where he rose above the tauntings of the press, the sneerings of the cabal, the murmurs of the public, the suggestions of some of his friends, and the throbbing impulses of his own courageous heart, and adhered to that Fabian policy which he considered essential to the safety of the cause. se. To dare is often the impulse of selfish ambition or harebrained valor: to forbear is at times the proof of real greatness.

The Conway Cabal. While censure and detraction had thus dogged Washington throughout his harassing campaign, and followed him to his forlorn encampment at Valley Forge, Gates was the constant theme of popular eulogium, and was held up as the only man capable of retrieving the desperate fortunes of the South. Letters from his friends in Congress urged him to hasten on, take his seat at the head of the Board of War, assume the management of military affairs, and save the country!

Gates was not a strong-minded man. Is it a wonder, then, that his brain should be bewildered by the fumes of incense offered up on every side? A clique or cabal was formed with the purpose of driving Washington from the chief command of the army and putting Gates in his place. Most active among these plotters was General Thomas Conway, an Irishman who had served many years in the French army. Associated with him in this work were Thomas Mifflin of Pennsylvania, the inefficient quartermastergeneral; and James Lovell, one of the Massachusetts delegates in the Continental Congress. They labored industriously to stir up ill-feeling toward Washington in Congress, and by dint of anonymous letters and cruel innuendoes to make him so uncomfortable as to force him to resign his position as commander of the army. For a short time the cabal seemed to prosper, but Washington detected the methods of the plotters. In a correspondence which ensued with Gates, the latter general committed himself to a series of most disgraceful falsehoods, which were remorselessly exposed by Washington. The light thus thrown upon the base and silly character of Gates damaged the cabal very seriously; and its ruin was completed by the ludicrous failure of a winter expedition planned by Gates and his friends for the invasion of Canada.

By the spring of 1778 most of the leading men who had favored the cabal had become ashamed of it, Conway left the army and presently returned to France, and Washington's position became more secure than ever. The quality of the army was much improved during the winter, under the training of Baron von Steuben, a highly educated officer who had served on the staff of Frederic the Great. The services of Steuben were more valuable than those of any other foreigner who served in our army except Lafayette.

§ 8.

AMERICANS ASSUME THE OFFENSIVE.

The French Alliance. The capture of Burgoyne and his army was now operating with powerful effect on the cabinets of both England and France. With the former it was coupled with the apprehension that France was about to espouse the American cause. The consequence was Lord North's "Conciliatory Bills," submitted by him to Parliament, and passed with but slight opposition. One of these bills regulated taxation in the American colonies, in a manner which, it was trusted, would obviate every objection. The other authorized the appointment of commissioners clothed with powers to negotiate with the existing governments; to proclaim a cessation of hostilities; to grant pardons, and to adopt other measures of a conciliatory nature. "If what was now proposed was a right measure,' " observes a contemporary British historian, Colonel Stedman, "it ought to have been adopted at first, and before the sword was drawn ; on the other hand, if the claims of the mother country over her colonies were originally worth contending for, the strength and resources of the nation were not yet so far exhausted as to justify ministers in relinquishing them without a further struggle "

Intelligence that a treaty between France and the United States had actually been concluded at Paris, induced the British minister to hurry off a draft of the bills to America, to forestall the effects of the treaty upon the public mind. General Tryon caused copies of it to be printed in New York and circulated through the country. The tidings of the capitulation of Burgoyne had been equally

efficacious in quickening the action of the French cabinet. The negotiations, which had gone on so slowly as almost to reduce our commissioners to despair, were brought to a happy termination, and on the 2d of May, a messenger arrived express from France with two treaties, one of amity and commerce, the other of defensive alliance, signed in Paris on the 6th of February by M. Girard on the part of France, and by Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee on the part of the United States. This last treaty stipulated that, should war ensue between France and England, it should be made a common cause by the contracting parties, in which neither should make truce or peace with Great Britain without the consent of the other, nor either lay down their arms until the independence of the United States was established.

These treaties were unanimously ratified by Congress, and their promulgation was celebrated by public rejoicings throughout the country. The 6th of May was set apart for a military fête at the camp at Valley Forge. The army was assembled in best array; there was solemn thanksgiving by the chaplains at the head of each brigade; after which a grand parade, a national discharge of thirteen guns, a general feu de joie, and shouts of the whole army, "Long live the King of France Hurra for the American States." A banquet succeeded, at which Washington dined in public with all the officers of his army, attended by a band of music.

The military career of Sir William Howe in the United States was now drawing to a close. His conduct of the war had given much dissatisfaction in England. His enemies observed that everything gained by the troops was lost by the general; that he had suffered an enemy with less than four thousand men to reconquer a province which he had recently reduced, and lay a kind of siege to his army in their winter-quarters; and that he had brought a sad reverse upon the British arms by failing to co-operate vigorously and efficiently with Burgoyne. Sir William, on his part, had considered himself slighted by the ministry; his suggestions, he said, were disregarded, and the reinforcements withheld which he considered indispensable for the successful conduct of the war. He had therefore tendered his resignation, which had been

promptly accepted, and Sir Henry Clinton ordered to relieve him. Clinton arrived in Philadelphia on the 8th of May, and took command of the army on the 11th.

Battle of Monmouth.—Soon after Sir Henry Clinton had taken the command, the exchange of General Lee, long delayed by various impediments, was effected; and Lee was reinstated in his position of second in command in the Continental army. Early in June, it was evident that a total evacuation of Philadelphia was on the point of taking place; and circumstances convinced Washington that the march of the enemy would be through the Jerseys. Some of his officers thought differently, especially General Lee, who had now the command of a division composed of Poor's, Varnum's, and Huntington's brigades. Lee, since his return to the army, had resumed his old habit of cynical supervision, and had his circle oi admirers, among whom he indulged in caustic comments on military affairs and the merits of commanders. In consequence of his suggestions, Washington called a general council of war on the 17th, to consider whether to undertake any enterprise against the enemy in their present circumstances. Lee spoke eloquently on the occasion. He was opposed to an attack of any kind. He would make a bridge of gold for the enemy. They were nearly equal in number to the Americans, and far superior in discipline. An attack would endanger the safety of the cause which was now in a prosperous state, in consequence of the foreign alliance just formed. He advised merely to follow the enemy, observe their motions, and prevent them from committing any excesses.

Lee's opinions had still great weight with the army; most of the officers concurred with him; but Greene, Lafayette, Wayne, and Cadwalader could not brook that the enemy should evacuate the city, and make a long march through the country unmolested. An opportunity might present itself of striking some signal blow, that would indemnify the American soldiers for all they had suffered in their long and dreary encampment at Valley Forge. Washington's heart was with this latter counsel; but seeing such want of unanimity among his generals, he requested their opinions in writing. Before these were given in, word was brought that the enemy had actually evacuated the city.

Sir Henry had taken his measures with great secrecy and dispatch. The army commenced moving at three o'clock on the morning of the 18th, retiring to a point of land below the town formed by the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill, and crossing the former river in boats. By ten o'clock in the morning the rear-guard landed on the Jersey shore. On the first intelligence of this movement, Washington detached Maxwell with his brigade, to co-operate with Dickinson and the New Jersey militia in harassing the enemy on their march. He sent Arnold, also, with a force to take command of Philadelphia, that officer being not yet sufficiently recovered from his wound for field service; then breaking up his camp at Valley Forge, he pushed forward with his main force in pursuit of the enemy.

Greene, Wayne, and Lafayette advised that the rear of the enemy should be attacked by a strong detachment, while the main army should be so disposed as to give a general battle, should circumstances render it advisable. As this opinion coincided with his own, Washington determined to act upon it.

Sir Henry Clinton in the meantime had advanced to Allentown, on his way to Brunswick, to embark on the Raritan. Finding the passage of that river likely to be strongly disputed by the forces under Washington, and others advancing from the north under Gates, he changed his plan, and turned to the right by a road leading through Freehold to Navasink and Sandy Hook, to embark at the latter place.

Washington, no longer in doubt as to the route of the enemy's march, detached Wayne with one thousand men to join the advanced corps, which, thus augmented, was upward of four thousand strong. The command of the advance properly belonged to Lee as senior major-general; but it was eagerly solicited by Lafayette, as an attack by it was intended, and Lee was strenuously opposed to everything of the kind. Washington willingly gave his consent, provided General Lee were satisfied with the arrangement. The latter ceded the command without hesitation, observing to the marquis that he was well pleased to be freed from all responsibility in executing plans which he was sure would fail.