The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-06-08

conduct, but he was a courtly gen.
tleman, a most accomplished scholar,
a bold thinker and speaker, a grace
full and forcible writer, and convers-
ant with the French and classical
languages. When he reach France,
he found himself trif1ed with and de-
layed by Vergennes.
Laurens's Bold Stroke.
But the Gordian knot of policy, if
not to be united by the philosophical
fingers of Franklin, could be cut by
the Alexandrian sword of Laurens.
Convinced that procrastination must
be fatal to the American cause, he
declared his purpose to Franklin to
appeal from the minister directly to
the king. This was in defiance of all
routine and etiquette. Franklin We
hemently opposed the proceeding;
and anticipating very unfavorable
and unfriendly result, told Laurens
that he washed his hands Of the con-
sequences.' This did not discourage
the latter, and at the very next gen.
eral levee, when Laurens's turn for
presentation came, instead of simply
exchanging a passing courtesy with
the monarch and passing on, he stop
ped short, and addressed the king in
French, while he presented the me-
mortal of congress and the letters of
the great Washington. His conclud-
ing words were very emphatic:
"'Sire,' said he, should the favor
sought for by my country be denied,
or even delayed. there is great rea-
son that the sword which I wear at
my side, as the ally of France, may
then be- drawn against your majesty
as that of British subject
King Taken by Surprise.
'"The king, for the moment, was
confounded, and showed much agita-
ton. The surprise was complete.
The novelty of the proceeding, the
grace of the speaker, blended with
so much exquisite dignity and force,
his courage and eloquence, were we'll
calculated to excite surprise. The
king received the memorial and let
ters; and the application was crown
ed with success. Men and money,
armies and vessels, navy, and the
munitions of war, were promptly fur
nished, and the independence Of the
United States, from that moment,
was un fait accomplf! The admira-
tion of the king, for this bold young
ambassador, was testified in the gift
of his own portrait, one of the high
est compliments at that day paid to
an ambassador by great monarchs,
with it's incompatible setting in gold
and diamonds. Laurens sealed his
devotion to his country with his life.
"He had led the storming party
which was successful, at the crown
ing triumph of our armies, in the TAX
venge himself.
"'A few weeks ago, just before the
ice began to break, he rushed into
my quarters and shouted: "Come
on; I will show you something that
will gladden. your heart
His face was covered with blood,
streaming from a wound in his tenn
pie and he gave the impression of be-
ing a maniac I decided to follow
the man and took lieutenant and
two privates along. 1t was near
daybreak when we left our quarters.
AS We wandered out over the ice we
noticed that the weather had COM
pletely changed over during the
night. Tine wind was almost warm
and the open places in the swamp
seemed much larger than they had
during the evening DeIOre.
latter we had advanced a few
hundred yards one of my men broke
through the seemingly still strong
ice and was almost drowned. The
old man chuckled and advised us to
walk closely behind him.
Then he told US what he had
done. Il have lured a whole brigade
of the Russians into the swamps and
they are now perishing," he said JOY
ously. 'For many weeks I have
waited for this chance. Night after
night 1 was out studying the weather
and two days ago, when the wind