“Many and pointed Orders have been issued against that unmeaning and abominable custom of swearing,—notwithstanding which, with much regret the General observes that it prevails if possible, more than ever. His feelings are continually wounded by the oaths and imprecations of the soldiers whenever he is in hearing of them. The name of that Being from whose bountiful goodness we are permitted to exist and enjoy the Comforts of life is incessantly imprecated and profaned in a manner as wanton as it is shocking. For the sake therefore of religion, decency and order, the General hopes and trusts that officers of every rank will use their influence and authority to Check a vice which is as unprofitable as it is wicked and shameful. If officers would make it an invariable rule to reprimand and, if that does not do—punish soldiers for offences of the kind, it would not fail of having the desired effect.” CHAPTER XXIII. THE ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE TAKES EFFECT.—SIEGE OF NEWPORT. Upon the return of General Clinton to New York as the successor to General Howe in command of “all the Atlantic Colonies from Nova Scotia to West Indies, inclusive,” his outlook over the territories which fell under his guardianship must have been that of faith rather than of sight. With the exception of Staten Island and the British supply depot, practically a part of New York, only one other post in the Northern Department, that of Newport, R.I., retained a British garrison. It is very certain that Clinton did not regard his exodus from Philadelphia and his collision with Washington’s army at Monmouth with as much enthusiasm as did Charles Lee, who, shortly after that battle, when demanding a speedy court-martial, informed Washington that “this campaign would close the war.” At any rate, Clinton was hardly settled in his quarters, before tidings reached him that, on the eighth, a formidable French fleet of twelve line-of-battle ships and four frigates had made the Delaware Capes; and that one of them, the _Chinier_, had conveyed to the American capital Monsieur Conrad A. Gerard, the first French Ambassador to the United States of America. Silas Deane, one of the American Commissioners at Paris, accompanied Monsieur Gerard. Clinton had reason to rejoice in this tardy arrival. The fleet sailed from Toulon, April thirteenth; but on account of contrary winds did not pass Gibraltar until the fifteenth day of May. A voyage of ordinary passage would have imperiled both Howe and Clinton; as four thousand troops accompanied the squadron, and its naval force was, just at that time, superior to that of Great Britain in American waters.