But
all this is in embryo, uncertainly known, and counterworked by the
machinations of the courts of London and Berlin. The following solution
of the British armaments is supposed in a letter of the 25th ultimo,
from Colonel Blachden of Connecticut, now at Dunkirk, to the Marquis
de la Fayette. I will cite it in his own words. "A gentleman who left
London two days ago, and came to this place to-day, informs me that
it is now generally supposed that Mr. Pitt's great secret, which has
puzzled the whole nation so long, and to accomplish which design, the
whole force of the nation is armed, is to make a vigorous effort for
the recovery of America. When I recollect the delay they have made in
delivering the forts in America, and that little more than a year ago,
one of the British ministry wrote to the King a letter, in which were
these remarkable words, 'If your Majesty pleases, America may yet be
yours;' add to this, if it were possible for the present ministry in
England to effect such a matter, they would secure their places and
their power for a long time, and should they fail in the end, they would
be certain of holding them during the attempt, which it is in their
power to prolong as much as they please, and at all events, they would
boast of having endeavored the recovery of what a former ministry had
abandoned, it is possible.
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