_Manor of Moreland, Philadelphia County, March 15, 1783._
Having been called upon by General Cadwalader respecting a
report which has been propagated concerning Mr. Joseph Reed--I
declare on my honour, the circumstances are as follows. In the
spring of 1780, I obtained permission for an interview with my
brother at Elizabethtown. In the course of conversation, one
day, he happened to mention that there were men among us, who
held the first offices, who applied for protection from the
British while they lay in New Jersey. I was alarmed at this
assertion, and insisted on knowing who they were;--he said,
that when the British army lay in Jersey, in 1776, Count Donop
commanded at Bordentown; that he was often at that officer's
quarters, and possessed some degree of his confidence; that
one day, _an inhabitant came into their lines, with an
application from Mr. Joseph Reed, the purport of which was, to
know whether he could have protection for himself and his
property_, (there was another person included in the
_application_, whose _name_ it is not necessary here to
mention.) The man was immediately ordered for execution, but
it was prevented by the interposition of my brother and some
other persons, who had formerly known him. Perhaps Mr. Reed
and his friends may say, that Count Donop would not have
ordered the man executed, had he not thought he came for
intelligence. No doubt that officer would have justified his
conduct by putting upon the footing of a spy, but why was
another person included in the application, and one who was
not looked on as a trifling character? his name I will mention
to any one who will apply to me; however, my brother said, the
man who was sent with the application was a poor peasant, and
the most unfit person in the world to send for intelligence;
this argument was what had weight with Count Donop, and which
saved his life.[I] These circumstances being mentioned by a
brother, and which he declared to be true, naturally produced
an alteration in my sentiments of Mr. Reed; for previous to
this, there were few men of whom I entertained so high an
opinion. On my return to Philadelphia, I made no secret of
what I heard; indeed, I thought it my duty to mention it
publicly, that it might prevent further power being put into
the hands of a man who might make a bad use of it. The report
circulated daily, and I was often called on to mention the
circumstances, which I always did, and which I should have
done to Mr. Reed, had he applied to me. I remember, among the
number who came to me, was Major Thomas Moore, who said he
intended to inform Mr. Reed; but whether he did or not, I
cannot pretend to say.
There is another thing I wish to mention. My brother came into
the river in a flag of truce, on special application of our
commissary of prisoners, to take a number of prisoners who
were exchanged, to save us the expense and trouble of sending
them by land; this was in the month of May, 1781. He was
detained, about nine miles below the city, upwards of four
weeks, and never permitted to visit it, although application
was made for that purpose, by several captains of vessels, who
had been prisoners, and to whom he had rendered civilities. I
declined making application myself, as I supposed my being in
the service from the commencement of the war, and having
endured a rigorous confinement for eighteen months, in the
worst of times, to have been sufficient to have obtained
permission for a brother to have been in my house, in
preference to a cabin in a small vessel in a river;--however,
I endeavoured to make his situation as agreeable as possible,
by visiting him often, and by taking my friends with me. I
REMEMBER Col. Francis Nichols went with me one day, to whom my
brother mentioned Mr. Reed's intended desertion, and who, I
doubt not, will acknowledge it, on any person's applying to
him; he is at present in Virginia, but is expected in town in
a few days.