylvania Journal, No. 1565, 12th February, 1783,)
+till the 9th of October, 1778, which was the very day he was elected a
+Councillor for the County of Philadelphia. And though disfranchised of all
+the rights of citizenship, and incapable of being elected into, or serving
+in any office, place, or trust, in this commonwealth, Mr. Reed dared to
+disregard the voice of the people, and violate the law, by accepting the
+Presidency, and exercising the powers of government annexed to that office.
+If he had taken the oath of allegiance, agreeable to law, why did he take
+it _again_, on the day he was elected a councillor? as the mere oath of
+office only, upon that occasion, would have been required of him.
+
+As Mr. Reed has not touched this point in his pamphlet, or furnished his
+friends with a single argument to defend him, against a charge supported by
+authentic proofs from public records, the public have very justly
+pronounced him guilty. If certificates can be produced of his oaths of
+abjuration and allegiance, agreeable to law, why have they not been
+published? If he is not defranchised[TN] of the rights of citizenship, why
+was his vote refused at the last election? or is this one of the subjects
+reserved for "_legal examination_?" and if so, why does he not suspend the
+public opinion by such information?
+
+[M] _By the "dispensation from this engagement," above mentioned, is meant,
+that the oath prescribed by the constitution was dispensed with, and many
+members of Assembly were permitted to take another oath, in which they were
+not bound to support the constitution._
+
+[N] That this opinion was not entertained by Congress, may reasonably be
+inferred from the following letter:
+
+                          _"Philadelphia, 12th September, 1778._
+
+   "SIR,--His excellency, General Washington, having recommended
+   to Congress the appointment of a General of horse, the House
+   took that subject under consideration the 10th instant, when
+   you were unanimously elected Brigadier and commander of the
+   cavalry in the service of the United States.
+
+   "From the general view above mentioned, you will perceive, sir,
+   the earnest desire of the house, that you will accept a
+   commission, and enter as early as your convenience will admit
+   of, upon the duties of the office; and I flatter myself with
+   hopes of congratulating you in a few days upon this occasion.
+
+   "I have the honour to be, with particular regard and esteem,
+   sir, your most humble servant,
+
+                                                      HENRY LAURENS,
+  "The Hon. Brigadier-General Cadwalader.   "President of Congress,"
+
+But not wishing to have it suggested, that I entered into the service at so
+late a period of the war for the sake of rank, as the French treaty had
+taken place, and I had conceived all offensive operations at an end, I
+declined the appointment in these terms.
+
+                                _Maryland, 19th September, 1778._
+
+   SIR,--I have the highest sense of the honour conferred upon me
+   by Congress, in appointing me a Brigadier in the Continental
+   service, with the command of the cavalry, more particularly as
+   the voice of Congress was unanimous.
+
+   I cannot consent to enter into the service at this time, as the
+   war appears to me to be near the close. But should any
+   misfortune give an unhappy turn to our affairs, I shall
+   immediately apply to Congress for a command in the army.
+
+   I have the honour to be, with the greatest regard and esteem,
+   your excellency's most obedient humble servant,
+
+                                                JOHN CADWALADER.
+    His Excellency Henry Laurens, Esq.,   President of Congress.
+
+
+
+
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
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author	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 02:31:57 -0700
committer	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 02:31:57 -0700
commit	8b80c3ea2c0139a2429d79ff802d0dc67f9cb95a (patch)
tree	ff80fb62c07ec9479baae9f39fcc0149817e43f4