He is the cause; in him it stands or falls; to gain a world
for self, my heart could never be untrue to him. Day after day, month
after month, year after year, he leads the imperiled way, yet holds his
faith in God and man. The hireling Hessians roll their drums through
ports and towns; the wily Indian joins the invader; his army is
famine-smitten and thinned with fever, and drill in rags, while Congress
meets in secret halls but to impede his plans and criticise; and while
he holds the scales and looks toward the end, and makes retreat best
serve the cause, what rivals rise! See brilliant Gates appear! Does he
not know this rivalry and hear the plaudits that surround the name of
Saratoga? I've shared my thoughts with Washington, young as I am, and he
has honored me with his esteem. I have heard him say: 'O Lafayette, I
stand alone in all the world! I dream no dreams of high ambition. I love
the farm more than the field--my country home more than the halls of
state I serve. In a cause like this I hold that it is not unsubstantial
victories but generalship that wins.'

"One day he spoke like this: 'Marquis, I stood one winter night upon a
rocking boat and crossed the Delaware. It was a bitter night; no stars
were in the sky; the lanterns' rays scarce fell upon the waters; the
oars rose and fell, though they were frozen, for they were plied by
strong and grizzly fishermen; the snow fell pitiless, with hail and
sleet and rain. The night was wind, and darkness was the air. The army
followed me, where I could not see. Our lips were silent. These stout
and giant men, from Cape Ann and from wintry wharfages of Marblehead,
knew their duty well, and safe we crossed the tide.' In that lone boat,
amid the freezing sleet and darkness deep, the new flag of the nation's
hope marched in darkness.

"Baron de Kalb, there is a spirit whose pinions float upon the wings of
time. She comes to me in dreams and visions in such hours as these. I
saw her on the fortress walls of Metz; I knew her meaning and her
mission saw. Where liberty is, there is my country, and all I am I again
offer to her cause. Hear me this hour; the presence of that spirit falls
on me now as at Metz. I go to the feast that is waiting for me; there my
soul must be true and speak the truth, and for the truth there is no
judgment day. At Metz I left myself for liberty; at York I shall be as
true to honor. I hold unsullied fame to be more than titles--_Auvergne
sans tache