224 Benjamin Franklin [1781 
seas, to furnish the arms, ammunition, and clothing 
specified in the estimate heretofore transmitted, and 
to assist with the loan mentioned in the letter, they 
flatter themselves that, under the Divine blessing, 
the war must speedily be terminated with glory and 
advantage to both nations.” 
By several letters to me from intelligent persons it 
appears that the great and expensive exertions of the 
last year, by which a force was assembled capable of 
facing the enemy, and which accordingly drew to- 
wards New York, and lay long near that city, was 
rendered ineffectual by the superiority of the enemy 
at sea; and that their successes in Carolina had been 
chiefly owing to that superiority, and to the want of 
the necessary means for furnishing, marching, and 
paying the expense of troops sufficient to defend 
that province. The Marquis de Lafayette writes 
to me that it is impossible to conceive, without see- 
ing it, the distress which the troops have suffered 
for want of clothing; and the following is a para- 
graph of a letter from General Washington, which 
I ought not to keep back from your Excellency, viz.: 
“I doubt not that you are so fully informed by Con- 
gress of our political and military state, that it would 
be superfluous to trouble you with any thing relative 
to either. If I were to speak on topics of the kind, 
it would be to show that our present situation makes 
one of two things essential to us—a peace, or the 
most vigorous aid of our allies, particularly in the 
article of money. Of their disposition to serve us, 
we cannot doubt; their generosity will do every