At last Cornwallis had pushed the little army of Americans away northward to the foot of the mountains, and wrote to New York, "The boy can not now escape me." But marching all night by a back road through the woods, and leaving his baggage and tents and heavy guns behind him, Lafayette appeared to the astonished eyes of the British commander in a strong position, from which he could not be driven. Just at this point Lafayette got some more men from Washington's camp and from Virginia, and then commenced one of the most remarkable campaigns ever known. Lafayette, still much weaker than Cornwallis, was so active, and appeared so confident, that the English slowly withdrew toward the coast. Always seeming anxious to fight, yet never risking a general battle, Lafayette followed Cornwallis until he got him into the village of Yorktown, between the York River and the James River. There the British felt safe, thinking that they could at any time get to New York by water, or with a few more men could sally out and drive Lafayette from Virginia.
But Lafayette expected a French fleet off the coast, and contented himself with carefully watching his enemy, and writing to Washington to hasten south with his army and make the capture of the British certain. At last the French fleet came, and poor Cornwallis, with all his skill and courage, was surrounded. He could hardly believe his eyes, and tried in one way and another to break through; but it was of no use. The French landed in large force, and their commanders urged Lafayette to take Yorktown by storm. They appealed to his love of fame. He had foiled Cornwallis, and shut him up in Yorktown: he ought to have the glory of his capture. But the humane young hero put aside this temptation, and refused to waste his men's lives in a venture which might not succeed. He knew that Cornwallis could not escape, and that when Washington arrived with his army the British would have to surrender, with little or no bloodshed—so admirably combined in his character were courage, prudence, and kindness. At last Washington came, with Count de Rochambeau and a large army, and Cornwallis on the 19th of October was compelled to lay down his arms. And this practically ended the war, although it was not until two years after that peace was declared, and the United States were acknowledged to be free and independent.
Lafayette sailed for France on the 23d December, 1781. He had the proud satisfaction of knowing that the greatest victory of the war which had made a nation free had been due to the aid he had got from his own country, and to the patience, fortitude, and genius with which he had himself commanded in the last campaign.
From on board the ship on the eve of sailing he wrote to his beloved Washington: "Adieu, my dear General. I know your heart so well that I am sure that no distance can change your attachment for me. With the same sincerity I assure you that my tenderness, my respect, my gratitude for you are beyond all expression; that at the moment of quitting you I feel more than ever the force of those bonds of friendship which bind me forever to you; and that the dearest wish of my heart is to show you by my zeal and my services how great are my respect and my affection."
[to be continued.]
[HOW CHINESE CHILDREN LOVE THEIR PARENTS.]
In the Chow Dynasty (about three thousand years ago) there was a man named Laou Lai-tsze. When he was seventy years of age he used to put on bright and many-colored clothes, and then he would play about like a child. Sometimes he would carry water into the hall, and pretend to stumble, and fall flat on the ground; and then he would cry, and run up to his parents' side to please the old people, and all to make them forget, for a time at least, their own great age.
There was once a man named Han. When he was a boy he misbehaved himself very often, and his mother used to beat him with a bamboo rod. One day he cried after the beating, and his mother was greatly surprised, and said, "I have beaten you many a time, and you have never cried before; why do you cry to-day?"