ad peace, America would find her treaty with them a very bad one: in
short, I have treated you with speculations instead of facts. I know but
one of the latter sort. The King's army has evacuated Philadelphia, from
having eaten up the country, and has returned to New York. Thus it is
more compact, and has less to defend.

General Howe is returned, richer in money than laurels. I do not know,
indeed, that his wealth is great.

Fanaticism in a nation is no novelty; but you must know, that, though
the effects were so solid, the late appearance of enthusiasm about Lord
Chatham was nothing but a general affectation of enthusiasm. It was a
contention of hypocrisy between the Opposition and the Court, which did
not last even to his burial. Not three of the Court attended it, and not
a dozen of the Minority of any note. He himself said, between his fall
in the House of Lords and his death, that, when he came to himself, not
one of his old acquaintance of the Court but Lord Despencer so much as
asked how he did. Do you imagine people are struck with the death of a
man, who were not struck with the sudden appearance of his death? We do
not counterfeit so easily on a surprise, as coolly; and, when we are
cool on surprise, we do not grow agitated on reflection.

The last account I heard from Germany was hostile. Four days ago both
the Imperial and Prussian Ministers[1] expected news of a battle. O, ye
fathers of your people, do you thus dispose of your children? How many
thousand lives does a King save, who signs a peace! It was said in jest
of our Charles II., that he was the real _father_ of his people, so many
of them did he beget himself. But tell me, ye divines, which is the most
virtuous man, he who begets twenty bastards, or he who sacrifices a
hundred thousand lives? What a contradiction is human nature! The Romans
rewarded the man who got three children, and laid waste the world. When
will the world know that peace and propagation are the two most
delightful things in it? As his Majesty of France has found out the
latter, I hope he will not forget the former.

[Footnote 1: Towards the close of 1777 Maximilian, the Elector of
Bavaria, died, and the Emperor Joseph claimed many of his fiefs as
having escheated to him. Frederic the Great, who was still jealous of
Austria, endeavoured to form a league to aid the new Elector in his
resistance to Joseph's demands, and even invaded Bohemia with an army of
eighty thousand men; b