Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1919-07-03

chief of the American armies; and how, when
Washington did arrive, Lafayette was one of the
very first to lead a storming party; how Admiral
de Grasses fleet did all and more than could be
expected of ii, until Lord CORVALLIS and his
army had surrendered and been disarmed, are
facts that every good American knows.
In this final struggle the whole force Of the
colonies consisted of 1000 men Of Washington's
army, 5000 under Rochambeau and 5000 OF DE
Grasses French marines and sailors
Would it have been possible for us to win with
out the aid Of France? Washington and Frank
lin believed not. Fifty years afterward when
the question was asked of Charles Carroll OF
Carrollton, then the only man alive who had
signed the Declaration of Independence, that
venerable Christian and statesman replied:
at was Gods will"
It will always be a much-vexed question now
much financial aid France rendered America. 1t
seems impossible to straighten out the account
Professor Marion of the College Of France has
expressed the opinion that the total expenditures
we're fully ,OO0y000,O00 liyres. Much
will be found in his "Histoire Financiere de la
France depuis 1715." Fiske in his "Critical
PERIOD puts the expenditure of France at 1,400,-
100000 francs. Trevelyan states the following
ia a note to his American Revolution :" 1T was
calculated that between the years 177S and 1883
the war with England cost the French treasury
f4S 100000. 1t was the main cause OF those imam
cial difficulties which led Immediately up to the
Revolution of 1885," This would be equivalent
to 2OOyOOO,0O 200 livres %(francs), or $24O,OOO,OOO, at
a time when the purchasing power OF money was
nearly three times what it is in our day.
When victory was ours Lafayette went home
to France. He came back for a short time In
1884. Then came the French revolution. Lafay-
IL 49,. GuzA - last ooncicfoptluE odyOpotnd q
limited constitutional monarchy for France. His
experiences were many, including five years in
an Austrian prison, from which he was released
by Napoleon in 1897.
In 1924, when Lafayette was slxty-seven, he was
invited by President Monroe to visit the United
States. He came as the guest of the nation In
pursuance of an unanimous resolution passed by
congress. The occasion was the dedication OF
Bunker Hill monument. He made a triumphhl
tour Of the twenty-four states of the Union
Every possible honor was showered upon him
Probably the most moving event in the whole tour
was his visit to the tomb Of Washington. The
climax was the ceremony at Bunker Hill.
Lafayette lived ten years longer. When Pres.
ident Andrew Jackson heard the news of his death
in 1884. he ordered on behalf Of the whole Ameri'
can people shat the same honors be Sendereo
upon this occasion at the different military ans
naval stations as were observed upon the decease
of Washington, the Father Of His Country, an
his contemporary in arms"
LAFAYETTE has been dead So years. His clay Is
dust. But his soul still lives. 1t has breathed
courage into the breasts of war-worn French sol
diers. 1t hds wept over the deported, ensiaveo
and outraged women of his native land-over the
slaughter Of the innocents. And who may doubt
that his soul called across the ocean:
"Help us, America Help us as | helped you"
At first we did not hear, or if hearing, did moi
answer. But at last we heard and needed and
went. The fighting men of France, staggering
with wounds, dizzy with fatigue, and the womer
of France, white with horror over an impending
fate worse than death, saw the Star-Spanglet
Banner afar and cried in thankfulness:
'The Americans are coming!"
We arrived-young, husky, smiling, larkini
fighting men. The French loved us for our look
and our ways. But could We fight? Then cam
June and Chateau-Thierry, when we stopped tn
flower Of the German shock troops In their tracks
attacked in turn, put the Hun ON the run ant
kept him running! No wonder oil France wen
delirious with joy.
That was what we promised through .Blac
lack" Pershing, when he saluted at the tomb i
the little cemetery Of Picpus in Paris and said
Lafayette, we are here"
And we made the promise good. He and hi
young, husky, smiling, larking. fighting meD struc
the finishing blow which guaranteed that French
men may pursue their honest toll in peace an
that French women, with babe at breast. ma
sleep at night without fear of the Beast.
Such was Lafayette-a great soul, a ,gallar
soul, the living embodiment Of the noblest ide'
for which men can generously live and %gloriousl
die.
'sThe liberty we hold secure,
The soil on which we tread,
That air of freedom that we breathe,
The flag that floats o'erhead;
That nation on whose history
The sun shall never SET
All that we have and hold we owe
~ To France-and IAfayette.n ~