serious by the appeal of two great peoples to lead them
to a victory that should forever put an end to the savagery and the
cruelty which the German nation, wherever it touched the world through
its army, was manifesting as the controlling motive in its life.

CHAPTER XIV

A WREATH FOR THE TOMB OF LAFAYETTE

THE official calls and the ceremonies that were designed both to
recognize formally the full meaning of the entrance of the United States
into the world war and to arouse a fresh enthusiasm in the French people
were almost at an end. General Pershing announced that on the following
day he intended to begin the work for which he had come. Already the
headquarters of the American Army had been established at the Rue de
Constantin and the work there was in full operation.

However, there were two other visits which the American commander
desired to make while he was in Paris. In Picpus Cemetery, Paris, was
the tomb of Lafayette. The friendship of the young marquis, his
enthusiasm for the ideals of democracy and the aid he had given the
colonies in America in their struggles for independence nearly a century
and a half before this time, had made his name as familiar as it was
beloved in the United States. He had been the personal friend of
Washington, his visit to America after the new nation had been formed,
his gifts and his example alike had added to the esteem in which he was
held there. As Lafayette had come from France to help America so now
Pershing had come from America to help France. What could be more
fitting than for the American commander to manifest publicly the
memories of the deep appreciation which clustered about the name of
Lafayette?

Accordingly General Pershing and a half-dozen of his officers were taken
to the tomb in Picpus Cemetery. There the little party was met by the
Marquis and the Count de Chambrun who are direct descendants of
Lafayette. Two orderlies carried a wreath of American Beauty roses which
was to be placed on the tomb of the ardent young Frenchman. There were
no formal or public services--the occasion being more like a token of
the personal feelings of the representative of one great nation for the
honored dead who had been the representative of another. The oft quoted
remark of General Pershing, "Lafayette, we are here," added to the
impressiveness.

General Pershing was welcomed at the cemetery quietly by the two
descendants of Lafayette and by them was conducted