The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, June 08, 1916, Page 7, Image 7
RELIC OF THE REVOLUTION.
?\* ?
Story of Jewel-Studded Snuff Box
Presented by Louis XVI, of France.
In "Backward Glances," printed in
the News and Courier recently there
was a reference to the raffling off in
i 0 Baltimore of the diamond-crested
snuff box presented to Col. John Laurens,
of this State, by Louis XVI, of
France. This reference was taken
* 1--J. Af "Yf O T7
irom in? \jnariesiuu v-zwunci ui m.o,j
19, 1866. The Courier of the day
before, that is of May 18, 1866, printed
a full and interesting story of the
presentation of this snuff box to Col.
Laurens by the king of France. As
tthe details of this incident in South
Carolina are probably not familiar
to most South Carolinians of this
* generation the Sunday News reprints
below the Courier's story. The Sunday
News is not informed as to the
final disposition of the snuff box.
Probably this is known in Charleston,
but the only information available
at the moment is that contained
In Prof. Wallace's admirable "Life
of Henry Laurens." In this book, in
the sketch of Lieut. Col. John Laurens,
Prof. Wallace says:
'The king gave Laurens on the
completion of his mission a gold snuff
box ornamented with the royal portrait
and set with brilliants (not diamonds,
as commonly stated.) Years
afterwards the member of the family
to whom it had fallen was forced to
sell it It was bought by an enthusiastic
admirer of Laurens who outbid
all others with the intention, she
said, of restoring it to its owner?
which, however, she omitted to do."
tThe story from the Courier follows:
. s; Exhibited in Baltimore.
| 'The eyes of the people of BaltiL
more are just now gratified with the
, exhibition of a magnificent relic of
Revolutionary times, which belongs
to South Carolina, and , which we
should earnestly wish might still conI
tinue to be possessed in this State.
Hi This is the gold, and richly diamond B
ed snuff box, which was presented
by Louis XVI, king of France, to Col.
John Laurens, the 'Bayard,' as he
was called, of the Revolution, the
aid-de-camp, and intimate friend and
- correspondent of Washington; who,
with Alexander Hamilton, more completely
shared the confidence of that
> great chieftain than almost any other
persons, and to both of whom he so
. ! frequently confided the task of furnishing
his correspondence from his
own notes and memoranda. The box,
which has so long been an heir-loom
of the Laurens family, is of the purest
gold, the exterior beautifully
enamelled and studded with diamonds.
The top- contains a finely
painted miniature of the king, encircled
by thirty-four diamondfs. Twenty-four
diamonds encircle its outer
, j ; edge.
Valued at $10,000.
'
pv \ "It's value was estimated, in
money, at $10,000. But it possesses
;; a value beyond that which lies in its
gold and diamonds. As the memorial
of a great king, presented by his own
hands to one of the bravest chieftains
of the Revolutionary war, under peculiar
circumstances, it is one of
^ those relics of eventful times which
a family will always fondly cherish,
and which the collector of beautiful
antiquities will eagerly seek to se?
cure. Tne circumstances unaer
which this costly gift was made to
Col. Laurens involve, of themselves,
a very interesting history. The reader
who is curious will find this history
in one of the early numbers of
the American Quarterly Review, published
in Philadelphia, under the editorial
charge of Robert Walsh. We
- condense the substance of this history
in a few sentences. It was at
the most trying period of the war,
when the exigencies of the American
army had reached its utmost point at
which it could endure and hope, that
it became necessary to appoint a
special minister from the army itself,
and under the special appointment of
WTn oVi-in c+nn material nifl
TV WUIU5 WJUy tv UVUVA?/ AAA%wvvr? *? ?
from the crown of France to save the
country from the reconquest of Great
Britain.
Laurens Chosen for Mission.
"Franklin was our minister at the
l French court, but was doing nothing,
and it was very well understood in
^ the South, at least, that between
philosophical and scientific seances
and fashionable society, which he
* greatly affected, he was neglectful of
the interests of his country. Vergenfces,
the French premier, was supposed
to be adverse to sending the
desired succor to the Americans. He
wras probably weak in the knees,
when he thought of the power of
Great Britain and the great conflicts
between that power and his own,
which were likely to follow from
French interposition. Nothing could
be done with him. To say the least
of it, he was cold. The mission was
a (difficult and very delicate one; and
for this mission, Washington selected
John Laurens. He knew his man.
j Laurens was not merely a daring soldier,
who had already acquired great
reputation for gallantry and good
r
^4 .......
conduct, but he was a courtly gentleman,
a most accomplished scholar,
a bold thinker and speaker, a grace- 1
ful and forcible writer, and conversant
with the French and classical
languages. When he reach France,
he found himself trifled with and de- ?
layed by Vergennes. ]
Laurens's Bold Stroke. <
"But the Gordian knot of policy, if
not to be untied by the philosophical
fingers of Franklin, could be cut by
the Alexandrian sword of Laurens.
Convinced that procrastination must
be fatal to the American cause, he
declared his purpose to Franklin to
appeal from the minister directly to
the king. This was in defiance of all
routine and etiq,uette. Franklin vehemently
opposed the proceeding;
and anticipating a very unfavorable
and unfriendly result, told Laurens
that he 'washed his hands of the consequences.'
This did not discourage
the latter, and at the very next general
levee, when Laurens's turn for
presentation came, instead of simply
exchanging a passing courtesy with
the monarch and passing on, he stopped
short, and addressed the king in
French, while he presented the memorial
of congress and the letters of
the great Washington. His concluding
words were very emphatic: i
" 'Sire,' said he, 'should the favor
sought for by my country be denied, ^
or even delayed, there is great rea- j
son that the sword which I wear at \
5 X. 1 .11 .r T71-. ? VMA,,
my Siae, as trn? any ui r rauue, may \
then be, drawn against your majesty (
as that of a British subject/ 1
King Taken by Surprise.
'The king, for the moment, was ]
confounded, and showed much agita- ]
tion. The surprise was complete. \
The novelty of the proceeding, the ?
grace of the speaker, blended with t
so much exquisite ^dignity and force, {
his courage and eloquence, were well i
calculated to excite surprise. The i
king received the memorial and let- ]
ters; and the application was crown- \
ed with success. Men and money, i
armies and vessels, a navy, and the
munitions of war, were promptly furnished,
and the independence of the
United States, from that moment,
was un fait accompli! The admiration
of the king, for this bold young 1
ambassador, was testified in the gift
of his own portrait, one of the high- s
est compliments at that day paid to
an ambassador by great monarchs,
with its incomparable setting in gold 1
and diamonds. Laurens sealed his
devotion to his country with his life. .
"He had led the storming party
which was successrul, at the crowning
triumph of our armies, in the takvenge
himself.
" 'A few weeks ago, just before the
ice began to break, he rushed into
my quarters and shouted: "Come <
on; I will show you something that
will gladhen your heart."
" 'His face was covered with blood,
streaming from a wound in his ternpie
and he gave the impression of be- 1
ing a maniac. I decided to follow
the man and took a lieutenant and j
two privates along. It was near ,
daybreak when we left our quarters. ;
As we wandered out over the ice we j
noticed that the weather had completely
changed over during the ?
night. The wind was almost warm ]
and the open places in the swamp ]
seemed much larger than they had i
during the evening before. ,
" 'After we had advanced a few ]
hundred yards one of my men broke i
through the seemingly still strong ,
ice and was almost drowned. The
11 nlrl a/I o lia f A
yiu mau uuutaicu auu au i iocu no ivi j
walk closely behind him. t <
" Then he told us what he had
done. "I have lured a whole brigade! 1
of the Russians into the swamps and '1
they are now perishing," he said joy- <
ously. "For many weeks I have
waited for this chance. Night after s
night I was out studying the weather <
and two days ago, when the wind <
Safety
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I D. M. Smith, Charles Ehrhardt, J
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MAY LAST MANY YEARS. J
Sishop Says Germans Blame Kaiser
for Not Fighting Sooner. ;
A commanding figure of interest <
it the general conference of the 4
k T rtf h /n /lint 1 0V111 ml^ (n
>ICCU?juioc upisv/upai i/iiui^u, m ^
don at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., is
3ishop John Nuelsen, who supervises
Methodist work in European nations,
speaking 16 languages and ruled over
py three emperors, five kings and two 4
presidents, sys a dispatch to the 4
Philadelphia Ledger. Bishop Nuelsen
has visited every war front and
jives amazing testimony of the misery
of the men in the field. In an in;erview
he said: 4
"The war must continue many 4
rears, unless the unexpected hap- .
)ens. Germany has completely conserved
her energies. In peace times
she raises 80 per cent, of all her *
:ood, and now the parks are turned *
nto gardens. The surgeons have 4
lone great work, and 90 per cent, of .
;he wounded recover. Economy is
systematically enforced. Prince and
pauper receive the same amount of *
pread, butter and milk daily. When <
;he husband goes to war his wife <
;akes up his work and receives his .
vages."
"Why did the Germans go into this
svar?" the bishop was asked. "The i
people blame the emperor for not <
ighting sooner, since they believe <
;hat the other powers were jealous i
pf their prosperity and had de:ermined
to crush them.
"The war has brought all the European
nations to their knees. It <
las driven formal religion down into 4
fhe heart and developed a vital per- 4
sonal piety never before known. At
;he first sweep of the war there was 1
religious revival, but that was
shallow. The latter awakening is
rery deep and permanent. They see
low that in the pursuit of prosperity
:hey forgot God. This ought to be a
earning to America."
Suspicious.
"I saw Binks in church this morning.
It's the first time he's been
there in years."
"Where do you suppose he's been
spending his Sunday mornings?"
"You can draw your own conclusions.
He entered the church by the
side door."
changed to the south I knew that the
hour for my revenge was near. Yesterday,
I went to the Russians and
offered to lead them to your position.
At first they mistreated me,
but they became convinced that I was
honest, when I demanded a large
amount of money for my service.
Two regiments with small cannon
and machine guns were ready for the
attack upon you and at midnight this
force started to move over the ice.
I led the regiments where I wanted
them. When the ice began to break
I disappeared into the rushes. They
sent a few bullets after me, but only
one of them grazed me. Just listen!
Do you hear the dying wretches I
shouting over there?"
" 'I heard the shouts and what I
saw through the rushes in the faint
light of the morning almost froze the
blood in my veins. Of jthe seven I
thousand Russians who had started j
out to attack us about four thousand r
had already been swallowed up by 'j
the swamp and the remainder was f
struggling for breath. . J
" 'When we returned to the village
1 locked the lunatic up and later I
sent him behind the front. He is ?
now in an insane asylum. The terri- $
ble scenes I had to witness that fearful
morning will haunt me to .the
end of my days. I had an almost
mad desire to save the helpless Russians
who were drowning before my
eyes by the thousands, but I could
do nothing.' "
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