1781] Essays 3
thing which their means will permit.” T hey had
in America great expectations, I know not on what
foundation, that a considerable supply of money
would be obtained from Spain; but that expectation
 has failed, and the force of that nation in those
seas has been employed to reduce small forts in Florida,
 without rendering any direct assistance to the
United States; and indeed the long delay of that
court, in acceding to the treaty of commerce, begins
to have the appearance of its not inclining to have
any connection with us; so that, for effectual friendship,
 and for the aid so necessary in the present conjuncture,
 we can rely on France alone, and in the
continuance of the king’s goodness towards us.
I am grown old. I feel myself much enfeebled by
my late long illness, and it is probable I shall not
long have any more concern in these affairs. I therefore
 take this occasion to express my opinion to your
Excellency, that the present conjuncture is critical;
that there is some danger lest the Congress should
lose its influence over the people, if it is found unable
to procure the aids that are wanted: and that the
whole system of the new government in America may
thereby be shaken: that, if the English are suffered
once to recover that country, such an opportunity of
effectual separation as the present may not occur
again in the course of ages; and that the possession
of those fertile and extensive regions, and that vast
sea-coast, will afford them so broad a basis for future
greatness, by the rapid growth of their commerce,
and breed of seamen and soldiers, as will enable them

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