This is not the only part of the continent, that now feels the weight of their resentment; General Clinton, with from three to six thousand men, has invaded Rhode Island, and it is said, has taken possession of it; whether he will make any attempt on the main, during this severe, inclement season, I do not know, but if he does, I hope he may find cause to repent it. I must add to this gloomy picture one circumstance, more distressing than all the rest, because it threatens instant and total ruin to the American cause, unless some radical cure is applied, and that speedily; I mean the depreciation of the continental currency. The enormous pay of our army, the immense expenses at which they are supplied with provisions, clothing, and other necessaries, and, in short, the extravagance that has prevailed in most departments of the public service, have called forth prodigious emissions of paper money, both continental and colonial. Our internal enemies, who, alas, are numerous and rich, have always been undermining its value by various artifices, and now that our distresses are wrought to a pitch by the success and near approach of the enemy, they speak plainer, and many peremptorily refuse to take it at any rate. Those that do receive it, do it with fear and trembling, and you may judge of its value, even amongst those, when I tell you that L250 continental money, or 666-2/3 dollars is given for a bill of exchange of L100 sterling, sixteen dollars for a half johannes, two paper dollars for one of silver, three dollars for a pair of shoes, twelve dollars for a hat, and so on; a common laborer asks two dollars a day for his work, and idles half his time. All this amounts to real depreciation of the money. The war must be carried on at an expense proportioned to this value, which must inevitably call for immense emissions, and, of course, still further depreciations must ensue. This can only be prevented by borrowing in the money now in circulation; the attempt is made, and I hope will succeed by loan of lottery. The present troubles interrupt those measures here, and as yet I am not informed how they go on in other States, but something more is necessary; force must be inevitably employed, and I dread to see that day. We have already calamities sufficient for any country, and the measure will be full, when one part of the American people is obliged to dragoon another, at the same time that they are opposing a most powerful external foe.