"Monsieur," said the French minister, "I have the honor to inform you, by instructions from his Majesty, that the loan which you solicit in your memorial of yesterday is accorded. The fifteen 5 hundred thousand livres which you request may be sent to Major Jackson at Amsterdam, for the purchase of military stores, will be forwarded from Brussels; and any other accommodation connected with my department will be cheerfully granted." 10 "This gives me most sincere gratification and deep pleasure," was Colonel Laurens's reply. "My profound thanks to his Majesty and to you for your kind offices."

When the two young men were alone in the 15 street they grasped each other by the hand. "This day," said Laurens, "is the greatest in my life; and I thank God who is watching over our beloved country."

The next day the favor of an interview was 20 requested by the Maréchal de Castries, who, after congratulating Laurens on the success of his mission, added: "I am directed by his Majesty to inform you that the Count de Grasse, who is now at Brest with twenty-five ships of the line, bound 25 to the West Indies, will, conformably to the request your memorial of yesterday, rendezvous on the

of

American coast at the time that General Washington shall point out. The howitzers that you want cannot be furnished from the marine arsenal, as we have none of that caliber, but Major Jackson will be able to procure them in Holland. The frigate 5 Resolute will carry you to America, with such part of the money as you wish to take with you. Any other facility within my department will be accorded."

Laurens soon left French soil. His work was 10 done. It was a happy ending of the most important mission that America ever sent to a European court, and yet the hero who achieved this signal success is almost unknown to the casual reader of American history.

Abridged

undeterred: unhindered. - juncture point of time. — Temple : an old building in London used by lawyers. — Lexington: one of the earliest battles of the Revolution.- demurred: objected or hesitated. credentials: papers showing that one is acting with authority. — reciprocal: mutual. — frivolity: lack of earnestness. - prolific: plentiful.— etiquette: rules and forms of good behavior. rotund: well-rounded. jeopard endanger. panniered dresses: dresses expanded by a frame of bone or steel. — innovation something new. - lackey: servant. - Gordian knot: the difficult knot that Alexander the Great cut with his sword. rendezvous: assemble or meet at a particular place.

15

CHARACTER OF STONEWALL JACKSON

G. F. R. HENDERSON

COLONEL HENDERSON is a distinguished English army officer and military critic. His Life of General T. J. Jackson and The Campaign of Fredericksburg are careful studies in military history and strategy.

5 Not only with the army, but with the people of the South, Jackson's influence while he lived was very great. From him thousands and tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers learned the self-denial which is the root of all religion, the self-control which is 10 the root of all manliness. Beyond the confines of the camps he was personally unknown. In the social and political circles of Richmond his figure was unfamiliar. When his body lay in state the majority of those who passed through the Hall of 15 Representatives looked upon his features for the first time. He had never been called to council by the President, and the members of the Legislature, with but few exceptions, had no acquaintances with the men who acted while they deliberated. 20 But his fame had spread far and wide, not merely the fame of his victories, but of his Christian character. The rare union of strength and simplicity, of childlike faith and the most fiery energy,

had attracted the sympathy of the whole country, of the North as well as of the South; and beyond the Atlantic, where with breathless interest the parent islands were watching the issue of the 5 mighty conflict, it seemed that another Cromwell without Cromwell's ambition, or that another Wolfe with more than Wolfe's ability, had arisen among the soldiers of the youngest of nations. And this interest was intensified by his untimely end. When 10 it was reported that Jackson had fallen, men murmured in their dismay against the fiat of the Almighty. "Why," they asked, “had one so pure and so upright been suddenly cut down?" Yet a sufficient answer was not far to seek. To the Eng15 lish race, in whatever quarter of the globe it holds dominion, to the race of Alfred and De Montfort, of Bruce and Hampden, of Washington and Gordon, the ideal of manhood has ever been a high one. Self-sacrifice and the single heart are the 20 attributes which it most delights to honor; and chief amongst its accepted heroes are those soldier saints who, sealing their devotion with their lives, have won

Death's royal purple in the foeman's lines.

So, from his narrow grave on the green hillside at Lexington, Jackson speaks with voice more