from the Lakes, and both joined General Washington
yesterday. This junction is what we have long impatiently wished for,
but still I fear our force is not equal to the task before them, and
unless that task is performed, Philadelphia, nay, I may say
Pennsylvania, must fall. The task I mean, is to drive the enemy out of
New Jersey, for at present they occupy Brunswick, Princeton, Trenton,
Pennytown, Bordenton, Burlington, Morristown, Mount Holly, and
Haddonfield, having their main body about Princeton, and strong
detachments in all the other places, it is supposed with a design of
attacking this city, whenever they can cross the Delaware on the ice,
for they have only been kept from it, by our sending up the gondolas
and bringing off, or destroying, all the boats along the Jersey shore.

You will think the enemy are now in a situation for us to attack
their scattered parties, and cut them off. This we think too, and are
preparing to do it, but it will be a work of extreme difficulty to get
at them; they have excellent intelligence of all our motions; we can
hardly come at any certainty about theirs, for Lord Howe and General
Howe issued a proclamation on the 30th of November, offering pardon to
all, who should submit within sixty days, and subscribe a declaration,
that they will not hereafter bear arms against the king's troops, nor
encourage others to do it. This has had a wonderful effect, and all
Jersey, or far the greater part of it, is supposed to have made their
submission, and subscribed the declaration required; those who do so,
of course become our most inveterate enemies; they have the means of
conveying intelligence, and they avail themselves of it.

In this perplexing situation of things, the Congress were informed,
this day week, that an advanced party of Hessians and Highlanders had
taken possession of Burlington, that they were pushing for Cooper's
Ferry, opposite the city, and it was thought had the means of crossing
the river. There were no troops to oppose them; our whole force, both
by land and water, was above; it was therefore deemed unsafe for
Congress to remain here, and absolutely necessary that they should be
in a place of safety, where they could deliberate coolly and freely
without interruption, and last Saturday they adjourned to Baltimore,
where they are now sitting. This city was for ten days, the greatest
scene of distress that you can conceive; every body but Quakers were
removing their f