Rebuffed in their purpose of ending the war by conciliation, the British now resorted to treachery and corruption.

I do not know whether General Sir Henry Clinton was more or less of a man of honor than the other high officers in the British army at that time.

We feel instinctively loath to harbor a suspicion against the honor of these officers; and yet, the truth demands us to declare that some one among them engaged in the miserable business of bribing Americans to be traitors.

Where the full guilt lies, we shall never know, but the fact that so many of the trails lead back to General Clinton gives us a reason for a strong surmise.

We have lists drawn up at British Headquarters of the Americans who were probably approachable, and the degree of ease with which it was supposed they could be corrupted.