restraint. The
address had a most powerful and salutary effect. The conference was
brief. They did not deliberate long, but proceeded to pass resolutions
offered by Knox, and seconded by Putnam, by unanimous vote, thanking the
commander-in-chief for the course he had pursued; expressing their
unabated attachment to his person and their country; declaring their
unshaken confidence in the good faith of Congress, and their
determination to bear with patience their grievances, until, in due
time, they should be redressed. Gates, as president of the meeting,
signed the address, and on the eighteenth, Washington, in general
orders, expressed his satisfaction.

Thus was frustrated, by the sagacity, prudence, and wisdom of
Washington, the most dangerous scheme by which the liberties of America
were put in jeopardy, next to the treason of Arnold. It had no _wicked_
features in common with that treason, but its practical effects, if
carried out, might have been almost equally disastrous.

To the president of Congress Washington wrote, when he transmitted to
that body an account of the affair just narrated:--

"The result of the proceedings of the grand convention of officers,
which I have the honor of sending to your excellency, for the
inspection of Congress, will, I flatter myself, be considered as
the last glorious proof of patriotism which could have been given
by men who aspired to the distinction of a patriot army; and will
not only confirm their claim to the justice, but will increase
their title to the gratitude of their country."

The excitement caused by these events had scarcely died away, when
intelligence of the signing of the preliminary treaty of peace reached
the commander-in-chief. That intelligence came to him in despatches from
Robert L. Livingston, the secretary for foreign affairs, and also in a
letter from Alexander Hamilton, and other New York delegates in
Congress. It had been sent to them in the French ship, _Triomphe_,
despatched for the purpose by Count de Estiang, at the request of
Lafayette. Washington immediately wrote to Governor Clinton, saying:--

"I take the first moment of forwarding to your excellency the despatches
from the secretary of foreign affairs, which accompany this. They
contain, I presume, all the intelligence respecting peace, on which
great and glorious event, permit me to congratulate you with the
greatest sincerity." Upon the envelope, bear