The march through Philadelphia was a species of triumph. And now who more ready than the Tory ladies to welcome and applaud! "The windows were filled with ladies waving handkerchiefs and uttering exclamations of joy. The ragged Continentals came first with their torn battle-flags and cannon; and the French followed in gay white uniforms faced with green to the sound of martial music. A long time had passed since Philadelphia had seen such a pageant; the last resembling it had been the splendid Mischianza festival, devised by poor André in the days of the British occupation,"[23] and enjoyed, alas, by these same ladies, while these same Continentals were starving and perishing with cold! [23] Irving's "Life of Washington." They were equal to any situation, these Philadelphia ladies! The first duty of woman, according to them, was to make herself agreeable to the powers that be--the heroes of the hour. Said Washington Irving, "The beauties who had crowned the British Knights in the chivalrous time of the Mischianza, were now ready to bestow wreaths and smiles on their Gallic rivals." [Illustration: Lord Cornwallis.] Fifteen days after the arrival of the allied forces successful assaults were made upon the enemy's redoubts, Washington putting the match to the first gun; and on Oct. 17, Cornwallis, after having made unsuccessful efforts to relieve his position and to escape by water, proposed a cessation of hostilities and the appointment of commissioners to settle terms of surrender. On Oct. 19, in pursuance of articles of capitulation, drawn by Vicomte de Noualles and Colonel Laurens, representing the allies, and Colonel Dundas and Major Ross, representing the British, Lord Cornwallis surrendered; the English marching out to the tune, "The World's Turned Upside Down,"--a fact which was, no doubt, accepted by the brave Cornwallis as the only solution to the turn events had taken. "The work is done and well done," said Washington as he heard the long shout of the French and the Americans. To Maurepas, in France, Lafayette wrote:-- "The play is over, Monsieur le Compte, the fifth act has just come to an end."[24] [24] Tower's "Lafayette," Vol. II, p. 455. "It's all over now," said our old friend Lord North,[25] heartily relieved, we may well believe, to be rid of all the bother. [25] Bancroft, Vol. III, p. 430. At midnight on Oct. 23, 1781, Philadelphia was startled by the cry, "Cornwallis is taken." And on Oct. 24, on motion of Mr. Randolph, it was resolved, "That Congress at 2 o'clock this day go in procession to the Dutch Lutheran Church and return thanks to Almighty God for crowning the allied arms of the United States and France with success by the surrender of the whole British Army under the command of the Earl of Cornwallis."[26] [26] Journals of Congress, Vol. III, pp. 679-682.