he was in no sense forgetting, and of his own deepening
patriotism. Letters written to him show
the attitude of friends at home, and their interest
both in the affairs of the country and in him personally.
The following letter from Gilbert Saltonstall,
a young Harvard graduate and warm friend
of Hale while in New London, shows how fully
the men at home, as well as those in the army,
entered into the anxieties of the times:

===============NEW LONDON, Octo. 9th, 1775.=====
=====DEAR SIR,===============

By yours of the 5th I see you're Stationd in the Mouth
of Danger--I look upon yr. Situation more Perilous than
any other in the Camp--Should have thought the new
Recreuits would have been Posted at some of the Outworks,
& those that have been inured to Service advanc'd to Defend
the most exposed Places--But all Things are concerted,
and ordered with Wisdom no doubt--The affair
of Dr. Church[1] is truly amazing--from the acquaintance
I have of his publick Character I should as soon have suspected
Mr. Hancock or Adams as him.

[1] Of this Dr. Church, John Fiske writes: "In October, 1775,
the American camp was thrown into great consternation by the
discovery that Dr. Benjamin Church, one of the most con-
spicuous of the Boston leaders, had engaged in a secret cor-
respondence with the enemy. Dr. Church was thrown into jail,
but as the evidence of treasonable intent was not absolutely
complete, he was set free in the following spring, and allowed to
visit the West Indies for his health. The ship in which he
sailed was never heard from again."

[[46]]

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v?