the French court, Vergennes promised a
loan of six millions to the United States.

Washington remained four months in Philadelphia, and then joined the
army near Newburg, on the Hudson. The allied forces had been dissolved.
The troops under the Marquis St. Simon had sailed from the Chesapeake in
De Grasse's fleet early in November; the French troops, under
Rochambeau, remained in Virginia; the remainder of the American army,
after St. Clair's force was detached to the South, proceeded northward,
under the command of Lincoln, and took post on the Hudson and in the
Jerseys, so as to be ready to operate against New York in the spring;
and Lafayette, perceiving no probability of active service immediately,
obtained leave of absence from the Congress, and returned to France to
visit his family.

We have already noticed the proceedings in the British house of commons
on the subject of peace with the Americans. Early in May, 1782, Sir Guy
Carleton arrived in New York as the successor of Sir Henry Clinton in
the chief command of the British forces; and in a letter dated the
seventh of that month, he informed Washington that he and Admiral Digby
were joint commissioners to make arrangements for a truce or peace. Even
this friendly approach of British officials did not make Washington any
the less vigilant and active, and he continued his preparations for
further hostilities, with all the means in his power.

With the dawning of the day of peace great discontents in the army were
developed. It prevailed equally among officers and private soldiers,
and originated in the destitute condition of the troops at that time,
and the conviction that the army would be disbanded without provision
being made for the liquidation of the claims upon the government for the
pay of arrearages, and the promised half-pay of the officers for a term
of years after the conclusion of the war. The prospect was, indeed,
gloomy. For a long time the public treasury had been empty; and
thousands of the soldiers, many of them invalids, made so by their hard
service for their country, would be compelled to seek a livelihood in
the midst of the desolation which war had produced. In this state of
things, and with such prospects, many sighed for a change. They lost
faith in the republican form of government, as they saw it in its
practical workings under the _Articles of Confederation_, and they
earnestly desired something stronger--perhaps an elective or
const