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THE HEREDITARY FRIENDSHIP 
 OF THE CINCINNATI 
 
 Address delivered at the Banquet given by the North Carolina 
 
 Society of the Cincinnati to the General Society of the 
 
 Cincinnati at Asheville. North Carolina, 
 
 May 10. 1917 
 
 By 
 
 Charles Beatty Alexander, ll.d., utt.D. 
 
 ail hereditary member of and delegate from 
 The State Society of the Cincinnati of Pennsylvania 
 
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This is not a thesis to be proved in this assemblage of 
 brothers — snch a procedure would be, indeed, a "useless 
 and ridiculous excess;" for the spirit of our gathering 
 exemplifies such a friendship. So my efforts must be de- 
 voted to a retrospective view of a traditional friendsliip, 
 consecrated by the generous hearts of our founders, em- 
 bodied in our Institution, and held indissolubly as a 
 precious heritage in kindred hearts, which have branched 
 in the mighty space of our great land, but whose fibres 
 stretch back to the common root of our country. And 
 what more auspicious occasion for such contemplation 
 could be imagined than this gathering, assembled at the 
 behest of the friendship and generous hospitality of our 
 brothers of the "Old North State," a state whose evidence 
 of earliest devotion to the very cause of our l)eing is so 
 proudly emblazoned on the beautiful flag of the "Land 
 of the Long Leaf Pine?" To them and to the delegates 
 of the various State Societies, our delegation extends the 
 greetings of the Pennsylvania State Society of the 
 Cincinnati. 
 
 Your presence inevitably brings to mind the early 
 association of the founders of the Society ; for we recall 
 that the strife of those years was shared by men of all 
 sections of the country, in a spirit of friendship and co- 
 operation. The partial and sporadic associations of 
 earlier colonial wars gave place to a union of all Ameri- 
 cans; and the Continental Congress which assembled in 
 
Philadelphia in tlie autnmii of ITT-t was the beginning 
 of a great nation. The spirit of the country was united. 
 Patrick Henry of Virginia proposed to the Continental 
 Congress that all state lines should be obliterated for the 
 fusion of a nation ; committees of correspondence sprang 
 into being to foster a homogeneous ])olicy. We recall 
 that Edenton, the old capital of North Carolina, vied with 
 Boston in treating the British to a "tea party" — not so 
 extensive an entertainment as that of her sister of far 
 Massachusetts, but a very successful party. 
 
 And the greatest factor in our nationality — the very 
 means of its being, when \^'ar came — was our army. I 
 refer especially to the troops of the Continental Line, 
 who were the vigorous embodiment of our ideals. Years 
 of discipline, hardship and battle made this army the 
 peer of any in the world. One recalls the enthusiastic 
 words of Lafayette, the gallant Black Musketeer of King 
 Louis, as he led south a force of these Continentals for 
 the Virginia campaign of 1781 : "They are the best troops 
 that ever took the field ; my confidence in them is un- 
 bounded; they are far superior to any British troops, and 
 none will ever venture to meet them in eipial numbers.'' 
 In this army, there met and associated and loved, with a 
 friendship that privation and danger rendered indissol- 
 uble, men of all the thirteen states. It was General 
 Washington of Virginia who hurried from the Congress 
 at Philadelphia to take command of the American army 
 before Boston; it was General Natliaiiac^l (Jreenc (jf Kluxh' 
 Island who, after the failure of (leneral Gates, was sent 
 south to save that section, and whose skill and modera- 
 tion so endeared him to the people that he fell captive to 
 
 2 
 
their affection and lived and died in Georgia. It was at 
 Camden, South 'Carolina, where, by the way, my own 
 propositus served, Major Willian Ferguson of Pennsyl- 
 vania, after the untrained and misled militia had fled 
 the field, that the Delaware regiment stood firm and 
 fought until almost annihilated; and the Maryland 
 regulars broke through the British left in a desperate 
 bayonet charge, wheeled upon its center and fought alone 
 until enveloped by the whole British army. Officers 
 of North Carolina, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Khode 
 Island, Virginia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Con- 
 necticut and New York, froze and starved, with a patriot- 
 ism Avhich demanded mute suffering with nothing of 
 the glory of battle, in the cantonments at Valley Forge 
 during those dark days of the winter of 1777 and 1778. 
 General "Mad Anthony" Wayne of Pennsylvania, whose 
 descendant and heir is one of our Pennsylvania delega- 
 tion, and his fighting Continentals aided Lafayette in 
 pressing back Cornwallis to his last stand in Virginia; 
 and Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Hamilton of New 
 York led the American force, charging with unloaded 
 rifles, over the redoubts at Yorktown. Turning, at ran- 
 dom, the pages of Heitman's Historical Register of Offi- 
 cers of the Continental Army, one finds such records as 
 these: Brigadier-General Francis Nash of North Caro- 
 lina, died October 7, 1777, of wounds received at German- 
 town; Captain John Ehodes of Delaware, taken prisoner 
 at Camden; Captain Ignatius Few of Georgia, taken 
 prisoner at Amelia Island ; Lieutenant John Mansfield of 
 Connecticut, wounded at Yorktown. "And what shall I 
 more say? for the time would fail me to tell of" Lieuten- 
 
 3 
 
ant-Colonel John Laurens of South Carolina, wounded at 
 Germantown, and at Monmouth ; Lieutenant Lawrence 
 Manning of Pennsylvania, wounded at Eutaw Springs; 
 Lieutenant Benajah Osmon of New Jersey, taken pris- 
 oner at Charleston ; Lieutenant-Colonel John Eager How- 
 ard of Maryland, received a medal for conduct at the bat- 
 tle of Cowpens, wounded at Eutaw Springs; Captain 
 David Kirkpatrick of New York, wounded at Yorktown ; 
 Captain Edmund Munro of Massachusetts, killed at Mon- 
 mouth ; Colonel Alexander Scammell of New Hampshire, 
 mortally Avounded at Yorktown ; Captain Kichard Clough 
 Anderson of Virginia, wounded at Trenton, wounded 
 at Savannah, taken prisoner at Charleston; Captain 
 Stephen Olney of Eh ode Island, wounded at Yorktown. 
 "Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought right- 
 eousness. * * * Quenched the violence of fire, es- 
 caped the edge of the sword, * * * waxed valiant 
 in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens." 
 
 Thus the records show us that men of one section of 
 the country were continually serving in other sections, 
 and indicate how great was the opportunity for the com- 
 mingling and association of men of all the thirteen orig- 
 inal states. 
 
 The surrender of Cornwallis and the cessation of for- 
 mal hostilities ushered in what John Fiske has so aptly 
 termed "the critical period of American history." The 
 removal of the unifying policies of a common war re- 
 solved the American states, untried in peaceful concert, 
 into a group of local units exultant in a new-found free- 
 dom, and unmindful of the strength that comes only 
 from union. The Congress was a nerveless government 
 
 4 
 
whose power was that of recommendation, practically 
 without authority, money or credit. 
 
 At Newburgh, on the Hudson, was encamped the 
 American army. Eight long years had elapsed since Lex- 
 ington, and now, with the uniting stress of conflict re- 
 moved, the officers and men faced disbandment and dis- 
 persal to distant homes and the uncertain prospects of 
 the unfamiliar tasks of peace. The officers, to whom had 
 been entrusted the prosecution of war and the achieve- 
 ment of Liberty, viewed with dismay the gloomy pros- 
 pects which confronted them. With peace, their occupa- 
 tion and prestige and value were diminished. Many of 
 them faced impoverishment and actual want. 
 
 Among the soldiers there was widespread dissatis- 
 faction and turbulence, caused by the apparent ingrati- 
 tude of the republic and the seeming niggardness of the 
 government. 
 
 Washington, by his tact and firmness, calmed the agi- 
 tation; and the officers supported his policy, resolved to 
 show their disapproval of doctrines of military supre- 
 macy and their determination to support their country's 
 government, first and last, and to do and to bear, in war 
 and in peace. 
 
 They might expect time to remedy personal want ; but 
 how would time and separation affect the friendship which 
 was so dear to their hearts? Comrades, united by long- 
 shared dangers and suffering and hardship, were about to 
 part, and they shrank from the prospect before them and 
 longed for "some link which would still unite them 
 together at periodical intervals, when they could revive 
 
 5 
 
around the social board the scenes of their past privations 
 and * * * triumphs." To General Knox, ever famed 
 for generous impulses, is given the credit for devising a 
 plan "by which a hope was entertained that their long- 
 cherished friendship and social intercourse might be per- 
 petuated, and that at future periods they might annually 
 communicate, and revive a recollection of the bond by 
 which they were connected." 
 
 These foregoing circumstances were considered : the 
 possible material needs of brother officers and their fam- 
 ilies; the wish to give their best support to the govern- 
 ment of the nation they had created ; and the desire to per- 
 petuate the friendship which had so long existed between 
 them. So it was upon the three main pillars of Charity, 
 and Patriotism, and Friendship that was rested the So- 
 ciety of the Cincinnati, which came into being at the can- 
 tonment on the Hudson, on May 13, 1783. The name sug- 
 gested their patriotism, in happily connoting the rugged 
 virtues of the old Koman who was above all a citizen, but 
 also the most thorough-going soldier at the call of his 
 country; and the tenets of their patriotic faith were ex- 
 pressed in the Institution, For charitable purposes, an 
 inalienable fund was created. As for the all-pervading 
 motive of friendship, we have the text of the Institution ; 
 and we will recall also the words of the greatest of the 
 founders. Washington wrote in that same year, to the 
 Count De Rochambeau : "The officers of the American 
 army, in order to perpetuate that mutual friendship which 
 they contracted in the hour of common danger and dis- 
 tress * * * have united together in a society of friends 
 under the name of Cincinnati * * *." And Major- 
 
 6 
 
General Baron von Steuben, that doughty staff officer of 
 Frederick the Great, president of the convention which 
 established the Society, stated, in July 1783, "the chief 
 motive * * * is to perpetuate that virtuous affection 
 which in so exemplary a manner existed among them while 
 in arms for the defence of their country." 
 
 And because they wished for their friendship— as in- 
 deed we all wish for everything that we love— a continu- 
 ous and perpetual existence, they made the order heredi- 
 tary, "to endure as long as they shall endure, or any of 
 their eldest male posterity; and, in failure thereof, the 
 collateral branches who may be judged worthy of becom- 
 ing its supporters and members." Thus was insured the 
 motto, "Esto perpetua." 
 
 An admirable plan for continued intercourse, in those 
 days of infrequent communication and difficult travel, was 
 devised. Since a large part of the army had disbanded 
 before the Institution was formed, active steps were taken 
 for the organization of State Societies. These efforts met 
 with universal approval and before the end of 1783 So- 
 cieties had been organized in all the thirteen states. We 
 all know the provision which fittingly set aside the anni- 
 versary of American independence as the day for the 
 assembling of the local Societies ; the provision for inter- 
 communication among the states; and that for the Tri- 
 ennial Meeting of the General Society. 
 
 Almost immediately the Society was assailed with a 
 force and a bitterness, which seem to us, secure in the 
 established principles of our government, quite astound- 
 ing. But democracy was then an experiment, fear gave 
 substance to apprehensions, and it was many years be- 
 
 7 
 
fore the bugbear of monarchical and aristocratic rule was 
 laid away. Legislatures, members of Congress, orators 
 and a host of writers, valiantly shedding ink in a mythical 
 defence of their country, flew to arms. The hereditary 
 principle was the chief objection. The idea of perpetu- 
 ating the memory of an epoch, of "raising the glow of 
 generous emulation in the breast of posterity, to supply 
 the broken links in an endless chain of good fellowship," 
 to pass the eagle "from father to son, according to the law 
 of primogeniture", created a great furor of opposition 
 among those who feared that the Society would undermine 
 the republic, usurp the supreme power of the state and 
 establish a powerful nobility. 
 
 This opposition to the Society was the engrossing 
 question of the first General Meeting, at Philadelphia, 
 in May 1784. Delegates were present from all the 
 thirteen states. Washington, President-General of 
 the Society, lending his efforts and his influence 
 to the establishing of a nation, felt grievously 
 the responsibility for the decision of the Society. Har- 
 mony throughout the countiy was imperative and pa- 
 triotism seemed to dictate the sacrifice of personal senti- 
 ments. Owing largely to his influence, an amended In- 
 stitution was formed, which provided for the abolition 
 of the hereditary feature and an alteration of other pro- 
 visions which had met with opposition. A circular let- 
 ter, announcing these changes and requesting their adop- 
 tion, was sent to the various State Societies. In regard 
 to hereditary succession, this circular letter recited: — 
 "Having lived in the strictest habits of amity through 
 the various stages of a war unparalleled in many of its 
 
circumstances; having seen the objects for which we con- 
 tended happily attained; in the moment of triumph and 
 separation, when we were about to act the last pleasing, 
 melancholy scene in our military drama — pleasing, be- 
 cause we were to leave our country possessed of inde- 
 pendence and peace; melancholy, because we were to part, 
 perhaps never to meet again ; — while every breast was 
 penetrated with feelings which can be more easily con- 
 ceived than described ; while every little act of tender- 
 ness recurred fresh to the recollection, it was impos- 
 sible not to wish our friendships should be continued ; it 
 was extremely natural to desire that they might be per- 
 petuated by our posterity to the remotest ages. With 
 these impressions and with such sentiments, we can- 
 didly confess we signed the Institution." But, at the 
 apprehensions of many of their countrymen, they would 
 not, they declared, "hesitate to relinquish everything 
 but our personal friendships, of which we cannot be 
 divested, and those acts of beneficence which it is our 
 intention should flow from them." And the letter con- 
 cluded by resting the Institution upon "these two great 
 original pillars — Friendship and Charity." 
 
 The altered Institution was never adopted by the 
 State Societies, with w^hom rested the ultimate decision. 
 As an indication of their attitude, I may cite the circular 
 letter of the New Hampshire Society. This Society saw 
 no force in the arguments of their fellow citizens who 
 demanded so great a sacrifice; it preferred to abolish the 
 Society altogether, rather than to recede partially from 
 the original plan. The letter declared: "We instituted 
 the Society, and considered the emblems of the Order as 
 
 9 
 
the most endearing marks of that friendship which we 
 wished might be held in gi'ateful remembrance by our- 
 selves, and cherished among our children to the latest 
 posterity." And they objected to surrendering their 
 funds for charity to the disposition of the legislature to 
 "be enjoyed, not by us or our descendants, but by others 
 that we know nothing of, and between whom and us there 
 never existed any ties of blood or friendship." "If the 
 Society cannot exist as originally instituted, we shall ac- 
 quiesce in the abolishing it altogether ; but as we became 
 members by signing articles which we then and still sup- 
 pose originated in virtuous friendship, we cannot con- 
 ceive ourselves bound by articles we never subscribed." 
 And at a later meeting this Society declared : — "That 
 the abolition of hereditary succession, adopted by said 
 general meeting, is so repugnant to the design of the In- 
 stitution, and so destructive to the principles on which 
 it was originallj' founded, that it ought not to be 
 agreed to." 
 
 The attitude of the New Hampshire Society was not 
 an isolated one. After the impulsion of the first recom- 
 mendations of the General Meeting, the New Jersey So- 
 ciety expressed much the same sentiments. Time and 
 again the General Meeting recommended that the State 
 Societies should authorize delegates to make the changes 
 deemed necessary, but such authority was never given. 
 At length, in the General Meeting, the committee on the 
 proposed alterations in the Institution reported : 
 
 "From the silence which the State Societies have ob- 
 served, after the pressing circular letters of the General 
 Meeting, your committee are led to conclude, that they 
 
 10 
 
do not accede to the proposed reform, — and yonr commit- 
 tee conceive therefrom that they are authorized to report 
 to the General Meeting. 
 
 "That the institution of the Society of the Cincinnati, 
 remains as it was originally proposed and adopted by the 
 officers of the American army at their cantonments on 
 the banks of the Hudson River, in 1783." 
 
 This report was unanimously adopted. 
 
 Thus was preserved, and bequeathed to their pos- 
 terity — and to us — "The Hereditary Friendship of the 
 Cincinnati." 
 
 With the passing years the opposition to the Cincinnati 
 grew less active and the members were suffered to spend 
 the Fourth of July after their own fashion. These annual 
 gatherings kept alive the spirit of '76, for here the veterans 
 met and fraternized and fought their battles over again. 
 They talked of Brandywine and Monmouth and Yorktown, 
 and told the story of the many scars they bore. The con- 
 viviality was long and joyous on those birthdays of the 
 young nation. Descendants of the first members now con- 
 stitute the thirteen original Societies and are the heirs of 
 the friendship bequeathed by our fathers. 
 
 No discussion of my subject could be adequate which 
 failed to consider the friendship of our gallant and gener- 
 ous allies whose assistance was decisive of the outcome of 
 the American Eevolution. None of us but has felt a 
 thrill of sympatliy and pride at the heroism of the 
 French nation in this time of her agony and glory; 
 and the remembrance of the old debt to her, grown dim 
 perhaps, but not forgotten, has been revived in the hearts 
 of all Americans. Particularly to the members of the 
 
 11 
 
Cincinnati is this sympathy and friendship a thing of 
 deepest attachment; for the cords of our hearts stretch 
 back over the many years, and we cannot forget the time 
 when the ancestors of these men of France were brothers- 
 in-arms with ours, even as our countrymen are theirs 
 to-day. 
 
 It was the enthusiastic sympathy of the French peo- 
 ple that was most potent in bringing that country to our 
 aid. There was great advantage for her in neutrality at 
 a time when her ancient enemy was wasting its strength 
 upon an apparentlj^ crumbling empire. But French sym- 
 pathy would not be repressed. Long before the Treaty 
 of Alliance of 1778, men, money and equipment were 
 given generously to America; and this treaty which 
 marked the beginning of open and official aid instituted 
 a policy which effected the triumph of the United States 
 and the temporary ruin of France. Every American 
 should read this treaty, showing, as Hamilton said, "the 
 magnanimous policy of France,'' and the most generous in 
 history on the part of a great nation dealing with a weak 
 people. The prime minister of Spain called it a "glaring 
 instance of Quixotism." Note that France stipulated 
 for no advantage to herself and no reimbursement. She 
 agreed to make no claim, whatever might be the outcome 
 of the war — even if Canada were reconquered. 
 
 Of the factors of French help, the one which holds least 
 place in our gratitude, but which of itself was capable 
 of her ruin, was her expenditure of treasure. The French 
 monarchy was a regime of splendor and magnificence, 
 but beneath the surface were the elements of destruction : 
 a population exploited and oppressed; ruinous taxation; 
 
 12 
 
and intolerable social conditions. We repaid her for 
 loans and supplies about $11,000,000 ; but the actual cost 
 in money to her is a matter not easily reckoned. Not 
 only were fleets and armies sent to America but a great 
 war was waged also in Europe, Africa and Asia, and our 
 independence was achieved on the battle fields of the 
 world. A probably fair estimate of her expenditure is 
 about 1000,000,000, equivalent perhaps to two and a half 
 billion at the present day, truly an enormous amount for 
 a distressed country with a population of only 22,000,000. 
 But what shall we say of her sons who helped? — for 
 we can estimate their service in no tangible terms. We 
 remember Beaumarchais who argued for prompt support 
 to our cause, and who so ably managed the business of 
 supplying our army with munitions of war; the Count 
 De Rochambeau, commander of the French army; 
 the Chevalier de la Luzerne, the Minister to the United 
 States; the Count D'Estaing, the Count de Grasse, the 
 Count de Barras, the Chevalier de Touches, admirals 
 and commanders in the navy of France, to whom in 
 its Institution the Society presented medals contain- 
 ing the orders of the Society; Peter Charles L'Enfant, 
 who came to us early and gave his efi&ciency and 
 spilled his blood in our service, who was the author 
 of the city plan which is increasingly the admira- 
 tion of observers of our national capital, and to whose 
 taste we owe the graceful emblem we are so proud 
 to wear, — an emblem which happily symbolizes, in its 
 blending of colors, the union of France and America. 
 And there are a host of other names writ large on the 
 page of our history. But above all we remember one 
 
 13 
 
who is dear to all Americans and dearest to iis. We see 
 in Lafayette the embodiment of the spirit and friendship 
 of France. Loving us and the cause which had captured 
 his generous heart, lie hurried, with those characteristic 
 and endearing traits of youthful enthusiasm, impetuosity 
 and courage, to offer his life to our service. He wrote 
 on shipboard to his wife, "From love to me, become a 
 good American; the welfare of America is closely bound 
 up with the welfare of mankind." The driest chronicle 
 of action w'ould tell of his transcendent sei'vdces; but if 
 we needed any proof of his endearing qualities of heart 
 and mind, we would find it with particular satisfaction 
 in the fatherly affection with which Washington regarded 
 him, and the idolizing love and loyalty Avhich the young 
 French aristocrat felt for that noblest of Americans. 
 
 It will be remembered that a most important object 
 in the formation of the Society was to confer appropriate 
 honors upon their noble allies, the officers of the French 
 army and navy. No sooner was the Society established 
 than word of it was transmitted to the higher French 
 officers and they were informed that the Society did 
 itself the honor to consider tliem as members. 
 
 The French officers received the honor with the great- 
 est appreciation and pleasure. From Lafayette, to whom 
 Washington had communicated the information, came the 
 w^armest and most appreciative of letters. The officers 
 w'ho had returned from their triumph in America were 
 flattered with the smiles of an admiring court, and all 
 wanted to wear the distinguishing badge of their gal- 
 lantry. Brevet Major L'Enfant wrote to Major-General 
 Baron von Steuben on December 25th, 1783: "Here in 
 
 14 
 
France they are more anxious to obtain the Order of the 
 Cincinnati than to be decorated with the Cross of St. 
 Louis." 
 
 Voluntarily, about |25,000 was subscribed by the 
 officers of the French army and navy for the Society in 
 America, but this, from a sense of delicacy, was declined. 
 
 Versailles, the gay capital of France, then exhibited all 
 that vividness and grandeur, that pomp and martial en- 
 thusiasm, that deference to form and rank and ceremony 
 which marked its closing days. A fading halo of glory 
 and might and romance was still about the throne of the 
 Bourbons. To the foot of this throne came Lafayette and 
 sought permission to wear, along with his cross of the 
 Order of St. Louis, the eagle of the Cincinnati. The 
 Golden Fleece was the only foreign order permitted to 
 be worn in the royal service; but the French king gave 
 his gracious permission for our members to appear at 
 court with the new decoration. 
 
 The claims of the Society upon their affections were 
 not forgetten by the members who survived the terrible 
 era of the French Revolution, and by their descendants. 
 When Lafayette came back to visit us, in 1824 and 
 1825, his brothers of the Society embraced him with tears 
 in their eyes and gave him the warmest greetings of an 
 adoring nation. The Cincinnati of New York selected 
 his birthday for entertaining him in a manner surpassing 
 all their previous festivals; and throughout the country, 
 his former brothers-in-arms came long and painful jour- 
 neys at the call of the old friendship. And this fraternal 
 spirit of the Cincinnati lived on, to bring to our centen- 
 nial celebration of Yorktown descendants of Rocham- 
 beau and others, and the Marquis Gaston de Lafayette, 
 
 15 
 
grandson of the GeneraFs only son, George Washington 
 de Lafayette. 
 
 It gave all our members fresh heart when they read 
 last month that Comte Gilbert de Lafayette, great-great- 
 grandson of our former member, had applied to our War 
 Department for permission to join our army. It was a 
 happy thought for our people to celebrate the 26th of 
 April as "France Day" as a mark of welcome to the dis- 
 tinguished delegation arriving from our sister republic; 
 that day being also the anniversary of the sailing of 
 General Lafayette from Bordeaux to offer us his all in 
 defense of our rights. We have joined in that enthusiasm 
 with which this delegation was received on its arrival in 
 this country. And to-mof row, at the very birthplace of the 
 Society, one of our eminent members, Mr. Justice Francis 
 Key Pendleton, accompanied by members from the va- 
 rious State Societies, will announce to Marshal Joffre 
 his election as an honorary member of the Society and 
 present him with our badge of membership. 
 
 We have watched with pride and emotion the exploits 
 of noble Frenchmen in the armies of France, the descend- 
 ants of our original members, and we have mourned the 
 death of one of them, who was admitted to membership 
 in 1902, and who was killed in action August 20, 1914, 
 Lieutenant Albert Ferdinand Joseph Marie de Saint 
 Sauveur-Bougainville, of the 141st Regiment of Infantry, 
 French Army, a great-great-grandson of Vice Admiral 
 Antoine Count De Bougainville, F, R. S., French Navy. 
 
 We have been glad, these last few years, of what our 
 country has given France, and the members of this Society 
 have, in proportion of their means, done more than their 
 share for the relief of the French sufferers. 
 
 16 
 
We can think with pride of onr superb hospital units, 
 French Heroes Fund, Le Bien-fitre du Blesse, The Father- 
 less of France, American Ambulance Hospital, The 
 Secours National Fund; our efficient ambulance service; 
 our flying squadron, now officially known as the Lafayette 
 Escadrille, which, on the declaration of war, raised and 
 will hereafter fight under our national colors, in Ameri- 
 can uniform ; and the devotion of Americans on the firing 
 line who heeded the call of the ancient friendship. 
 
 In this connection, I may be allowed to quote the words 
 of Alan Seeger, the young American poet who died for 
 France last year, in an "Ode in Memory of the American 
 Volunteers Fallen for France," to have been read — if he 
 had lived — before the statue of Lafayette and Washington 
 in Paris, on Decoration Day, May 30, 1916 : 
 
 "Ay, it is fitting on this holiday, 
 
 Commemorative of our soldier dead. 
 
 When — with sweet flowers of our New England May 
 
 Hiding the lichened stones by fifty years made gray — 
 
 Their graves in every town are garlanded. 
 
 That pious tribute should be given too 
 
 To our intrepid few 
 
 Obscurely fallen here beyond the seas. 
 
 Those to preserve their country's greatness died; 
 
 But by the death of these 
 
 Something that we can look upon with pride 
 
 Has been achieved, nor wholly unreplied 
 
 Can sneerers triumph in the charge they make 
 
 That from a war where Freedom was at stake 
 
 America withheld and, daunted, stood aside. 
 
 ***** 
 
 * * * Some there were 
 
 Who, not unmindful of the antique debt, 
 
 Came back the generous path of Lafayette; 
 
 And when of a most formidable foe 
 
 She checked each onset, arduous to stem — 
 
 Foiled and frustrated them — 
 
 On those red fields where blow with furious blow 
 
 Was countered, whether the gigantic fray 
 
 Rolled by the Meuse or at the Bois Sabot, 
 
 17 
 
Accents of ours were in the fierce melee; 
 
 And on those furthest rims of hallowed ground 
 
 Where the forlorn, the gallant charge expires, 
 
 When the slain bugler has long ceased to sound, 
 
 And on the tangled wires 
 
 The last wild rally staggers, crumbles, stops, 
 
 Withered beneath the shrapnel's iron showers: — 
 
 ISTow Heaven be thanked, we gave a few brave drops; 
 
 Now Heaven be thanked, a few brave drops were ours." 
 
 And now that we are to stand shoulder to shoulder in 
 the same war with the descendants of our former brothers- 
 in-arms, when we are searching our hearts for our utmost 
 duty, let us be mindful of the principles of our Institu- 
 tion, to give, as a Society, "an incessant attention to 
 preserve inviolate those exalted rights and liberties of 
 human nature for which they * * * fought and bled, 
 and, without which, the high rank of a rational being is a 
 curse instead of a blessing." Who can say how far-reach- 
 ing the influence of the Society, with its historic past and 
 its distinguished roll of members, will be in support of 
 our Government in this time of war. In the language of 
 Emerson at Concord: "Though the cannon volleys have 
 a sound of funeral echoes, they can yet hear through them 
 the benedictions of their country and mankind." Let us 
 now regain our ancient heritage, in the "union sacree" 
 of France and her friends, thus consecrated in French 
 affection. Then, indeed, we shall have proved true, in 
 full measure, to "The Hereditary Friendship of the 
 Cincinnati." 
 
 18 
 
011 712 697 3 
 
 The Erenlng Posr Job Frlnllng Office, Inc. 
 156 Fulton St.. N. T.