GLC03256
had before burned mass of the Tob
o
upon James River...& have plundered great part of the
adjacent Country~ The Marquis de Lafayette is about twenty miles below Frederick's burg, with
ab
t
1200 regulars & 3000 Militia, waiting the Arrival of General Waine, with ab
t
1500 regular
[inserted: a]
Troops of the Pennsylvania Line. We have had various Accounts of the sailing of French
Fleet, with a Body of Land forces, for America; should they really arrive, it wou'd quickly
change the Face of our Affairs, & infuse fresh Spirits & Confidence; but it has been so long
[inserted: now]
expected in vain, that little Credit is given to Reports concerning it.----You know, from your
own Acquaintance in this part of Virginia, that the Bulk of the People here are staunch Whigs,
strongly attached to the American Cause, & well affectid; to the french Alliance, [struck:
y[illegible]] yet they grow [struck: y] uneasy, & restless, & begin to think [3] that our Allies are
spinning out the War, in order to weaken America, as well as Great Britain, &thereby leave us, at
the End of it, as dependent as possible upon themselves. However unjust this opinion may be, it
is natural enough to Farmers & planters, burdened with heavy Taxes, & frequently drag'd from
their Familys upon Military Duty, or the continual Alarms occasioned by the Superiority of the
British Fleet.-- They see their Property daily exposed to Destruction; they see with what Facility
the British Troops are removed from one part of the Continent to another, and with what infinite
Charge & Fatigue ours are, too late, obliged to follow, and they see too, very plainly, that a
strong French Fleet wou'd have prevented all this.~ If our Allies had a superior Fleet here, I
shou'd have no Doubt of a favourable Issue to the War; but without it, I fear we are deceiving
both them & ourselves, in expecting we shall be much longer able to keep our people firm in so
unequal an opposition to Great Britain.
France surely intends the Separation of these States for ever from Great Britain; but by
drawing out the thread too fine, & long, it may unexpectedly break in her Hands.~
God bless you, my dear child! and grant that We may meet again, in your native Country,
as Freemen; otherwise, that we may never see each other more, is the Prayer of
Your affectionate Father
G
Mason
[address leaf]
George Mason Jun
s
Esq
r
