“The surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga was the first decisive event of the war. It defeated the British plan to divide the country by a chain of forts up the Hudson and conquer it in detail. It inspired hope at home and confidence abroad. It seconded the passionate appeals of La Fayette and the marvellous diplomacy of Benjamin Franklin; it overcame the prudent counsels of Necker, warning the king against this experiment; and won the treaty of alliance between the old Monarchy and the young Republic. La Fayette now saw that his mission was in France. He said, ‘I can help the cause more at home than here.’ and asked for leave of absence. Congress voted him a sword and presented it with a resolution of gratitude, and he returned, bearing this letter from that convention of patriots to his king, ‘We recommend this young nobleman to your Majesty’s notice, as one whom we know to be wise in council, gallant in the field, and patient under the hardships of war.’ It was a certificate which Marlborough might have coveted, and Gustavus might have worn as the proudest of his decorations. But though king and court vied with each other in doing him honor, though he was welcomed as no Frenchman had ever been by triumphal processions in the cities and fêtes in villages, by addresses and popular applause, he reckoned them of value only in the power they gave him to procure aid for Liberty’s fight in America. ‘France is now committed to war,’ he argued, ‘and her enemy’s weak point for attack is in America. Send there your money and men.’ And he returned with the army of Rochambeau and the fleet of De Grasse. “‘It is fortunate,’ said De Maurepas, the prime minister, ‘that La Fayette did not want to strip Versailles of its furniture for his dear Americans, for nobody could withstand his ardor.’ None too soon did this assistance arrive, for Washington’s letter to the American commissioners in Paris passed it on the way, in which he made this urgent appeal: ‘If France delays a timely and powerful aid in the critical posture of our affairs, it will avail us nothing should she attempt it hereafter. We are at this hour suspended in the balance. In a word, we are at the end of our tether, and now or never deliverance must come.’ General Washington saw in the allied forces now at his disposal that the triumph of independence was assured. The long, dark night of doubt and despair was illuminated by the dawn of a hope. The material was at hand to carry out the comprehensive plans so long matured, so long deferred, so patiently kept. That majestic dignity which had never bent to adversity, that lofty and awe-inspiring reserve which presented an impenetrable barrier to familiarity, either in council or at the festive board, so dissolved in the welcome of these decisive visitors that the delighted French and the astounded American soldiers saw Washington for the first and only time in his life express his happiness with all the joyous effervescence of hilarious youth.