It was but one of a long series of similar letters, written with unconquerable patience and with unwearied iteration, lighted here and there by flashes of deep and angry feeling, which would finally strike home under the pressure of defeat, and bring the patriots of the legislature to sudden action, always incomplete, but still action of some sort.

It must have been inexpressibly dreary work, but quite as much was due to those letters as to the battles.

Thinking for other people, and teaching them what to do, is at best an ungrateful duty, but when it is done while an enemy is at your throat, it shows a grim tenacity of purpose which is well worth consideration.
In this instance the letter of September 24, read in the light of the battles of Long Island and Kip's Bay, had a considerable effect.

The first steps were taken to make the army national and permanent, to raise the pay of officers, and to lengthen enlistments.

Like most of the war measures of Congress, they were too late for the immediate necessity, but they helped the future.