120 The Winning of the West 



had clothed and paid his soldiers with the spoils 

 of his enemies; he had spent his own fortune as 

 carelessly as he had risked his life, and the only re- 

 ward that he was destined for many years to re- 

 ceive was the sword voted him by the Legislature 

 of Virginia. 54 



tiators of the final treaty. Had Virginia alone been in in- 

 terest, Great Britain would not have even paid her claims 

 the compliment of listening to them. Virginia's share in 

 the history of the nation has ever been gallant and leading; 

 but the Revolutionary War was emphatically fought by 

 Americans for America; no part could have won without 

 the help of the whole, and every victory was thus a victory 

 for all, in which all alike can take pride. 



54 A probably truthful tradition reports that when the Vir- 

 ginian commissioners offered Clark the sword, the grim old 

 fighter, smarting under the sense of his wrongs, threw it in- 

 dignantly from him, telling the envoys that he demanded 

 from Virginia his just rights and the promised reward of his 

 services, not an empty compliment. 



