The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-11
JUssERAND SPEAKS.
French Ambassador Before Society Oi
 Cincinnati.

French Amb0Ss00Or Betore SOctety OI Cincinnati.
 Richmond, Va, May 10.--Thc tri- ennial meeting of the General Society of the Cincinnati met here today with tho largest attendance in the history of the society. The society was well comed by Mayor McCarty. A fitting response was made by the President General of the society. Winslow War ren of Massachusetts. Following ac-
 tion on reports of officers, the delegates were entereained at luncheon at the Commonwealth Club. Tonight the members were guests of the Virginia State Society at banquet at the West moreland Club. The guest of honor was M. Jusserand, French Ambassador to the United States The toast, Our Great and Good Ally. the French Ma tion." was responded to by M Jusser- and, Ambassador to the United States The Ambassador said:
 Tt is the custom, know, In the trl- enniaI gathering of this illustrious so- ciety to have thirteen speeches in honor of the thirteen primitive States, the thirteen who fought for freedom. the thirteen who engendered SO many old States, the thirteen who were the first cause and progenitors of this mighty republic have been asked to speak, and this will make fourteenth speech; perhaps it has been thought that In fact there were not thirteen States, but fourteen arrayed together for freedom; for one more sided with the others.
 and that was France
 Hearty was her support, risk ing, as she did. everything, army, navy and colonies; she was only an auxiliary; our officers were ordered never to forget it, and those old sol- diers who had sought in the seven years war yielded with alacrity pre- cedence on every occasion to their American brethren who were defending their own ground and their own iib-
 erty.
 George Washington devised your so-
 ciety; a noble one, worthy of its foun- der, meant to preserve the holiest tra- ditions between the men who had sided together in the time of the struggle between the two nations; between the
 fourteen States. These traditions were
 patriotism. fraternity, human benevo-
 lence. We commemorate this founda-
 tion most appropriately today, on this sacred soil of Virginia. which gave
 birth to Washington and to Jefferson, which beheld the glorious end of the revolution; heard the earliest declara : tion of the rights of snan, and saw the great American Cincinnatus and his life's journey. The feelings of Lafay . ette for Monsieur Washington are we'll known; 1t was enthusiasm and filial love. Less known and no less striking is the impression made by the great commander on Major-General Dee Chat eiieus, a keen observer, man of let ters and a member of the French Acad. emy, who writes of him as the great est and the best of all mem
 "The whole of Northern America from Boston to Charleston is 8 great book. each page of which offers his praise. When Washington died, mourn ing in my-country was universal. In
 the august public ceremony held at the
 Invaldes in Paris to commemorate the
 great deeds of the departed chief, Fon-
 ranes, the public orator voiced the feel
 ing of the nation when he said: T
 praise before soldiers. a soldier firm in
 reverses, modest in victory, ever hu-
 mane in one and the other fortune.
 praise in the presence of the ministers
 of the French republic a man who
 never yielded to the dictates of an ann
 bition and whom his country found
 ready to serve her"
 "To the whole American nation, but
 to you especially members of the so-
 ciety which he founded, sons of his
 trusty companions, the legacy of these
 great examples has come down, to be
 preserved forever. May the society
 long prosper, remaining as it always
 has, worthy of George Washington and
 the pride of this country. May you be
 blessed with sons to inherit your tra-
 ditions of honor. patriotism. brotherly
 love and flial gratitude to the original
 fourteen States"