Vanderhorst, to regale the honor-oppressed invalid with
martial airs, from every land wherever a soldier's banner had waved.
But letters arrived from Mount Vernon. General Washington had become
impatient for his expected guest, and the morning of his separation
from his Bristol friends was fixed. The vessel in which he was to
embark was inspected with scrupulous care; and from the state of some
of his yet unhealed wounds, he was obliged to be conveyed from
Queen's Square to the quay in a sedan-chair. Mr. Vanderhorst and his
son preceded it on foot, and two military officers, Captains Whorwood
and Ferguson, walked on each side, each with his helmet off and in
his hand, resting them on the poles of the sedan as they moved along.
The colonel and other personal friends of Mr. Vanderhorst, and
admirers of his hero-guest, followed in the rear of the chair, and a
respectful and self-organized rank and file of humbler station closed
the procession to the waterside.
There he embarked in a lightly-manned boat, with a sail and rudder, a
more precious freight than Caesar and his fortunes; for the Roman
general crossed a barrier-river to subvert his country--Thaddeus
Kosciusko a stream of refuge, after having sacrificed his all, though
in vain, to preserve the independence of his native land. And thus
the welcomed coming speeded parting guest took a grateful leave of
the party who escorted him.
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