that though
_he_ was incorruptible, he was afraid of letting it be known
what offers had been made, lest other officers might have been
tempted to accept them. Reed was placed under arrest until
further inquiries were made, but they were not successful, and
he was released. The female upon whom the letters were
detected, had been released, after being searched, and though
every effort was made to get her again it was fruitless.
General Washington added, that through the rest of the war, he
watched Reed narrowly, and trusted him with nothing; and
though he had no further _proof_ of his guilt, he was
satisfied that his treason had existed. But General Washington
informed me, that _after the peace_, he had received
information, the source of which he was not at liberty to
divulge, but the truth of which he had satisfied himself of,
that nothing but the accidental intercepting of Johnstone's
and Carlisle's letters, had prevented Reed's consummation of
treason. He had become fully convinced, after the disbanding
of the army, that Reed had had numerous personal interviews
during the war, with leading British officers; that he had
seen Donop at Burlington; that he had been repeatedly within
the British lines, and that he _now_ knew that, after the
battle of Germantown, he had visited the English General,
Howe, at his Head Quarters, in Philadelphia.

I have now given you, accurately, the substance of General
Washington's conversations upon this subject. It fully
accounts for his marked treatment of Reed at New York and
Annapolis; and it must convince you what a precious rogue in
grain this counterfeit patriot was.

My letter will not reach you for some time after its date. My
arm is stiff, and I write slowly; and, although I have but one
date, I have written a little each day for four days. God
bless you, my old friend, and make me hear frequently from
you.

Yours very truly,
SAMUEL SMITH.

I allow Mr. William Bradford Reed till Saturday to meditate upon this
epistle. On that day, unless _he_ should anticipate me, and publish the
correspondence with Wayne, to which Colonel Smith refers, _I_ shall have
the pleasure of presenting it to the public eye. It is a light that ought
not to be hidden under a bushel;