“I don’t need to tell you that I am sorry for all that has happened for some time past. My sorrow is a necessary consequence of my most tender and respectful friendship for you, which affection is as true and candid as the other sentiments of my heart, and much stronger than so new an acquaintance seems to admit; but another reason to be concerned in the present circumstances is the result of my ardent and perhaps enthusiastic wishes for the happiness and liberty of this country. I see plainly that America can defend herself if proper measures are taken, and now I begin to fear lest she should be lost by herself and her own sons. “When I was in Europe, I thought that here almost every man was a lover of liberty, and would rather die free than live a slave. You can conceive of my astonishment when I saw that Toryism was as openly professed as Whiggism itself; however, at that time I believed that all good Americans were united together; that the confidence of Congress in you was unbounded. Then I entertained the belief that America would be independent in case she should not lose you. Take away for an instant that modest diffidence of yourself (which, pardon my freedom, my dear General, is sometimes too great, and I wish you could know as well as myself what difference there is between you and every other man), you would see very plainly that, if you were lost for America, there is nobody who could hold the army and the revolution six months. There are open discussions in Congress; parties who hate one another as much as the common enemy; stupid men, who, without knowing a single word about war, undertake to judge you, to make ridiculous comparisons. They are infatuated with Gates, without thinking of the different circumstances, and believe that attacking is the only thing necessary to conquer. These ideas are entertained by some jealous men, and perhaps secret friends to the British government, who want to push you, in a moment of ill-humor, to some rash enterprise upon the lines, and against a much stronger army. I should not take the liberty of mentioning these particulars if I had not received a letter about this matter from a young, good-natured gentleman at York, whom Conway has ruined by his cunning, but who entertains the greatest respect for you.” La Fayette then recounts the efforts which the enemies of Washington had made to win his allegiance from the commander-in-chief, and closes by reiterating his tender and profound respect.