Philadelphia, December 7, 1778.
To the candid and impartial PUBLIC
Mr. Silas Deane having in his Address, in Mr. Dunlap’s last paper,1 thrown many dishonourable reflections on several persons highly trusted by America, and too far distant to answer for themselves, I think it but justice to those injured characters, to request that you will suspend your judgments, until the matter is fully investigated by those whose immediate business it is, and who are most likely to be possessed of the means to establish the truth, when, no doubt, all the parties will receive their due, whether of reward or punishment, and the public good be secured.
In the mean time I hope you will take a view of the several characters, from the commencement of the present contest with Great Britain; the part they have acted; what they have sacrificed; and what were their probable prospects; and then I am sure you will agree with me, that the narrative is void of probability, and ought to be supported with much better evidence than insinuations, inuendoes, and bare assertions.
As to the decency of the performance with respect to that Body, to which America must always owe its safety and happiness, I leave it to those whom it may concern. And the real friends to the independency of America will determine on the propriety of such a publication, in the present situation of our affairs. For my own part, I so reverence the Representatives of the People, and have so warm a concern for the public welfare, that I had much rather my nearest connections should suffer a temporary injustice, than offend the one, or in the least injure the other.
I too, most sincerely wish you to be on your guard. Trust not professions; hear both sides, and judge from well attested facts.
FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE2
MS not found; reprinted from the Pennsylvania Packet; or the General Advertiser, 8 December 1778.
1 Deane’s address "To the Free and Virtuous Citizens of America" was printed in the 5 December issue of the Pennsylvania Packet. It is more readily accessible in Deane Papers (NYHS Colls.), 21 (1888): 66 - 76.
2 Deane’s response to this letter, which appeared in the 10 December issue of the Pennsylvania Packet, consists of a quotation from Congress resolve ordering him to "report to Congress in writing," and the following rhetorical statement. "He [Deane] therefore conceives he cannot with propriety continue his narrative at present: In the mean time he submits it to their ['free and virtuous Citizens of America'] good sense, Whether he ought to take any notice of a publication signed Francis Lightfoot Lee, opposed to stubborn and undeniable facts." Ibid., p. 78.