Henry Cabot Lodge: “He had looked facts in the face all his life, and when the mists gathered, he would face them still.”

Here is again the same note, always so true and clear, that the United States are not colonies but an independent nation.

It showed that America had demonstrated to Europe that she could win independence, and it had been proved to the traditional enemy of England that the time had come when it would be profitable to help the revolted colonies.

After stating plainly that the army was on the verge of dissolution, he said: "To me it will appear miraculous if our affairs can maintain themselves much longer in their present train.

He repeatedly referred to the United States, even before the close of the war, as an infant empire, and he saw before any one else the destined growth of the country.