He had a strong, open countenance, and the five knew that it was
Bernardo Galvez, the Governor General of Louisiana. The favorable
impression of him that they had received from reports was confirmed by his
appearance.
Bernardo Galvez rose with punctilious courtesy and saluted Oliver Pollock,
who introduced in turn the five, to every one of whom the Governor General
gave a bow and a friendly word. Like all others in New Orleans who had
seen them, he bestowed an admiring look upon their size, their
straightness, and above all, the extraordinary air of independence and
resolution that characterized every one of them, indicated, not by the
words they said or the things they did, but by an atmosphere they created,
something that cannot be described. They had never been in such a room
before, one containing so much of the splendor of old Europe, but they
were not awed in the least by it, and Bernardo Galvez knew it.
Oliver Pollock, the shrewd merchant and patriot, man of affairs, and judge
of his kind, observed them closely and, observing, he felt a great thrill
of satisfaction. The five, boys though two of them were, had felt the vast
importance of their mission and, now that they had come, he too, felt it.
It was a most critical and delicate moment for the struggling young
nation.
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