"Sir: Unwilling as I am to add anything to the multiplicity of business, that necessarily engages the atten-letter came to my hands, I never knew that General tion of congress, I am compelled by unavoidable necessity to pass my answer to General Gates through their hands. What could induce General Gates to communicate to that honorable body a copy of his letter to me is beyond the depth of my comprehension, upon any fair ground; but the fact being so, must stand as an apology for the liberty of giving you this trouble, which no other consideration would have induced me to take. With the greatest respect, sir, I am, &c."

"That letter contained very judicious remarks upon that want of discipline, which has often alarmed your excellency and, I believe, all observing patriots. The reasons which, in his judgment, deprived us of the success we could reasonably expect, were methodically explained by him; but neither the 'weakness' of any of our generals, nor bad counsellors,' were mentioned; and consequently cannot be assigned or imagined as "Neither this letter, nor the information which occa- part of those reasons to which General Conway attrisioned it, was ever directly or indirectly communicated buted some of our losses. He wrote to me as a candid by me to a single officer in this army out of my own observer, as other officers in every service freely write family, excepting the Marquis de Lafayette, who, to each other, for obtaining better intelligence than that having been spoken to on the subject by Gen. Conway, of newspapers, and that freedom renders such letters applied for and saw, under injunctions of secrecy, the thus far confidential in some measure. The judgment letter which contained Wilkinson's information; so of the person who receives them points out to him, desirous was I of concealing every matter that could, in according to time and circumstances, the propriety or

did not neglect it, it must appear somewhat strange your first letter to me from Albany, of the 8th of that the forgery remained so long undetected, and that December, should tacitly recognise the genuineness of the paragraph in question; while your only concern at that time seemed to be the tracing out the author of the infidelity, which put extracts from General Conway's letter into my hands.'

"P.S. This moment I received a letter from our | to find no small difficulty in reconciling the spirit and worthy friend, General Mifflin, who informs me, that import of your different letters, and sometimes of the extracts from your letters to me had been conveyed to different parts of the same letter with each other. It is General Washington, and that it occasioned an éclair- not unreasonable to presume, that your first informacissement, in which you acted with all the dignity of a tion of my having notice of General Conway's letter, virtuous soldier. I intreat you, dear General, to let me came from himself; there were very few in the secret, know which of the letters was copied off. It is of the and it is natural to suppose that he, being immediately greatest importance that I should detect the person, concerned, would be most interested to convey the who has been guilty of that act of infidelity. I cannot intelligence to you. It is also far from improbable that trace him out unless I have your assistance." he acquainted you with the substance of the passage communicated to me; one would expect this, if he It has been said that he who would discover the believed it to be spurious, in order to ascertain the subject nearest a woman's heart when she sits imposition and evince his innocence; especially as he down to write a letter, must look for it in the seemed to be under some uncertainty as to the precise postscript. A favorable judge might interpret contents of what he had written, when I signified my General Gates in the same way; but unfortunately knowledge of the matter to him. If he neglected doing we have a letter of the next day to General Mif-it, the omission cannot easily be interpreted into anyflin, in which he tells him that the letter to Con-thing else than a consciousness of the reality of the way had been written and sealed before Mifflin's extract, if not literally, at least substantially. If he letter, above referred to, was received. But let the matter and manner of this letter be carefully observed. What is there about it that betokens a first and only letter to a stranger in answer to an unexpected letter from that stranger? Who can believe that such a letter as Conway's appears to have been, was written to any but an intimate? The subject appears to have been, in good measure, that of the writer's private griefs, and Gates's eager inquiry as to which of the letters had been copied, shows that there had been several. The same anxious tone appears also in his first letter to Washington, and contrasts amusingly with the cool nonchalance with which he treats the whole affair, as soon as he received Washington's answer. He seems to have been completely set at ease by the discovery that no letter had been copied, and that only a short sentence had been detailed from memory. Nothing more was wanting than to protest that there was no such language in some one letter, which he might hold himself ready to produce, if called for; and there he doubtless sup-not the case, how easy in the first instance to have posed the matter would end. But he had to do with one who penetrated to the thoughts and intentions of his heart, and who, with no other light than that afforded by Gates's artful letter, saw the whole matter as it really was, and as plainly as we who are admitted behind the scenes. lowing letter is an evidence of tact and sagacity without parallel:

George Washington to Horatio Gates.

The fol

"Throughout the whole of that letter, the reality of the extracts is by the fairest implication allowed, and your only solicitude is to find out the person that brought them to light. After making the most earnest pursuit of the author of the supposed treachery, without saying a word about the truth or falsehood of the passage, your letter of the 23d ultimo, to my great surprise, proclaims it 'in words, as well as in substance, a wicked forgery. It is not my intention to contradict this assertion, but only to intimate some considerations, which tend to induce a supposition that, though none of General Conway's letters to you contained the offensive passage mentioned, there might have been something in them too nearly related to it, that could give such an extraordinary alarm. It may be said, if this were

declared there was nothing exceptionable in them, and to have produced the letters themselves in support of it. This may be thought the most proper and effectual way of refuting misrepresentation and removing gested against submitting them to inspection may very all suspicion. The propriety of the objections sug well be questioned. The various reports circulated concerning their contents,' were perhaps so many argu ments for making them speak for themselves, to place the matter upon the footing of certainty. Concealment in an affair, which had made so much noise, though not by my means, will naturally lead men to conjecture the worst; and it will be a subject of speculation even to candor itself. The anxiety and jealousy you apprehended from revealing the letter, will be very apt to be increased by suppressing it.

"Valley Forge, 9th February, 1778. "Sir: I was duly favored with your letter of the 23d of last month, to which I should have replied sooner, had I not been delayed by business that required my more immediate attention. It is my wish to give implicit credit to the assurances of every gentleman; but, | "It may be asked, Why not submit to inspection a in the subject of our present correspondence, I am performance perfectly harmless, and of course conceived sorry to confess, there happen to be some unlucky circumstances, which involuntarily compel me to consider the discovery you mention, not so satisfactory and conclusive, as you seem to think it. I am so unhappy as

in terms of proper caution and delicacy? Why suppose, that 'anxiety and jealousy would have arisen in the breasts of very respectable officers, or that they would have been unnecessarily disgusted at being made sen

sible of their faults, when related with judgment and impartiality by a candid observer'? Surely they could not have been unreasonable enough to take offence at a performance so perfectly inoffensive, 'blaming actions rather than persons,' which have evidently no connexion with one another, and indulgently 'recording the errors of inexperience.'

"You are pleased to consider General Conway's letters as of a confidential nature; observing 'that time and circumstances must point out the propriety or impropriety of communicating such letters.' Permit me to inquire whether, when there is an impropriety in communicating, it is only applicable with respect to the parties, who are the subjects of them? One might be led to imagine this to be the case, from your having admitted others into the secret of your confidential correspondence, at the same time that you thought it ineligible it should be trusted to those officers, whose actions underwent its scrutiny.' Your not knowing whether the letter under consideration 'came to me from a member of congress, or from an officer,' plainly indicates that you originally communicated it to at least one of that honorable body; and I learn from General Conway, that before his late arrival at Yorktown, it had been committed to the perusal of several of its members, and was afterwards shown by himself to three more. It is somewhat difficult to conceive a reason, founded in generosity, for imparting the free and confidential strictures of that ingenious censor on the operations of the army under my command, to a member of congress; but perhaps 'time and circumstances pointed it out.' It must indeed be acknowledged, that the faults of very respectable officers, not less injurious for being the result of inexperience, were not improper topics to engage the attention of members of congress. "It is, however, greatly to be lamented, that this adept in military science did not employ his abilities in the progress of the campaign, in pointing out those wise measures, which were calculated to give us 'that degree of success we could reasonably expect.' The United States have lost much from that unseasonable diffidence, which prevented his embracing the numerous opportunities he had in council of displaying those rich treasures of knowledge and experience he has since so freely laid open to you. I will not do him the injustice to impute the penurious reserve, which ever appeared in him upon such occasions, to any other cause than an excess of modesty; neither will I suppose, that he possesses no other merit than that after kind of sagacity, which qualifies a man better for profound discoveries of errors that have been committed, and advantages that have been lost, than for the exercise of that foresight and provident discernment, which enable him to avoid the one and anticipate the other. But, willing as I am to subscribe to all his pretensions, and to believe that his remarks on the operations of the campaign were very judicious, and that he has sagaciously descanted on many things that might have been done, I cannot help being a little skeptical as to his ability to have found out the means of accomplishing them, or to prove the sufficiency of those in our possession. These minutiæ, I suspect, he did not think worth his attention, particularly as they might not be within the compass of his views.

pleased to figure to yourself of General Conway's firm and constant friendship to America, I cannot persuade myself to retract the prediction concerning him, which you so emphatically wish had not been inserted in my last. A better acquaintance with him, than I have reason to think you have had, from what you say, and a concurrence of circumstances, oblige me to give him but little credit for the qualifications of his heart; of which, at least, I beg leave to assume the privilege of being a tolerable judge. Were it necessary, more instances than one might be adduced, from his behavior and conversation, to manifest that he is capable of all the malignity of detraction, and all the meannesses of intrigue, to gratify the absurd resentment of disappointed vanity, or to answer the purposes of personal aggrandisement, and promote the interest of faction. I am with respect, sir, your most obedient servant."

Now here is the "lie by circumstance" insinuated with a degree of distinctness to which nothing but conscious guilt, christian forbearance, or abject cowardice, could have been expected to submit. It was the more provoking, too, because the whole of the argument drawn from the supposed communication of Washington's discovery by Con-. way himself, could have been shown to be destitute of any such foundation. Gates had got his information from Mifflin, who gave no intimation of the terms of the supposed letter or extract. Under these circumstances, it is almost incredible that Gates should have deigned to write the following reply:

Horatio Gates to George Washington.

"Yorktown, 19th February, 1778. "Sir: Yesterday I had the honor to receive your excellency's letter of the 9th instant, and earnestly hope no more of that time, so precious to the public, may be lost upon the subject of General Conway's letter. Whether that gentleman does or does not deserve the suspicions you express, would be entirely indifferent to me, did he not possess an office of high rank in the army of the United States; for that reason solely I wish he may answer all the expectations of congress. As to the gentleman, I have no personal connexion with him, nor had I any correspondence, previous to his writing the letter which has given offence; nor have I since written to him, save to certify what I know to be the contents of the letter. He therefore must be responsible; as I heartily dislike controversy, even upon my own account, and much more in a matter wherein I was only accidentally concerned. In regard to the parts of your excellency's letter addressed particularly to me, I solemnly declare that I am of no faction; and if any of my letters taken aggregately or by paragraphs convey any meaning which in any construction is offensive to your excellency, that was by no means the intention of the writer. After this, I cannot believe your excellency will either suffer your suspicions or the prejudices of others to induce you to spend another moment upon this subject. With great respect, I am, sir, &c."

"Notwithstanding the hopeful presages you are The reply of the commader-in-chief to this

sneaking letter, which is found at page 513, closes | appointed. We can hardly bring ourselves to this remarkable correspondence:

We have given these letters at large, not only because they are more interesting than anything of our own, but because we can no otherwise so well convey to the reader a just idea of the work under review. It is only thus that the character of such a work can be displayed. When we say that this is but a fair sample of the sort of information it contains, and of the manner in which it is communicated and substantiated, we have said enough to satisfy the public that it has well fulfilled the high expectations awakened by its annunciation.

We are not sure that in every instance the compiler's task has been executed with the same skill and fidelity. In the papers relating to the interesting affair of Major André, there is a meagerness which leaves the reader unsatisfied, and dis