proposed a dissolution of Parliament. This was defeated by Thurlowe, the Lord High Chancellor, who, with a virtue that honored him more than his office, refused to affix the seals to such an order.

But as the prospect of peace brightened, the discontent and murmurs of the troops increased. A long season of idleness had given them time to brood over and discuss their grievances, while they saw that the termination of the war would be the signal of their dispersion and the end of their power. Moreover, the independence of the country naturally begat questions and discussions respecting the form of government to be adopted. They had not originally taken up arms against a monarchy, but against its oppressive acts. The English government was considered by many of the wisest men of the day to be a model one, and they wished only to see its like adopted by their country when its liberty was once secured. Besides, the most thorough republicans had seen quite enough of the government of a Congress. It had lost the respect of both civilians and officers. It was clear, therefore, that a head was needed. But this head must be invested with power sufficient to control and overrule Congress to a great extent, or it would not possess the efficiency required to coerce obedience. Circumstances, of course, indicated Washington as that head, and the next question naturally arose-under what title should he govern? The officers around Newburgh called meeting after meeting, and warm and eager discussions evinced the deep interest the army took in the form of government that should be adopted. At length an old and respected officer, Colonel Nicola, was empowered to sound Washington on this delicate point. He, therefore, addressed him a letter, in which, after going over the points referred to above, he, in a circuitous manner, at length succeeded in communicating the plain fact, that the army wished him to be "KING." This letter took Washington by surprise. An unexpected

danger had arisen before him-an abyss suddenly opened at his very feet. The army was actually assuming the control of the government-the military power appointing the civil. And, more than this, disgusted with the working of republican institutions, it was thinking seriously of setting up a king. Washington seemed doomed ever to wrestle with evils. No sooner did one disappear before his wisdom or strength, than from an unexpected quarter another rose to fill him with grief and oppress him with anxiety. But he never seemed to despond, and nothing exhibits the grandeur of his character more than the promptness and courage with which he met and overcame every new form of danger. But not in the darkest hour of his countrynot in the midst of his starving, naked, dying troops-not when overborne and scattered by the enemy-under no blow with which fate had yet smitten him, did his heart so sink as under the revelation made in this letter. What! become a king over a free people who had struggled so nobly for their freedom-dash to earth the hopes which had borne them up in the midst of such trials and sufferings, and wrong so deeply human faith, and confidence, and rights, as turn traitor at last? To hint that HE was capable of such turpitude, was striking at the very soul of honor. Pride, grief, resentment, anxiety, commingled and intense, swelled his bosom. "Sir," said he, in reply, "with a mixture of great surprise and astonishment, I have read with attention the sentiments you have submitted to my perusal Be assured, sir, no occurrence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing in the army as you have expressed, and as I must view with abhorrence and reprehend with severity. For the present the communication of them will rest in my own bosom, unless some further agitation of the matter shall make a disclosure necessary.

"I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my conduct

could have given encouragement to an address, which to me seems big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall my country. If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable. At the same time, in justice to my own feelings, I must add, that no man possesses a more sincere wish to see ample justice done to the army than I do, and as far as my powers and influence in a constitutional way extend, they shall be employed to the utmost of my abilities to effect it, should there be occasion. Let me conjure you, then, if you have any regard for your country, concern for yourself or posterity, or respect for me, to banish those thoughts from your mind, and never communicate as from yourself or any one else a sentiment of the like nature."

Every line of this letter bears indications of a powerial internal struggle-a struggle to maintain that self-composure and moderation he was wont to exhibit, but which, under this new evil, threatened to forsake him. Incomparable man! intrenched so deeply in virtue that temptations and the arrows of misfortune rebound from his bosom without even leaving the mark of their contact. Yet this act seems so in keeping with Washington's whole character and conduct, that it hardly strikes us as extraordinary. Virtues we never expect to find in others we should be surprised not to see exhibited in him. His actions are all so elevated above the common track of life, that it would disappoint us to find any one of them tainted with the imperfections of our lower sphere. So harmonious is his character in every part, that its colossal proportions can be understood only by comparing him in detail with other men in similar circumstances.

The case of young Asgill continued to trouble Washington exceedingly, and his whole correspondence shows a constant and severe struggle between his feelings and his sense of duty. Sir Guy Carleton finding, however, that he was im

movable in his determination to sacrifice the young man unless justice was done to Lippincott, had the latter arrested and tried by court martial. It appeared, or was made to appear on trial, that the latter acted under the authority of the "Board of Directors of the Associated Loyalists," and hence was not personally responsible. This transfer of guilt from the individual to a body or corporation has always been a favorite method to escape responsibility. Of course, the Board of Directors could not be hung-they could only be disbanded, which was done-a task not demanding very great sacrifice on the part of Sir Guy Carleton, as he had in his pocket the power to make a treaty of peace with the colonies. This manoeuvre, however, complicated the matter so much that Washington referred it again to Congress, which seemed, by its tardiness, willing to let death claim its victim in the ordinary way. Washington wrote bitterly of this neglect of Congress, declaring that his own treatment of that body did not warrant it, and justifies himself in making the complaint, by asking, "When no notice is taken of my application; when measures I might otherwise adopt are suspended-when my own feelings are wounded, and others are perhaps suffering by the delay, how is it possible for me to forbear expressing my disquietude?"

In the meantime, young Asgill's mother, crushed to the earth by the dreadful fate impending over her only son, a mere boy in years, appealed, with all a mother's tenderness and earnestness, to the French ministry to intercede with Washington to spare his life. The letter was shown to the king and queen, who were so affected by its pathetic prayer, that they directed the Count de Vergennes to request, as r favor to France, that Captain Asgill might be set at liberty This spurred up the tardy Congress to action, and the youn; man was restored to his family.

Sir Guy Carleton at length, in August, gave notice tha preliminaries for a treaty of peace had begun at Paris. Th

war was now closed, and the French troops marched north previous to their embarkation for France. Washington, to show a mark of respect to his allies, took his army down the river to meet them at King's Ferry. He ordered all the troops to be clad and equipped with the clothing and arms furnished by France, and those taken from the English magazines at Yorktown, which the French had generously surrendered to the suffering Americans, and drawn up in twc opposite lines some distance apart. Between these the entire French army passed, with colors flying-the Americans playing the whole time a French march. These gallant soldiers, with the sensitiveness peculiar to their race, felt this expression of gratitude and compliment deeply, and made the heavens ring with their enthusiastic acclamations The two armies encamped on and near Verplanck's Point for a month, when the French departed for Boston, and the Americans returned to Newburgh. But just as the evils of war were disappearing, more threatening danger appeared in the attitude of the army. The prospect of relief and of prosperity to the country did not better their condition, much less forbode any good in the future. At the very time officers and men were entertaining their French allies at Verplanck's Point, they were in a state of the greatest destitution. At Yorktown, old Baron Steuben had to sell his horse in order to raise funds with which to give a dinner to the British officers; and in the last meeting of the troops of the two nations, the American officers were filled with mortification that they were unable to return the civilities of the French. Their families were suffering at home. while they had not the means to pay for their own daily expenses. Says Washington, in writing to the Secretary of War, "Only conceive then the mortification they must. suffer (even the general officers) when they cannot învite a French officer, a visiting friend, or a traveling acquaintance, to a better repast than bad whisky (and not always