apartment, said, "What proof is there, Captain Lee, that you were not privy to this mad and disgraceful expedition of your friend?

"None, sir,” replied Eliot, unappalled, but not unmoved. Washington seemed struck with the dignity of his manner; his countenance somewhat relaxed as Eliot proceeded :-"There may be probabilities as conclusive to a generous mind as proofs to a common one. You will perceive, sir, that the same action that was indiscretion in my friend would have been crime in me, honoured as I was, by your trust. And further, that I could have had no temptation to a violation of that trust but a desire to oblige my friend, while he was urged on and blinded to consequences by the intensity of filial and fraternal love, which, allow me to say, sir, has

been kept in long and painful abeyance by his devotion to his country."

"Your zeal for your friend is generous, Captain Lee. Fidelity in friendship is a bond for integrity in other matters; be assured, I will not hastily withdraw the confidence I have with so much reason placed in you. I must take time to reflect on this matter. To what did

you allude as having occurred last night?'

Eliot briefly related the affair at Mrs. Archer's. He saw a smile on Washington's lips, when he spoke of his hearty coadjutor "the gen'ral." He concluded by saying, he trusted he had not offended by following what seemed to him the imperative dictates of humanity.

"No, my friend-no," replied Washington, not unmoved (C war too often cuts us off from the humanities-in God's name, let's perfect them when we may. I am engaged now; come to me again this evening."

Eliot left his commander somewhat relieved, but still, not without deep anxiety for Linwood. He had reason for solicitude. No man that ever lived more jealously guarded against the appearance of evil than Washington. One who kept with his exactness the account with conscience, might, in ordinary circumstances, have afforded to be careless of appearances, and regardless of public opinion; but he was aware that his reputation belonged to his country; that it was identified with the cause he had espoused; the cause of liberty and popular government; and how has that glorious cause profited by it? Heralded by his spotless name, it has gone forth to restore the order of God's providence ; to abase the high, and raise up those that were bowed down; to break the golden sceptre, and to overthrow thrones, to open Bastiles, to unbind chains, to reclaim the deserts that

man had made, and to sow at broadcast the seeds

of knowledge, virtue, and happiness.

The issue of Eliot's second interview with Washington is already known, so far as it appeared by the despatches sent to New York. He had the consolation of being assured that not a shadow of distrust remained on Washington's mind. Never man more needed solace in some shape than did Eliot at this conjuncture of his affairs. On first going to his quarters he found there a packet from his mother. He pressed it to his lips, and eagerly broke the seal. The following is a copy of his mother's letter.

"MY DEAR SON,-I perceive by your letters of the first, which, thanks to a kind Providence,

have duly come to hand, that it is now nearly three months since you have heard from us. Much good and much evil may befall in three months! Much good have I truly to be grateful for and chiefly that your life and health have been thus precious in the sight of the Lord, and that you have received honour at the hand of man (of which our good Dr. Wilson made suitable mention in his prayer last Sabbath); and, as I humbly trust, approval from Him who erreth not.

"We have had a season of considerable worldly anxiety. The potato-crop looked poorly, and our whole harvest was cut off by the blight in the rye, which, as you see in the newspapers, has been fatal through Massachusetts. This calamity has been greatly aggravated by the embargo they have laid on their flour in the Southern States. The days seemed to be coming