Having heard that a Vessel is soon to go to Cadiz from Baltimore, I embrace the opportunity to send quadruplicates of my last former Letters,1 & to add thereto the little information which this inactive Season affords— Nothing passes here between the armies—they are cantoned at a distance from each other, the Enemy is secure from attack by the nature of their situation, & we by our numbers, our Success, & the apprehensions of Sir Henry. We turn our faces therefore to the South, & expect from the enterprize of General Greene, an activity which the season will not admit of here.

I had a Letter from him of the 13th of December which contains the latest advices His camp is at Round O,2 he writes in high Spirits, and assures me he is preparing for the Siege of Charles Town, which he is not without hopes of carrying, even before any foreign assistance can arrive— I must confess for my own part, not withstanding the natural coolness of Genl Greene, I believe he is much too Sanguine on this occasion, for I have no conception that his means are adequate to so important an object, more especially as Troops have since the date of this Letter sailed from New York as I suppose for Charles Town— The Governmts. however of Georgia & Carolina are again reestablished & their Legislatures are now sitting— The detestation of the people for the British can hardly be conceived— Genl Greene’s Letter expresses it in the following words: “The tyrants of Syracuse were never more detested than the British Army in this Country, Even the slaves rejoice & feel a kind of temporary freedom from oppression in the return of their masters”— I congratulate you upon the recapture of St. Eustatia and St. Martins. The enterprize does the highest honor to the abilities & Spirit of the Marquis de Bouillé, and his disinterested generosity is finely contrasted with the sordid avarice of the British Commanders—3 I cannot help hoping that this will have some effect in Strengthening the french Party in Holland, and assist the negotiations of MR Adams tho by a late Letter from [the Comte de Vergennes]4 to the Minister of France [for al as most of our Information comes thro’ that channel] to we are told that there is very little Reason to hope that either he or you h succeed in your Endeavours to conclude a Treaty or in your attempt to procure money this is a very melancholy picke ^piece^ of Intelligence wi and will go near might [destroy]5 the kappe6 arrangements that Congress have lately made which are in some measure built upon the [success]7 of our Foreign loans.8 Order and oeconomy have taken place in our Finances— The troops are regularly clothed & fed at Westpoint & most of the other posts at the moderate rate of ninepence a ration when issued, so that the innumerable band of purchasing and issuing Commissaries is discharged— The hospitals are well supplied in the same way, & small advances of pay are made to the officers & men— Upon the whole they never were in so comfortable a situation as they are at present— Our civil list formed upon plans of the strictest œconomy, after having been many years in arrear, is now regularly paid off, & the departments in consequence of it, filled with men of integrity & abilities— Embargoes and other restrictions being removed, our commerce begins to revive, & with it the spirit of industry & enterprize— And what will astonish you still more is that public credit has again reared her head, our bank paper is in equal estimation with Specie. Nothing can be more agreeable than to see the Satisfaction with which people bring their money to the bank, & take out paper, or the joy mixed with Surprize with which some who have hesitatingly taken bank bills for the first time see that they can turn them into specie at their option—9 But alas how cruel would the re-Verse b if al these flattering prospekts shoul[d] b changed by an il timed parsimony in affording those moderate [supplies]10 which must after al b one of the pillars11 on which they are supported Taxation will b carried to the utmost limits which a country exhausted as ours has been will admit of but a man must [be]12 little acquainted with our poverty and the demands of an Army who supposes that this alone will be adequate to our wants— Whether Spain wishes for peace or war, it is certainly her interest to push the enemy where they are most vulnerable, & where she can do it with the smallest expense to herself & the greatest to her Enemy— Every additional man she enables us to maintain here forces Great Britain to lay out four times as much in procuring, transporting & feeding another to oppose him. It has been acknowledged in the British house of commons that every man in America costs the nation annually one hundred pounds sterlg.—tho’ this may appear exorbitant yet whoever reflects on the first expense of raising & transporting a Regiment, and the additional charge of sending over recruits to make up deficiencies, & that of sending provisions to feed an army three thousand miles, and its numerous dependants, will think it deserves some degree of credit— It is obvious then, as nations are only strong in proportion to the money they can command, that every thousand men we oblige the British to maintain here must make a diminution of their strength in some Other quarter, equal to three times that number. Should en France or Spain therefore withhold their loans it is impossible to say what the Effects may be, whereas the moderate sum of five millions of Dollars from Spain would enable us to call forth all our resources and insure the humiliation over great Britain she has no other object but America an no hope of obtaining that but in our want of Credit take away this Hope from her and the War is at an end, and Spain will at cheapest rhate13 accomplish her particular designs, exalt her national character, and lay a foundation in the gratitude of a rising nation for a lasting peace, & the security of her colonies.

Having told you that the field affords me no Subject at this moment, give me leave to introduce you to the cabinet— The arrangements for the next campaign as far as they depend upon Congress you have been furnished with, the debates have since that chiefly turned upon foreign affairs, the expectation of a peace which was generally believed in America to be much nearer at hand than I think it is, led them to consider The terms on which they expected to receive it. After much debate about what changes they should make in the Instructions given to their commissioners they passed the Inclosed resolves without changing their ultimatum In a long Letter to doctor Franklin— I have mentioned the ground upon which they place their claims to these objects,14 you will see it when it becomes necessary for you to consider the subject. Enclosed you have copies of two original Letters from Deane, in which he acknowledges others that Rivington has published which speak a still more dangerous language— No doubt is entertained here of his apostacy or of his endeavour to weaken the efforts of the United States, & to traduce the character of the people & their rulers both in Europe & America— You will doubtless use every means in your power to destroy the ill effects which his calumnies may have had upon the minds of people with you.15 I enclose you the gazettes, and again entreat you to let us hear from you more frequently & to leave Letters at all times at Cadiz, or in the hands of our Consul in France, so that no vessel may sail without bringing us some intelligence— The last Letter we had from you is dated in September near five months ago—16 I dare say that this has been owing to some accidental cause, & I only mention it that you may guard against it by writing more frequently in future as the silence of our ministers excites more uneasiness here than you can conceive— Pray send me when no other subject presents itself, & you have leisure, a sketch of the government of Spain, & the present state of its trade, marine, military establishments, commerce, revenues, and agriculture with the character of the leading courtiers and favorites— I could also wish to have the Madrid Gazette & Mercury, & the Court Kalendar of this year— I have the pleasure of informing you that your friends here are as well and as numerous as ever. I am, my dear Sir, with those sentiments of esteem & friendship which I shall always feel for you Your most obedient humble servant—