NE.

General Gates now disposed his forces so as almost completely to
surround Burgoyne, who called a council of war, at which it was agreed
that nothing was left for them but to capitulate. Accordingly, October
17, 1777, he surrendered his army to General Gates. This consisted of
5,763 officers and men, including the disappointed members of
Parliament. All the Indians having fled, none was left of them to
surrender. The spoils of war included a fine train of artillery of
forty-two pieces, 5,000 muskets, and a vast quantity of ammunition and
stores. The prisoners were treated with great kindness, their captors
sharing their food with them.

The news of the loss of one of her most important armies caused dismay
in England and unbounded rejoicing in America. It was the climax of the
triumph at Trenton, and renewed hope thrilled the country from New
England to Georgia.

THE CONWAY CABAL.

Congress awarded a gold medal to Gates for his capture of Burgoyne, and
he was placed at the head of the new board of war. He was puffed up over
his victory, for which most of the credit was due to Schuyler and
Arnold. Finding congenial spirits in General Mifflin and an Irishman
named Conway, both members of the board, including also General Charles
Lee, who had been exchanged, a plot was formed for displacing Washington
and putting Gates in supreme command of military affairs. The "Conway
Cabal" utterly failed, for there were precious few in the country who
did not appreciate the lofty character of Washington, and none except
the plotters felt sympathy with any attempt to dim the lustre of the
name that will always be among the brightest in history.

AID FROM FRANCE.

One of the immeasurable advantages that followed the capture of Burgoyne
was our alliance with France. That country sympathized with us from the
first, though her traditional hatred of England had much to do with the
sentiment, but hitherto her assistance had been secret. She wished a
good pretext for coming out openly, and this was furnished by the
capture of Burgoyne. Franklin was in France as our representative, and
his quaint wit and homely wisdom made him very popular at the gay court.
He urged the claims of the United States so forcibly that the king
yielded, and concluded a treaty, February 6, 1778, by which the
independence of the United States was acknowledged and relations of
reciprocal friendship formed with our country. This was the first treaty
made