by “A Friend of the Heirs”

“ Colonel Weissenfels is dead! And his daughter and only heir, the inheritor of his poverty as well as his exalted virtues, also is dead. Her children survive her, also needy, but trusting that the country which has become great, and rich, and powerful, through the wisdom and the valor of the patriots of the revolution — of whom their grandfather was a distinguished one — will accord to them that justice which, had he demanded it himself, could hardly have been denied, and the claim to which has descended to them. ”

“ Baron de Weissenfels was a native of Elbing, in the Kingdom of Prussia. A town in Germany bear the name of his family. He was trained to arms under Frederick the Great; and peace having been conquered by that great captain, Weissenfels sought employment in the British service, in North America, in 1756. He ascended the Heights of Abraham with brave Wolfe, and saw him expire in the arms of victory. He was an officer in the Royal American regiment at the attack on Fort Ticonderoga, and participated in the descent upon and capture of Havana in 1762. ”

“ And thus he was employed to the end of the war, enduring, with his compatriots in arms, untold privations, hardships, and dangers. Had he fallen into the hands of the enemy — having left the British service without a discharge — he would have been liable to all the dreadful penalties for desertion. ”