_will soon_ commence, and a
desperate and bloody touch it will be.'

"Some one, present when the remark was made, asked Mr. Henry if he
thought the colonies strong enough to resist successfully the fleets and
armies of Great Britain, and he answered that he doubted whether they
would be able to do so alone, 'but that France, Spain, and Holland were
the natural enemies of Great Britain.'

"'Where will they be all this while?' he asked. 'Do you suppose they
will stand by, idle and indifferent spectators to the contest? Will
Louis XVI. be asleep all this time? Believe me, no! When Louis XVI.
shall be satisfied, by our serious opposition and our _Declaration_ of
_Independence_, that all prospect of a reconciliation is gone, then, and
not till then, will he furnish us with arms, ammunition, and clothing:
and not with them only, but he will send his fleets and armies to fight
our battles for us; he will form a treaty with us, offensive and
defensive, against our unnatural mother. Spain and Holland will join the
confederation! Our independence will be established! and we shall take
our stand among the nations of the earth!'"

"And it all happened so; didn't it, mamma?" exclaimed Rosie exultantly;
"just as Patrick Henry predicted."

"Yes," replied her mother, with a proud and happy smile, "and we have
certainly taken our place--by God's blessing upon the efforts of those
brave and gallant heroes of the revolution--as one of the greatest
nations of the earth.

"Yet not all the credit should be awarded them, but some of it given to
their successors in the nation's counsels and on the fields of battle.
The foundations were well and strongly laid by our revolutionary
fathers, and the work well carried on by their successors."

"Grandma Elsie, what was the story about Lydia Darrah?" asked Gracie. "I
don't remember to have heard it."

"She lived in Philadelphia when the British were in possession there
during the winter after the battle of the Brandywine," replied Mrs.
Travilla. "She belonged to the Society of Friends, most of whom, as you
doubtless remember, took no active part in the war; at least, did none
of the fighting, though many helped in other ways; but some were Tories,
who gave aid and comfort to the enemy in other ways than by the use of
arms."

"What a shame!" cried Walter. "You will tell us about the doings of some
of those when you are done with the story of Lydia Darrah, won't you,
mamma?"

"If you all w