we should remember that they are a people old in war, very strict in military etiquette, and apt to take fire when others scarcely seem warmed.  Permit me to recommend, in the most particular manner, the cultivation of harmony and good agreement, and your endeavor to destroy that ill-humor which may have got into officers.”  To Lafayette he wrote:  “Everybody, sir, who reasons, will acknowledge the advantages which we have derived from the French fleet, and the zeal of the commander of it; but in a free and republican government you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude.  Every man will speak as he thinks, or, more properly, without thinking, and consequently will judge of effects without attending to the causes.  The censures which have been leveled at the French fleet would more than probably have fallen in a much higher degree upon a fleet of our own, if we had had one in the same situation.  It is the nature of man to be displeased with everything that disappoints a favorite hope or flattering project; and it is the folly of too many of them to condemn without investigating circumstances.”  Finally he wrote to D’Estaing, deploring the difference which had arisen, mentioning his own efforts and wishes to restore harmony, and said:  “It is in the trying circumstances to which your Excellency has been exposed that the virtues of a great mind are displayed in their brightest lustre, and that a general’s character is better known than in the moment of victory.  It was yours by every title that can give it; and the adverse elements that robbed you of your prize can never deprive you of the glory due you.  Though your success has not been equal to your expectations, yet you have the satisfaction of reflecting that you have rendered essential services to the common cause.”  This is not the letter of a dull man.  Indeed, there is a nicety about it that partakes of cleverness, a much commoner thing than greatness, but something which all great men by no means possess.  Thus by tact and comprehension of human nature, by judicious suppression and equally judicious letters, Washington, through the prudent exercise of all his commanding influence, quieted his own people and soothed his allies.  In this way a serious disaster was averted, and an abortive expedition was all that was left to be regretted, instead of an ugly quarrel, which might readily have neutralized the vast advantages flowing from the French alliance.  Having refitted, D’Estaing bore away for the West Indies, and so closed the first chapter in the history of the alliance with France.  Nothing more was heard of the allies until the spring was well advanced, when M. Gerard, the minister, wrote, intimating that D’Estaing was about to return, and asking what we would do.  Washington replied at length, professing his willingness to cooeperate in any way, and offering, if the French would send ships, to abandon everything, run all risks, and make an attack on New York.  Nothing further came of