Washington filled the glass of Barclugh and then his own and while nibbling a few kernels of hickory nuts he said to his guest: “When you left France, Mr. Barclugh, did you think that the French monarch would maintain an army for our cause?” “There was no question about it, General Washington. Mr. Franklin told me as much when the full effects of Burgoyne’s surrender and the failure of Cornwallis and Howe to hold Philadelphia were realized. The French monarch was then encouraged to throw all of his resources against England,” replied Barclugh, hoping to put Washington off his guard, and have him grow enthusiastic for his cause. But Barclugh was to be disappointed in this result. Washington again asked him a leading question: “Mr. Barclugh, do you believe that the British can use heroic measures to offset the French aid?” “Oh, yes, General. The British will be sure to exert themselves more than ever in that event. You know that the British have a great navy and great resources of money. When the power of money is put in the balance, the weaker force will have to succumb. That is the manner in which the Britons argue,” contended Barclugh, as he looked intently at Washington, waiting for his reply. “Well,” replied the patriot patiently, “if the English reason that way, they forget that men have souls. Here is a nation of four million souls waging war against the most powerful of monarchs, and no money of our own. We came to America because we had no money; the nobility had control of it. We have built up a nation without money. However, we shall defend it without the Englishman’s money. Our people take the quartermaster’s receipts as eagerly as they would British sovereigns, and they pass current for all dues, because we have grown up in the confidence of mutual helpfulness. Destroy that confidence and the Englishman’s guinea becomes mere dross. If a ship were loaded with gold and human beings, in case of distress, the Englishman would sacrifice the human beings to save the gold, whereas the American would throw overboard the gold to save the human beings. “But when a soldier fights on the battlefield simply to gain gold, he begins to think which is more valuable, life or gold, and he loses confidence in the gold; but when a soldier fights on a battlefield for civil or religious liberty, he becomes reckless of life and is willing to sacrifice all for liberty. “Now, sir, we fear not the war of gold.” “But, General,” argued Barclugh, “will not the commercial classes and the men of wealth be influenced by considerations of Britain’s gold?”