ness. Those of us who were Americans in the throng listened with bated breath. Americans are not trained diplomats, but General Thomas had had much experience as consul and minister and had learned his lesson. It was beautiful to hear him couple Bolivar and Washington, the flora and fauna and the lovely women of Veuezuela in one noble group and thus charm the hearts of Caraccas. The University of Caraccas has a room devoted to the relics of Simon Bolivar, their hero and liberator. His sword and his decorations, the trappings of his horse, personal belongings, a pair of riding boots with such small feet that I had to ask his heighth before I could believe my eyes. When I was told that Bolivar was only a little over five feet high, I felt better. But with these personal belongings, preserved as carefully as they, are other things-the relics of another liberator. A miniature of George Washington, painted by Stewart, lies in a glass case alongside those of Bolivar, and also a gold medal, presented to Washington on one of the first anniversaries of our independence. This portrait of Washington is on ivory, very well done, and the back is of blue enamel with a lock of his hair in the center under a crystal Around the enamel is the inscription: cover. "Auctoris Liberatis Americanae in Imaginen dat filius ijus Pater Patriae Adoptotus illi qui gloriam similem in Austro adeptus est.” In English," This portrait of the founder of liberty in North America is presented by our adopted son to him who acquired equal glory in South America." The explanation of the "adopted son" is that the portrait was presented by the family of Washington, through Lafayette, our French adopted son. When Lafayette visited this country in 1824, we could not do enough to show our regard for him, and in the general interest felt throughout the United States in the struggles of the South American republics for liberty, it was especially agreeable to make them a gift through Lafayette, which was done with the wishes of Washington's family. At a banquet given to Lafayette in Washington, Henry Clay said, "No French nation, no generous and disinterestered Lafayette came to their assistance (the republics of South America); alone, and without help, they have sustained their glorious cause, trusting to its justice, and with the assistance only of their bravery, their deserts, and their Andes." Then Clay gave the toast and six hundred men rose to their feet involuntarily, glases in hand as the orator poured forth the words, "To General Bolivar, the Washington of South America, and to the Republic of Columbia." They repeated the words after him. as if it were a religious service, drained their glasses, and then broke forth into applause. KATE FOOTE COE. "ROCKY FORD." WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, NEAR PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY. DURING the last few weeks, and in the quietest manner, a remarkable patriotic undertaking has been accomplished and another historic landmark rescued from destruction and saved to the purchase and presented it to an association which has adopted the name of The Washington Headquarters Association. The president of this Association is James Murray, dean of Princeton College. The vice-presidents are: Mr. Charles E. Green, Mr. Moses Taylor Pyne, Mr. Wm. M. Sloan, Gen. Robert F. Stockton, Gen. Wm. Stryker, Miss Eliza Howell, Mr. Francis S. Conover, Dr. Charles Shields, Dr. J. Schenck, Mr. Bayard Stockton, Mr. Allen Marquand, and Mrs. Swann. The Association was organized December 1, 1896; these officers were elected and then the property was formally deeded by Mrs. Swann to the Association for ever. The authority is vested in a number of committees, appointed mostly from the officers mentioned above, and consisting of committees on house, grounds, finance, etc., etc. They are all actively working toward putting the house and grounds in perfect order for the time when it is to be turned over to the public. This house, formerly known as the "Berrien Mansion " (having at one time been the property of Judge Berrien), was selected by the United States Government for occupancy by Washington during the session of Congress held at Princeton after its ignominious flight from Philadelphia. The building contains eight rooms, including the room in which General Washington wrote his farewell address. It is to be restored as nearly as possible to the condition in which it was in Washington's time, and the old kitchen, servant's halls, and other outbuildings, slave quarters, etc., together with the projecting roof and the *two-story porches back and front and single porches at the sides are all to be added again, so that, in visiting it, one can really fancy oneself back in "the times that tried men's souls." The rooms have been apportioned for care and furnishing, in the manner of the rooms at Mt. Vernon, to five surrounding villages, with the exception of Washington's own room, which is to be open to appropriate contributions from all who may wish to send from any part of the Union. This room has invariably been called the "Blue Room," owing to the woodwork having always been painted a delicate shade of blue. Princeton has undertaken the care and furnishing of the parlor with the adjoining "chamber," only reached through the parlor, as is the case in so many houses of that period. Trent Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, is to care for the dining room, Rocky Hill has taken the large bed room, and Lawrenceville has also a bed room. In addition there is to be a gentleman's lounging room and a registrar's room. Great interest and enthusiasm are manifest throughout the State by all, rich and poor, old and young, and in all conditions of life, and contributions, including beautiful old furniture, rare china and curios, have been sent in most lavishly and often from the most unexpected quarters and where one would least have looked for them. Many charming incidents will tell of the great pride felt by all the citizens of the Commonwealth alike, as, for instance, when the public school children of the tiny village of Rocky Hill expressed their wish that they should be permitted to donate the flag to float over the restored headquarters; and, in another case, when the children of the public and other * See "Washington Day by Day." schools of Princeton asked leave to present the flagstaff from which this emblem of our Nation's glory is to be unfurled. This flagstaff is to be an exact reproduction of the one at Fort Washington,* New York, a liberty cap surmounting the American eagle and painted in the Continental colors, buff and blue. The formal opening of the old headquarters is to take place the middle of next May, after which it is to serve as a rallying place for all loyal Americans, whether members of the hereditary patriotic societies or not. There will be addresses made by distinguished speakers and an important feature will be the May-dance around the flagpole, in which the contributing school children are to take an active part. 66 It only remains to say that the name Rocky Ford" has been chosen in preference to the modern "Rocky Hill," by which latter designation the village is known. This was done in order to restore the historic name used by Washington, in whose time it designated the ford of a stream which was later utilized and lost in the canal. KATE T. W. TITTMANN. THE TREATY OF PEACE AT PARIS. In our recent studies of revolutionary history we have paid much attention to the great battles of the war, reviewing them in detail, and observing their anniversaries. Such events appeal strongly to the memory and imagination, but in the light of history the negotiations that go on in the council chambers of nations when peace has been declared are not secondary in interest or importance to the hard-fought contests on battlefields. The surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown virtually ended the war, but the fate of our country was peculiarly entangled in the affairs of Europe, and it was the grand work of our states men at Paris during the peace that ensued that secured to us the independence and liberties we enjoy to-day. Between the close of the war, in 1781, and the signing of the treaty of peace, in 1782, there was a prolonged and intricate * See Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution. |