“I do not see why that young Quakeress turns the men so crazy.”
“Because she has sense, beauty and no guile in her heart,” retorted Barclugh snappily.
Miss Shippen exclaimed:
“Ah, that is it!”
The Shippens, the Redmans, and the Chews were there among the chief representatives of the Tory sentiment. They congregated in groups by themselves and seemed to feel that their sentiments were not popular, when they saw the brilliant assemblage of Whigs from every state, conversing about the topics of the hour.
General Schuyler from New York was talking to M. de la Luzerne, the French minister, about the campaign, spiritedly:
“This arrival of the French troops and the fleet at Newport has given us new life, M. de la Luzerne,” explained General Schuyler. “General Washington has gone to Hartford to meet Count de Rochambeau. Our committee expect to hear from him at West Point on his return. The campaign is expected to take on an active turn if Clinton moves out of New York,” concluded the General.
“Thank you, General Schuyler,” returned the French minister suavely. “By the way, General, did I ever tell you how Arnold wanted to borrow money from me on account of his importance and influence in affairs?”
“Why, no. Do tell it,” insisted the General.
“This is strictly entre nous, General,” related the minister. “Arnold wanted a loan from the French government and I quickly told him: ‘You desire of me a service which would be easy for me to render, but which would degrade us both. When the envoy of a foreign power gives, or if you will, lends money, it is in order to corrupt those who receive it, and to make them the creatures of the sovereign whom he serves; or rather, he corrupts without persuading; he buys and does not secure. But the firm league entered into between the King and the United States is the work of justice and the wisest policy. It has for its basis a reciprocal interest and good-will. In the mission, with which I am charged, my true glory consists in fulfilling it without intrigue or cabal, without resorting to any secret practices, and by the force alone of the conditions of the alliance,’” concluded M. Luzerne.