We appeal to that God who searcheth the hearts of men for the rectitude of our intentions; and in his holy presence declare, that, as we are not moved by any light and hasty suggestions of anger or revenge, so, through every possible change of fortune, we will adhere to this our determination."
The American army remained encamped at Valley Forge until the 18th of June, 1778 when intelligence reached them that the enemy had evacuated Philadelphia and
* Joseph Reed was born in New Jersey, August 27, 1741, and graduated at Princeton in 1757. He studied law with Richard Stockton; also at the Temple, in London. He was one of the committee of correspondence in Philadelphia in 1774, where he took up his residence after his return from England. He was president of the first popular convention in Pennsylvania. He accompanied Washington as his aid and secretary when he went to Cambridge in 1775, and remained with him during the campaign. In 1776 he was appointed adjutant general of the American army, and proved an active and brave officer. In the spring of 1777 he was appointed a general officer in the cavalry, but declined the station. He remained attached to the army, and was in the battle at Germantown in the autumn of that year. He was chosen a member of Congress toward the close of 1777. He was a member of that body in 1778, when the commissioners arrived from England, and, as we have noticed in the text, was approached with honeyed words, and promises of wealth and rank if he would favor the views of the government agents. His noble reply was given, and, abashed, the commissioners sought other and more pliable instruments for their use. General Reed was chosen president of Pennsylvania in 1778, and continued in that office until October, 1781, when he resumed his practice of the law. He ever retained the confidence and highest esteem of Washington and the best patriots of the Revolution; and when the cloud of party rancor passed away, all men beheld in Joseph Reed a patriot and an honest man. In 1784, he visited England for his health, but without beneficial results. He died on the 4th of March 1785, at the age of forty-two. His wife was Esther de Berdt, the leader in the patriotic efforts of the ladies of Philadelphia to extend comfort to the suffering army, mentioned in a preceding chapter. George W. Reed, the youngest son of General R, commanded the Vixen in 1812, and died while a prisoner in England. A few days after the death of General Reed, Philip Freneau wrote a brief monody, in which the following lines occur:
"No single art engaged his manly mind,
In every scene his active genius shined.
Nature in him, in honor to our age,
* At once composed the soldier and the sage.
** Trumbull, in his M'Fingall, thus alludes to the:
Behold, at Briton's utmost shifts
Comes Johnstone, loaded with like gifts,
To venture through the Whiggish tribe,
To cuddle, wheedle, coax, and bribe;
And call, to aid his desp'rate mission,
His petticoated politician:
"Firm to his purpose, vigilant and bold,
Detesting traitors, and despising gold,
He scorn'd all bribes from Britain's hostile throne,
For all his country's wrongs were thrice his own."