I have several times referrd you to a Hint which I gave you not long ago, and which I have not thought prudent to repeat lest by an Accident my Letters should be intercepted. I have still the same opinion of the Importance of the Affair, but having spent this Evening with General Gates and conversd with him upon that and other Matters, we have concluded upon a more sure Way of effecting it than the Way I proposd to you. I wish therefore if you have already communicated it to any one of our Friends, that you would injoyn them to close Secrecy, and that it may be even forgot till the Event of it shall be known to the World. I am much pleasd to find that the New England Troops have so great a Share in the Honor of the late Action in the Jerseys. General Gates speaks very highly of the Militia you sent him last Fall. He applauds greatly their Zeal for the Cause and particularly their Readiness to tarry in the Service after the Expiration of the Term of their Inlistments in November, and tells me he gave them an honorable Discharge. I have not the Pleasure of knowing General Bricket but he mentions him to me as a worthy & good officer. We have further good Accounts from our Army which are credited although they are not yet authenticated. I verily believe that the Incursions of the Enemy into the Jerseys will be in the Event much to our Advantage, and that this Campaign will end gloriously on our side; I never will be sanguine in my Expectation for I know the Events of War are uncertain, but there seems to be an enterprizing Spirit in our Army which I have long wishd to see and without which we may not expect to do great Things. The same enterprizing Spirit also takes place here. We have done things which I would not have flatterd my self with the least hope of doing a Month ago. This Express will carry to the Council a Resolution which I presume will of course be communicated to you. In my next I will give you a very particular & good reason why it is not communicated TO YOU in this Letter. We understand that by the Enemies Treatment of General Lee there appears to be a Design to consider him as a deserter & take away his Life. Congress have directed General Washington to acquaint Howe that if this is his Intention five of the Hessian field officers now in our hands together with Lt Coll Campbell shall be detained & sacrificd as an Atonement for his Blood should the Matter be carried to that Extremity; and this Resolution will most undoubtedly in my opinion be executed in full tale. Adieu, TO JOHN ADAMS. [John Adams, Works, vol. ix., pp. 448-450.] BALTIMORE, 9 January, 1777.