My dearest Friend,--We have had no news from camp for three or four
days. Mr. Howe, by the last advices, was manoeuvering his fleet and
army in such a manner as to give us expectations of an expedition
somewhere; but whether to Rhode Island, Halifax, up the North River, or
the Delaware, is left to conjecture. I am much in doubt whether he knows
his own intentions. A faculty of penetrating into the designs of an
enemy is said to be the first quality of a General, but it is impossible
to discover the designs of an enemy who has no design at all. An
intention that has no existence, a plan that is not laid, cannot be
divined. Be his intentions what they may, you have nothing to fear from
him. He has not force to penetrate the country anywhere.