The writings of George Washington; being his correspondence, addresses, messages, and other papers, official and private, selected and published from the original manuscripts; with a life of the author, notes and illustrations. By Jared Sparks.

266 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1777.
of disaffected persons. The disguise was too flimsy to
cover so nefarious a purpose. Whatever credit they
may have gained in England, they could have no influence on his countrymen, who understood his character.
The author of these spurious epistles was never
publicly known. They were written with considerable
art, and by a person acquainted with many particulars
of General Washington's family concerns. It is probable, also, that parts of intercepted letters actually written
by him were interwoven. He never thought the subject worthy of his notice, till near the end of his presidency, when a new edition of these same forgeries was
palmed upon the public to gratify the spleen of a malignant party spirit, and to effect a purpose even more
infamous than the one contemplated by their original
author. He then declared them, in a letter to the
Secretary of State, to be spurious and false.
Whilst the enemies of his country were thus employed in scattering the seeds of detraction and falsehood, the agents of faction were secretly at work, both in
the army and in Congress, to disparage and undermine
his reputation. This conspiracy has been called Conway's Cabal, from the name of the individual who acted
the most conspicuous part. The other prominent leaders were General Gates and General Mifflin. The
causes and origin of the disaffection of these officers
to the Commander-in-chief have not been explained.
When they joined the service, at the beginning of the
war, they professed to be his friends, and probably were
such. It was mainly at his instance, that General Gates
received his first appointment. Being an Englishman
by birth, some of the members of Congress had scruples
on the subject, thinking their cause would be safest in
the charge of native Americans, both on account of
their influence over the people, and of the ardor and