Knox's last party. Wayne, of Stony Point; Gates, of
Saratoga; Clinton, the Irish-blooded Governor of New York, and their
compatriots--we may place them all at times beside our _Pater Patriae_
in this old room, and hear amid the mingled hum his voice declare:
'Happy, thrice happy, shall they be pronounced hereafter, who have
contributed anything, who have performed the meanest office in
erecting this stupendous fabric of Freedom and Empire on the broad
basis of independency; who have assisted in protecting the rights of
human nature, and in establishing an asylum for the poor and oppressed
of all nations and religions.'
"In France, some fifty years after the Revolution, Marbois reproduced,
as an entertainment for Lafayette, then an old man, this old
sitting-room and its table scene. From his elegant saloon he conducted
his guests, among whom were several Americans, to the room which he
had prepared. There was a large open fire-place, and plain oaken
floors; the ceiling was supported with large beams and whitewashed;
there were the seven small-sized doors and one window with heavy sash
and small panes of glass.
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