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.

362 WASHINGTON'S WRITINGS. [LET. 46.
this gentleman with much reluctance, as I esteem him
an officer of great worth and merit, and as I know his
services here are and will be materially wanted. His
firm disposition and equal justice, his assiduity and
good understanding, added to his being a stranger to
all parties in that quarter, pointed him out as a proper
person; and I trust extensive advantages will be derived from his command, which I could wish was more
agreeable. He will wait on Congress for their instructions.
The enclosed copy of a letter from General Dickinson to me will inform Congress of the fate of the Continental frigates in the Delaware; a fate (in the situation
in which they were left) I had long predicted, and
which I had taken much pains to avert, by using every
argument in my power to have them sunk. In that
case, their destruction would have been at least a work
of time, difficulty, and expense, and might have been
perhaps prevented. About one o'clock on Thursday
I got notice of an intended move of the enemy by
water; and, conjecturing the destination of it, I had
a detachment under General Maxwell (whose tour of
duty it was) ready to march towards the Delaware by
four o'clock; but a heavy rain prevented their moving
till next morning.
I have been happy in the exchange, and a visit from
Lieutenant-Colonel Allen.* His fortitude and firmness
seem to have placed him out of the reach of misfortune. There is an original something in him, that commands admiration; and his long captivity and sufferings
have only served to increase, if possible, his enthusiastic
* Colonel Allen was exchanged for Colonel Campbell on the 5th of
May, and immediately proceeded from Elizabethtown to Head-Quarters.
— See the LIFE OF ETHAN ALLEN, in the Librarj of.Jmerican Biography, Vol. I. p. 321.