stances, must be supposed to relate to the same person and subject. I have heard it did not; but the combination was remarkable, and its falling into the hands of the enemy and being exposed to public view, unfortunate.

With great esteem and regard I am, dear sir, your most obedient humble servant,

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Elbridge Gerry, Esq., Boston.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Visits the American Camp by order of Congress........Letter describing it........Elected to the Legislature of Massachusetts........ Letter of Samuel Adams.........Refuses commission of Justice of the Peace........Letter of J. Adams.

ALTHOUGH the circumstances already narrated brought Mr. Gerry's services in congress to an unexpected termination, they were not considered by him a matter of personal offence, nor were they permitted to operate injuriously to the public service. Having been appointed by congress on one of their usual committees to visit the army, he availed himself of the opportunity of his return to execute the commission with which he was intrusted.

The deplorable condition of the American arms, communicated in a letter necessarily at the time confidential, can scarcely be realized by the present generation, who are reaping the vast fruits of those services which were performed in misery and wretchedness.

There is a certainty that the picture here drawn is a true one, and we may well hesitate whether most to compassionate the extreme poverty of the country or admire the patient patriotism of her gallant defenders. The darkness of the scene is

not chiefly produced by the physical wants, the cold, nakedness and famine of the army. Great as were the sufferings, which the deprivation not merely of the comforts but the necessaries of life occasioned to mere animal nature, the sting which they inflicted struck deeper in the mind. The camp is the school of honour, pride and generous feeling. It is the theatre too where chivalrous and gallant spirits display the sentiments of their nature; danger is incurred with alacrity, for it is the ladder of their fame; wounds, sickness, suffering are the expected companions of their adventurous profession, and however unwelcome in their visits they come not without preparation. In most instances they bring with them, as some compensation for their pain, the testimonials of honourable services, the marks of devotion to duty, and the record of a claim to applause. But the wounded spirit is no anticipated part of the sufferings of the soldier; that condition of things which degrades him in the eyes of his companions, strips the battle field and the camp of all the adventitious glory that belongs to it, and holds out to him, who wields the sword of his country, only the inducements which conscience can repose upon in the justice of the cause.

This is undoubtedly the noblest, as it is the highest and the purest principle which can fill the ranks of an army; but the history of mankind shows how feeble it has been found, and how un

frequently it has been attempted. The band of Leonidas were desirous it should be told at Lacedemon, that they died at Thermopyla in obedience to the laws. Life in innumerable instances has been exchanged for fame. But the patriots in the American army were compelled to endure life in humility from a principle of duty, to expose it on the field as the bulwark of public liberty, and to hide themselves in huts and caverns to escape the jeers that might have reproached their poverty, instead of meeting the plaudits that should have sounded forth their fame. Among themselves, the common victims of a general inability to supply either the food or clothing which nature required, there was indeed some relief for the officers of the American army; but in contrast with the French officers who came supplied with all the paraphernalia of a camp, the condition of their affairs must have been inexpressibly painful. It was this contrast which operated on the minds of high-spirited and gallant men, and tended to repress that self-respect and elevation of mind, which their profession inculcates. It was this which exposed them to mortification in addition to actual distress, and required an exertion of moral courage far more difficult to acquire than the most distinguished bravery in battle.

They did indeed acquire it. For the great cause in which they were engaged; for the success of that cause they submitted to all those evils,

from which military service is most ordinarily, in a peculiar degree, exempt. But they looked forward, it may be, to the recompense of success. With an eye of hope they saw their country triumphant, in peace, in security, rich, prosperous and generous. They saw in distant vision those free institutions established, which formed a new epoch in the history of the world, and they consoled themselves with the belief that future gratitude would compensate for the involuntary injustice of the day. Has the result yet answered their reasonable expectations? Has the liberality of their country, has even the justice of their country performed the duty, which they have a right to demand?

But we return to the times in which the following picture was drawn.

MR. GERRY TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS.

JULY 3, 1780.

SIR,

The communications respecting the army, which at the request of the committee of congress at camp, and of his excellency the commander in chief, I had the honour of making on Friday last to the honourable board, being agreeable to their desire committed to writing, are in substance as follows.