Valley Forge is what he represents
himself to be--that he is sincere, honest, and will, as soon as
circumstances will permit, establish the authenticity of every document he
has furnished for publication. We shall refrain from pushing our searches
any further, for the purpose of discovering the person of Valley Forge, for
the good reason that we are satisfied that we know him already. On
comparing the note of the 14th inst., to us, written evidently by Valley
Forge himself, but in a disguised hand, with a letter of a recent date, in
the natural handwriting of the person who we believe assumes that name,
there are innumerable evidences that most clearly establish his identity,
satisfactorily to us.

A word to our enemies now. Let them go on and pour forth their malice, give
full vent to their venom, and pile obloquy, mountain high; we regard it as
the idle wind, that passeth by and harmeth not. We have long been
accustomed to be traduced and slandered. For making the exposition of the
mal-appropriation of the money of the Bank of the United States, by Mr.
Biddle, the first that was ever made, we brought down on our head the whole
weight of the power of that institution and its legions of friends and
supporters. We were charged with having perjured ourselves in that matter.
And what has become of that charge now? No one believes it. We have
triumphed over all the allegations made against us in the matter, and
thousands of individuals are left to weep now, because they did not
believe, and act on our testimony at the time it was given.

So in the present case, we are charged with publishing forged letters, and
even with forging them ourselves. But on what authority? Why, on the
assertion of Mr. John Spear Smith, of Baltimore, made, we do not doubt, in
all sincerity, but evidently hastily, and without giving a single reason
for his coming to that conclusion.

We do not entertain a single apprehenson[TN] but that in this case, every
thing will very soon come out right, and that we shall triumph over our
enemies and their slanders, as we did in the affair of the Bank of the
United States. _Nous Verrons._

FOOTNOTES:

[A] Reed always said that this reply was the joint protection of Benj.
Rush, Dr Wm. Smith and Gen. John Cadwalader.

[B] See Gov. Johnstone's speech in the House of Commons, March, 9th, 1779,
to be found in the Philadelphia Library in a volume of the Pennsylvania
Packet, February 20th, 1779, No. 384.

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