Life, 1897-04-01 · page 3 of 20
Life — April 1, 1897 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page from *Life* magazine (Volume XXIX, Number 745) contains "The Story of Valley Forge Up-to-Date," a satirical piece about Washington and the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The illustration shows two men in an office setting. The caption reads: "I need the money, as I am about to be married. What security can you give? The girl's name." The satire appears to mock a soldier's financial desperation during Valley Forge by presenting a modern scenario where he seeks a loan, using only his fiancée's name as collateral—a darkly humorous commentary on soldiers' poverty and their limited assets. The text below discusses how Washington resisted British attempts to bribe him away from the revolutionary cause, but the cartoon juxtaposes this with contemporary financial struggles and the soldier's reduced circumstances.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“1 NEED THE MONEY, AS [ AM AROUT TO RE MARRIED. THE STORY OF VALLEY FORGE UP-TO-DATE. OW Valley Forge put the char- acter of Washington to the test, all men know; but the magazine historians have, singularly enough, overlooked the secret envoys from King George III. who sought to se- duce him from his lofty purposes. In brief, these envoys offered the Father of His Country substantial home rule for the colonies, and the governor- “WHAT SECURITY CAN YOU GIVE?” “THE GIRL'S NAME." generalship, with a handsome salary, forhimself. Finally,they offered hima square meal for himself and the army. But the father-I-cannot-tell-a-lic look warned them of the failure of their mission before Washington spoke. 0, gentlemen, "said the Father of His Country, ‘‘I cannot consider your proposition. Were there only myself and my contemporaries to think of, the proffer of peace might tempt me. But how about posterity? I ask you, gentlemen, were | to surrender, on any terms, how could I look a Daughter of the Revolution in the face?” The tempters stole away abashed. Years afterward one of them told a reliable party, who told other reliable parties, that it made him feel pretty cheap to think how utterly he had failed to take account of the respon- ities of an Ancestor just starting in business in a new country. A, E. Hoyt, comicbooks.com