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Show The French Delegation. S WAS eminently proper the French delegation, who came to i represent their government at the unveiling of the Rochambeau statue, attended mass. Thetribute paid to the memory of their'distinguished countryman country-man by Cardinal Gibbons was remarkable remark-able for its simplicity, and must be a source of joy and national pride to every Frenchman. It should inspire them with theJove of God, and fidelity to. the. pld church. The cardinal, addressing ad-dressing them specially .said: "Sons of France: It is meet and proper that you should assemble in the temple of God to give thanks to the Almighty for the great things which have been accomplished by your countrymen coun-trymen in this hemisphere in the cause of religion and civilization. "For over two cenfuries after the discovery of the American continent, French missionaries crossed the seas and preached the gospel to the aboriginal aborigi-nal inhabitants. They carried the torch of faith in one hand and the torch of civilization in the other. They explored ex-plored our lakes, our rivers and mountains, moun-tains, and they gave evidence that they were men of science as well as men of God by the' charts of XOrth America which they forwarded to Europe, some of which exist to thi day, and are still J regarded as marvels of geographical ' accuracy. '' -, 1 ; , - . - "But you have come to the capital of the nation for the special purpose or taking part in the "unveiling of the statue of your-illustrious countrymen, j Count de Rochambeau, whose services in the cause of American independence I were so signal and so conspicuous, that he could truly say of the exploits ac-I ac-I complished: "Quorum pars Magna fui." "Without detracting from the merits of his brothers in arms, I can affirm j that Rochambeau was the flower of the French allied army. Mature in years, expe'rienced in military campaigns, a veteran of the Seven Years' war, calm, deliberate, self-poised,- he was a man according to Washington's own heart the general on whose counsel and prudence pru-dence he could rely more than on that of any other commander. "When the American troops, under Washington, and the ' French forces, under Rochambeau, were on the march to Yorktown, Washington gallantly proposed to give the post of distinction to the French army. Rochambeau gracefully declined the honor, and in doing so he followed the impulse of his own heart, as well as the general Instructions In-structions he received from his gov- ci iuiiem, uiu.1 lie snouiu ainao auu- ordinate himself to the American commander com-mander in chief. "The army of Cornwallis was surrounded sur-rounded on land by the French and American troops and was prevented from escaping to the sea by the fleet of Admiral de Grasse, which guardgtt the Chesapeake bay, and thus thct defeat de-feat of the English commander was Inevitable, In-evitable, and he surrendered his sword to Washington. The capitulation of Cornwallis was the most decisive event of the American revolution." |