And never was a
general better supported by his inferior officers. Not shackled by men
who, without merit, held stations of high rank obtained by political
influence, he commanded young men of equal spirit and intelligence,
formed under the eye of Washington, and trained in the school
furnished in the severe service of the north, to all the hardships and
dangers of war.

[Footnote 9: The distresses of the southern army were such
that, if plainly described, truth would wear the appearance
of fiction. They were almost naked and barefooted,
frequently without food, and always without pay. That he
might relieve them when in the last extremity, without
diminishing the exertions of their general to derive support
from other sources, by creating an opinion that supplies
could be drawn from him, Mr. Morris, as was stated by
himself in conversation with the author, employed an agent
to attend the southern army as a volunteer, whose powers
were unknown to General Greene. This agent was instructed to
watch its situation; and, whenever it appeared impossible
for the general to extricate himself from his
embarrassments, to furnish him, on his pledging the public
faith for repayment, with a draught on the financier for
such a sum as would relieve the urgency of the moment. Thus
was Greene occasionally rescued from impending ruin by aids
which appeared providential, and for which he could not
account.]

A peculiar importance was given to these successes in the south by the
opinion that a pacific temper was finding its way into the cabinets of
the belligerent powers of Europe. The communications from the court of
Versailles rendered it probable that negotiations for peace would take
place in the course of the ensuing winter; and dark hints had been
given on the part of Great Britain to the minister of his most
Christian Majesty, that all the American states could not reasonably
expect to become independent, as several of them were subdued.
Referring to the precedent of the low countries, it was observed that
of the seventeen provinces originally united against the Spanish
crown, only seven obtained their independence.

Additional motives for exertion were furnished by other communications
from the French monarch. These were that, after the present campaign,
no farther pecuniary or military aids were to be expected from France.
The situ