Fighting to protect the institutions of our fathers and to safeguard
democracy for our children, we are also fighting to expel invaders
from France, as once France helped Washington expel thousands of
German invaders from America. How black the sin of ingratitude! What
if some youth, poor and obscure, coming up to the great city to make
his fortune, should gain his opportunity to climb at the hands of some
noble merchant. And what if this benefactor, taking the orphan into
his home, shares his treasure with the youth, builds manhood in the
poor boy, opens to him the door to fortune and to fame. And what if,
when the poor boy finally has a mansion of his own, with wealth, and
honours, news should come that his now aged benefactor has fallen on
evil days and been attacked by cruel enemies. Can any crime be blacker
than for this strong man to send word to the one upon whose shoulders
he had climbed up to place, saying, "I do not wish to enter into any
entangling alliances with you in your distress, for I have learned
neither to borrow nor to lend"?
In 1781 France, a kingdom rich and powerful, found the handful of
American colonists in the condition of a boy, poor, friendless,
obscure, and threatened by a powerful enemy. Washington had no money,
no guns, no powder, no shoes for his soldiers in the winter. At the
moment when our fortunes were at the lowest ebb, France sent us her
greatest admiral, with a fleet of two battle-ships, three destroyers,
thirty-eight transports, and seven thousand soldiers, with muskets,
powder, shot, shoes, clothing and medical supplies. She sent us
Lafayette, heir to rich estates, with one of the largest private
incomes in Europe, who, with his fellow officers, joined the troops
of Washington. He saw his Frenchmen fall side by side with the troops
of Washington. When at length Cornwallis surrendered his sword to the
Commander of our army, Lafayette shared in the ceremony. What treasure
of lives and fortune France lavished upon this republic more than
one hundred years ago! We owe France our generals, our admirals, our
soldiers and sailors, our munitions, our physicians, our nurses, our
admiration, our love, our lives and our sacred honour.