19. On the 11th of December Washington went into winter quarters at Valley Forge, on the right bank of the Schuylkill. Thousands of the soldiers were without shoes, and the frozen ground was marked with bloody footprints. Log cabins were built, and everything was done that _could_ be done to secure the comfort of the suffering patriots. But it was a long and dreary winter. These were the darkest days of Washington's life. Congress in a measure abandoned him. Many men high in military and civil station left the great leader unsupported. But the allegiance of the army remained unshaken, and the nation's confidence in the chieftain became stronger than ever. CHAPTER XXV. EVENTS OF 1778 AND 1779. In November of 1776 Silas Deane, of Connecticut, was appointed commissioner to France. His first service was to make a secret arrangement to supply the Americans with materials for carrying on the war. In the autumn of 1777 a ship, laden with two hundred thousand dollars' worth of arms, ammunition, and specie, was sent to America. [Sidenote: =Negotiations with France.=] 2. Arthur Lee and Benjamin Franklin were also appointed by Congress to negotiate a treaty with the French king. In December of 1776 they reached Paris and began their duties. For a long time King Louis and his minister stood aloof from the proposed alliance. They hated Great Britain, and gave secret encouragement to the colonies; but an open treaty with the Americans was equivalent to a war with England, and that the French court dreaded. 3. Now it was, that the genius of Dr. Franklin shone with a peculiar luster. At the gay court of Louis XVI. he stood as the representative of his country. His wit and genial humor made him admired; his talents and courtesy commanded respect; his patience and perseverance gave him final success. During the whole of 1777 he remained at Paris and Versailles. At last came the news of Burgoyne's surrender. A powerful British army had been subdued by the colonists without aid from abroad. This success induced the king to accept the proposed alliance with the colonies. On the 6th of February, 1778, a treaty was concluded; France acknowledged the independence of the United States, and entered into relations of friendship with the new nation. [Sidenote: =Benjamin Franklin.=] 4. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, the author of the first treaty between the United States and a foreign nation, was born in Boston, on the 17th of January, 1706. His father was a manufacturer of soap and candles. At the age of twelve, Benjamin was apprenticed to his brother to learn the art of printing. In 1723 he went to Philadelphia, entered a printing-office, and rose to distinction. He visited England; returned; founded the first circulating library in America; edited _Poor Richard's Almanac_; discovered the identity of electricity and lightning; espoused the patriot cause; and devoted his old age to perfecting the American Union. The name of Franklin is one of the brightest in history.