ntent to leave the traitor to the tender mercies of history. The
calmness and dignity, the firmness and deep feeling which Washington
exhibited, are of far more interest than the abortive treason, and
have as real a value now as they had then, when suspicion for a moment
ran riot, and men wondered "whom they could trust."

The treason of Arnold swept like a black cloud across the sky, broke,
and left everything as before. That such a base peril should have
existed was alarming and hateful. That it should have been exploded
harmlessly made all men give a deep sigh of relief. But neither the
treason nor its discovery altered the current of events one jot. The
summer had come and gone. The French had arrived, and no blow had
been struck. There was nothing to show for the campaign but
inaction, disappointment, and the loss of the Carolinas. With the
commander-in-chief, through it all, were ever present two great
questions, getting more portentous and more difficult of solution with
each succeeding day. How he was to keep his army in existence was one,
and how he was to hold the government together was the other. He
had thirteen tired States, a general government almost impotent, a
bankrupt treasury, and a broken credit. The American Revolution had
come down to the question of whether the brain, will, and nerve of one
man could keep the machine going long enough to find fit opportunity
for a final and decisive stroke. Washington had confidence in the
people of the country and in himself, but the difficulties in the way
were huge, and the means of surmounting them slight. There is here
and there a passionate undertone in the letters of this period, which
shows us the moments when the waves of trouble and disaster seemed to
sweep over him. But the feeling passed, or was trampled under
foot, for there was no break in the steady fight against untoward
circumstances, or in the grim refusal to accept defeat.

It is almost impossible now to conceive the actual condition at that
time of every matter of detail which makes military and political
existence possible. No general phrases can do justice to the situation
of the army; and the petty miseries and privations, which made life
unendurable, went on from day to day in ever varying forms. While
Washington was hearing the first ill news from the south and
struggling with the problem on that side, and at the same time was
planning with Lafayette how to take advantage of the French su