TO EDMUND PENDLETON.[1]
Philadelphia, March 19, 1782.
Dear Sir,—The Ministerial speeches, with other
circumstances, place it beyond a doubt that the plan
for recovering America will be changed. A separate
peace with the Dutch—a suspension of the offensive
war here—an exertion of their resources thus disencumbered
against the naval power of France and
Spain—and a renewal of the arts of seduction and
division in the United States, will probably constitute
the outlines of the new plan. Whether they will
succeed in the first article of it, cannot be ascertained
by the last intelligence we have from Holland. It is
only certain that negotiations are on foot, under the
auspices of the Empress of Russia.
