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diff --git a/old/50232-0.txt b/old/50232-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index aadea49..0000000 --- a/old/50232-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8154 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boys' Life of Lafayette, by Helen Nicolay - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: The Boys' Life of Lafayette - -Author: Helen Nicolay - -Release Date: October 16, 2015 [EBook #50232] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOYS' LIFE OF LAFAYETTE *** - - - - -Produced by Madeleine Fournier. Images from the Internet Archive. - - - - -THE BOYS' LIFE OF LAFAYETTE - - -[Illustration: MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE - -From an engraving by Jones] - - - -The Boys' Life of LAFAYETTE - -by - -Helen Nicolay - -Illustrated - -Harper & Brothers Publishers - -New York and London - - - -CONTENTS - -CHAP. PAGE - - Preface............................... ix - I. Warriors and Wild Beasts.............. 1 - II. Educating a Marquis................... 9 - III. A New King............................ 19 - IV. An Unruly Courtier.................... 29 - V. Leading a Double Life................. 39 - VI. A Sea-turn............................ 48 - VII. An American Pilgrimage................ 57 - VIII. An Astonishing Reception.............. 64 - IX. Proving Himself a Soldier............. 72 - X. Letters............................... 81 - XI. A Fool's Errand....................... 91 - XII. Farce and Treachery................... 104 - XIII. A Liaison Officer..................... 113 - XIV. Near-mutiny and near-imprisonment..... 122 - XV. Help--and Disappointment.............. 129 - XVI. Black Treachery....................... 139 - XVII. Preparing for the Last Act............ 149 - XVIII. Yorktown.............................. 158 - XIX. "The Wine of Honor"................... 168 - XX. The Passing of Old France............. 180 - XXI. The Tricolor.......................... 191 - XXII. The Sans-culottes..................... 200 - XXIII. Popularity and Prison................. 208 - XXIV. South Carolina to the Rescue!......... 221 - XXV. Volunteers in Misfortune.............. 235 - XXVI. Exiles................................ 246 - XXVII. A Grateful Republic................... 258 -XXVIII. Leave-takings......................... 269 - XXIX. President--or King-maker.............. 276 - XXX. Seventy-six Years Young............... 289 - Index................................. 301 - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - -MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE................ _Frontispiece_ -THE MANOR-HOUSE OF CHAVANIAC........ _Facing p._ 6 -FRANKLIN AT THE FRENCH COURT........ " 42 -WASHINGTON AND THE COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS - AT VALLEY FORGE.................. " 94 -VALLEY FORGE—WASHINGTON AND LAFAYETTE " 94 -THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH............... " 110 -THE BASTILLE......................... " 194 -SIEGE OF THE BASTILLE................ " 194 -MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE................. " 262 -MADAME DE LAFAYETTE.................. " 262 -MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE AND LOUIS-PHILIPPE " 286 - - - -[Pg ix]PREFACE - -This is no work of fiction. It is sober history; yet if the bare facts -it tells were set forth without the connecting links, its preface might -be made to look like the plot of a dime novel. - -It is the story of a poor boy who inherited great wealth; who ran away -from home to fight for liberty and glory; who became a major-general -before he was twenty years old; who knew every nook and corner of the -palace at Versailles, yet was the blood-brother of American Indians; -who tried vainly to save the lives of his king and queen; who was in -favor of law, yet remained a rebel to the end of his days; who suffered -an unjust imprisonment which has well been called "a night five years -long"; who was twice practically Dictator of France; and who, in his -old age, was called upon to make a great decision. - -But it is no work of fiction. It is only the biography of a French -gentleman named Lafayette. - - - -[Pg 1]THE BOYS' LIFE OF LAFAYETTE - - -I - -WARRIORS AND WILD BEASTS - - -"The Lafayettes die young, but die fighting," was a saying in that part -of France where they had been people of consequence for seven hundred -years before the most famous of them came into the world. The family -name was Motier, but, after the custom of the time, they were better -known by the name of their estate, La Fayette, in Auvergne, a region -which had been called the French Siberia. Although situated in central -southern France, fully three hundred and fifty miles from Paris, it is -a high wind-swept country of plains and cone-shaped hills, among whose -rugged summits storms break to send destruction rushing down into the -valleys. Unexpected, fertile, sheltered spots are to be found among -these same hills, but on the whole it is not a gentle nor a smiling -land. - -The history of France during the Middle Ages bears not a little -[Pg 2]resemblance to this region of Auvergne, so full of sharp -contrasts, often of disaster. Through all the turbulent centuries the -men of the house of Lafayette bore their part, fighting gallantly for -prince and king. Family tradition abounded in stories telling how -they had taken part in every war since old Pons Motier de Lafayette, -the Crusader, fought at Acre, in Palestine, in 1250. Jean fell at -Poictiers in 1356. There was a Claude--exception to the rule that they -died young--who took part in sixty-five sieges and no end of pitched -battles. Though most of them fought on land, there was an occasional -sailor to relieve the monotony; notably a vice-admiral of the reign -of Francis First, who held joint command with Andrea Doria when that -soldier of fortune went to the relief of Marseilles, and who sank or -burned four Spanish galleons in the naval battle at the mouth of the -Var. - -But the Lafayette who occupied most space in family tradition and -written history was Gilbert, who was head of the family about the -time Columbus discovered America. It was he who took for motto upon -his coat of arms the words, "_Cur non?_" "Why not?" and by energetic -deeds satisfactorily answered his own question. "Seneschal of the -Bourbonnaise," "Lieutenant-General," "Governor of Dauphigny," and -"Marshal of France" were a few of the titles and honors he gathered -in the course of a long life, for he was another exception to the -family rule. He was eighty-two before he passed away, ready to fight -to the last. Although it is not true that he slew the English Duke of -Clarence with his own hands at the battle of Baugé, it is true that he -[Pg 3]fought under the banner of Joan of Arc at Orléans, and that he -had many adventures on many fields. When there was no foreign enemy -to battle against, he worked hard to subdue the bandits who infested -France and made travel on the highroads more exciting than agreeable to -timid souls in the reign of Charles VII. - -In time the Motiers de Lafayette divided into two branches, the elder -keeping the estate and name and most of the glory; the younger, known -as the Motiers of Champetières, enjoying only local renown. The women -of the family also made a place for themselves in history. One, who had -beauty, had also courage and wit to oppose the great Cardinal Richelieu -himself. Another, less known in politics than in literature, though -she tried her hand at both, became famous as a novelist. It was her -grand-daughter who inherited part of the property at a time when there -were no more men of the elder branch to carry on the name. In order -that it might not die out, she arranged to have the estates pass back -to the younger branch, which in time inherited the title also. - -The Lafayettes went on fighting and losing their lives early in battle. -Thus it happened that a baby born to a young widow in the grim old -manor-house of Chavaniac on the 6th of September, 1757, was the last -male representative of his race, a marquis from the hour of his birth. -His father had been made Chevalier of the Order of Saint-Louis and -Colonel of Grenadiers at the early age of twenty-two, and fell before -[Pg 4]he was twenty-five, leading his men in an obscure engagement of -the Seven Years' War. This was about a month before his son was born. -His family believed that the gallant colonel's life was sacrificed by -the recklessness of his commanding officer. - -According to the old parish register, still preserved, "The very high -and puissant gentleman, Monseigneur Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert -Dumotier de Lafayette, the lawful son of the very high and very -puissant Monseigneur Michel-Louis-Christophe-Roch-Gilbert Dumotier, -Marquis de Lafayette, Baron de Wissac, Seigneur de Saint-Romain and -other places, and of the very high and very puissant lady, Madame -Marie Louise Julie de la Rivière," was baptized in the little parish -church of Chavaniac twenty-four hours after his birth. Besides this -terrifying name and the title, all the traditions and responsibilities -of both branches of the family descended upon his infant shoulders. -Being such a scrap of a baby, however, he was mercifully ignorant -of responsibilities and ancient names. The one given him in baptism -was shortened for daily use to Gilbert, the name of the old Marshal -of France; but a time came when it was convenient to have a number, -rightfully his, from which to choose. For his signature "La Fayette" -covered the whole ground. - -His only near relatives were his young mother, his grandmother (a -stately lady of strong character), and two aunts, sisters of his dead -father, who came to live at Chavaniac. It was by this little group of -[Pg 5]aristocratic Frenchwomen that the champion of liberty was brought -up during those early years when character is formed. That he did not -become hopelessly spoiled speaks well for his disposition and their -self-control. He was not a strong baby, and they must have spent many -anxious hours bending over him as he lay asleep, however much they -concealed their interest at other times for fear of doing him moral -harm. - -Until he was eleven they all lived together in the gloomy old château -where he was born. This has been described as "great and rather heavy." -It had been fortified in the fourteenth century. Two round towers with -steep, pointed roofs flanked it on the right and left. Across its front -high French windows let in light to the upper floors. From them there -was a far-reaching view over plain and river, and steep hills dotted -with clumps of trees. But loopholes on each side of an inhospitable -narrow doorway told of a time when its situation had been more prized -for defense than for mere beauty of scenery. It had a dungeon and other -grim conveniences of life in the Middle Ages, which must have stamped -themselves deep on the mind of an impressionable child. The castles of -Wissac and Saint-Romain, of which the boy was also lord, could be seen -higher up among the hills. There were glimpses, too, of peasant homes, -but these were neither neat nor prosperous. Bad laws, and abuse of law -that had been going on for centuries, had brought France to a point -where a few people were growing inordinately rich at the expense of all -[Pg 6]the rest. The king suffered from this as well as the peasants. -The country was overrun by an army of tax-collectors, one for every -one hundred and thirty souls in France, each of them bent on giving up -as little as possible of the money he collected. To curry favor with -the great nobles, who were more powerful than the king himself, their -property was not taxed so heavily as it should have been, while poorer -people, especially the peasants, were robbed to make up the difference. -"The people of our country live in misery; they have neither furniture -nor beds; during part of the year the most of them have no nourishment -except bread made of oats and barley, and even this they must snatch -from their own mouths and those of their children in order to pay the -taxes." That was written about this very region of Auvergne a few years -before Lafayette was born. In self-defense the peasants made their -homes look even more wretched than they really were. On occasion, when -convinced that the stranger knocking at their door was no spy, they -could bring a wheaten loaf and a bottle of wine from their secret store -and do the honors most hospitably. - -The La Fayettes were not rich, though they were the great people of -their neighborhood. Only one Frenchman in a hundred belonged to the -nobility, but that one received more consideration than all the other -ninety-nine combined. When the boy marquis rode out with his mother, -or that stately lady his grandmother, the peasants in the little -village which had grown up around the walls of Chavaniac, clinging to -it for protection, bowed down as though the child were a sovereign. -[Pg 7]Some of them knelt in the dust as the coach passed by. Truly it -was strange soil for the growth of democratic ideas. It was well for -the boy's soul that in spite of lands and honor the household was of -necessity a frugal one. The wide acres were unproductive. Men who had -fought so often and so well for their princes had found little leisure -to gather wealth for their children. Besides, it was thought out of the -question for a nobleman to engage in gainful pursuits. The wealth such -men enjoyed came through favor at court; and in this household of women -there was no longer any one able to render the kind of service likely -to be noticed and rewarded by a king. - -[Illustration: THE MANOR-HOUSE OF CHAVANIAC - -Birthplace of Lafayette] - -So the lad grew from babyhood in an atmosphere of much ceremony and -very little luxury. On the whole, his was a happy childhood, though by -no means gay. He loved the women who cherished him so devotedly. In his -_Memoirs_, written late in life, he calls them "tender and venerated -relatives." They looked forward to the day when in his turn he should -become a soldier, dreading it, as women will, but accepting it, as -such women do, in the spirit of _noblesse oblige_, believing it the -one possible calling for a young man of his station. To prepare him -for it he was trained in manly exercises, by means of which he outgrew -the delicacy of his earliest years and became tall and strong for his -age. He was trained also in horsemanship, to which he took kindly, for -he loved all spirited animals. In books, to which he did not object, -[Pg 8]though he was never wholly a scholar, he followed such studies as -could be taught him by the kindly Abbé Feyon, his tutor. - -On his rides, when he met the ragged, threadbare people who lived among -the hills, they saluted him and looked upon him almost with a sense of -ownership. Was he not one of their Lafayettes who had been fighting -and dying gallantly for hundreds of years? As for him, his friendly, -boyish eyes looked a little deeper through their rags into their -sterling peasant hearts than either he or they realized. In the old -manor-house his day-dreams were all of "riding over the world in search -of reputation," he tells us; a reputation to be won by doing gallant -deeds. "You ask me," we read in his _Memoirs_, "at what time I felt -the earliest longings for glory and liberty. I cannot recall anything -earlier than my enthusiasm for tales of heroism. At the age of eight -my heart beat fast at thought of a hyena which had done some damage -and made even more noise in the neighborhood. The hope of meeting that -beast animated all my excursions." Had the encounter taken place, it -might have been thrilling in the extreme. It might even have deprived -history of a bright page; for it was nothing less than hunger which -drove such beasts out of the woods in winter to make raids upon lonely -farms--even to terrify villagers at the very gates of Chavaniac. - - -[Pg 9]II - -EDUCATING A MARQUIS - - -The first period of Gilbert's life came to an end when he was eleven -years old. His mother was by no means ignorant of the ways of the world -and she had powerful relatives at court. She realized how much they -could do to advance her boy's career by speaking an occasional word in -his behalf; and also how much truth there is in the old saying "Out -of sight, out of mind." They might easily forget all about her and -her boy if they remained hidden in the provinces. So they went up to -Paris together, and she had herself presented at court and took up her -residence in the French capital, while Gilbert became a student at the -Collège Du Plessis, a favorite school for sons of French noblemen. His -mother's uncle, the Comte de la Rivière, entered his name upon the army -lists as member of a regiment of Black Mousquetaires, to secure him the -benefit of early promotion. He was enrolled, too, among the pages of -Marie Leszczynska, the Polish wife of King Louis XV, but his duties, -as page and soldier, were merely nominal. He does not say a word about -[Pg 10]being page in his _Memoirs_. Of the regiment he merely says that -it served to get him excused from classes when there was to be a parade. - -He remained three years at Du Plessis. He found studying according to -rule decidedly irksome, and very different from the solitary lessons at -Chavaniac, where the few rules in force had been made for his benefit, -if not for his convenience. He tells us that he was "distracted from -study only by the desire to study without restraint," and that such -success as he gained was "inspired by a desire for glory and troubled -by the desire for liberty." Sometimes the latter triumphed. It amused -him, when he was old, to recall how, being ordered to write an essay on -"the perfect steed," he sacrificed a good mark and the praise of his -teachers to the pleasure of describing a spirited horse that threw his -rider at the very sight of a whip. - -The Collège Du Plessis must have been almost like a monastery. Each -boy had a stuffy little cell into which he was locked at night. No -member of a student's family might cross the threshold, and the many -careful rules for health and diet were quite the opposite of those -now practised. This period of Lafayette's school-days was a time when -men's ideas on a variety of subjects were undergoing vast change. The -old notion that learning was something to be jealously guarded and -made as difficult and disagreeable as possible died hard. It is true -that the good Fénelon, who believed in teaching children to read from -books printed in French instead of in Latin, and who thought it could -[Pg 11]do them no harm if the books were "well bound and gilded on -the edge," had gone to his reward half a century before; but he had -been writing about the education of girls! When Lafayette was only -five years old one Jean Jacques Rousseau had published a fantastic -story called _Émile_, which was nothing in the world but a treatise on -education in disguise. In this he objected to the doctrine of original -sin, holding that children were not born bad; and he reasoned that they -did not learn better nor more quickly for having knowledge beaten into -them with rods. But this man Rousseau was looked upon as an infidel -and a dangerous character. Probably at Du Plessis the discipline and -course of study belonged to the old order of things, though there -were concessions in the way of teaching the young gentlemen manners -and poetry and polite letter-writing, which they would need later in -their fashionable life at court. History as taught them was hopelessly -tangled up in heraldry, being all about the coats of arms and the -quarrels of nobles in France and neighboring countries. When something -about justice and liberty and the rights of the people did creep into -the history lesson the tall young student from Auvergne fell upon it -with avidity. Perhaps it was because of such bits scattered through -the pages of Roman authors that he learned considerable Latin, and -learned it well enough to remember it forty years later, when he found -it useful to piece out his ignorance of German in talking with his -Austrian jailers. - -In spite of queer notions about hygiene, like those which bade him -[Pg 12]shut out fresh air from his room at night and avoid the risk of -eating fresh fruit, he grew in body as well as in mind during the years -at Du Plessis, and he had almost reached his man's height of five feet -eleven inches, when one day in 1770 a messenger came to the college, -bringing the news that his mother had just died. A very few days later -her death was followed by that of her father, who was wealthy and had -made the boy his heir. Thus, almost within a week, he found himself -infinitely poorer than he had ever been before, yet very rich, deprived -of those dearest to him and in possession of a large fortune. - -People began to take a sudden lively interest in him. The son of a -young widow studying in the Collège Du Plessis was of consequence only -to himself and his mother. But the young Marquis de Lafayette, of such -old and excellent family, such good disposition, such a record in his -studies, such a very large income--above all, a generous young man with -no near relatives to give meddling advice about how he should spend his -money, became fair prey for all the fortune-hunters prowling around the -corrupt court of old Louis XV. - -These were many. The king was bored as well as old. His days were -filled with a succession of tiresome ceremonies. A crowd of bowing -courtiers was admitted to his bedroom before he got up in the morning. -Crowds attended him at every turn, even assisting in his toilet at -night. Frederick the Great had said, "If I were king of France, the -first thing I would do would be to appoint another king to hold court -[Pg 13]in my place"! But indolent old Louis had not the energy even to -break down customs which had come to him from the days of kings long -dead. "He cared for nothing in this life except to hunt, and feared -nothing in the life to come except hell." When not hunting, his one -desire was to be let alone to pursue whatever evil fancy entered his -brain. - -The people at court had two desires--to flatter the king and to get -money. The first was the surest means to the second. Everybody, good -and bad, seemed in need of money, for the few rich nobles had set a -style of living which not even the king could afford to follow. It -was all part of the same tangle, the result of accidents and crimes -and carelessness extending through many reigns, which had brought -about ever-increasing visits of the tax-collectors and reduced the -peasants to starvation. One after another important concessions had -been given away as a mark of royal favor, or else had been sold -outright. A clever man in the reign of Louis XIV had remarked that -whenever his Majesty created an office the Lord supplied a fool to buy -it. In the reign of his grandson, Louis XV, things were even worse. A -high-sounding official title, carrying with it a merely nominal duty -and some privilege that might be turned into coin, was the elegant way -of overcoming financial difficulty. Even the wax candles burned in -the sconces at Versailles were sold for the benefit of the official -who had charge of their lighting. He saw to it that plenty of candles -were lighted, and that none of them burned too long before going to -swell his income. What the great nobles did lesser ones imitated; and -[Pg 14]so on, down a long line. No wonder that young Lafayette, having -inherited his fortune, became suddenly interesting. - -Of course, not everybody was corrupt, even at court. There were people -who could not possibly be classed as fortune-hunters. Even to these -the fact that the young heir was tall and silent and awkward, not -especially popular at school, and not likely to shine in a society -whose standards were those of dancing-school manners and lively wit, -did not weigh for a moment against the solid attraction of his wealth. -To fathers and mothers of marriageable daughters both his moral and -material qualifications appealed. He was barely fourteen years old -when proposals of marriage began to be made in the careful French -way, which assumes that matrimony is an affair to be arranged between -guardians, instead of being left to the haphazard whim of young people. -An early letter of Lafayette's written about this time was partly -upon this subject. It might have been penned by a world-wise man of -thirty. The Comte de la Rivière appears to have been the person to -whom these proposals were first addressed. He, and possibly the Abbé -Feyon, discussed them with Lafayette in a business-like way; and the -young man, not being in love, either with a maid or with the idea -of matrimony, listened without enthusiasm, suggesting that better -matches might be found among the beauties of Auvergne. New duties and -surroundings engrossed him. He had left Du Plessis for the Military -Academy at Versailles, where there was more army and less cloister in -his training; where he spent part of his money upon fine horses and -[Pg 15]lent them generously to friends; and where, for amusement in his -hours of leisure, he could watch the pageant of court life unrolling at -the very gates of the academy. Matrimony could wait. - -Among those more interested in providing a wife for him than he was in -finding one for himself was the lively Duc d'Ayen, a rich and important -nobleman, the father of five daughters. The eldest of these was fully a -year younger than Lafayette, while the others descended toward babyhood -like a flight of steps. Even in that day of youthful marriages it -seemed early to begin picking out husbands for them. But there were -five, and the duke felt he could not begin better than by securing -this long-limbed boy for a son-in-law. He suggested either his eldest -daughter, Louise, or the second child, Adrienne, then barely twelve, -as a future Marquise de Lafayette. He did not care which was chosen, -but of course it must be one of the older girls, since the bridegroom -would have to wait too long for the others to grow up. The match was -entirely suitable, and was taken under favorable consideration by the -bridegroom's family; but when it occurred to the duke to mention the -matter to his wife, he found opposition where it was least expected. -Madame d'Ayen absolutely refused her consent. These two were quite -apt to hold different views. The husband liked the luxury of the -court and chuckled over its shams. His wife, on the contrary, was of -a most serious turn of mind and had very little sense of humor. The -frivolities of court life really shocked her. She looked upon riches as -[Pg 16]a burden, and fulfilled the social duties of her position only -under protest as part of that burden. The one real joy of her life lay -in educating her daughters. She studied the needs of their differing -natures. She talked with them much more freely than was then the -custom, and did all in her power to make of them women who could live -nobly at court and die bravely when and wherever their time came. - -She had no fault to find with young Lafayette. Her opposition was a -matter of theory and just a little selfish, for her married life had -not been happy enough to make her anxious to see her girls become wives -of even the best young men. As for this Motier lad, she thought him -particularly open to temptation because of his youth and loneliness and -great wealth. He had lacked the benefit of a father's training. So, for -that matter, had her own children. Their father was almost always away -from home. - -The duke's airy manner hid a persistent spirit, and, in spite of his -worldliness, he esteemed the good character of the boy. The discussion -lasted almost a year and developed into the most serious quarrel of -their married life. No wonder, under the circumstances, that the duke -did not, as his daughter expressed it, "like his home." The little -girls knew something was wrong, and shared their mother's unhappiness -without guessing the cause. The duke's acquaintances, on the other -hand, to whom the cause was no secret, looked upon the contest of wills -as a comedy staged for their benefit. One of them said in his hearing -that no woman of Madame d'Ayen's strength of character, who had gone -[Pg 17]so far in refusal, would ever consent to the marriage. At this -the duke warmly rushed to the defense of his wife and answered that a -woman of her character, once convinced that she was wrong, would give -in completely and utterly. - -That was exactly what happened. After months of critical observation -she found herself liking Lafayette better and better. The duke assured -her that the marriage need not take place for two years, and that -meantime the young man should continue his studies. She gave her -consent and took the motherless boy from that moment into her heart; -while the little girls, sensitive to the home atmosphere, felt the joy -of reconciliation without even yet knowing how nearly it concerned them. - -It was decided among the elders that Adrienne, the second daughter, was -to become Madame Lafayette, because the young Vicomte de Noailles, a -cousin to whom Louise had been partial from babyhood, had made formal -proposals for her hand. This cousin was a friend and schoolfellow of -Lafayette's, and during the next few months the youths were given the -opportunity of meeting their future wives apparently by chance while -out walking, and even under the roof of the duke; but for a year -nothing was said to the girls about marriage. Their mother did not -wish to have their minds distracted from their lessons or from that -important event in the lives of Catholic maidens, their first communion. - -Two months before her marriage actually took place Louise was told -that she was to be the bride of Noailles; and at the time of that -wedding Adrienne was informed of the fate in store for her. She found -[Pg 18]nothing whatever to question in this. It seemed altogether -delightful, and far simpler than deciding about the state of her own -soul. The truth was that her heart had already begun to feel that love -for Gilbert de Motier which was to grow and become the controlling -factor of her life. Girl-like, her head was just a little turned by -the momentous news of her engagement. Her mother tried to allay her -excitement, but she also took care to let Adrienne know how much she -liked the young man and to repeat to her all the good things she had -found out about him. And to her joy, Adrienne found that Lafayette felt -for the elder lady "that filial affection" which also grew as the years -went on. - -How he felt about marriage as the day approached we do not know; -neither do we know the details of the wedding which must have been -celebrated with some splendor on the 11th of April, 1774. The bride was -not yet fifteen, the groom was sixteen. He was given leave of absence -from his regiment, and the newly wedded pair took up their residence in -the wonderful Paris home of Adrienne's family, the Hotel de Noailles. -Although not far from the Tuileries, in the very heart of the city, it -possessed a garden so large that a small hunt could be carried on in -it, with dogs and all. John Adams is authority for this. He visited the -Lafayettes there some time later, and found it unbelievably vast and -splendid. - - -[Pg 19]III - -A NEW KING - - -Less than a month after their marriage these young people were dressed -in black, as was all the rest of fashionable Paris. The gay spring -season had been brought to a premature and agitated end by the news -that the king lay dead of smallpox, the loathsome disease he most -dreaded. - -Smallpox was distressingly common in those days before vaccination had -been discovered; but courageous people protected themselves against it -even then by deliberately contracting the disease from a mild case and -allowing it to run its course under the best possible conditions. It -was found to be much less deadly in this way, though the patients often -became very ill, and it required real courage to submit to it. - -The old king had never been at all brave. He feared discomfort in this -life almost as much as he dreaded hell in the next; so he had fled the -disease instead of courting it, and in time it came to have special -terrors for him. He had been riding through the April woods with a -hunting party and had come upon a sad little funeral procession--a very -[Pg 20]humble one. Always curious, he stopped the bearers and asked -who they were carrying to the grave. "A young girl, your Majesty." -The king's watery old eyes gleamed. "Of what did she die?" "Smallpox, -Sire." In terrified anger the monarch bade them begone and bury the -corpse deep; then he dismissed the hunt and returned to the palace. Two -days later he was stricken. The disease ran its course with amazing -virulence, as though taking revenge for his misspent life. Some of the -courtiers fled from Versailles. Others, to whom the king's displeasure -seemed a worse menace than smallpox, remained. His favorites tried -to keep the truth from the public. Daily bulletins announced that he -was getting better. When it was learned that he might die the people -crowded the church of Ste.-Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, -kissing the reliquary and raising sobs and prayers for his recovery. -When he died, on the 10th of May, his body was hastily covered with -quicklime and conveyed, by a little handful of attendants who remained -faithful, to St.-Denis, where the kings of France lie buried. It was -done without ceremony in the dead of night. Forty days later his bones -were laid in the tomb of his ancestors with all possible funeral pomp. -There was decorous official mourning for the customary length of time; -but the old king had never been an inspiring figure and most of his -subjects were secretly glad he was out of the way. - -During July and August of that year Lafayette was "in service" with -the Black Mousquetaires. In September, when his period of active duty -[Pg 21]was over and he could do as he chose, he had himself exposed to -smallpox, and he and his wife and mother-in-law shut themselves up in a -house at Chaillon, hired for the occasion, where during his illness and -convalescence Madame d'Ayen devoted herself to her new son night and -day. - -Even while the rafters of Ste.-Geneviève were echoing to sobs and -prayers for the old king's recovery, people whispered under their -breath what they really thought of him; and by the time Lafayette -and his wife could take their places in the world again Louis XV had -been systematically forgotten. His grandson, the new king, was a -well-meaning young man, only three years older than Lafayette. One of -the king's intimates said that the chief trouble with Louis XVI was -that he lacked self-confidence. Marie Antoinette, his queen, was fond -of pleasure, and for four long years, ever since their marriage, they -had been obliged to fill the difficult position of heirs apparent, -hampered by all the restraints of royalty while enjoying precious few -of its privileges. Like every one else, they were anxious to get the -period of mourning well over and to see the real beginning of their -reign, which promised to be long and prosperous. Nobody realized that -the time had come when the sins and abuses of previous reigns must be -paid for, and that the country was on the verge of one of the greatest -revolutions of history. - -To outward appearance it was a time of hope. Population was increasing -rapidly; inventions and new discoveries were being made every day. -[Pg 22]"More truths concerning the external world were discovered in -France during the latter half of the eighteenth century than during all -preceding periods together," says Buckle. Even in the lifetime of the -old king it had been impossible to stem the tide of progress: what more -natural than to believe these blessings would continue, now that his -evil influence was removed? - -Not only had discoveries been made; they had been brought within the -reach of more people than ever before. About the time Lafayette was -born the first volume of a great book called the _Encyclopedia_ had -made its appearance in the French language, modeled after one already -produced in England. Priests had denounced it; laws had been made -ordering severe penalties for its use. But it was too valuable to be -given up and volume after volume continued to appear. Voltaire wrote an -audacious imaginary account of the way it was used in the palace. The -king's favorite did not know how to mix her rouge; the king's ministers -wanted to learn about gunpowder. The forbidden book was sent for. A -procession of lackeys staggered into the room, bending under the weight -of twenty huge volumes, and everybody found the information desired. -The bit of audacity hid a great truth. The _Encyclopedia_ had brought -knowledge to the people and all were anxious to profit by it. - -"The people," however, were not considered by nobles who lived -in palaces. Indeed, they were only beginning to consider -themselves--beginning dimly to comprehend that their day was dawning. -[Pg 23]Two decades would have to pass before they were fully awake, -but the scene was already being set for their great drama. Paris, the -largest city in France, had increased in size one-third during the past -twenty-five years. The old theory had been that too large a town was a -public menace, both to health and to government. Nine times already in -its history the limits of Paris had been fixed and had been outgrown. -It now held between seven hundred thousand and eight hundred thousand -souls. When viewed from the tower of Notre Dame it spread out ten or -twelve miles in circumference, round as an orange, and cut into two -nearly equal parts by the river Seine. - -"One is a stranger to one's neighbor in this vast place," a man wrote -soon after this. "Sometimes one learns of his death only by receiving -the invitation to his funeral." "Two celebrated men may live in this -city twenty-five years and never meet." "So many chimneys send forth -warmth and smoke that the north wind is tempered in passing over the -town." Streets were so narrow and houses so high that dwellers on -the lower floors "lived in obscurity"; while elsewhere there were -palaces like the great house belonging to the De Noailles family with -its garden large enough to stage a small hunt. Such gardens were -carefully walled away from the public. These walled-in gardens and the -high, evil-smelling houses in which people lived "three hundred years -behind the times," crowded together and hungry from birth to death, -were equally prophetic of the awakening to come; for the improvements -[Pg 24]celebrated by this writer in describing old Paris were either -of a kind to let light in upon the people or to make conditions more -intolerable for them. - -Advertising signs no longer creaked from iron gibbets, threatening to -tumble and crush the passers-by. Spurs as big as cartwheels and the -huge gloves and giant boots which formerly proclaimed the business -carried on under them had been banished or were now screwed securely -to the walls, which gave the streets a clean-shaven appearance. The -candle lanterns that used to splutter and drip and go out, leaving -Paris in darkness, were replaced, on nights when the moon was off duty, -by lamps burning "tripe-oil" and fitted with reflectors. By means of -this brilliant improvement fashionable quarters were almost safe after -nightfall, whereas in former years there had been danger of attack and -robbery, even within pistol-shot of the grand home where Lafayette -went to live after his marriage. In addition to the lights glowing -steadily under their reflectors--one light to every seventy or one -hundred inhabitants--there were many professional lantern-bearers whose -business in life was escorting wayfarers to and from their homes. Paris -after nightfall was atwinkle, for "to live by candle-light is a sign of -opulence." - -There was a fire department, newly installed, ready to come on call, -and, strange to say, "it cost absolutely nothing to be rescued." -That, however, was the only cheap thing in Paris. "The poorer one -is the more it costs to live!" was a cry that rose then, as now, -[Pg 25]in all its bitterness. With money anything could be bought. -Voltaire declared that a Roman general on the day of his triumph never -approached the luxury to be found here. Wares came to the city from -the ends of the earth, and Parisians invented new wares of their own. -Somebody had contrived umbrellas like those used in the Orient, except -that these folded up when not in use. Somebody else had invented the -business of renting them at a charge of two liards to gallants crossing -the Pont Neuf who wished to shield their complexions. There were -little stations at each end of the bridge where the money could be -paid or the umbrella given up. Even seasons of the year set no limit -to extravagance in Paris. "A bouquet of violets in the dead of winter -costs two louis (about nine dollars), and some women wear them!" - -Water was delivered daily to the tall houses, from carts, by a force of -twenty thousand men, who carried it as high as the seventh floor for -a trifle more than it cost to cross the Pont Neuf under the shade of -an umbrella. Drivers sent their water-carts skidding over the slime, -for the narrow, cobble-paved streets were black with slippery mud. -Coaches and other vehicles swung around corners and dashed along at -incredible speed, while pedestrians fled in every direction. There were -no sidewalks and no zones of safety. The confusion was so great that -dignified travel by sedan-chair had become well-nigh impossible. King -Louis XV once said, "If I were chief of police I would forbid coaches"; -but, being only King Louis, he had done nothing. Pedestrians were often -[Pg 26]run down; then there would be even greater confusion for a few -moments, but only the shortest possible halt to traffic. "When on the -pavements of Paris it is easy to see that the people do not make the -laws," said one who had suffered. - -These people who suffered in Paris at every turn were now beginning to -find a cyclopedia of their own in another invention of comparatively -recent date--the cafés, warmed and lighted, where even men who had -not sous enough to satisfy their hunger might cheat their stomachs -with a thimbleful of sour wine or a morsel of food, and sit for hours -listening and pondering the talk of others who came and went. There was -much talk, and in one part of Paris or another it touched upon every -known subject. Each café had its specialty; politics in one, philosophy -in another, science in a third. Men of the same cast of mind gravitated -toward the same spot. Cafés had already become schools. Soon they were -to become political clubs. It was a wonderful way to spread new ideas. - -Some of the cafés were very humble, some very expensive, but none were -strictly fashionable. To be seen dining in such a place indicated that -a man had no invitations to dinner, so the eighteen or twenty thousand -fops who, curled and perfumed, went from house to house cared little -for cafés. They ate like grasshoppers, through the welcome of one -host on Monday and another on Tuesday, and so down the week, "knowing -neither the price of meat nor of bread, and consuming not one-quarter -of that which was set before them," while thousands went hungry--which -[Pg 27]is the reason that after a time the men in the cafés rose -and took a terrible revenge. Paris was by no means all France, but -whatever Paris did and felt the other towns were doing also; and slowly -but surely the passions animating them would make their way to the -loneliest peasant hut on the remotest edge of the kingdom. - -Thus, while the nobles in their gardens still dreamed pleasantly of -the power that was passing from them, the people were slowly rousing -from torpor to resentment. It is well to linger over these conditions -in order to understand fully all that Lafayette's acts meant in the -society in which he moved. He was not one of the twenty thousand fops, -but he belonged to the fortunate class to whom every door seemed open -during the early years of the new reign. His military duties were -agreeable and light, he had plenty of money, a charming wife, powerful -family connections, and he was admitted to the inmost circle at court. -If he had longings to experiment with the democratic theories set forth -by radical authors like Rousseau, even that was not forbidden him. -Their writings had attracted much attention and had already brought -about increased liberality of manners. While the court at Versailles -and the city of Paris were very distinct, Paris being only a huge town -near at hand, the distance between them was but fourteen miles, and -it was quite possible for young men like Lafayette to go visiting, so -to speak, in circles not their own. Lafayette's friend, the Comte de -Ségur, has left a picture of life as the young men of their circle knew -it. - -[Pg 28]"Devoting all our time to society, _fêtes_, and pleasure, ... we -enjoyed at one and the same time all the advantages we had inherited -from our ancient institutions, and all the liberty permitted by new -fashions. The one ministered to our vanity, the other to our love of -pleasure. In our castles, among our peasants, our guards, and our -bailiffs, we still exercised some vestiges of our ancient feudal -power. At court and in the city we enjoyed all the distinctions of -birth. In camp our illustrious names alone were enough to raise us to -superior command, while at the same time we were at perfect liberty to -mix unhindered and without ostentation with all our co-citizens and -thus to taste the pleasures of plebeian equality. The short years of -our springtime of life rolled by in a series of illusions--a kind of -well-being which could have been ours, I think, at no other age of the -world." - - -[Pg 29]IV - -AN UNRULY COURTIER - - -During the winter after Adrienne's marriage the Duchesse d'Ayen took -her two daughters regularly to the balls given each week by the queen, -and after the balls invited the friends of her sons-in-law to supper, -in a pathetically conscientious effort to make the home of the De -Noailles a more agreeable place for the husbands of her children than -it had been for her own. Adrienne inherited much of her mother's -seriousness, but she was young enough to enjoy dancing, and, feeling -that duty as well as inclination smiled upon this life, she was very -happy. In December of that year her first child was born, a daughter -who was named Henriette. - -Lafayette tells us in his _Memoirs_ that he did not feel thoroughly -at ease in the gay society Marie Antoinette drew about her. Nor did -the queen altogether approve of him, because of his silence and an -awkwardness which did not measure up to the standards of deportment -she had set for this circle of intimate friends. "I was silent," he -says, "because I did not hear anything which seemed worth repeating; -and I certainly had no thoughts of my own worthy of being put into -[Pg 30]words." Some of his friends, who knew him better than the queen, -realized that there was plenty of fire in him, in spite of his cold -manner and slow speech. De Ségur was one of these, for at some period -of his youth Lafayette, smitten with sudden and mistaken jealousy, had -spent nearly an entire night trying to persuade De Ségur to fight a -duel with him about a beauty for whom De Ségur did not care at all. - -Adrienne's family, wishing to do their best by him, tried to secure a -place for him in the household of the prince who afterward became Louis -XVIII. Lafayette did not want to hurt their feelings; neither did he -fancy himself in the rôle they had chosen for him, where he believed -he would be forced to govern his actions by another man's opinions. He -kept his own counsel,but, "in order to save his independence," managed -to have the prince overhear a remark which he made with the deliberate -purpose of angering him. The office was of course given to some one -else, and another bit of ill will went to swell the breezes blowing -over the terraces at Versailles. - -There were bitter court factions. Friends of Louis XV had not relished -seeing power slip out of their hands. The queen was an Austrian who -never fully understood nor sympathized with the French. Neither her -critics nor her partizans ever allowed themselves to forget her foreign -birth. King Louis, not having confidence in himself, chose for his -premier M. de Maurepas, who was over eighty, and should therefore have -been a mine of wisdom and experience. Unfortunately, he was the wrong -[Pg 31]man; he was not universally respected, and his white hairs -crowned a pate that was not proof against the frivolities of society. -The younger men were displeased. It was not customary to give young -men positions of importance, but they were sure they could do quite as -well as he. They had their café club also, a place called the Wooden -Sword, where they discussed the most extravagant theories of new -philosophy, reviled old customs, calling them "Gothic," their favorite -term of reproach, and concocted schemes to amuse themselves and tease -their elders. Having nothing serious to occupy them, they turned their -attention to setting new fashions. A series of pageants and dances gave -them excellent opportunity. The admiration they felt for themselves and -one another in the romantic dress of the time of Henri IV made them -resolve to adopt it and force it upon others for daily wear. That the -capes and plumes and love-knots which became their slender figures so -well made older and stouter men look ridiculous was perhaps part of -their malicious intent. - -Age made common cause against them, and the youngsters went too far -when they held a mock session of Parliament, one of those grave -assemblages which had taken place in far-off days in France, but had -been almost forgotten since. There was an increasing demand that the -custom be revived, which was not relished by M. de Maurepas and his -kind. When the old premier learned that a prince of the blood had -played the role of President in this travesty, while Lafayette had -been attorney-general and other sprigs of high family figured as [Pg -32]counsel, barristers, and advocates, it was evident that a storm was -brewing. De Ségur went straight to the king and told him the story in -a way that made him laugh. This saved the participants from serious -consequences, but it was agreed that such trifling must stop; and most -of them were packed off to join their regiments. - -Lafayette's regiment was stationed at Metz, and he took his way there -feeling much as he had felt when he wrote his school-boy essay on the -"perfect steed." It was the most fortunate journey of his life, for at -the end of it he met his great opportunity. The Duke of Gloucester, -brother of the King of England, was traveling abroad. He came to -Metz, and the military commander of the place, Comte de Broglie, gave -a dinner in his honor to which he invited the chief officers of the -garrison. It was not the only time that a dinner played an important -part in Lafayette's career. Neither Lafayette's age nor his military -rank quite entitled him to such an invitation; but the count had a -kindly spot in his heart for young men. Besides, Adrienne Lafayette was -a kinswoman of his, and he remembered that the father of this tall, -silent lad had served under him in the Seven Years' War. - -The guest of honor was not the kind of loyal subject and brother who -could speak no ill of his sovereign. In fact, he and King George -were not on good terms. He had his own views about the troubles in -America, and thought the king quite wrong in his attitude toward the -Colonists. He had lately received letters, and at this dinner discussed -[Pg 33]them with the utmost frankness, explaining the point of view -of the "insurgents" and expressing his belief that they would give -England serious trouble. Possibly Lafayette had never heard of George -Washington until that moment. Certainly he had never considered the -continent of North America except as a vague and distant part of the -earth's surface with which he could have no personal concern. Yet twice -already the names of his family and of America had been linked. The old -marshal who took _Cur non?_ for his motto had lived when the voyage of -Columbus had set the world ringing; and Gilbert de Motier, Lafayette's -own father, had lost his life in the Seven Years' War, by which England -won from France practically all the land she held in the New World. - -Slight and remote as these connections were, who can say that they -did not unconsciously influence a spirit inclined toward liberty? The -conversation of the Duke of Gloucester seemed to bring America from -a great distance to within actual reach of Lafayette's hand. He hung -upon every word. The prince may not have been altogether prudent in -his remarks. It was an after-dinner conversation and in that day the -English drank hard. Even so, the duke's indiscretions made the talk -more interesting and, to Lafayette, more convincing. Every word spoken -strengthened the belief that these American Colonists were brave men, -well within their rights, fighting for a principle which would make -the world better and happier. He realized with a thrill that men three -[Pg 34]thousand miles away were not content with mere words, but -were risking their lives at that very moment for the theories which -philosophers had been preaching for a thousand years; the same theories -that orators in six hundred Paris cafés had lately begun to declaim. - -Afterward he got permission to ask some of the questions with which -his brain teemed; but long before the candles of that feast had burned -down in their sockets his great resolution was made to "go to America -and offer his services to a people struggling to be free." From that -time on he could think of little else; but, as so often happens with -quick and generous resolutions, the more he thought about it the more -difficult it seemed to carry out. He had exulted at first that he -was his own master with a fortune to dispose of as he chose. Then he -remembered his wife and her family. He knew he could count upon her -loyalty; but he was equally certain that he would meet determined -opposition from the Duc d'Ayen and all his powerful connection, who had -done their worldly best to make him a member of a prince's household. - -And disapproval of "the family" in France was not to be lightly -regarded. No serious step could be undertaken by young people without -their elders feeling it their solemn duty to give advice. Very likely -the king and his ministers would also have something to say. "However," -he wrote in his _Memoirs_, "I had confidence in myself, and dared adopt -as device for my coat of arms the words _Cur non?_ that they might -serve me on occasion for encouragement, or by way of answer." - -[Pg 35]He knew almost nothing about America, and, as soon as military -duties permitted, asked leave to go to Paris to make further inquiries, -opening his heart very frankly to the Comte de Broglie. It happened -that the count had vivid dreams of his own about America--dreams -which centered on nothing less than the hope that with proper hints -and encouragement the rebellious colonies might call him (the Comte -de Broglie, of wide military experience) to take supreme command of -their armies and lead them to victory, instead of trusting them to -the doubtful guidance of local talent in the person of this obscure -Col. George Washington. But De Broglie was not minded to confide such -things to the red-haired stripling who looked at him so pleadingly. He -conscientiously tried to dissuade him. "My boy," he said, "I saw your -uncle die in the Italian wars. I witnessed your father's death.... I -will not be accessory to the ruin of the only remaining branch of your -family." But finding arguments made no impression, he gave him the -coveted permission and also an introduction to a middle-aged Bavarian -officer known as the Baron de Kalb. This man had made a voyage to -America in the secret employment of the French government some years -before, and he was even now acting as De Broglie's agent. - -Arrived in Paris, Lafayette found the town full of enthusiasm for the -insurgents, or the Bostonians, as they were called. Already English -whist had been abandoned for another game of cards known as _le -Boston_, and soon the authorities might feel it necessary to forbid -[Pg 36]the wearing of a certain style of head-dress called "_aux -insurgents_" and to prohibit talk about American rebels in the cafés. -Secretly the ministers of Louis wished the audacious rebels well, -being convinced that whatever vexed England served to advance the -interests of France, but officially they were strictly neutral. When -Lord Stormont, the British ambassador, complained that agents of the -American government were shipping supplies from French ports, they -made a great show of activity, asked American vessels to leave, and -forbade trade in contraband articles; but they obligingly shut their -eyes to the presence of Silas Deane, the American envoy, in Paris. -Diplomatically speaking, he did not exist, since Louis had not yet -received him; but everybody knew that people of distinction in all -walks of life went secretly to his lodgings. - -Lafayette knew not one word of English. Silas Deane knew little, if -any, French, and it was De Kalb who acted as interpreter when the -young nobleman went to call upon him. Liberty, like misery, brings -about strange companionships. Three men more unlike could scarcely -have been found. Although known as "Baron," Johann Kalb was a man of -mystery who had in truth begun life as a butler and had won his place -in the army through sheer merit. He was middle-aged, handsome, and -grave. Silas Deane, the lawyer-merchant from Connecticut, was not only -imperfectly equipped with French, his manners were so unpolished as to -appear little short of repulsive. Lafayette's usual quiet was shaken by -his new enthusiasm. His bearing, which seemed awkward at Versailles, -[Pg 37]was more graceful than the Yankee envoy thought quite moral, -or than the grave soldier of fortune had been able to achieve. And -he was ridiculously young. Even he realized that. "In presenting my -nineteen-year-old face to Mr. Deane," says the _Memoirs_, "I dwelt more -on my zeal than on my experience; but I did make him comprehend that my -departure would cause some little excitement and might influence others -to take a similar step." He could make the family opposition count for -something on his side! - -Whatever Silas Deane may have lacked in manner, his wits were not slow. -He instantly saw the advantage of gaining such a convert to his cause. -The two signed an agreement which was a rather remarkable document. -On his part Silas Deane promised Lafayette the rank of major-general -in the Continental Army. But hardened as Deane was to making lavish -promises in the name of the Continental Congress, he knew that a -major-general only nineteen years of age, who had never heard the sound -of a hostile gun, would be received with question rather than with -joy in America, so he added a few words explaining that Lafayette's -"high birth, his connections, the great dignities held by his family -at the court, his disinterestedness, and, above all, his zeal for the -freedom of our Colonies have alone been able to induce me to make this -promise." One would think Lafayette had been haggling, whereas quite -the reverse appears to have been the truth. - -[Pg 38]Lafayette wrote: "To the above conditions I agree; and promise -to start when and how Mr. Deane shall judge it proper, to serve the -said states with all possible zeal, with no allowance for private -salary, reserving to myself only the right to return to France whenever -my family or the king shall recall me," and signed his name. After -which he left the house of the American commissioner feeling that -nothing short of all the king's horses and all the king's men could -turn him from his purpose. - - -[Pg 39]V - -LEADING A DOUBLE LIFE - - -Lafayette found his brother-in-law De Noailles and De Ségur in Paris, -and, certain of being thoroughly understood by these two friends, -confided his plan to them. As he expected, both expressed a wish to -accompany him. The wish may not have been entirely unselfish. Many -young officers in the French army were chafing at the inaction which -ten years of peace had forced upon them, and this chance to distinguish -themselves in war may have appealed to them at first even more strongly -than the justice of the American cause. It certainly added to the -appeal of justice in Lafayette's own case; but meetings with Silas -Deane and his associates, Arthur Lee and Mr. Carmichael, above all, -with Benjamin Franklin, who came to Paris about this time, soon altered -interest to a warmer and less selfish feeling. - -These Americans, with their unfashionable clothes, their -straightforward speech, and their simple bearing, with plenty of pride -in it, presented the greatest possible contrast to the curled and -powdered flatterers surrounding Louis XVI. To meet them was like being -met by a breath of fresh, wholesome air. The young men who came under -[Pg 40]their influence fancied that Franklin might almost be a friend -of Plato himself. "What added to our esteem, our confidence, and our -admiration," wrote De Ségur, "were the good faith and simplicity with -which the envoys, disdaining all diplomacy, told us of the frequent -and oft-repeated reverses sustained by their militia, inexperienced as -yet in the art of war." Merely as a sporting proposition it was a fine -thing that they and their army were doing. - -De Ségur and De Noailles quietly entered into an agreement with -the Americans, as Lafayette had done. So did others; and it became -impossible to keep their plans secret. When the families of our three -friends learned of their quixotic plan it was clear they would never -consent. De Noailles played a bold card by applying directly to the -War Office for permission to serve as a French officer in the American -army, hoping in this way to match family opposition with official -sanction, but the War Office refused. After that there was nothing to -do but to submit, since they were not men of independent means like -Lafayette, though both were older than he and held higher military -rank. They were dependent upon allowances made them by their respective -families, who thus had a very effective way of expressing disapproval. -All they could do was to assure Lafayette of their sympathy and keep -his secret, for they knew that the opposition which blocked them would -only make him the more determined. The better to carry out his plan, -however, he also pretended to listen to reason and to give up all -thoughts of crossing the Atlantic. - -[Pg 41]De Kalb, meanwhile, almost succeeded in leaving France. But -the French government decided that it would be a breach of neutrality -to allow its officers to fight against England, and he was obliged to -turn back. Knowing more about the secret hopes and plans of the Comte -de Broglie than Lafayette knew, he proposed that they go together -to consult him, and they spent several days at the count's country -home. How much Lafayette learned about his host's American dreams is -uncertain, nor does it make much difference in Lafayette's own story. -The two elder men were quite willing to use his enthusiasm to further -their own ends; but he had great need of their help. It was agreed that -the voyage to America must on no account be given up, and that the -best way would be for Lafayette to purchase and fit out a ship. This, -however, was easier said than done. One cannot buy a ship as casually -as a new pair of gloves. - -Not only was his family genuinely opposed and his government officially -opposed to his going; England had spies in Paris. It was jestingly said -that all the world passed at least once a day over the Pont Neuf, and -men were supposed to be on watch there, to ascertain who had and who -had not left the city. England, moreover, had agents at every seaport -in northern France. But Bordeaux in the south seemed very far away in -days of stage-coach travel, and consequently was not so well guarded. -As luck would have it, the Comte de Broglie's secretary had a brother -who knew all about ships and merchants in Bordeaux. He found a vessel -[Pg 42]which would do, though she was not very good. Her name could -not be improved upon, for she was called _La Victoire_. Perhaps, like -her new owner, she was able to choose one to fit the occasion. She was -to cost 112,000 francs, one-quarter down, and the rest within fifteen -months of the date of delivery, which was fixed for the middle of -March, 1777. - -Weeks before this time arrived very bad news had come from America. The -report ran that Washington had lost practically everything. He had been -defeated in the battles of Long Island and White Plains; New York was -burned, and he and his troops, reduced now to a ragged mob of two or, -at most, three thousand men, were in full retreat across New Jersey, -pursued by thirty thousand British. It was well known that England -was the most powerful military nation of Europe and that, not content -with her own forces, she was hiring regiments of Hessians to send -overseas. Clearly the triumph of such numbers must come speedily. All -society, from Marie Antoinette down, admired the sturdy, independent -Franklin, with his baggy coat and his homely wit. Portraits of him in -his coonskin cap were to be seen in every home. He was a wizard who had -done things with lightning no other mortal had done before, but even he -could not bring success to a hopeless cause. - -[Illustration: FRANKLIN AT THE FRENCH COURT - -All society, from Marie Antoinette down, admired the sturdy, -independent Franklin, who was always a welcome guest at court] - -The prospect must have appeared black indeed to the envoys themselves. -Honorable men that they were, they felt in duty bound to explain the -changed conditions to Lafayette, and not to allow him to ruin his whole -[Pg 43]future because of a promise enthusiastically given. They sent -him a message asking him to come and see them. He knew he was watched -and dared not meet Franklin openly, but he went at once to Silas Deane -and listened to all he had to tell him. When he finished the young -Frenchman thanked him for his very frank statement of a bad situation -and then made a very frank statement in return. "Heretofore," he said, -"I have been able to show you only my willingness to aid you in your -struggle. The time has now come when that willingness can be put to -effective use, for I am going to buy a ship and take your officers out -in it. Let us not give up our hope yet; it is precisely in the time -of danger that I wish to share whatever fortune may have in store for -you." After that it would have required superhuman unselfishness on the -part of the Americans to dissuade him. - -How transactions which covered three months of time, two-thirds of -the length of France, and involved so many individuals remained -undiscovered is a mystery unless we assume that the opposition of the -government was more feigned than real. Officials appear to have closed -their eyes most obligingly whenever possible. - -To divert suspicion from himself, Lafayette occupied several weeks -in a visit to England which had been arranged long before. Franklin -and Deane were most anxious to have him carry out this plan to visit -the French ambassador in London. So Lafayette crossed the Channel and -spent three weeks in the smoky city, where he received many social -[Pg 44]courtesies. He appears to have enjoyed this season of gaiety -much better than similar occasions at home. The necessity for hiding -his plans gave zest to meetings and conversations that would otherwise -have been commonplace enough, while the necessity for remaining true to -his ideals of conduct--of continuing to be a guest and not a spy in an -enemy country--exercised his conscience as well as his wit. It became a -humorous adventure to dance at Lord Germain's in the same set with Lord -Rawdon, just back from New York, and to encounter between acts at the -opera General Clinton, against whom he was soon to fight at Monmouth. -When presented to his Majesty George III he replied to that monarch's -gracious hope that he intended to make a long stay in London, with an -answer at once guarded and misleading. The king inquired what errand -called him away, and Lafayette answered, with an inward chuckle, that -if his Majesty knew he would not wish him to remain! Although taking -good care not to betray his plans, he made no secret of his interest -in the Colonists or his belief in the justice of their cause; and he -avoided visiting seaport towns where expeditions were being fitted -out against them, and declined all invitations likely to put him in a -position to obtain information to which, under the circumstances, he -felt he had no right. - -Before leaving London he wrote a long letter to his father-in-law, to -be delivered only when he was safely on his way to Bordeaux. Then he -crossed to France, but instead of going to his own home took refuge -[Pg 45]with De Kalb at Chaillot, a suburb of Paris. Here he remained -three days, making final preparations. On one of these days he appeared -very early before the sleepy, astonished eyes of his friend De Ségur, -sent away the servant, closed the door of the bedroom with great care, -and hurled the bombshell of his news: "I am going to America. Nobody -knows it, but I am too fond of you to leave without telling you my -secret." Then he gave him the outline of his plan, including the port -from which he was to sail and the names of the dozen French officers -who were to accompany him. "Lucky dog! I wish I were going with you!" -was the substance of De Ségur's answer, but it had not the usual ring -of sincerity. De Ségur was about to marry a young aunt of Adrienne -Lafayette's and his wedding-day was drawing very near. - -Lafayette managed to impart his secret to De Noailles also, but he -left Paris without a farewell to Adrienne. The one hard thing in this -hurried departure was that he did not dare to see or even to write -directly to her. She was not well; and, besides the risk of arrest -involved in visiting her, the interview could only be unnerving and -distressing on both sides. The letter he wrote from London to her -father appears to have been the nearest to a direct message, and that, -it must be confessed, contained no mention of her name and no word -exclusively for her. It was her mother, the upright Madame d'Ayen, who -broke the news of his departure, tempering the seeming cruelty of his -conduct with words of praise for his pluck and for the motive which -[Pg 46]prompted him to act as he did. Madame d'Ayen was the only one -of the immediate family who had a good word for the runaway. The young -wife clung to her, appalled at the anger of her father. The duke was -furious, and once more the worthy pair came to the verge of quarrel -over this well-meaning young man. The count could see only madcap folly -in exchanging an assured position at the French court for the doubtful -honor of helping a lot of English farmers rebel against their king. For -a few days the town buzzed with excitement. Lafayette's acquaintances -were frankly astonished that the cold and indifferent young marquis -had roused himself to such action, and thought it exceedingly "chic" -that he should "go over to be hanged with the poor rebels." They were -indignant at the bitterness of the duke's denunciation. One lady with a -sharp tongue said that if he treated Lafayette so, he did not deserve -to find husbands for the rest of his daughters. - -The runaway was safely out of Paris, but by no means out of danger. The -Duc d'Ayen, who honestly felt that he was bringing disgrace upon the -family, bestirred himself to prevent his sailing, and had a _lettre de -cachet_ sent after him. A _lettre de cachet_ was an official document -whose use and abuse during the last hundred years had done much to -bring France to its present state of suppressed political excitement. -It was an order for arrest--a perfectly suitable and necessary document -when properly used. But men who had power, and also had private ends to -gain, had been able to secure such papers by the hundreds with spaces -[Pg 47]left blank wherein they could write whatever names they chose. -It was a safe and deadly and underhand way of satisfying grudges. In -Lafayette's case its use was quite lawful, because he was captain in a -French regiment, leaving the country in disobedience to the wish of his -sovereign, to fight against a nation with whom France was on friendly -terms. Technically he was little better than a deserter. When such -conduct was brought to official notice, only one course was possible. -The _lettre de cachet_ was sent, a general order was issued forbidding -French officers to take service in the American colonies, and directing -that if any of them, "especially the Marquis de Lafayette," reached -the French West Indies on such an errand he should forthwith return to -France. Word was also sent to French seaports to keep a close watch -upon vessels and to prevent the shipment of war materials to North -America. Lafayette's friends became alarmed at all this activity and -feared that it might have serious consequences not only for him, but -for themselves. Officials began to receive letters from them calculated -to shift the blame from their own shoulders, as well as to shield the -young man. The French ambassador to England, whose guest he had been in -London, was particularly disturbed, but felt somewhat comforted when he -learned that a high official in the French army had asked King George -for permission to fight as a volunteer under General Howe. This in a -manner offset Lafayette's act, and England could not accuse France of -partiality if her officers were to be found engaged on both sides. - - -[Pg 48]VI - -A SEA-TURN - - -Lafayette, meanwhile, was traveling southward with De Kalb. The -government does not appear to have interested itself in De Kalb, who -had a two years' furlough, obtained probably through the influence of -the Comte de Broglie. At the end of three days they reached Bordeaux. -Here they learned about the commotion Lafayette's departure had caused -and that the king's order for his arrest was on the way. That it did -not travel as speedily as the rumor seems to prove that Lafayette's -friends were using all possible official delay to give him ample -warning. He made good use of the time and succeeded in getting _La -Victoire_ out of Bordeaux to the Spanish harbor of Los Pasajes in the -Bay of Biscay, just across the French frontier. - -It was in leaving Bordeaux that Lafayette found a use for his many -names. Each passenger leaving a French port was required to carry -with him a paper stating his name, the place of his birth, his age, -and general appearance. The one made out by a port official not -over-particular in spelling described him as "Sr. Gilbert du Mottie, -Chevalier de Chaviallac--age twenty years, tall, and blond." This was -[Pg 49]all true except that his age was made a little stronger and the -color of his hair a little weaker than facts warranted. His age was -nineteen years and six months and his hair was almost red. He was the -Chevalier de Chavaniac, though it is doubtful if one acquaintance in a -hundred had ever heard the title. - -When he stepped ashore at Los Pasajes he was confronted by two officers -who had followed from Bordeaux by land with the _lettre de cachet_. -Letters from his family and from government officials also awaited him: -"terrible letters," he called them. Those from his family upbraided -him bitterly; the Ministry accused him of being false to his oath -of allegiance. The _lettre de cachet_ peremptorily ordered him to -Marseilles to await further instructions. He knew that this meant to -await the arrival of his father-in-law, who was about to make a long -journey into Italy and would insist upon Lafayette accompanying him, -that he might keep an eye upon his movements. - -He was now in Spain, quite beyond the reach of French law, but he could -not bring himself to actual disobedience while there was the remotest -chance of having these commands modified; so he went back with the -messengers to Bordeaux, and from there sent letters by courier to -Paris, asking permission to return and present his case in person. -De Kalb remained with the ship at Los Pasajes, impatient and not a -little vexed. He foresaw a long delay, if indeed the expedition ever -started. _La Victoire_ could not sail without its owner, or at least -[Pg 50]without the owner's consent. De Kalb thought Lafayette had acted -very foolishly; he should either have given up entirely or gone ahead -regardless of the summons, Also he felt that the young man had not been -quite frank; that in talking with him he had underestimated the family -opposition. "Had he told me in Paris all that he has admitted since," -De Kalb wrote to his wife, "I would have remonstrated most earnestly -against the whole scheme. As it is, the affair will cost him some -money." Then, having freed his mind of his accumulated impatience, he -added, "But if it be said that he has done a foolish thing, it may be -answered that he acted from the most honorable motives and that he can -hold up his head before all high-minded men." - -In Bordeaux Lafayette had presented himself before the commandant and -made declaration that he alone would be answerable for the consequences -of his acts; then he had set himself, with all the patience he could -muster, to wait the return of his messenger. To his formal request he -received no reply. From private letters he learned that he had only -the Duc d'Ayen to thank for the _lettre de cachet_. Officials had been -heard to say that they would have taken no notice of his departure had -it not been for the duke's complaint. This convinced him that there was -nothing to be gained by waiting; so he wrote to M. de Maurepas that -he interpreted his silence to be consent, "and with this pleasantry," -as he says in the _Memoirs_, disappeared from Bordeaux. He informed -the commandant that he was going to Marseilles in obedience to orders, -[Pg 51]and sent the same message to De Kalb, adding the significant -hint, however, that he had not given up hope, and the request that De -Kalb look after his interests. He, indeed, set out by post-chaise on -the road to Marseilles in company with the Vicomte de Mauroy, a young -officer who like himself held one of Silas Deane's commissions. They -left that road, however, at the first convenient opportunity and turned -their horses directly toward Spain. They also made slight changes in -their traveling arrangements, after which De Mauroy sat in the chaise -alone, while Lafayette, dressed like a postilion, rode one of the -horses. The commandant, having his own suspicions, sent some officers -riding after them. - -At a little town near the frontier, called Saint-Jean-de-Luz, it was -necessary to change horses. The masquerading post-boy threw himself -down to rest in the stable while the gentleman in the chaise attended -to the essential business. It was here that an inquisitive daughter -of the innkeeper, who evidently knew a good deal about postilions, -recognized in the youth stretched upon the straw the young gentleman -she had seen riding in state in the other direction only a few days -before. Her eyes and mouth opened in wonder, but a sign from Lafayette -checked the exclamation upon her lips, and when the officers rode up a -very demure but very positive young woman set them on the wrong trail. - -On the 17th of April Lafayette rejoined De Kalb at Los Pasajes, and on -Sunday, April 20, 1777, _La Victoire_ set sail for America. In addition -[Pg 52]to the captain and crew, De Kalb, the owner of the vessel, and -De Mauroy, she had on board about a dozen officers of various grades, -all of whom were anxious to serve in the Continental Army. The French -government took no further measures to interfere. Grave matters of -state nearer home claimed its attention; and, since signs of coming -war with England grew plainer every day, it may have been well content -to see this band of officers already enlisted against her. M. de -Vergennes, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was quoted as saying that -the young man had run away again, and he would take good care this time -not to mention the matter to the king. - -After six months of effort Lafayette was at last under way. The ship's -papers had been made out for the West Indies; but inconvenient orders -might be awaiting him there, so he ordered the captain to sail directly -for the mainland. The captain demurred, explaining that an English -cruiser could take them prisoners and confiscate their cargo if their -course and their papers did not agree. As owner of the vessel Lafayette -repeated his orders; he even threatened to depose the captain and put -the second officer in command. But the captain's unwillingness appeared -so extraordinary that he was moved to investigate farther, and found -that the thrifty man had smuggled merchandise aboard to the value of -$8,000 which he hoped to sell at a profit. Lafayette felt that it was -not a time to be over-particular. He promised to make good whatever -loss the captain might sustain, whereupon nervousness about English -cruisers left him and he steered as directed. - -[Pg 53]It proved a long voyage. _La Victoire_ was at sea fifty-five -dreary days, and Lafayette speedily fell a victim to the rollers -of the Atlantic; but he wrote to his wife he "had the consolation -vouchsafed to the wicked of suffering in company with many others." -When he recovered he began to study English, in which he made -considerable progress. He also studied military science as something -about which it might be convenient for a major-general to know; and he -wrote interminable pages to Adrienne, full of love, of ennui, and of -whimsical arguments to prove that he had done the wisest thing, not -only for his career, but for his health and safety, in offering his -sword to the Continental Army. - -"I have been ever since my last letter to you in the most dismal of -countries," he wrote after he had been out a month. "The sea is so -wearisome, and I believe we have the same doleful influence upon each -other, it and I." "One day follows another, and, what is worse, they -are all alike. Nothing but sky and nothing but water; and to-morrow it -will be just the same." "I ought to have landed before this, but the -winds have cruelly opposed me. I shall not see Charleston for eight or -ten days longer. Once I am there, I have every hope of getting news -from France. I shall learn then so many interesting details, not only -of what I am going to find before me, but above all of what I left -behind me with such regret. Provided I find that you are well, and -that you still love me, and that a certain number of our friends are -in the same condition, I shall accept philosophically whatever else -[Pg 54]may be." "How did you take my second departure? Did you love me -the less? Have you forgiven me? Have you thought that in any event we -should have been separated, I in Italy dragging along a life with no -chance to distinguish myself and surrounded by people most hostile to -my projects and my views?" "Consider the difference.... As the defender -of that liberty which I adore, free myself beyond all others, coming -as a friend to offer my services to this most interesting republic, I -bring ... no selfish interests to serve. If I am striving for my own -glory I am at the same time laboring for its welfare. I trust that for -my sake you will become a good American; it is a sentiment made for -virtuous hearts." "Do not allow yourself to feel anxiety because I am -running great danger in the occupation that is before me. The post of -major-general has always been a warrant of long life--so different -from the service I should have had in France as colonel, for instance. -With my present rank I shall only have to attend councils of war. Ask -any of the French generals, of which there are so many because, having -attained that rank, they run no further risk.... In order to show that -I am not trying to deceive you I will admit that we are in danger at -this moment, because we are likely at any time to be attacked by an -English vessel, and we are not strong enough to defend ourselves. But -as soon as I land I shall be in perfect safety. You see that I tell you -everything in order that you may feel at ease and not allow yourself -to be anxious without cause.... But now let us talk of more important -[Pg 55]things," and he goes on to write about their baby daughter, -Henrietta, and about the new baby, the announcement of whose birth he -expected to receive very soon after landing. "Do not lose a moment in -sending me the joyful news," he commands. "Mr. Deane and my friend -Carmichael will aid you in this, and I am sure they would neglect no -opportunity to make me happy as quickly as possible.... Adieu. Night -coming on obliges me to stop, for I have lately forbidden the use of -lights aboard the ship. See how careful I am!" He could afford to -dwell on perils of the voyage, since these would be safely over before -the missive could start on its way back to France. The danger was by -no means imaginary. One of the letters written at the time Lafayette's -departure was the talk of Paris, by a man who knew whereof he spoke, -had said, "His age may justify his escapade, but I am truly sorry, -not only for the interest you and the Duc d'Ayen have in the matter, -but because I am afraid he may fall in with some English man-of-war, -and, not being distinguished from the mass of adventurers who come -into their hands, may be treated with a harshness not unknown to that -nation." - -_La Victoire_ was a clumsy boat armed with only "two old cannon and -a few muskets" and stood small chance if attacked. Lafayette was -perfectly aware of this, and had no intention of being taken alive. He -entered into an agreement with one of the company, a brave Dutchman -named Bedaulx, to blow up the vessel as a last resort, the pleasant -alternative in any case being hanging. So, with a sailor pledged to -[Pg 56]ignite a few powder-kegs and the captain steering the ship by -constraint rather than by desire, the long voyage was not devoid of -thrills. These increased as they neared land. At forty leagues from -shore _La Victoire_ was overhauled by a little vessel. "The captain -grew pale," Lafayette tells us; but the crew was loyal and the officers -were numerous and they put up a show of defense. She proved to be an -American and so much the faster boat that she was soon out of sight, -though _La Victoire_ tried hard to keep up with her. Scarcely was she -gone when the lookout sighted two English frigates. With these they -played a game of hide-and-seek until they were saved by a providential -gale which blew the enemy out of his course long enough to enable _La -Victoire_ to run into shelter near Georgetown, South Carolina. - - -[Pg 57]VII - -AN AMERICAN PILGRIMAGE - - -The bit of land to which that unneutral north wind had wafted the -travelers was an island about fifteen miles from Georgetown, South -Carolina. Nobody on _La Victoire_ knew the coast, so it was prudently -decided to reconnoiter in a small boat. Lafayette, with De Kalb and -two or three other officers and a few sailors, started off about two -o'clock on the afternoon of June 13th, in the ship's yawl, and rowed -until sunset without encountering a soul. After the sun went down they -continued to row on and on, still in complete solitude, until about ten -o'clock, when they came upon some negroes dredging for oysters. - -Thus the first human beings that Lafayette encountered in the land of -the free were slaves; and it was not the least picturesque coincidence -of his picturesque career that these ignorant creatures rendered him a -service, instead of his helping them. Also it is rather amusing that -this knight errant of noble lineage, who had come so far to fight -for freedom, should have made his entry into America in the dead of -[Pg 58]night, in an evil-smelling oyster-boat, instead of with pomp and -ceremony from the ship his wealth had provided. - -Neither Frenchmen nor slaves could understand the speech of the others -except in a vague way. The Frenchmen thought the slaves said there was -a pilot somewhere on the island. They seemed to be offering to take -them to the house of their master, an American officer; and as the tide -had fallen and it was impossible to proceed farther in the yawl, they -transferred themselves to the oyster-boat and gave themselves up to -these mysterious guides. For two hours the blacks ferried them through -the darkness. About midnight they saw a light, and soon were put ashore -to make their way toward it. It was evident that their approach caused -excitement. Dogs began to bark and the inmates of the large house from -which the light shone appeared to be making preparations for a siege. -A sharp challenge rang out, which indicated that they were mistaken -for marauders from some British ship. De Kalb replied in his most -polite English, explaining that they were French officers come to -offer their swords to the Continental Army. Then, with the swiftness -of a transformation in a fairy play, they found themselves in a glow -of light, the center of warm interest, and being welcomed with true -Southern hospitality. No wonder that ever after Lafayette had the -kindest possible feelings for African slaves. - -Mid-June in Carolina is very beautiful; and it must have seemed a -wonderful world upon which he opened his eyes next morning. Outside -his window was the green freshness of early summer; inside the -[Pg 59]immaculate luxury of a gentleman's bedchamber--both doubly -delightful after seven cramped weeks at sea. That the smiling blacks -who came to minister to his wants were bondmen, absolutely at the mercy -of their masters, and that the filmy gauze curtains enveloping his bed -had been put there to prevent his being eaten alive by those "gnats -which cover you with large blisters," about which he afterward wrote -Adrienne, were drawbacks and inconsistencies he hardly realized in that -first blissful awakening. He was always more inclined to enthusiasm -than to faultfinding, and nothing that ever happened to him in America -effaced the joy of his first impression. - -His host proved to be Major Benjamin Huger, of French Huguenot descent, -so he had fallen among people of his own nation. Had Major Huger been -one of his own relatives he could not have been kinder or his family -more sympathetic; and it was a sympathy that lasted long, for in the -group around the French officers was a little lad of five who took -small part in the proceedings at the moment, but lost his heart to -the tall Frenchman then and there, and made a quixotic journey in -Lafayette's behalf after he was grown. - -The water was too shallow to permit _La Victoire_ to enter the harbor -at Georgetown, so a pilot was sent to take her to Charleston while -Lafayette and his companions went by land. The reports he received -about vigilant English cruisers made him send his captain orders to -land officers and crew and burn the ship if occasion arose and he had -[Pg 60]time; but another unneutral wind brought _La Victoire_ into -Charleston Harbor in broad daylight without encountering friend or foe. - -Major Huger furnished Lafayette and De Kalb with horses for the -ninety miles and more of bad roads that lay between his plantation -and Charleston. The others, for whom no mounts could be found, made -the distance on foot, arriving ragged and worn. But as soon as the -city knew why they had come, its inhabitants vied with one another -in showering attentions upon them. One of his companions wrote that -the marquis had been received with all the honors due to a marshal of -France. Lafayette, who sent a letter to his wife by every ship he found -ready to sail, was eloquent in praise of Charleston and its citizens. -It reminded him of England, he said, but it was neater, and manners -were simpler. "The richest man and the poorest are upon the same social -level," he wrote, "and although there are some great fortunes in -this country, I defy any one to discover the least difference in the -bearing of one man to another." He thought the women beautiful, and -Charlestonians the most agreeable people he had ever met. He felt as -much at ease with them as though he had known them for twenty years; -and he described a grand dinner at which the governor and American -generals had been present, which lasted five hours. "We drank many -healths and spoke very bad English, which language I am beginning to -use a little. To-morrow I shall take the gentlemen who accompany me to -call upon the governor, and then I shall make preparations to leave." - -[Pg 61]He hoped to provide funds for the journey to Philadelphia by -selling certain goods he had brought on _La Victoire_. It would have -been easy to do this had not his trustful nature and ignorance of -business played him a sorry turn. He found that his unwilling friend, -the captain, held a note which he had signed in a hurry of departure -without realizing what it contained. It provided that the vessel and -cargo must be taken back to Bordeaux and sold there. This was most -embarrassing, because, in spite of his large possessions in France, he -was a stranger in America and had no other way of providing for the -immediate wants of himself and his companions. It proved even more -embarrassing than at first seemed likely, for the ship never reached -Bordeaux. She was wrecked on the Charleston bar at the very outset of -her homeward voyage. - -In his enthusiasm Lafayette had written Adrienne, "What delights me -most is that all citizens are brothers." Here unexpectedly was a chance -to put the brotherly quality to the test. He carried his dilemma to his -new-found friends. They were polite and sympathetic, but ready money -was scarce, they told him, and even before _La Victoire_ came to her -inglorious end he experienced "considerable difficulty" in arranging -a loan. Whatever temporary jolt this gave his theories, his natural -optimism triumphed both in securing money to equip his expedition and -in preserving intact his good will toward the American people. - -By the 25th of June everything was ready and his company set out, -[Pg 62]traveling in three different parties, in order not to overcrowd -the inns of that sparsely settled region. The gentlemen who had -been entertained by Major Huger traveled together. One of them, the -Chevalier du Buisson, wrote an account of the journey which explains -the order in which they set forth. "The aide-de-camp of the marquis -undertook to be our guide, although he had no possible idea of the -country.... The procession was headed by one of the marquis's people -in huzzar uniform. The marquis's carriage was a sort of uncovered sofa -on four springs, with a fore-carriage. At the side of his carriage -he had one of his servants on horseback who acted as his squire. The -Baron de Kalb was in the same carriage. The two colonels, Lafayette's -counselors, followed in a second carriage with two wheels. The third -was for the aides-de-camp, the fourth for the luggage, and the rear was -brought up by a negro on horseback." - -According to Lafayette's reckoning, they traveled nearly nine hundred -miles through the two Carolinas, Virginia, and the states of Maryland -and Delaware. But only a small part of the progress was made in such -elegance. Roads were rough and the weather was very hot, which was -bad for men and horses alike. Some of the company fell ill; some of -the horses went lame; some of the luggage was stolen; some of it had -to be left behind. Extra horses had to be bought, and this used up -most of the money. On the 17th of July Lafayette wrote to Adrienne -from Petersburg: "I am at present about eight days' journey from -Philadelphia in the beautiful land of Virginia.... You have learned of -[Pg 63]the beginning of my journey and how brilliantly I set out in a -carriage.... At present we are all on horseback, after having broken up -the wagons in my usual praiseworthy fashion; and I expect to write you -in a few days that we have arrived on foot." He admitted that there had -been some fatigue, but as for himself he had scarcely noticed it, so -interested had he been in the great new country with its vast forests -and large rivers; "everything, indeed, to give nature an appearance of -youth and of majesty." "The farther north I proceed the better I like -this country and its people." - -There was no regularity about sending mail across the Atlantic, and as -yet he had not heard from home. Doubtless the hope of finding letters -spurred on his desire to reach Philadelphia. From Annapolis he and De -Kalb alone were able to proceed without a halt, leaving the rest of the -party behind for needed repose. They reached Philadelphia on July 27th. -Even with this final burst of speed they had consumed a whole month in -a journey that can now be made in less than twenty-four hours. - - -[Pg 64]VIII - -AN ASTONISHING RECEPTION - - -All Lafayette's company had been looking forward to their reception -by Congress as full recompense for sufferings by the way. Knowing -that they had come to offer help, and having already experienced the -hospitality of Charleston, they dreamed of a similar welcome increased -and made more effective by official authority. They hastened to present -their letters of introduction and their credentials; and it was a -great blow to find that they were met, not with enthusiasm, but with -coldness. Lafayette said their reception was "more like a dismissal." -We are indebted to the Chevalier du Buisson for an account of this -unexpected rebuff. "After having brushed ourselves up a little we went -to see the President of Congress, to whom we presented our letters -of recommendation and also our contracts. He sent us to Mr. Moose -[Morris?], a member of Congress, who made an appointment to meet us -on the following day at the door of Congress, and in the mean time -our papers were to be read and examined." Next day they were very -punctual, but were made to wait a long time before "Mr. Moose" appeared -[Pg 65]with a Mr. Lovell and told them all communication must be made -through him. Still standing in the street, Mr. Lovell talked with -them and finally walked away and left them, "after having treated us -in excellent French, like a set of adventurers.... This was our first -reception by Congress, and it would have been impossible for any one to -be more stupefied than we were. Would it have been possible for M. de -Lafayette, M. de Kalb, and M. de Mauroy with ten officers recommended -as we had been, and secretly approved, if not openly avowed by the -government of France, to expect such a reception as this?" - -One can imagine the varying degrees of resentment and disgust with -which they watched Mr. Lovell disappear. If _La Victoire_ had been -there, ready provisioned for a voyage, very likely not one of them -would have remained an hour longer in America. But _La Victoire_ was -not at hand and Lafayette's sunny optimism was on the spot to serve -them well. "We determined," says Du Buisson, "to wait and to discover -the cause of this affront, if possible, before making any complaint." - -They discovered that they had come at the worst possible time. A -number of foreign adventurers had hurried from the West Indies and -Europe and offered their services at the beginning of the war. Being -desperately in need of trained officers, Congress had given some of -them commissions, though their demands for rank and privilege were -beyond all reason. This, coupled with their bad behavior after entering -the army, had incensed officers of American birth, who threatened to -[Pg 66]resign if any more Europeans were taken into the army with rank -superior to their own. The protest had reached almost the proportions -of a strike. At that very moment a French artillery officer named De -Coudray was giving Congress no end of trouble, and indeed continued to -do so until, "by a happy accident," as Franklin cynically put it, he -was drowned in the Schuylkill River a few weeks later. - -There was nothing to prove that Lafayette and his friends differed -from the rest. Like them they were foreigners with high-sounding -titles in front of their names and requests for major-generalships -tripping speedily after their offers of help. As for Silas Deane's -contracts--Deane had commissioned some of the very worst of these men. -Congress had reached the point where it proposed to end the trouble by -refusing to honor any more of his agreements. Mr. Lovell told Lafayette -and his companions smartly that French officers had a great fancy for -entering the American army uninvited, that America no longer needed -them, having plenty of experienced men of her own now; and walked away, -leaving them standing there in the street. - -Lafayette, not being like the others, determined to make Congress aware -of the fact. He wrote a letter to that august body, stating why and -how he had come to America, and adding: "After the sacrifices that I -have made in this cause I have the right to ask two favors at your -hands. The one is to serve without pay, and the other that I be allowed -to serve first as a volunteer." Congress immediately sat up and took -[Pg 67]notice of the young man, the more readily because of two letters -which arrived from Paris showing that he was of importance in his own -country. The first was signed by Silas Deane and by Benjamin Franklin, -and read: - -"The Marquis de Lafayette, a young nobleman of great family connection -here and great wealth, is gone to America on a ship of his own, -accompanied by some officers of distinction, in order to serve in our -armies. He is exceedingly beloved, and everybody's good wishes attend -him. We cannot but hope he may meet with such a reception as will make -the country and his expedition agreeable to him. Those who censure -it as imprudent in him do, nevertheless, applaud his spirit; and we -are satisfied that the civilities and respect that may be shown him -will be serviceable to our affairs here, as pleasing not only to his -powerful relations, and to the court, but to the whole French nation. -He leaves a beautiful young wife ... and for her sake particularly we -hope that his bravery and ardent desire to distinguish himself will be -a little restrained by the general's prudence, so as not to permit his -being hazarded much, but on some important occasion." The other was a -communication from the French government requesting the Congress of the -United States not to give employment to the Marquis de Lafayette. But -Congress took the hint contained in Franklin's letter and regarded this -for just what it was--a bit of official routine. - -Mr. Lovell hastened to call upon Lafayette in company with another -gentleman who had better manners, and made an attempt at apology. This -[Pg 68]interview led to a more private talk in which he was offered -a commission of major-general without pay and without promise of a -command, to date from that time, and to have no connection whatever -with Silas Deane's former promises. To this Lafayette agreed. - -Some of his friends did not fare so well, but even these felt that he -did everything in his power to further their interests. "If he had had -his way," says Du Buisson, "De Kalb would have been a major-general, -and we should all have had places." The situation was particularly -trying to De Kalb, who was so much older and had seen so much actual -military service. On board _La Victoire_ he had been only Lafayette's -guest, though the guest of honor and, next to the owner, the most -important person aboard. Under such conditions, good manners forced him -to play a subordinate part; and if it be true that he and De Broglie -were using Lafayette's generosity to further their own ends, that was -another reason for circumspect behavior. But after landing it must have -been galling to see this young captain of twenty made a major-general -"on demand," while his thirty-four years of experience were completely -ignored. On the day after Lafayette's appointment De Kalb wrote -Congress a letter in his turn, complaining bitterly and asking either -that he be made a major-general, "with the seniority I have a right to -expect," or that he and the other officers who had come with Lafayette -be refunded the money they had spent on the journey. He said he was -very glad Congress had granted Lafayette's wishes. "He is a worthy -[Pg 69]young man, and no one will outdo him in enthusiasm in your cause -of liberty and independence. My wish will always be that his success -as a major-general will equal his zeal and your expectation." But De -Kalb plainly had his doubts; and he did not hesitate to "confess, -sir, that this distinction between him and myself is painful and very -displeasing to me. We came on the same errand, with the same promises, -and as military men and for military purposes. I flatter myself that -if there was to be any preference, it would be due to me." He hinted -that he might sue Mr. Deane for damages, and he added: "I do not think -that either my name, my services, or my person are proper objects to -be trifled with or laughed at. I cannot tell you, sir, how deeply I -feel the injury done to me, or how ridiculous it seems to me to make -people leave their homes, families, and affairs, to cross the sea under -a thousand different dangers, to be received and to be looked at with -contempt by those from whom you were to expect but warm welcome." - -Congress could have answered with perfect justice that it had not -"made" these gentlemen travel one foot toward America or brave a -single danger. But on the basis of Deane's contract it was clearly -in the wrong and it had no wish to insult France, though it could -not afford to anger the American generals. It therefore decided to -thank the French officers for their zeal in coming to America and to -pay their expenses home again. Most of them did return, some by way -of Boston, others from Southern ports. De Kalb meant to accompany -the latter group, but a fever detained him for several weeks in [Pg -70]Philadelphia; and just as he was leaving a messenger brought him -word that he had been made major-general through the influence of -several members of Congress who had made his personal acquaintance and -were more impressed by the man himself than by his petulant letter. -At first he was inclined to refuse, fearing the other French officers -might feel he had deserted them, but on reflection he accepted, and, as -every one knows, rendered great service to the United States. - -Lafayette wrote Congress a letter of thanks in English--an excellent -letter, considering the short time he had been using the language, -but neither in wording nor in spelling exactly as a native would have -written it. In this letter he expressed the hope that he might be -allowed to "serve near the person of General Washington till such time -as he may think proper to intrust me with a division of the army." - -General Washington's previous experience with the French had been -unfortunate. He had met them as enemies in the neighborhood of Fort -Duquesne before Lafayette was born. They had taken part in the defeat -of General Braddock, and during the present war their actions had not -been of a kind to endear them to him. Probably even after reading -Franklin's letter he did not look forward with the least pleasure to -meeting this young sprig of the French nobility. Still, Washington was -a just man and the first to admit that every man has the right to be -judged on his own merits. - -It was at a dinner, one of the lucky dinners in Lafayette's career, -[Pg 71]that the two met for the first time. The company was a large -one, made up of the most distinguished men in Philadelphia; but from -the moment Washington entered the room Lafayette was sure he was the -greatest in the company. "The majesty of his countenance and his figure -made it impossible not to recognize him," while his manners seemed to -Lafayette as affable and kindly as they were dignified. Washington on -his part observed the slim young Frenchman throughout the evening, and -was also favorably impressed. Before the party broke up he drew him -aside for a short conversation and invited him to become a member of -his military family, saying with a smile that he could not offer the -luxuries of a court or even the conveniences to which Lafayette had -been accustomed, but that he was now an American soldier and would of -course accommodate himself to the privations of a republican camp. - -Pleased and elated as a boy, Lafayette accepted, sent his horses -and luggage to camp, and took up his residence at Washington's -headquarters. "Thus simply," he wrote in his _Memoirs_, "came about -the union of two friends whose attachment and confidence were cemented -by the greatest of interests." In truth this sudden flowering of -friendship between the middle-aged Washington, who appeared so cool, -though in fact he had an ardent nature, and the enthusiastic Frenchman -twenty-five years his junior, is one of the pleasantest glimpses we -have into the kindly human heart of each. It took neither of them one -instant to recognize the worth of the other, and the mutual regard thus -established lasted as long as life itself. - - -[Pg 72]IX - -PROVING HIMSELF A SOLDIER - - -The American army as Lafayette first saw it must have seemed a strange -body of men to eyes accustomed to holiday parades in Paris. The memory -of it remained with him years afterward when he wrote that it consisted -of "about eleven thousand men, rather poorly armed, and much worse -clad." There was a great variety in the clothing, some unmistakable -nakedness, and the best garments were only loose hunting-shirts of gray -linen, of a cut with which he had already become familiar in Carolina. -The soldiers were drawn up in two lines, the smaller ones in front, -"but with this exception there was no distinction made as to size." It -was while reviewing these troops that Washington said, "it is somewhat -embarrassing to us to show ourselves to an officer who has just come -from the army of France," to which Lafayette made the answer that won -the hearts of all, "I am here to learn, not to teach." He speedily -learned that in spite of their appearance and their way of marching and -maneuvering, which seemed to him childishly simple, they were "fine -soldiers led by zealous officers," in whom "bravery took the place of -science." - -[Pg 73]Judging by what they had accomplished, they were indeed wonders. -It was now August, 1777. Lexington had been fought in April, 1775, -and in that space of more than two years England had been unable to -make real headway against the insurrection which General Gage had at -first thought could be thoroughly crushed by four British regiments. -That mistake had soon become apparent. Large reinforcements had been -sent from England with new generals. At present there were two British -armies in the field. Time and again the ragged Continentals had -been beaten, yet in a bewildering fashion they continued to grow in -importance in the eyes of the world. - -The first part of the struggle had all taken place in the neighborhood -of Boston; hence the name "Bostonians" by which the Americans had -been applauded in Paris. But after General Howe was held for a whole -winter in Boston in a state of siege he sailed away for Halifax in -March, 1776, with all his troops and all the Tories who refused to stay -without him. This was nothing less than an admission that he was unable -to cope with the Americans. He sent word to England that it would -require at least 50,000 men to do it--10,000 in New England, 20,000 -in the Middle States, 10,000 in the South, and 10,000 to beat General -Washington, who had developed such an uncanny power of losing battles, -yet gaining prestige. - -The War Office in London refused to believe General Howe. It reasoned -that New England was, after all, only a small section of country which -[Pg 74]could be dealt with later; so it let it severely alone and -concentrated attention upon New York with a view to getting command -of the Hudson River. The Hudson would afford a direct route up to the -Canadian border, and Canada was already British territory. It ought -not to be difficult to gain control of one Atlantic seaport and one -river. That accomplished, the rebellion would be cut in two as neatly -as though severed with a knife, and it would be easy enough to dispose -of New England and of the South in turn. - -So General Howe was ordered back to carry out this plan. He appeared -off Staten Island with twenty-five thousand men on the day after the -Declaration of Independence was signed. In the thirteen months that -elapsed between his coming and the day Lafayette first reviewed the -American army General Washington had been able to keep Howe and all -his forces at bay. He had marched and retreated and maneuvered. He had -lost battles and men. Lost New York, as had been reported in Paris; had -indeed lost most of his army, as the American commissioners admitted -to Lafayette; yet in some mysterious way he continued to fight. By -brilliant strategy he had gained enough victory to rekindle hope after -hope seemed dead; and never, even when the outlook was darkest, had the -British been able to get full control of the Hudson River. - -The British government, annoyed by Howe's delay, sent over another army -under General Burgoyne in the spring of 1777, with orders to go down -[Pg 75]from Canada and end the matter. When last heard from, this army -had taken Ticonderoga and was pursuing General Schuyler through eastern -New York. General Howe, meanwhile, appeared to have dropped off the -map. He was no longer in force near New York, nor had Washington any -definite news of his whereabouts. This was the situation when Lafayette -became a member of Washington's military family; a major-general -without pay, experience, or a command. - -He took his commission seriously enough to cause his general some -misgiving; for, after all, Washington knew nothing about his ability, -only that he liked him personally. Lafayette frankly admitted his youth -and inexperience, but always accompanied such admissions with a hint -that he was ready to assume command as soon as the general saw fit to -intrust him with it. On the 19th of August Washington wrote to Benjamin -Harrison, a member of Congress, telling him his perplexity and asking -him to find out how matters really stood. If Lafayette's commission had -been merely honorary, as Washington supposed, the young man ought to -be made fully aware of his mistake; if not, Washington would like to -know what was expected of him. The answer returned was that Washington -must use his own judgment; and for a time matters drifted. Lafayette -meanwhile took gallant advantage of every small opportunity that came -his way, both for assuming responsibility and for doing a kindness. -He proved himself ready to bear a little more than his full share of -hardship, and, by constant cheerfulness and willingness to accept -[Pg 76]whatever duty was assigned him, came to be regarded as by far -the best foreigner in the army--though of course hopelessly and forever -a foreigner. In his letters home he often touched upon the discontent -of other men of European birth "who complain, detest, and are detested -in turn. They do not understand why I alone am liked.... For my part I -cannot understand why they are so heartily detested.... I am happy in -being loved by everybody, foreign and American. I like them all, hope -to merit their esteem, and we are well content with each other." - -It was on the 21st of August, two days after Washington's letter to -Mr. Harrison, that Lafayette was called to attend the first council of -war--that duty about which he had playfully written to his wife. The -question was what to do next, for General Howe and his army had not -been seen or heard of for weeks. That meant that he was planning some -surprise; but from which direction would it come? - -The truth was that General Howe had allowed himself to be lured away -from the Hudson by his ambition to capture Philadelphia, knowing what -a blow it would be to the Americans to lose their chief town where -Congress was sitting. As soon as this was accomplished he meant to -return to his former duty. To the American officers gathered around -the map on the council table his whereabouts was a great mystery, for -they thought ample time had elapsed for him to appear in Chesapeake -Bay if Philadelphia was indeed his objective. Presumably he meant to -attack some other place, and Charleston seemed to be the only other -[Pg 77]place of sufficient importance to merit his attention. As it -was manifestly impossible to get Washington's army that far south in -time to be of assistance, it was determined to leave Charleston to its -fate and to move nearer to New York to guard the Hudson. With Burgoyne -descending from the north and Howe in hiding, it was quite possible -that the river might soon be menaced from two directions. The battle -of Bennington, a severe check for Burgoyne, had in fact occurred three -days before, but it is probable they had not yet heard of it. - -The day after the council, ships carrying Howe's army were sighted -in Chesapeake Bay, which proved without doubt that Philadelphia was -his goal. Washington faced his men about, and, in order to cheer -Philadelphians and give his soldiers a realization of what they were -defending, marched the army through the city "down Front Street to -Chestnut, and up Chestnut to Elm," riding, himself, at the head of -his troops, a very handsome figure on his white horse, Lafayette -conspicuous among the staff-officers, and the privates wearing -sprigs of green in their hats as they marched to a lively air. They -were joined as they went along by Pennsylvania militia and by other -volunteers who hastened forward, American fashion, at prospect of a -battle. Thus Washington's force was increased to about fifteen thousand -by the time he neared the enemy. Most of these new arrivals were, -however, worse off for clothing and arms--and discipline--than the -original army, so his force by no means matched either in numbers or -[Pg 78]equipment the eighteen thousand British soldiers, thoroughly -supplied according to the best standards of the day, which were -disembarked by Cornwallis "at the Head of Elk," the inlet of Chesapeake -Bay nearest to the city. - -There were several preliminary skirmishes, during which Lafayette -learned that Washington could be as personally reckless as the youngest -lieutenant. On the day the British landed he exposed himself in a -reconnaissance and was forced to remain through a night of storm, with -Lafayette and Gen. Nathanael Greene, in a farm-house very near the -enemy lines. - -The main battle for the defense of Philadelphia occurred on the 11th -of September, on the banks of a little stream called the Brandywine, -about twenty-five miles from the city. Washington intrenched his force -upon the hilly ground of its east bank, but, owing to woods which made -it hard to observe the enemy, to the ease with which the stream could -be forded, and to the superior numbers of the British, this position -was turned and his army forced back toward Chester. It was Lafayette's -first battle, and the zeal with which he threw himself into the unequal -contest, the quickness of his perceptions, and the courage he showed in -following up his instinct of the thing to do with the act of doing it, -won the admiration of all who saw him. After that day the army forgot -he was a foreigner and looked upon him as one of themselves. "Never," -he says, "was adoption more complete." - -During the hottest of the fight he had leaped from his horse down -among the men, striving by voice and example to rally them to make -[Pg 79]a stand against Cornwallis's fast-approaching column. Lord -Sterling and General Sullivan had come to his aid and the three had -held their ground until the British were only twenty yards away, when -they took refuge in a wood. Lafayette's left leg had been struck by -a musket-ball, but he was unconscious of this until another officer -called attention to the blood running from his boot. With the help of -his French aide-de-camp, Major de Gimat, who had come with him on _La -Victoire_, he remounted his horse, but remained with the troops and -was borne along in the general retreat toward Chester, which became -very like a rout as night approached; men and guns hurrying on in -ever-increasing confusion. Near Chester there was a bridge, and here, -though Lafayette was weak from loss of blood, he placed guards and, -halting the fugitives as they came up, managed to bring something like -order into the chaos. It was only after Washington and other generals -reached the spot that he consented to have his wound properly dressed. -Washington's midnight report to Congress mentioned the gallantry of the -young Frenchman. - -Lafayette's injury was not at all dangerous, but it was quite -serious enough to keep him in bed for a month or more. He was taken -to Philadelphia, and Washington sent his most skilful surgeon to -attend him, with orders to care for him as he would for his own son. -Later, when Howe's continued approach made it certain the city must -pass into British hands, he was sent by water to Bristol on the -[Pg 80]Delaware River, and from that point Mr. Henry Laurens, the new -President of Congress, on the way to join his fleeing fellow-members, -who were to resume their sessions at York, gave him a lift in his -traveling-carriage as far as Bethlehem, where the Moravians nursed him -back to health. - -De Kalb and other military friends took a real, if humorously -expressed, interest in his "little wound," and on his part he declared -that he valued it at more than five hundred guineas. He had hastened to -write his wife all about it, not too seriously, "for fear that General -Howe, who sends his royal master rather exaggerated details of his -exploits in America, may report that I am not only wounded, but dead. -It would cost him no more." Reports of Lafayette's death were indeed -circulated in France, but Madame d'Ayen managed to keep them from her -daughter. Lafayette assured his wife that his injury was "only a flesh -wound, touching neither bone nor nerves. The surgeons are astonished at -the rapidity with which it heals, and fall into ecstasies every time -it is dressed, pretending it is the loveliest thing in the world. For -myself, I find it very dirty, very much of a bore, and quite painful -enough; but in truth, if a man wanted a wound merely for diversion's -sake he could not do better than come and examine mine, with a view to -copying it. There, dear heart, is the true history of this thing that I -give myself airs about and pompously call 'my wound' in order to appear -interesting." - - -[Pg 81]X - -LETTERS - - -Lafayette had plenty of time for thought as he lay in his neat room, -waited upon by the wife of the chief farmer of the Bethlehem Society -and her daughter, Lissel. Much of the time was spent in wondering about -Adrienne, of whom as yet he had received news only once. As this was -brought him by Count Pulaski, who left Paris before the birth of the -expected child, Lafayette did not know whether his new baby was a boy -or a girl, whether it had been born alive or dead, or how his wife -had come through the ordeal. He could only send her long letters at -every opportunity, well knowing "that King George might receive some -of them instead." In these he sent messages to many French friends, -not forgetting his old tutor, the Abbé Feyon, but he did not enlarge -upon all phases of his American Life. "At present I am in the solitude -of Bethlehem, about which the Abbé Raynal has so much to say," he told -her. "This community is really touching and very interesting. We will -talk about it after I return, when I mean to bore every one I love, -you, consequently, most of all, with stories of my travels." He did not -[Pg 82]think it wise to refer in letters to one amusing phase of the -situation in which he found himself at Bethlehem--the visits paid him -by influential members of the Moravian brotherhood, who took a deep -interest in his spiritual welfare and tried their best to convert him -from a warrior into a pacifist. - -It was while listening, or appearing to listen, politely to their -sermons upon peace that his mind darted over the earth, here and there, -even to far-distant Asia, planning warlike expeditions for the aid of -his American friends. When his peaceful hosts departed he wrote letters -embodying these plans. As he says in his _Memoirs_, he could "do -nothing except write letters." One, which he addressed to the French -governor of Martinique, proposed an attack on the British West Indies, -to be carried out under the American flag. He had also the temerity to -write to M. de Maurepas, proposing a descent upon the British in India. -The boldness of the idea, and the impudence of Lafayette in suggesting -it while he was still under the ban of the French government, caused -the old man to chuckle. "Once that boy got an idea in his head there -was no stopping him," he said. "Some day he would strip Versailles of -its furniture for the sake of his Americans," and thereafter he showed -a marked partiality for "that boy." - -Matters had gone badly for the Americans since the battle of the -Brandywine. General Howe occupied Philadelphia on September 26th; on -October 4th Washington lost the battle of Germantown. Since then the -[Pg 83]army had been moving from camp to camp, seeking a spot not -too exposed, yet from which it could give General Howe all possible -annoyance. Clearly this was no time to be lying in tidy, sunlit rooms -listening to sermons on non-resistance. Before he was able to bear -the weight of his military boot Lafayette rejoined the army. An entry -in the diary of the Bethlehem Congregation, dated October 16, 1777, -reads: "The French Marquis, whom we have found to be a very intelligent -and pleasant young man, came to bid us adieu, and requested to be -shown through the Sisters' House, which we were pleased to grant. He -was accompanied by his adjutant, and expressed his admiration of the -institution. While recovering from his wound he spent much of his time -in reading." Under date of October 18th is another entry, "The French -Marquis and General Woodford left for the army to-day." - -On the day between Lafayette's visit of farewell and his actual -departure Gen. John Burgoyne, who had set out confidently from Canada -to open the Hudson River, ended by surrendering his entire army. He -had thought he was pursuing ragged Continental soldiers when in truth -they were luring him through the autumn woods to his ruin. He awoke to -find his communications cut and his army compelled to fight a battle or -starve. It gallantly fought two battles near Saratoga, one on September -19th, the other on October 7th; but both went against him and ten days -later he gave up his sword and nearly six thousand British soldiers to -"mere" Americans. - -[Pg 84]Up to that time a puzzled world had been unable to understand -how the American cause continued to gain. The capture of a whole -British army, however, was something tangible that Europe could fully -comprehend, and respect for the Revolution measurably increased. The -victory had even greater effect in Europe than in America, though at -home there was much rejoicing and a marked gain in the value of those -"promises to pay" which Congress issued as a means of getting money for -current expenses. - -But Burgoyne's surrender threatened to have very serious effects upon -the personal fortunes of General Washington, and in lesser degree -upon those of Lafayette. People began contrasting the results of the -summer's campaign. Washington, in command of the main army, had lost -Philadelphia, while farther north General Gates, with fewer men, had -not only captured Burgoyne, but cleared the whole region of enemy -troops. There were those who did not hesitate to say that Washington -ought to be deposed and Gates put in his place. - -In reality Gates had almost nothing to do with the surrender of -Burgoyne. The strategy which led up to the battles of Saratoga was the -work of General Schuyler, who was forced out of command by intrigue -and superseded by Gates just before the crowning triumph. The battles -themselves had not been fought under the personal orders of the new -commander, but under Benedict Arnold and Gen. Daniel Morgan, with the -help of the Polish General Kosciuszko in planning defenses. It was pure -[Pg 85]luck, therefore, which brought Gates the fame; but, being a -man of more ambition than good judgment, with an excellent opinion of -himself, he was the last person in the world to discourage praise of -his ability. - -Discontent against Washington was fanned by born intriguers like the -Irish General Conway and by the more despicable Gen. Charles Lee, a -traitor at heart. Lafayette became involved quite innocently, in the -plot against him, known to history as the Conway Cabal. Two things, -good in themselves, were responsible for it. One was his optimistic -belief in human nature; the other, his increasing military renown. The -latter was the result of a very small engagement in which he took a -very large part shortly after rejoining the army. The main camp was -then about fifteen miles from Philadelphia, but General Greene had -taken his division over into New Jersey, where he was endeavoring to -make life uncomfortable for General Howe. Lafayette obtained permission -to join him as a volunteer, and on the 25th of November went out with -about three hundred men to reconnoiter a position held by the British -at Gloucester, opposite Philadelphia. He could clearly see them -carrying across the river the provisions they had gathered in a raid -in New Jersey, and they might easily have killed or captured him had -they been on the lookout. Some of his men advanced to within two miles -and a half of Gloucester, where they came upon a post of three hundred -and fifty Hessians with field-pieces. What followed is told briefly in -[Pg 86]his own words. "As my little reconnoitering party was all in -fine spirits, I supported them. We pushed the Hessians more than half -a mile from the place where their main body was, and we made them run -very fast." The vigor, of his attack made Cornwallis believe General -Greene's entire division was upon him, and he hurried to the relief of -his Hessians. This was more than Lafayette bargained for, and he drew -off in the gathering darkness with the loss of only one man killed and -five wounded, carrying with him fourteen Hessian prisoners, while twice -that number, including an officer, remained on the field. - -General Greene had described Lafayette to his wife as "one of the -sweetest-tempered young gentlemen." Now his soldierly qualities -impressed him. "The marquis is determined to be in the way of danger," -was the comment he appended to his own account of the affair; and he -ordered Lafayette to make his report directly to Washington, which the -young man did in the boyishly jubilant epistle written in quaint French -English which told how the Hessians "ran very fast." The letter fairly -bubbled with pride over the behavior of his militia and his rifle -corps; and, not content with expressing this to his Commander-in-chief, -he lined them up next morning and made them a little speech, telling -them exactly how he felt about it. An Englishman or an American could -scarcely have done it with grace, but it was manifestly spontaneous on -his part--one of those little acts which so endeared Lafayette to his -American friends both in and out of the army. - -[Pg 87]Washington sent on the news to Congress with the intimation -that his young friend had now proved his ability and might be trusted -with the command he so longed for. "He possesses uncommon military -talents," Washington wrote, "is of a quick and sound judgment, -persevering and enterprising without rashness, and, besides these, he -is of conciliating temper and perfectly sober--which are qualities -that rarely combine in the same person." At that moment of bickering -in the army and of popular criticism of himself they must have -seemed exceptionally rare to Washington. Congress expressed its -willingness, and we learn from a long letter written by Lafayette to -his father-in-law and carried across the ocean by no less a personage -than John Adams, when he went to replace Silas Deane at Paris, that -Washington offered him the choice of several different divisions. - -He chose one made up entirely of Virginians, though it was weak "even -in proportion to the weakness of the entire army," and very sadly in -need of clothing. "I am given hope of cloth out of which I must make -coats and recruits out of which I must make soldiers in almost the -same space of time. Alas! the one is harder than the other, even for -men more skilled than I," he wrote, just before the army went into -its melancholy winter quarters at Valley Forge. "We shall be in huts -there all winter," Lafayette explained. "It is there that the American -army will try to clothe itself, because it is naked with an entire -nakedness; to form itself, because it is in need of instruction; and to -[Pg 88]recruit its numbers, because it is very weak. But the thirteen -states are going to exert themselves and send us men," he added, -cheerfully. "I hope my division will be one of the strongest, and I -shall do all in my power to make it one of the best." - -He was striving to make the most of his opportunity. "I read, I study, -I examine, I listen, I reflect, and upon the result of all this I -endeavor to form my opinion and to put into it as much common sense as -I can. I am cautious about talking too much, lest I should say some -foolish thing; and still more cautious in my actions lest I should do -some foolish thing; for I do not want to disappoint the confidence the -Americans have so kindly placed in me." - -There was not much to do after the army went into winter quarters; -and France seemed very far away. "What is the use of writing news in -a letter destined to travel for years and to reach you finally in -tatters?" he wrote Adrienne on November 6th. "You may receive this -letter, dear heart, in the course of five or six years, for I write -by a crooked chance, of which I have no great opinion. See the route -it will take. An officer of the army carries it to Fort Pitt, three -hundred miles toward the back of the continent. There it will embark -on the Ohio and float through a region inhabited by savages. When it -reaches New Orleans a little boat will transport it to the Spanish -Isles, from which a vessel of that nation will take it (Lord knows -when!) when it returns to Europe. But it will still be far from you, -[Pg 89]and only after having passed through all the grimy hands of -Spanish postal officials will it be allowed to cross the Pyrenees. -It may be unsealed and resealed five or six times before reaching -you. So it will be proof that I neglect not a single chance, even the -remotest, to send you news of me and to repeat how much I love you.... -It is cruel to think ... that my true happiness is two hundred leagues -distant, across an immense ocean infested by scoundrelly English -vessels. They make me very unhappy, those villainous ships. Only one -letter from you, one single letter, dear heart, has reached me as yet. -The others are lost, captured, lying at the bottom of the sea, to all -appearances. I can only blame our enemies for this horrible privation; -for you surely would not neglect to write me from every port and by -every packet sent out by Doctor Franklin and Mr. Deane." - -On his part, he neglected not a single opportunity. On one occasion -he even sent her a letter by the hand of an English officer, a Mr. -Fitzpatrick, with whom he had begun a friendship during his visit to -London. This gentleman had come to Philadelphia with General Howe, and -Lafayette learned in some way that he was about to return to England. -"I could not resist the desire to embrace him before his departure. We -arranged a rendezvous in this town (Germantown). It is the first time -that we have met without arms in our hands, and it pleases us both much -better than the enemy airs we have heretofore given ourselves ... there -is no news of interest. Besides, it would not do for Mr. Fitzpatrick to -[Pg 90]transport political news written by a hand at present engaged -against his army." - -It was this friendly enemy, Mr. Fitzpatrick, who lifted his voice in -the British House of Commons in Lafayette's behalf, when the latter was -a prisoner in Germany. - - -[Pg 91]XI - -A FOOL'S ERRAND - - -The more Lafayette studied Washington the more he was confirmed in -his first swift impression. "Our general is a man really created for -this Revolution, which could not succeed without him," he wrote the -Duc d'Ayen. "I see him more intimately than any one else in the world, -and I see him worthy the adoration of his country.... His name will be -revered in future ages by all lovers of liberty and humanity." - -Such admiration seemed unlikely ground upon which to work for -Washington's undoing, but this was what his enemies attempted. Part -of their plan was to win away Washington's trusted friends, and -Lafayette's good will would be particularly valuable, because he -was looked upon in a way as representing France. The winter proved -unusually severe, and when the sufferings of the soldiers at Valley -Forge began to be noised abroad criticism of Washington increased. It -was pointed out that Burgoyne's captured army was being fed at American -expense, that General Clinton's forces were comfortably housed in New -York, while General Howe and his officers were enjoying a brilliant -[Pg 92]social season at Philadelphia; but at Valley Forge there was -only misery. General Conway was there himself, working up his plot. - -Lafayette was so kindly disposed that it was hard for him to believe -others evil-minded. Also he was frankly ambitious. Thomas Jefferson -once said of him that he had "a canine appetite" for fame. Conway -played skilfully on both these traits, professing great friendship for -Lafayette and throwing out hints of glory to be gained in service under -General Gates, to whom he knew Lafayette had written a polite note of -congratulation after Saratoga. Lafayette appears to have taken it all -at its face value until an incriminating letter from Conway to Gates -fell into hands for which it was never intended. Then Lafayette went -directly to Washington, meaning to unburden his heart, but the general -was engaged and could not see him. He returned to his quarters and -wrote him a long letter, breathing solicitude in every line. Washington -answered with his usual calm dignity, but in a way to show that the -young man's devotion was balm to his spirit. - -Conway had played upon Lafayette's homesickness also. Family news came -to him very slowly. It was not until Christmas was being celebrated at -Valley Forge with such sorry festivities as the camp could afford that -he learned of the birth of his little daughter, Anastasie, which had -occurred in the previous July. All the camp rejoiced with him, but the -news increased his desire to be with his wife and children, if only for -[Pg 93]a short time. If he had really contemplated a journey across the -sea, however, he gave up the idea at once, believing that loyalty to -his friend now made it his duty to "stand by." - -"The bearer of this letter will describe to you the attractive -surroundings of the place I have chosen to stay in rather than to enjoy -the happiness of being with you," he wrote Adrienne. "After you know -in detail all the circumstances of my present position ... you will -approve of my course. I almost dare to say you will applaud me.... -Besides the reason that I have given you, I have still another which -I should not mention to everybody, because it might appear that I was -assuming an air of ridiculous importance. My presence is more necessary -to the American cause at this moment than you may imagine. Many -foreigners who have failed to obtain commissions, or whose ambitious -schemes after having obtained them could not be countenanced, have -entered into powerful conspiracies; they have used every artifice to -turn me against this Revolution and against him who is its leader; and -they have taken every opportunity to spread the report that I am about -to leave the continent. The British have openly declared this to be so. -I cannot with good conscience play into the hands of these people. If I -were to go, many Frenchmen who are useful here would follow my example." - -So he stayed at Valley Forge, which was indeed a place of icy torment. -The men suffered horribly for lack of coats and caps and shoes. -Their feet froze until they were black. Sometimes they had to be [Pg -94]amputated. There was not enough food. Even colonels rarely had -more than two meals a day, often only one, while the rank and file -frequently went for several days without a distribution of rations. -Enlistments ceased, and desertion was very easy with a wide-open -country back of the camp and Howe's sleek, well-fed army only two -marches away down the Lancaster Pike. It was small wonder that -Washington's numbers dwindled until he could count only five or six -thousand. Lafayette called the endurance of the wretched little army -that held on "a miracle which every day served to renew." It was a -miracle explained by the character of the Commander-in-chief, and of -the remarkable group of officers he had gathered around him. As for -Lafayette, he strove to live as frugally and be as self-denying as -any of them. More than forty years later some of his American friends -had proof of how well he succeeded; for an old soldier came up and -reminded him how one snowy night at Valley Forge he had taken a gun -from a shivering sentry and stood guard himself while he sent the man -to his own quarters for a pair of stockings and his only blanket; and -when these things were brought how he had cut the blanket in two and -given him half. Though there was cruel suffering in that winter camp, -there was much of such high-spirited gallantry to meet it; and there -were also pleasant hours, for several of the officers had been joined -by their wives, who did everything in their power to make the dull days -brighter. - -[Illustration: WASHINGTON AND THE COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS AT VALLEY FORGE] - -[Illustration: VALLEY FORGE--WASHINGTON AND LAFAYETTE] - -[Pg 95]Washington's enemies, not yet having exhausted their wiles, hit -upon a clever plan to remove Lafayette from his side. They succeeded -in getting Congress to appoint a new War Board with General Gates at -its head. This body exercised authority, though Washington remained -Commander-in-chief. Without consulting him, the board decided, or -pretended to decide, to send a winter expedition into Canada, with -Lafayette at its head and Conway second in command. Conway had offered -his resignation at the time his letter was discovered, but it had not -been accepted. To emphasize the slight put upon Washington, Lafayette's -new commission was inclosed in a letter to the Commander-in-chief, with -the request that he hand it to the younger man. This Washington did -with admirable self-control, saying, as he gave Lafayette the paper, "I -would rather they had selected you for this than any other man." - -It is not often that such important duty falls to a soldier of -twenty-one. Naturally enough, he was elated, and this duty was -particularly tempting because it offered him, a Frenchman, the chance -to go into a French province to reconquer a region which had been -taken from his own people by Britain in the Seven Years' War. But he -also was capable of exercising self-control, and he answered that he -could accept it only on the understanding that he remained subordinate -to Washington, as an officer of his army detailed for special duty, -with the privilege of making reports directly to him and of sending -duplicates to Congress. A committee of Congress happened to be visiting -[Pg 96]Valley Forge that day, and he went impetuously before them and -declared that he would rather serve as a mere aide under Washington -than accept any separate command the War Board could give him. His -conditions being agreed to, he departed happily enough for York, -Pennsylvania, where Congress was still holding its sittings, in order -to receive his instructions. - -There, in General Gates's own house, at another dinner memorable in his -personal history, he got his first intimation of the kind of campaign -the War Board wished him to carry on. Toast after toast was drunk--to -the success of the northern expedition--to Lafayette and his brilliant -prospects--and on through a long list, to which he listened in growing -amazement, for he missed the most important of them all. "Gentlemen!" -he cried, finally, springing to his feet, "I propose the health of -General Washington!" and the others drank it in silence. - -He refused to have Conway for his second in command, and asked that De -Kalb be detailed to accompany him instead. He proved so intractable, in -short, that even before he set out for Albany, where he was to assume -command, the conspirators saw it was useless to continue the farce; but -they allowed him to depart on his cold journey as the easiest way of -letting the matter end. The four hundred miles occupied two weeks by -sleigh and horseback, a most discouraging sample of what he must expect -farther north. "Lake Champlain is too cold for producing the least bit -of laurel," he wrote Washington. "I go very slowly, sometimes drenched -by rain, sometimes covered by snow, and not entertaining many [Pg -97]handsome thoughts about the projected incursion into Canada." - -At Albany he found creature comforts, a bed, for one thing, with a -supply of quilts and blankets that made it entirely possible to sleep -without lying down in his clothes, which was a luxury he had scarcely -enjoyed since leaving Bethlehem; but of preparations for invading -Canada he found not one. The plans and orders that looked so well on -paper, and which he had been assured were well under way, had not been -heard of in Albany, or else had not been executed, for the best of -reasons; because they could not be. General Conway was there ahead of -him to represent the War Board, and told him curtly that the expedition -was not to be thought of. Astounded, the young general refused -to believe him until interviews with General Schuyler and others -experienced in northern campaigning convinced him that this at least -was not treachery, but cold, hard fact. - -The discovery was a great blow to Lafayette's pride. Members of -Congress had urged him to write about the expedition to his friends -in France. He was frankly afraid that he would be laughed at "unless -Congress offers the means of mending this ugly business by some -glorious operation." But he was in no mood to ask favors of Congress. -"For you, dear General," he wrote Washington, "I know very well that -you will do everything to procure me the one thing I am ambitious -of--glory. I think your Excellency will approve of my staying on here -until further orders." - -[Pg 98]March found him still at Albany, awaiting the orders which the -War Board was in no haste to send, having already accomplished its -purpose. He tried to retrieve something out of the hopeless situation, -but with fewer men than he had been promised, and these clamoring for -pay long overdue, he had little success. "Everybody is after me for -monney," he wrote General Gates, "and monney will be spoken of by me -till I will be enabled to pay our poor soldiers. Not only justice and -humanity, but even prudence obliges us to satisfy them soon." As he -had already done, and would do again, he drew upon his private credit -to meet the most pressing public needs; but he could work against the -enemy only in an indirect way by sending supplies to Fort Schuyler, -where they were sorely needed. - -One interesting experience, unusual for a French nobleman, came to -him during this tedious waiting. The Indians on the frontier became -restless, and General Schuyler called a council of many tribes to meet -"at Johnson Town" in the Mohawk Valley. He invited Lafayette to attend, -hoping by his presence to reawaken the Indians' old partiality for the -French. Five hundred men, women, and children attended this council, -and very picturesque they must have looked with their tents and their -trappings against the snowy winter landscape. The warriors were as -gorgeous as macaws in their feathered war-bonnets, nose-jewels, and -brilliant paint, but Lafayette noted that they talked politics with the -skill of veterans, as the pipe passed from hand to hand. - -[Pg 99]He appears to have exercised his usual personal charm for -Americans upon these original children of the soil as he had already -exercised it upon the whites who came to supplant them. But he says -of it only that they "showed an equal regard for his words and his -necklaces." Before the council was over he was adopted into one of the -tribes, and returned to Albany the richer by another name to add to his -long collection--"Kayewla," which had belonged to a respected chief of -a bygone day. The new Kayewla was so well liked that a band of Iroquois -followed him south and became part of his military division. - -On his return to Albany an unexpected duty awaited him. A new form -of oath of office, forever forswearing allegiance to George III and -acknowledging the sovereignty and independence of the United States, -had come, with the order that all must subscribe to it. So, to use the -picturesque phrase of the Middle Ages, it was "between" his French -hands that the officers of the northern military department swore -fealty to the new United States of America. - -As spring advanced the influence of Gates and Conway waned and -Washington regained his old place in public esteem. Conway himself left -the country. Lafayette and De Kalb were ordered back to the main army; -and in doing this Congress took pains to express by resolution its -belief that the young general was in no way to blame for the failure -of the winter expedition to Canada. When he reached Washington's -headquarters in April he found Valley Forge much less melancholy than -[Pg 100]when he left it; a change due not only to the more cheerful -season of the year, but to wonders in the way of improved discipline -that General von Steuben had brought about in a few short weeks. -This officer of much experience had been trained under Frederick the -Great, and, having served as his aide, was equipped in fullest measure -with the knowledge and skill in military routine that Washington's -volunteers so lacked. When he took up his duties he found a confusion -almost unbelievable to one of his orderly military mind. Military terms -meant nothing. A regiment might contain only thirty men, or it might -be larger than another officer's brigade. It might be formed of three -platoons or of twenty-one. There was one company that consisted of -only a single corporal. Each colonel drilled his men after a system of -his own; and the arms in the hands of these go-as-you-please soldiers -"were in a horrible condition--covered with rust, half of them without -bayonets," while there were many from which not a single shot could -be fired. Yet this was the main army of the revolutionists who had -set out to oppose England! Fortunately Baron von Steuben was no mere -drillmaster. He had the invaluable gift of inspiring confidence and -imparting knowledge. Between March, when he began his "intensive" -training, and the opening of the summer campaign, he made of that band -of lean and tattered patriots a real army, though it still lacked much -of having a holiday appearance. The men's coats gave no indication of -their rank, or indeed that they were in the army at all. They were -of many colors, including red, and it was not impossible to see an -[Pg 101]officer mounting guard at grand parade clad "in a sort of -dressing-gown made of an old blanket or woolen bedcover." But the man -inside the coat was competent for his job. - -It was a compatriot of Lafayette's, the French Minister of War, -St.-Germain, who had persuaded General Steuben to go to America; -so to France is due part of our gratitude for the services of this -efficient German. Perhaps, going back farther, the real person we -should thank is General Burgoyne, since it was his surrender which -undoubtedly quickened the interest of the French in the efficiency -of our ragamuffin army. French official machinery, which had been -strangely clogged before, began to revolve when news of Burgoyne's -surrender reached Paris early in December, 1777. The king, who had -not found it convenient to receive the American commissioners up to -that time, sent them word that he had been friendly all along; and as -soon as diplomatic formality permitted, a treaty of amity and commerce -was signed between France and America. That meant that France was -now formally an ally, and that the United States might count upon -her influence and even upon her military help. It was a great point -gained, but Franklin refused to allow his old eyes to be dazzled by -mere glitter when he "and all the Americans in Paris" were received by -the king and queen at Versailles in honor of the event. He was less -impressed by the splendor of the palace than by the fact that it would -be the better for a thorough cleaning. After the royal audience was -[Pg 102]over he and the other commissioners hastened to pay a visit of -ceremony to young Madame Lafayette in order to testify to the part her -husband had played in bringing about this happy occurrence. - -When news of the signing of this treaty reached America about the 1st -of May, 1778, Lafayette embraced his grave general in the exuberance of -his joy, and even kissed him in French fashion. There was an official -celebration in camp on the 7th of May, with much burning of gunpowder, -reviewing of troops, "suitable" discoursing by chaplains, and many -hearty cheers. Washington's orders prescribed in great detail just when -and how each part of the celebration was to be carried out, and this is -probably the only time in history that an American army _en masse_ was -ordered to cry, "Long live the king of France!" - -Lafayette, with a white sash across his breast, commanded the left; but -it was a heavy heart that he carried under his badge that gala-day. -Letters which came to him immediately after news of the treaty had -brought sad tidings. He learned of the death of a favorite nephew, -loved by him like a son, and also that his oldest child, the little -Henriette, to whom he had been sending messages in every letter, had -died in the previous October. "My heart is full of my own grief, and -of yours which I was not with you to share," he wrote Adrienne. "The -distance from Europe to America never seemed so immense to me as it -does now.... The news came to me immediately after that of the treaty, -and while bowed down with grief I had to receive congratulations and -[Pg 103]take part in the public rejoicing." Had the letters come -through without delay they would have arrived at the beginning of -winter, at the moment when General Conway was fanning the flame of his -homesickness. The desire to comfort his wife might have turned the -scale and sent Lafayette across the sea instead of to Albany. Now, -though he longed to go to her, he felt bound to remain for the campaign -which was about to open. - - -[Pg 104]XII - -FARCE AND TREACHERY - - -Much as the French treaty had done for the Americans, it had by no -means ended the war. There were as many British soldiers as ever on -American soil, and General Howe at Philadelphia and General Clinton -at New York could be trusted to make excellent use of them. Signs of -British activity were already apparent. A large number of transports -had sailed from Philadelphia, but whether they had gone to bring -reinforcements or whether it meant that Philadelphia was being -abandoned and that the Hudson was again to be the main point of attack -Washington did not know. Lafayette was ordered to take some of the best -troops at Valley Forge and find out. - -He left camp on the 18th of May with about twenty-two hundred men, -among them six hundred Pennsylvania militia and half a hundred -Iroquois Indians. Crossing the Schuylkill, he established himself on -high ground between that river and the Delaware, twelve miles from -the city, at a hamlet called Barren Hill, whose chief ornament was a -[Pg 105]church with a graveyard. It was an excellent spot for purposes -of observation; for roads ran in various directions, while the abrupt -fall of the land toward the Schuylkill protected his right, and there -were substantial stone buildings in a wood in front which could be used -as forts in case of need. He guarded against surprise on his left, -the direction from which any considerable body of British was likely -to approach, by placing there his large detachment of Pennsylvania -militia. He planted his five cannon in good positions, sent out his -Indian scouts, who wormed themselves several miles nearer the city, had -interviews with promising individuals who were to act as spies, and was -well pleased with himself. - -The British were also exceedingly well pleased when their spies brought -in full information of Lafayette's position and numbers. They saw that -he had separated himself from the American army and virtually placed -himself in their hands; and short of Washington himself there was no -officer they would so enjoy capturing. His prominence at home and -his popularity in America made him a shining mark; moreover, he had -fooled them in London before coming to America. It would be a great -satisfaction to take him prisoner gently, without hurting him, treat -him with mock courtesy, and send him back to England, a laughing-stock. - -They had force enough to make his capture practically certain, and -set out in great glee, so sure of the result that before leaving town -Generals Howe and Clinton, both of whom were in Philadelphia, sent out -invitations to a reception for the following day "to meet the Marquis -[Pg 106]de Lafayette." Although it was looked upon as something of a -lark, the expedition was deemed sufficiently important for General -Clinton to lead it in person, while General Howe accompanied him, -and the admiral, General Howe's sailor brother, went along as a -volunteer. Taking four men to Lafayette's one, and marching by night, -they approached Barren Hill in a way to cut off the fords across the -Schuylkill and also to intercept any assistance which might be sent -from Valley Forge. - -Unconscious that he was in danger, Lafayette was talking, early on the -morning of May 20th, with a young woman who was going into the city as -a spy, when word was brought him that dragoons in red coats had been -seen on the Whitemarsh road. This did not disturb him, for he knew that -among the coats of many colors worn by his Pennsylvania militia some -were red; but he sent out to verify the information, merely as a matter -of routine. Soon the truth was learned--and exaggerated--and his men -set up a cry that they were surrounded by the British. - -Fortunately Lafayette had a head which grew steadier in a crisis. -Sending his aides flying in all directions, he found that while the -way to Valley Forge was indeed cut off, one ford still remained open, -though the British were rapidly advancing upon it. He quickly placed a -small number of his men near the church, where the stone wall of the -graveyard would serve as breastworks, stationed a few more near the -woods as if they were heads of columns just appearing, and ordered -[Pg 107]all the rest to drop quietly down the steep side of the hill -until they were out of sight, and then hurry to the ford. The attention -of the enemy was held long enough by the decoy troops to enable the -others to reach the ford or swim across, their heads dotting the water -"like the corks of a floating seine," and Lafayette, who had stayed -behind, brought the last of his men to safety just as two columns of -the British, marching up two sides of Barren Hill, met each other, face -to face, at the top. Lafayette, on the opposite bank of the river, -prepared for defense, but the British were too disgusted to follow. - -The real encounter of the serio-comic affair took place between the -most gaudily dressed bands of fighters in the whole Revolution, -Lafayette's Iroquois in their war regalia and Clinton's advance-guard -of Hessian cavalry. As the latter advanced, the Indians rose from their -hiding-places uttering their piercing war-whoops. The horses of the -troopers were terrified by the brilliant, shrieking creatures, and -bolted. But terror was not all upon one side. The Indians had never -seen men like these Hessians, with their huge bearskin shakos and -fierce dyed mustaches. They in their turn were seized with panic and -rushed away, fleeing incontinently from "bad medicine." - -Absurd as the affair proved, with little harm done to anything except -the feelings of the British, its consequences might easily have been -serious, both to the Revolution and to Lafayette. The loss of two -thousand of his best men would have dangerously crippled Washington's -[Pg 108]little army; while the capture of Lafayette, on the very first -occasion he was intrusted with a command of any size, must almost -of necessity have ended his military usefulness forever. As it was, -Barren Hill demonstrated that he was quick and resourceful in time -of danger; and these were very valuable qualities in a war like the -American Revolution, which was won largely through the skill of its -generals in losing battles. To realize the truth of this and how well -it was carried out, we have only to recall Washington's masterly work -in the winter campaign in New Jersey, when he maneuvered and marched -and gave way until the right moment came to stand; how General Schuyler -lured Burgoyne to disaster; and how, in a later campaign in the South, -General Greene was said to have "reduced the art of losing battles to a -science." Years afterward, in talking with Napoleon, Lafayette called -our Revolution "the grandest of contests, won by the skirmishes of -sentinels and outposts." About a month after this affair at Barren Hill -the English evacuated Philadelphia and moved slowly northward with a -force of seventeen thousand men and a baggage-train nearly twelve miles -long. The length of this train indicated that it was moving-day for the -British army, which wanted to be nearer the Hudson, but certain other -indications pointed to the opening of an active campaign in New Jersey. -A majority of the American officers, including Gen. Charles Lee, who -was second in command, argued against an attack because both in numbers -and organization the British force was superior to their own. General -[Pg 109]Lee went so far as to say that, instead of trying to interfere -with General Clinton's retreat, it ought to be aided in every possible -way, "even with a bridge of gold." Subsequent developments proved -that it was not fear of a British victory, but sympathy with British -plans, which prompted this view. Several other officers, however, -Washington himself, Gen. Anthony Wayne, who was always ready to fight, -General Greene, General Cadwallader, and Lafayette, were in favor -of following and attacking at the earliest opportunity. It was this -course that Washington chose, in spite of the majority of votes against -it. It seemed to him that the difficulty Clinton must experience in -maneuvering his army over the roads of that region, and the fact that -almost half of his force would need to be employed in guarding the -unwieldy baggage-train, justified the expectation of success. His plan -was to throw out a strong detachment ahead of the main army to harass -the British flanks and rear and to follow this up so closely that the -main army would be ready to go to its support in case Clinton turned to -fight. - -The command of the advanced detachment was the post of honor, and to -this Lee was entitled because of his rank. He refused it and Washington -offered it to Lafayette, who accepted joyously. He had already begun -his march when Lee reconsidered and sent Washington word that he -desired the command, after all, appealing at the same time to Lafayette -with the words, "I place my fortune and my honor in your hands; you -are too generous to destroy both the one and the other." Lee was -[Pg 110]one of the few men Lafayette did not like, though he had no -suspicion of his loyalty. He thought him ugly in face and in spirit, -full of avarice and ambition. But Lee was his superior officer, and -Lafayette was a soldier as well as a gentleman. He relinquished the -command at once and offered to serve under Lee as a volunteer. - -It would have been better had he found it in his heart and in the -military regulations to refuse, for on that sultry unhappy 28th of -June when the two armies met and the battle of Monmouth Court House -was fought, General Lee's indecision and confusion of orders, to give -his conduct no harsher name, turned the advance of the Americans, -who were in the best of spirits and eager to fight, into what their -generals admitted was "a disgraceful rout." Officer after officer came -to Lee beseeching him to let them carry out their original instructions -and not to give orders to fall back; but he did everything to hinder -success, answering stubbornly, "I know my business." - -At Lafayette's first intimation that things were going wrong, he sent -a message to Washington, who was with the main army, some miles in the -rear. Whether he learned the news first from this messenger or from a -very scared fifer running down the road, Washington could not believe -his eyes or his ears. Hurrying forward, he found Lee in the midst of -the retreating troops and a brief but terrible scene took place between -them; Washington in a white heat of anger, though outwardly calm, -[Pg 111]Lee stammering and stuttering and finally bursting out with -the statement that the whole movement had been made contrary to his -advice. Washington's short and scorching answer ended Lee's military -career. Then, turning away from him as though from a creature unworthy -of further notice, the Commander-in-chief took up the serious task at -hand. The soldiers responded to his presence instantly. With those on -the field he and Lafayette were able to make a stand until reserves -came up and a drawn battle was fought which lasted until nightfall. The -conditions had been unusually trying, for the heat was so oppressive -that men died of that alone, without receiving a wound. Both armies -camped upon the field, Washington meaning to renew the contest next -morning; but during the night the enemy retired to continue the march -toward New York. - -[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH, JUNE 28, 1778] - -Lee was tried by court martial and suspended from any command in the -armies of the United States for the period of one year. Afterward -Congress dismissed him altogether. The judgment of history is that he -deserved severer punishment and that his sympathies were undoubtedly -with the British. He was of English birth, and from the beginning -of his service in the American army he tried to thwart Washington. -Lafayette was convinced that, though his name does not appear -prominently in the doings of the Conway cabal, it was he and not -General Gates who would have profited by the success of that plot. - -Since the British were able to continue their march as planned, they -[Pg 112]claimed Monmouth as a victory. Washington also continued -northward and, crossing the Hudson, established himself near White -Plains, which brought the British and American forces once more into -the relative positions they had occupied two years earlier, after the -battle of Long Island. - -Monmouth proved to be the last engagement of consequence fought that -year, and the last large battle of the Revolution to be fought in the -Northern states. Very soon after this the British gave up their attempt -to cut the rebellion in two by opening the Hudson, and substituted for -it the plan of capturing the Southern states one by one, beginning with -Georgia and working northward. They continued to keep a large force -near New York, however, and that necessitated having an American army -close by. These two forces were not idle; some of the most dramatic -incidents of the whole war occurred here, though the main contest raged -elsewhere, and in a larger sense, these armies were only marking time. - - -[Pg 113]XIII - -A LIAISON OFFICER - - -Lafayette's influence and duties took on a new character about the -middle of July, 1778, when a fleet of twenty-six French frigates and -ships of the line arrived, commanded by Admiral d'Estaing. - -These ships had sailed in such secrecy that even their captains did -not know whither they were bound until they had been at sea some -days. Then, while a solemn Mass was being sung aboard the flagship, -the signal was hoisted to break the seals upon their orders. When the -full meaning of these orders dawned upon the sailors and the thousand -soldiers who accompanied the expedition shouts of joy and cries of -_"Vive le Roi!"_ spread from ship to ship. But it was an expedition -fated to ill luck. Storms and contrary winds delayed them five weeks -in the Mediterranean, and seven more in crossing the Atlantic. Food -and water were almost gone when they reached Delaware Bay, where -the disappointing news awaited their commander that the British, -fearing his blockade, had withdrawn to New York, taking the available -food-supplies of the neighborhood with them. That was the explanation -[Pg 114]of Clinton's long wagon-train. He left little behind for hungry -sailors. - -D'Estaing landed Silas Deane, and the first minister sent from France -to the United States, who had come over with; him sent messages -announcing his arrival to Congress and to Washington, and proceeded up -the coast. For eleven days he remained outside the bar at Sandy Hook -in a position bad for his ships and worse for his temper; for inside -the bar he could see many masts flying the British flag. But pilots -were hard to find, most of them being in the service of his enemies; -and without pilots he could not enter. When at last they were obtained -it was only to tell him that the largest of his vessels drew too much -water to enter without removing part of their guns, and this he could -not afford to do with English ships lying inside. D'Estaing would not -believe it until he himself had made soundings. "It is terrible to be -within sight of your object and yet unable to attain it," he wrote. To -add to his unhappiness he heard that an English fleet under Admiral -Byron had sailed for American waters, and he knew that its arrival -would raise the number of British ships and guns to a figure far -exceeding his own. He put to sea again, his destination this time being -Newport, where the British had a few ships and about six thousand men. -Washington had suggested a combined attack here in case it was found -impossible to accomplish anything at New York. - -Admiral d'Estaing came from Auvergne, as did Lafayette. Indeed, -their families were related by marriage, and to his first official -[Pg 115]communication Lafayette had added, at Washington's request, a -long postscript giving personal and family details that the British -could not possibly know, doing this to prove to the admiral that the -proposed plans were genuine and not an invention of the enemy. The -correspondence thus begun had continued with pleasure on both sides, -and, after the fleet reached Newport, Lafayette spent a happy day on -the flagship as the admiral's honored guest, though he was technically -still a deserter, subject to arrest and deportation. - -The American part of the combined attack on Newport was to be made -by a detachment of Washington's army co-operating with state troops -and militia raised by General Sullivan, near by. The command of the -Continentals was offered to Lafayette, who wrote to D'Estaing in boyish -glee: "Never have I realized the charm of my profession, M. le Comte, -as I do now that I am to be allowed to practise it in company with -Frenchmen. I have never wished so much for the ability that I have not, -or for the experience that I shall obtain in the next twenty years if -God spares my life and allows us to have war. No doubt it is amusing -to you to see me presented as a general officer; I confess that I am -forced myself to smile sometimes at the idea, even in this country -where people do not smile so readily as we do at home." - -Although scurvy had broken out with considerable violence on his ships, -the French admiral held himself ready to carry out his part of a speedy -attack. It was General Sullivan who had to ask a delay because [Pg -116]so few of the militia responded to his summons. While expressing -polite disappointment that so large a part of the American army was -"still at home," D'Estaing tried to emphasize the need of haste. He -believed in striking sudden, unexpected blows; and he had ever in mind -the approach of that fleet of Admiral Byron's. Nine precious days -passed, which the British commander at Newport utilized in preparing -for defense and in sending messengers to New York. - -Meanwhile Lafayette returned to camp and started with his detachment -for Newport. On the march he received a letter from Washington which -must have caused him keen disappointment, since it took away half his -authority. General Greene was a native of Rhode Island, with special -knowledge of the region where the fighting was to take place, and -because of this it had been decided at the last moment to combine the -Continental troops with the militia and to give General Greene joint -command with Lafayette. The young man's answer was a model of cheerful -acquiescence. "Dear General: I have received your Excellency's favor -by General Greene, and have been much pleased with the arrival of a -gentleman who, not only on account of his merit and the justness of -his views, but also by his knowledge of the country and his popularity -in this state, may be very serviceable to the expedition. I willingly -part with half of my detachment, though I had a great dependence upon -them, as you find it convenient for the good of the service. Anything, -[Pg 117]my dear General, you will order, or even wish, shall always -be infinitely agreeable to me; and I will always feel happy in doing -anything which may please you or forward the public good. I am of the -same opinion as your Excellency that dividing our Continental troops -among the militia will have a better effect than if we were to keep -them together in one wing." Only a single sentence, near the end, in -which he referred to himself as being with the expedition as "a man of -war of the third class" betrayed his regret. Washington appears to have -been much pleased and relieved by this reply, for he realized that he -was drawing heavily upon Lafayette's store of patience. - -As it turned out, neither Greene nor Lafayette had authority enough to -quarrel over or any glory in the enterprise, for on the 10th of August, -at the moment when the combined attack was about to begin, the relief -expedition of Admiral Howe's ships loomed suddenly out of the fog. -The French vessels had been placed only with a view to an attack upon -land, and most of the sailors had been disembarked to take part in it. -D'Estaing had to get them hurriedly back again and to prepare for a -sea-fight. Before this was over a wind-storm of great fury arose. It -separated the combatants, but left D'Estaing so crippled that he was -obliged to put into Boston for repairs. - -Some of these events were of a character no human foresight could -prevent. All of them held possibilities of misunderstanding, and these -misunderstandings were increased tenfold by differences in nationality, -[Pg 118]in temper, and in language. Some of the French thought -General Sullivan deliberately and jealously tried to block success. -He reproached the French admiral for going to Boston after the storm -instead of returning to his aid. Lafayette's very eagerness subjected -him to criticism, yet he was the one man involved who understood -the temperament of both the French and the Americans. The burden of -explaining, of soothing, of trying to arrange the thousand prickly -details of the situation fell upon him. Twice he rode to Boston and -back for conferences with D'Estaing, making the journey of seventy -miles once by night in six and a half hours--unexampled speed for those -days. Such work now would be called the work of a liaison officer. He -had need of all his tact, and even his sweet temper grew acid under the -strain. He was strongly moved to fight a duel with General Sullivan; -and both Washington and Congress had to intervene before the French -admiral was completely assured of America's belief in his "zeal and -attachment," and before Lafayette could be thoroughly appeased. - -Fond as he was of America, Lafayette was a Frenchman first of all. He -had assured D'Estaing that he would rather fight as a common soldier -under the French flag than as a general officer anywhere else. The -coming of the French fleet had been to all intents a declaration of -war by his country against England; and when the autumn was far enough -advanced to make it certain there would be no more military activity in -America before the next spring, he asked permission to return to France -and offer his sword to his king. - -[Pg 119]Washington, who had more sympathy with the impulses of youth -than we are apt to give him credit for, saw that after the trying -experiences of the past few weeks a leave of absence would be the -best thing for Lafayette and also for his American friends. The young -man's nerves were completely on edge. He had not only wanted to fight -General Sullivan and controlled the desire; he had actually sent a -challenge, against the advice of Washington and Admiral d'Estaing, to -the Earl of Carlisle, an Englishman in America on official business, -because of some words the latter had used which Lafayette regarded as -an insult to the French. Besides these grievances, his imagination -was working overtime on a grand new scheme for the conquest of Canada -which Washington could no more indorse than he could approve the desire -to shed blood in private quarrels. The young man's friendship was too -valuable to make it politic continually to thwart him. Undoubtedly -this was a case where absence would make the heart grow fonder. Very -possibly also the wise general foresaw how much good Lafayette might -do in Paris as an advocate of American interests during the next few -months. - -Lafayette did not wish to sever his relations with the Continental -army. All he asked was a leave of absence, and this Congress readily -granted in a set of complimentary resolutions, adding for good measure -a letter "To our great, faithful, and beloved friend and ally, Louis -the Sixteenth, King of France and Navarre," telling what a very wise -[Pg 120]and gallant and patient and excellent young man he was. But it -was weeks after this permission was given before Lafayette left -America. Congress arranged, as a compliment, that he should sail from -Boston on the frigate _Alliance_, one of the best of the nation's -war-vessels. Lafayette made his visits of ceremony, wrote his notes of -farewell, and set out from Philadelphia in a cold rain one day late -in October. Ordinarily he would not have minded such a storm. He had -endured the life at Valley Forge and discomforts of the winter trip -to Canada with apparent ease; but to a year of such campaigning had -been added several months of work and worry in connection with the -French fleet. The two together had told upon his strength, and the -storm added the finishing touch. He became really ill, but, suffering -with fever, rode on, unwilling to delay his journey for mere weather, -and unwilling, too, to fail in courtesy to the inhabitants of the many -towns on his way who wished to do him honor. He fortified himself for -the receptions and functions they had planned by frequent draughts of -tea and spirits, which made his condition worse instead of better. -By the time he reached Fishkill, New York, he was unable to proceed -farther. His fever raged for three weeks, and the news spread that he -would not recover. The concern manifested showed what a firm hold he -had made for himself in American affection. Civilians spoke of him -lovingly and sorrowfully as "the Marquis," while in the army, where -he was known as "the soldier's friend," grief was even more sincere. -Washington sent Surgeon-General Cochran, who had cared for him in -[Pg 121]Bethlehem, to take charge of the case, and rode himself almost -daily the eight miles from headquarters to make inquiries, never -entering the sick-room, and often turning away with tears in his eyes -at the report given him. Lafayette, racked with fever and headache, was -sure he would never live to reach France again. The idea of leaving -the world at the early age of twenty-one did not trouble him; he felt -that he would gladly compromise on three more months of life, provided -he could see his family and be assured of the happy outcome of the -American war. - -After the fever left him and he slowly regained his strength he spent a -few happy days as Washington's guest before proceeding on his journey -to Boston. The elder man's farewell was "very tender, very sad," and -Lafayette rode away in company with the good Doctor Cochran, who had -orders to watch him like a hawk until he was safely on the ship. After -this parting the young man was more than ever convinced that Washington -was a great man and his own very warm personal friend. He wondered how -anybody could accuse him of being cold and unsympathetic. - - -[Pg 122]XIV - -NEAR-MUTINY AND NEAR-IMPRISONMENT - - -When he reached Boston the crew of the _Alliance_ had not been fully -made up. The authorities offered to impress enough men to complete -it, but Lafayette objected on principle to that way of obtaining -sailors. They were finally secured by enlistment, but many of them -were questionable characters, either English deserters or English -prisoners of war. With such a crew the _Alliance_ put to sea on the -11th of January, 1779, upon a voyage short for that time of year, but -as tumultuous as it was brief. Excitement and discomfort began with a -tempest off the Banks of Newfoundland which the frigate weathered with -difficulty. Lafayette, who was always a poor sailor, longed for calm, -even if it had to be found at the bottom of the sea; but that was only -the beginning, the real excitement occurring about two hundred leagues -off the French coast. - -Lafayette's own account explains that "by a rather immoral proclamation -his Britannic Majesty encouraged revolt among crews," offering them the -money value of ships captured and brought into English ports as "rebel" -[Pg 123]vessels--"a result which could only be obtained by the massacre -of officers and those who objected." A plot of this nature was entered -into by the English deserters and prisoners among the sailors on the -_Alliance_. A cry of "A sail!" was to bring officers and passengers -hurrying upon deck and shots from four cannon, carefully trained and -loaded beforehand, were to blow them to bits. The time was fixed for -four o'clock in the morning, but, fortunately, it was postponed until -the same time in the afternoon, and in the interval the plot was -disclosed to an American sailor who was mistaken by the conspirators -for an Irishman on account of the fine brogue he had acquired through -much sailing "in those latitudes." They offered him command of the -frigate. He pretended to accept, but was able to warn the captain and -Lafayette only one short hour before the time fixed for the deed. That -was quite enough, however. The officers and passengers appeared upon -deck ahead of time, sword in hand, and gathering the loyal sailors -about them, called up the rest one by one. Thirty-three were put in -irons. Evidence pointed to an even greater number of guilty men, but -it was taken for granted that the rest might be relied upon, though -only the Americans and French were really trusted. A week later the -_Alliance_ sailed happily into Brest floating the new American flag. - -The last word Lafayette had received from his family was already eight -months old. He hurried toward Paris, but the news of his arrival -traveled faster, and he found the city on tiptoe to see him. "On my -[Pg 124]arrival," says the _Memoirs_, "I had the honor to be consulted -by all the Ministers and, what was much better, embraced by all the -ladies. The embraces ceased next day, but I enjoyed for a longer -time the confidence of the Cabinet and favor at Versailles, and also -celebrity in Paris." His father-in-law, who had been so very bitter -at his departure, received him amiably, a friendliness which touched -Lafayette. "I was well spoken of in all circles, even after the favor -of the queen had secured for me command of the regiment of the King's -Dragoons." This was no other than the old De Noailles Cavalry in which -he had served as a boy. - -Merely as a matter of form, however, he had to submit to a week's -imprisonment because he had left the country against the wishes of -the king. Instead of being shut in the Bastille, his prison was -the beautiful home of his father-in-law, where Adrienne and the -baby awaited him; and during that week its rooms were filled with -distinguished visitors, come ostensibly to see the Duc d'Ayen. But -even this delightful travesty of imprisonment did not begin until the -prodigal had gone to Versailles for his first interview with the king's -chief advisers. After a few days he wrote to Louis XVI, "acknowledging -my happy fault." The king summoned him to his presence to receive "a -gentle reprimand" which ended in smiles and compliments, and he was -restored to liberty with the hint that it would be well for a time to -avoid crowded places where the common people of Paris, who so dearly -loved a hero, "might consecrate his disobedience." - -[Pg 125]For the next few months he led a busy life, a favorite in -society, an unofficial adviser of the government, called here and there -to give first-hand testimony about men and motives in far-off America, -making up lost months in as many short minutes with Adrienne, winning -the heart of his new little daughter, assuming command of his "crack" -regiment, so different in appearance from the ragged ranks he had -commanded under Washington; and last, but by no means least in his own -estimation, laying plans to accomplish by one bold stroke two military -purposes dear to his heart--discomfiting the English and securing money -for the American cause. - -He had seen such great results undertaken and accomplished in America -with the slenderest means that the recklessness with which Europeans -spent money for mere show seemed to him almost wicked. He used to -tell himself that the cost of a single fête would equip an army in -the United States. M. de Maurepas had once said that he was capable -of stripping Versailles for the sake of his beloved Americans. It was -much more in accordance with his will to seize the supplies for America -from England herself. He planned a descent upon the English coast by -two or three frigates under John Paul Jones and a land force of fifteen -hundred men commanded by himself, to sail under the American flag, fall -upon rich towns like Bristol and Liverpool, and levy tribute. - -Lafayette's brain worked in two distinct ways. His tropic imagination -stopped at nothing, and completely ran away with his common sense when -[Pg 126]once it got going, as, for instance, while he lay recovering -from his wound at Bethlehem. Very different from this was the clever, -quick wit with which he could take advantage of momentary chances in -battle, as he had demonstrated when he and his little force dropped -between the jaws of the trap closing upon them at Barren Hill. -Fortunately in moments of danger it was usually his wit, not his -imagination, that acted, and he took excellent care of the men under -him; but when he had nothing in the way of hard facts to pin his mind -to earth, and gave free rein to his desires, he was not practical. In -this season of wild planning he not only invented the scheme for a -bucaneering expedition in company with John Paul Jones; he mapped out -an uprising in Ireland, but decided that the time was not yet ripe for -that. - -While his plan for a descent upon the English coast came to nothing, it -may be said to have led to much, for it interested the Ministry, and -was abandoned only in favor of a more ambitious scheme of attacking -England with the help of Spain. That, too, passed after it was -found that England was on the alert; but it had given Lafayette his -opportunity to talk about America in and out of season, and to urge the -necessity for helping the United States win independence as a means of -crippling England, if not for her own sake. As the most popular social -lion of the moment his words carried far, and as the most earnest -advocate of America in France he was indeed what he called himself, the -link that bound the two countries together. The outcome was that after -[Pg 127]the collapse of the project for an expedition against England -nobody could see a better way of troubling his Britannic Majesty than -by following Lafayette's advice; whereupon he redoubled his efforts and -arguments. - -Indeed, he exceeded the wishes of the Americans themselves. He wanted -to send ships and soldiers as well as money and supplies, but with the -fiasco of the attack upon Newport fresh in their minds Congress and our -country were chary of asking for more help of that kind. He assured M. -de Vergennes that it was characteristic of Americans to believe that in -three months they would no longer need help of any kind. He wrote to -Washington that he was insisting upon money with such stress that the -Director of Finances looked upon him as a fiend; but he argued also in -France that the Americans would be glad enough to see a French army by -the time it got there. - -A plan drawn up by him at the request of M. de Vergennes has been -called the starting-point of the events that led to the surrender of -Cornwallis, because without French help that event could not have -occurred. In this view of the case, the work he did in Paris and at -Versailles was his greatest contribution to the cause of American -independence. Another general might easily have done all that he did in -the way of winning battles on American soil, but no other man in France -had his enthusiasm and his knowledge, or the persistence to fill men's -ears and minds and hearts with thoughts of America as he did. - -[Pg 128]After it had been decided to send over another military force -it was natural for him to hope that he might be given command of it, -though nobody knew better than he that his rank did not entitle him -to the honor since he was only a colonel in France, even if he did -hold the commission of a major-general in the United States. Having -become by this time really intimate with M. de Vergennes, he gave -another proof of the sweet reasonableness of his disposition by frankly -presenting the whole matter in writing to him. He worked out in detail -two "suppositions," the first assuming that he was to be given command -of the expedition, the second that he was not, stating in each case -what he thought ought to be done. Quite frankly he announced his -preference for the first supposition, but quite simply and unmistakably -he made it plain that he would work just as earnestly for the success -of the undertaking in one case as in the other. - -It was the second of these plans that the Ministry preferred and -adopted practically as he prepared it. After this had been decided he -found himself, early one spring day in 1780, standing before Louis -XVI, in his American uniform, taking his leave. He was to go ahead of -the expedition and announce its coming; to work up a welcome for it, -if he found lingering traces of distrust; and to resume command of his -American division and do all he could to secure effective co-operation; -in short, to take up his work of liaison officer again on a scale -greater than before. - - -[Pg 129]XV - -HELP--AND DISAPPOINTMENT - - -When Lafayette sailed westward this time he owned two valued -possessions, partly French, partly American, which had not been his -when he landed at Brest. One was a sword, the gift Congress directed -Franklin to have made by the best workmen in Paris and presented -to him in recognition of his services. It was a wonderful sword, -with his motto "_Cur non?_" and no end of compliments worked into -the decorations of its gold-mounted hilt and scabbard. The other -possession was a brand-new baby. "Our next one absolutely must be a -boy!" Lafayette had written Adrienne when assuring her of his joy over -the birth of Anastasie; and obligingly the next one came a boy, born -on Christmas Eve, 1779. He had been immediately christened, as was the -custom, but he was given a name that no man of the house of Motier had -borne in all the seven hundred years of the family's consequential -existence. Even the young mother's tongue may have tripped a bit as she -whispered "George Washington" to the baby cuddled against her breast. -But no other name was possible for that child, and the day came, before -[Pg 130]he was grown, when it served as a talisman to carry him out of -danger. - -Sailing westward on the _Hermione_, the father of this Franco-American -baby reached Boston late in April after an uneventful voyage, to -receive the heartiest welcome the staid old town could give him. The -docks were black with people and the streets lined with hurrahing -crowds as he rode to the governor's house where he was to be a guest. - -Until the _Hermione_ came to anchor he did not know where Washington -was to be found, but he had a letter ready written to despatch at once, -begging him, if he chanced to be north of Philadelphia, to await his -arrival, since he brought news of importance. It took a week for this -message to reach Washington's headquarters at Morristown, and three -days later Lafayette was there himself, greeting and being greeted -by his chief with a heartiness which showed their genuine delight at -being together again. Having been absent for more than a year, he had -much to learn about the progress of the war; and what he learned was -not reassuring. He knew in a general way how things had gone, but the -details showed how weak the American forces really were. - -Most of the fighting had been in the South. Savannah had been taken -before Lafayette sailed for France. The British had followed up this -success by sending a large force to Georgia; Southern Tories had -been roused, and civil war had spread throughout the entire region. -At present the British were advancing upon Charleston. In the [Pg -131]North the two armies still played their waiting game, the British -actually in New York, and Washington in a position from which he could -guard the Hudson, help Philadelphia in case of need, and occasionally -do something to harass the enemy. Frequently the harassing was done -by the other side, however. During the summer of 1779 the British had -ravaged the Connecticut Valley. Washington refused to be tempted away -from the Hudson, and the brightest spot in the annals of that year had -been the capture of Stony Point while the British were thus engaged. -Lafayette's acquaintance, "Mad Anthony" Wayne, had taken it in a most -brilliant assault. - -But that was only one episode and the history of the year could be -summed up in eight words--discouragement, an empty treasury, unpaid -troops, dwindling numbers. Washington's own army was reduced to about -six thousand men, with half of these scarcely fit for duty. They were -only partly clothed, and had been only partly fed for a long time. -Their commander said of them, sadly, but with pride, that during their -terms of service they had subsisted upon "every kind of horse-food -except hay." Lafayette expected to find the army weak, but this was a -state of exhaustion of which he had not dreamed. It was very hard to -have to report such things to Paris; in truth, for some time after his -return he avoided reporting details as much as possible. - -His coming, with the news that ships and men and money were on the way, -[Pg 132]must have seemed little less than a happy miracle. But would -the help come in time? To make it effective the country must renew its -enthusiasm and meet assistance half-way. Washington frankly told a -committee of Congress that unless this could be done the coming of the -French would be a disaster instead of a benefit. In other words, the -country was so weak that the next effort was almost sure to be the last -one. If it failed, it would be too exhausted to rally again. - -Lafayette left headquarters and went to Philadelphia to exert whatever -personal influence he possessed upon Congress; but under the law -Congress could raise neither men nor money. All it could do was to -recommend such action to the thirteen different states. Their thirteen -different legislatures had to deliberate and act, all of which took -time when time was most urgent. - -In France the proposed military expedition had roused much enthusiasm. -Young men flocked to enlist, as eager to fight for liberty in America -as our boys of 1918 were eager to reach France on a similar errand. -Every available spot on the transports was crowded. The commanding -general regretfully left behind his two favorite war-horses because -he knew that twenty men could go in the space they would occupy. Even -after the ships had left the harbor recruits came to him on the cutter -that brought the last despatches, begging to be taken aboard, but had -to be sent back because there was literally not room for another man. - -Yet the numbers that came to America were, after all, disappointingly -[Pg 133]small: far less than originally planned. That was because -the English managed to blockade all except the first division in the -harbor of Brest. This first division sailed on the 2d of May with -Admiral Ternay in command of the ships, and the gallant, cool-headed -Rochambeau, who was already fighting at the time Lafayette was born, -in command of the soldiers. He had five thousand effective men crowded -into the transports that left Brest with their convoy on a sunny day, -the many white sails filling to a breeze described as _"joli frais."_ -But in spite of this auspicious beginning it was a tedious crossing, -longer in point of time than the first voyage of Columbus. The weary -soldiers soon came to call their transports "sabots" (wooden shoes), -and indeed some of them were scarcely larger. As our coast was neared -they crawled along at three knots an hour, with drums beating every -fifteen minutes to keep the ships in touch and prevent their drifting -away from each other in the heavy, persistent fog. - -Washington had hoped that before the arrival of the French he could -gather sufficient force to justify him in attacking New York with their -help, for he was convinced that one success here would end the war. His -army was indeed "augmented more than one-half," as Lafayette wrote his -wife, but before the ships made their slow way across the Atlantic the -British had captured Charleston, and Clinton, who assisted Cornwallis -in that undertaking, had returned to New York with a force that raised -his strength there to twelve thousand regulars, in addition to Admiral -[Pg 134]Arbuthnot's fleet and several thousand militia and refugees. -Not all the earnestness of Washington, the efforts of Congress, nor the -enthusiasm of Lafayette had been able to raise men enough to attack -under these circumstances; and the signals displayed on Point Judith -and "the island of Block House" to guide the French directed them to -go to Newport as a convenient place from which the attack might yet be -made if events favored the allies. - -Lafayette went to Newport to meet Rochambeau and plan co-operation. By -the time he reached there the situation was still worse, for an English -fleet which left home about the time Rochambeau sailed from France had -appeared, giving the British superior force alike on sea and land. - -Admiral Ternay, who was not aggressive by nature, saw a repetition of -D'Estaing's failure looming ahead of him, and sent word to France that -the American cause was doomed. Rochambeau, being a better soldier, did -what he could; landed his men, freeing them from the confinement of the -"sabots;" and, upon a rumor that the British were advancing to attack, -helped several thousand militia prepare for defense. The rumor had a -foundation of truth. An expedition actually left New York, but was no -sooner started than Washington began threatening the city, whereupon -Clinton recalled his men, for there was no doubt that New York was the -more important place. - -Having no knowledge of the country, and being thus hurried at the -moment of landing, from the rôle of aggressor which he had expected -[Pg 135]to play to one of defense, the situation seemed very serious -to the French general. Even after the recall of Clinton's expedition -he felt it most unwise to lose touch with his ships, and he had small -patience with Lafayette, who seemed inclined to talk about "advances." -Rochambeau was sure that his duty lay in waiting for the second -division of the French force, keeping strict discipline, meanwhile, in -a model camp, and paying liberally for supplies. This he did so well -that not an apple disappeared from the orchards in which the French -tents were pitched, not a cornstalk was bent in the fields near by, -and, as Lafayette assured Washington, the pigs and chickens of patriots -wandered at will through the French camp "without being deranged." The -French and Americans fraternized enthusiastically. "You would have been -amused the other day," Lafayette reported to his chief, "had you seen -two hundred and fifty of our recruits, who came to Connecticut without -provisions and without tents, mixing so well with the French troops -that each Frenchman, officer or soldier, took an American with him and -amicably gave him a share of his bed and supper." - -The French soldiers were anxious to get out of Newport and at the -throats of the enemy, but Rochambeau was firm in his determination. He -desired a personal interview with Washington and felt a little hurt, -perhaps, that a youngster like Lafayette, who might easily have been -his own son, was made the means of communication. There was some doubt -whether Washington could enter into agreements with a representative -[Pg 136]of a foreign power until explicit authority had been given him -by Congress. It was one of those absurd technical questions of no real -importance that may cause a deal of trouble, and it was better not -to have it raised. Lafayette continued, therefore, to be occupied in -Newport with parleys and conferences and incidentally with meeting old -friends. His brother-in-law, De Noailles, was one of the officers who -had come out with the expedition. - -Cross-purposes were bound to arise, and there were moments when -Lafayette's optimism got decidedly upon the nerves of Rochambeau. The -two came to the verge of quarrel, but both were too sensible to allow -themselves to be pushed over the edge. The breach was soon healed by a -letter of Rochambeau's in which he referred to himself as an old father -and his "dear Marquis" as an affectionate son. In Lafayette's private -account of this episode to his wife he wrote that "a slight excess of -frankness got me into a little controversy with those generals. Seeing -that I was not persuading them and that the public interest demanded we -be good friends, I admitted at random that I had been mistaken and was -to blame, and asked pardon in proper terms, which had such a magical -effect that we are now better friends than ever." Lafayette's friends -called him determined; his critics said that he was vain. Historians -aver that he was never convinced by argument. - -August brought the unwelcome news that there was to be no second -division of the French army that year. This was the more disappointing -[Pg 137]because in addition to all else it meant the continued lack -of arms and ammunition and of clothing for fifteen thousand American -soldiers that Lafayette had caused to be manufactured in France, but -which had been left behind to come with this second division. He -confided to his cousin that the army was reduced to "a frugality, a -poverty, and a nudity which will, I hope, be remembered in the next -world, and counted, to our credit in purgatory." To his wife he wrote -that the ladies of Philadelphia had started a subscription to aid the -soldiers, and that he had put down her name for one hundred guineas; -that he was very well; that the life of an American soldier was -infinitely frugal; that "the fare of the general officers of the rebel -army is very different from that of the French at Newport." - -The intelligence that no more French troops could be expected called -manifestly for new plans of campaign, and a conference between the -respective chiefs was finally arranged, which took place at Hartford -with considerable ceremony on the 20th of September. Washington had -with him General Knox and General Lafayette. The French general and -admiral were accompanied by as many subordinate officers as could find -plausible excuse to go along, for all were curious to meet the famous -General Washington. - -At this conference the whole situation was discussed in detail, but no -way of winning the war without outside help was discovered. Rochambeau -sent his son, who had come to America with him, back to France with -[Pg 138]a formal account of the proceedings; while Washington and -Lafayette also sent letters to France by the son of that Mr. Laurens -who had offered Lafayette the hospitality of his traveling-carriage -after the battle of the Brandywine. - -One chance of help still remained, even if the Ministry should consider -it impossible to despatch aid directly from France. The Comte de -Guichen, who commanded a fleet then in the West Indies, might be -persuaded to sail to the relief of the Americans if the letters could -be made sufficiently persuasive. Washington wrote directly to him as -well as to France, sending this letter through the French minister to -the United States, in order that everything might be diplomatically -correct and aboveboard. - - -[Pg 139]XVI - -BLACK TREACHERY - - -Washington returned from his conference with the French commanders by -way of West Point to show Lafayette some improvements recently made in -the works. Several little accidents delayed the journey and brought -them to the house of the commander at a critical moment. We have -Lafayette's account, part of it written the very next day to the French -minister to the United States, part of it later to his wife. - -"When I left you yesterday, M. le Chevalier, to come here to take -breakfast with General Arnold, we were very far from thinking of the -event which I am about to announce to you. You will shudder at the -danger we have run. You will be astonished at the miraculous chain -of accidents and circumstances by which we were saved.... West Point -was sold, and it was sold by Arnold! That same man who had covered -himself with glory by rendering valuable services to his country had -lately formed a horrid compact with the enemy. And but for the chance -which brought us here at a certain time, but for the chance which by -[Pg 140]a combination of accidents caused the adjutant-general of the -English army to fall into the hands of some countrymen beyond the line -of our own posts, West Point and the North River would probably be in -possession of our enemies. - -"When we left Fishkill we were preceded by one of my aides-de-camp and -General Knox's aide, who found General and Mrs. Arnold at table and sat -down to breakfast with them. During that time two letters were brought -to General Arnold giving him information of the capture of the spy. He -ordered a horse to be saddled, went to his wife's room and told her -he was lost, and directed one of his aides-de-camp to say to General -Washington that he had gone to West Point and should return in an hour." - -Arnold had been gone only thirty minutes when Washington and Lafayette -rode up. - -"We crossed the river and went to look at the works. Judge of our -astonishment when, upon our return, we were informed that the captured -spy was Major André, the adjutant-general of the English army, and that -among the papers found upon him was a copy of a very important council -of war, a statement of the strength of the garrison and of the works, -and certain observations upon the methods of attack and defense, all -in General Arnold's handwriting.... A search was made for Arnold, but -he had escaped in a boat on board the sloop-of-war _Vulture_, and as -nobody suspected his flight, no sentry could have thought of arresting -him.... The first care of General Washington was to return to [Pg -141]West Point the troops whom Arnold had dispersed under various -pretexts. We remained here to insure the safety of a fort which the -English would value less if they knew it better.... - -"I cannot describe to you, M. le Chevalier, to what degree I am -astounded by this piece of news.... That Arnold, a man who, although -not so highly esteemed as has been supposed in Europe, had nevertheless -given proof of talent, of patriotism, and especially of the most -brilliant courage, should at once destroy his very existence and should -sell his country to the tyrants whom he had fought against with glory, -is an event, M. le Chevalier, which confounds and distresses me, and, -if I must confess it, humiliates me to a degree that I cannot express. -I would give anything in the world if Arnold had not shared our labors -with us, and if this man whom it still pains me to call a scoundrel had -not shed his blood for the American cause. My knowledge of his personal -courage led me to expect that he would decide to blow his brains out. -This was my first hope. At all events, it is probable that he will -do so when he reaches New York, whither the English sloop proceeded -immediately upon receiving Arnold on board.... - - "I am not writing to M. le Comte de Rochambeau or to M. le Chevalier - de Ternay. I beg you to communicate to them this incredible story.... - What will the officers of the French army say when they see a general - abandon and basely sell his country after having defended it so - well? You can bear witness, M. le Chevalier, that this is the first - [Pg 142]atrocity that has been heard of in our army. But if, on the - one hand, they hear of the infamy of Arnold, they are bound to admire - the disinterestedness of a few countrymen who happened to meet Mr. - André with a passport from General Arnold, and on the mere suspicion - of his being a friend of England made him a prisoner, refusing at the - same time his horse, his watch, and four hundred guineas which he - offered them if they would allow him to continue upon his way.... - - "I shall conclude my long letter, M. le Chevalier, by referring to a - subject which must touch every human heart. The unhappy Mrs. Arnold - did not know a word of this conspiracy. Her husband told her before - going away that he was flying, never to come back, and he left her - lying unconscious. When she came to herself she fell into frightful - convulsions and completely lost her reason. We did everything we - could to quiet her, but she looked upon us as the murderers of her - husband.... The horror with which her husband's conduct has inspired - her, and a thousand other feelings, make her the most unhappy of - women. - - "P.S.--She has recovered her reason this morning, and, as you know - I am upon very good terms with her, she sent for me to go up to her - chamber. General Washington and every one else sympathize warmly with - this estimable woman whose face and whose youthfulness make her so - interesting. She is going to Philadelphia, and I implore you, when - you return, to use your influence in her favor.... Your influence and - [Pg 143]your opinion, emphatically expressed, may prevent her from - being visited with a vengeance which she does not deserve. General - Washington will protect her also. As for myself, you know that I - have always been fond of her, and at this moment she interests me - intensely. We are certain that she knew nothing of the plot." - -This letter expressed the hope that André would be hanged according to -military law, because, being a man of high rank and influence, his fate -would serve as a warning to spies of lesser degree. Lafayette was one -of the court martial that tried and sentenced him; and we have no proof -that he hesitated for an instant in the performance of his stem duty -or that he ever regretted it. Yet from a letter to Madame Lafayette, -written after André's death, we know that Lafayette felt his charm, as -did every one else who knew the unfortunate young Englishman. "He was -an interesting young man," Lafayette wrote. "He conducted himself in a -manner so frank, so noble, and so delicate that I cannot help feeling -for him infinite sorrow." - -Arnold, as everybody knows, did not blow out his brains, but, becoming -literally a turncoat, donned the red of the British uniform, and took -his unwelcome place among the gentlemen officers of King George. In -the following spring he was doing work of destruction in Virginia; but -he was not trusted by his new companions, and two British colonels -supposed to be under his orders were secretly charged with the duty of -keeping an eye on him. It was in Virginia that his path and Lafayette's -crossed once more. - -[Pg 144]Lafayette meantime had been a prey to restlessness. Nothing -happened in the North more interesting than camp routine and the -exchange of official visits. During the summer he had been given -command of a special corps of light infantry culled from all branches -of the service, a body of men in which he took infinite pride. "Its -position is always that of advance-guard," he wrote Adrienne. "It is -independent of the main army, and it is far too fine for our present -pacific situation." He lavished training and affection upon it and -pampered it by sending to France for luxuries like sabers and banners -and plumes. While less needed than coats and shoes, such things were -easier to transport. But even in the matter of clothing this favored -corps was better off than the rest of the army. A French officer who -visited Lafayette's camp thought the uniforms of both men and officers -smart. Each soldier wore a sort of helmet made of hard leather, with a -crest of horsehair. - -Before the army went into winter quarters many Frenchmen came to "the -camp of the marquis" twenty miles from New York, making the pilgrimage -not so much from love of him or to sample the punch which, according -to the custom of the time, he kept "stationary on the table" for -the benefit of his guests, as out of curiosity to see Washington's -headquarters, which were not far away. Most of them were impressed -by the good horses owned by American generals and astonished at the -simplicity of their other equipment. Some "who had made war as colonels -[Pg 145]long before Lafayette left school" were the least bit jealous -of his youth and influence. Several had entered into an agreement not -to accept service under him; but all were flattered that a Frenchman -held such high place in public esteem. One of them asserted with -complacency that "private letters from him have frequently produced -more effect upon some states than the strongest exhortations of -Congress." - -When the army went into winter quarters again he had even more time -upon his hands. He wrote many letters. One went almost every month -to his powerful friend at court, Vergennes, urging speedy aid. The -military needs of the country were never absent from his thoughts, even -while he was taking his French friends, including De Noailles, on a -personally conducted tour of near-by battle-fields and cities. He did -not trust himself far from headquarters, for fear that his chief might -need him or that he might miss some opportunity. When Colonel Laurens -received his instructions before starting for Paris he took care to be -on hand, to give expert advice on court customs and prejudices. He was -a young man who well knew his influence upon two continents, and was -so eager to use it that a man of less winning personality in similar -circumstances might have got himself heartily disliked. - -His eagerness to do something was heightened by his belief that Europe -misunderstood, and thought Americans either unready or unwilling to -fight. His vivid imagination got to work again and juggled with facts -and figures until he became convinced that a surprise attack upon New -[Pg 146]York could do no possible harm and might capture the city. He -detailed this plan to Washington, who saw the weakness of his reasoning -and rejected it in a kind letter signed "sincerely and affectionately -yours," reminding Lafayette that "we must consult our means rather than -our wishes" and that "to endeavor to recover our reputation we should -take care not to injure it the more." - -After this gentle snub he was torn between a desire to join General -Greene in the South for the winter campaign and his wish to be near New -York when a blow was struck there. With a curiosity that would have -been unpardonable in a less intimate friend, he sought to find out his -chief's plans on this score. Washington's answer was non-committal, but -he pointed out that "your going to the Southern army, if you expect -a command in this, will answer no valuable purpose"; and after this -second gentle snub Lafayette gave up the idea of joining Greene. Then -in February he was sent with a detachment of twelve hundred men to -Virginia, where Arnold was destroying valuable supplies. His orders -bade him travel fast, "not to suffer the detachment to be delayed -for want of either provisions, forage, or wagons," and after he got -to Virginia "to do no act whatever with Arnold that directly or by -implication will screen him from the punishment due to his treason and -desertion; which, if he should fall into your hands, you will execute -in the most summary way." While in Virginia he was to co-operate with -General von Steuben, who was in command of militia there; and if [Pg -147]it should prove impossible to dislodge Arnold, Lafayette was to -bring his men back to rejoin the main army. - -He had his force at the Head of Elk, that inlet at the head of -Chesapeake Bay which the English had already used, three days ahead of -schedule time. His campaign lasted about a month, but came to nothing, -because he did not have the co-operation of ships, and in that tangle -of land and water control of Chesapeake Bay was as necessary to success -as ammunition or fodder. The French had been asked to help, and twice -sent ships from Newport to Chesapeake Bay, but in neither case were -they useful to him. He did the best he could from day to day without -them, and even pushed down the bay in a small boat far ahead of his -men, hoping to establish connections; but the ships he saw were British -instead of French. Then he took his men back again to the Head of Elk. - -That his failure was not due to lack of persistence letters written -by him to Gov. Thomas Jefferson, asking for transportation, for -provisions, for boats, for wagons, for horses, and, if horses were not -available, even for oxen to draw his guns, amply testify. That he had -his usual resourcefulness at instant command was displayed at Annapolis -on the northward journey when he found two small armed British vessels -blocking his progress. He improvised a temporary navy of his own, armed -two merchant sloops with cannon, manned them with volunteers, and drove -the British away long enough to permit the rest of his force to go on. - -[Pg 148]Neither was his usual friendliness lacking. He snatched -time to visit Mount Vernon and to call upon Washington's mother at -Fredericksburg, but he made up for the time lost in these indulgences -by riding at night to overtake his command. - - -[Pg 149]XVII - -PREPARING FOR THE LAST ACT - - -The British were beginning to be hard pressed in the South. The -struggle had been long and disappointing, and burning and looting and -the horrors of civil war had spread over a large area. Two Continental -armies had been lost in rapid succession, and there had been months -when one disaster seemed to follow upon another; but gradually the -British were being driven away from their ships and bases of supply -on the coast. The heat of summer had brought much sickness to their -camps, and General Greene, next to Washington the most skilful of the -Revolutionary generals, had perfected his "science of losing battles" -to the point where his opponents might claim almost every engagement -as a victory and yet the advantage remained with the Americans. -Recently the British had lost a large part of their light troops. In -March, 1781, Cornwallis decided to leave General Rawdon, with whom -Lafayette had danced in London, to face Greene, while he himself went -to Virginia, joined Benedict Arnold and General Phillips there, and -returned with them to finish the conquest of the South. Washington [Pg -150]learned of the plan and knew that if it succeeded General Greene -might be crushed between two British forces. Arnold and Phillips must -be kept busy in Virginia. Steuben was already on the ground; Anthony -Wayne was ordered to hurry his Pennsylvanians to the rescue; and -Lafayette, being near the point of danger, was turned back. He found -new orders when he reached Head of Elk. - -The scene was being set in Virginia, not in New York, for the last act -of the Revolutionary War; but neither he nor his men realized this, -and if Lafayette was disappointed, the men were almost in a state -of panic. They began deserting in large numbers. "They like better -a hundred lashes than a journey to the southward," their commander -wrote. "As long as they had an expedition in view they were very well -satisfied; but the idea of remaining in the Southern states appears -to them intolerable, and they are amazingly averse to the people and -climate." Most of them were New England born. He hastened to put many -rivers between them and the land of their desire; and also tried an -appeal to their pride. In an order of the day he stated that his force -had been chosen to fight an enemy superior in numbers and to encounter -many dangers. No man need desert, for their commander would not compel -one of them to accompany him against his will. Whoever chose to do so -might apply for a pass and be sent back to rejoin his former regiment. -They were part of his beloved light infantry of the previous year, with -[Pg 151]all this implied of friendship and interest on both sides, and -this appeal worked like a charm. Desertion went suddenly and completely -out of fashion; nobody asked for a pass, and one poor fellow who was in -danger of being sent back because he was lame hired a cart to be saved -from this disgrace. - -Lafayette's men had once been better dressed than the average; but -their present ragged clothing was entirely unsuited to the work ahead -of them, being fit only for winter wear in the North. As usual, money -and new garments were equally lacking, and as usual this general of -twenty-three came to the rescue. When he reached Baltimore he let -the merchants know that according to French law he was to come into -full control of all his property on reaching the age of twenty-five, -and he promised to pay two years hence for everything he ordered, if -the government did not pay them earlier. On the strength of this he -borrowed two thousand guineas with which to buy overalls, hats, and -shoes; and he smiled upon the ladies of Baltimore, who gave a ball in -his honor, told them confidentially of his plight, and so stirred their -patriotism and sympathy that they set to work with their own fair hands -and made up the linen he bought for shirts. - -Phillips and Arnold had joined forces near Norfolk, and, since the -British were in control of Chesapeake Bay, could go where they chose. -Lafayette believed they would soon move up the James River toward -Norfolk to destroy supplies the Americans had collected. He resolved to -get to Richmond before them, though he had twice the distance to [Pg -152]travel. With this in view he set out from Baltimore on the 19th of -April, moving with such haste that his artillery and even the tents for -his men were left to follow at a slower pace. On the day before he left -Baltimore the British, under General Phillips, who outranked Arnold, -began the very march he had foreseen. Steuben's Virginia militia put up -the best defense it could, but, being inferior in numbers and training, -could only retire inch by inch, moving supplies to places of greater -safety as it went. But it retired hopefully, knowing Lafayette to be on -the way. - -Continuing to advance, partly by land and partly by water, the British -reached Petersburg, only twenty-three miles from Richmond. They passed -Petersburg and pressed on. On April 30th they reached Manchester on the -south bank of the James, directly opposite Richmond. There, to General -Phillips's amazement, he beheld more than the town he had come to take; -drawn up on the hills above the river was Lafayette's force, which had -arrived the night before. He had only about nine hundred Continentals -in addition to his militia, and the British numbered twenty-three -hundred, but Phillips did not choose to attack. He contented himself -with swearing eloquently and giving orders to retire. Lafayette had the -satisfaction of learning, through an officer who visited the British -camp under flag of truce, that his enemy had been completely surprised. -But the young Frenchman felt it necessary to explain to Washington just -how he had been able to do it. "The leaving of my artillery appears a -[Pg 153]strange whim, but had I waited for it Richmond was lost.... It -was not without trouble I have made this rapid march." - -Lafayette was to be under General Greene and expected to find orders -from him waiting at Richmond. Not finding them, he decided he could -best serve the cause by keeping General Phillips uneasy, and followed -him down the James; but, being too weak to attack except with great -advantage of position, he prudently kept the river between them. The -military journal kept by Colonel Simcoe, one of the British officers -charged with the unpleasant duty of watching Arnold, admits that this -was "good policy," though he longed to take advantage of what he called -his French adversary's "gasconading disposition and military ignorance" -and make some counter-move which his own superior officers failed to -approve. - -This retreat of the British down the James, followed by Lafayette, -was the beginning of that strange contra-dance which the two armies -maintained for nine weeks. Sketched upon a map of Virginia, the -route they took resembles nothing except the aimless markings of a -little child. The zigzag lines extend as far west as the mountains -at Charlottesville, as far south as Portsmouth, as far north as -Fredericksburg and Culpeper, and end at Yorktown. - -Cornwallis had not approved of General Clinton's conduct of the -war, believing the British commander-in-chief frittered away his -opportunity. Cornwallis said he was "quite tired of marching about the -[Pg 154]country in search of adventure." The experiences he was to have -in Virginia must have greatly added to that weariness. - -He sent word to Phillips to join him at Petersburg. General Phillips -turned his forces in that direction, but it proved to be his last -order. He was already ill and soon lapsed into unconsciousness and -died. His death placed Arnold again in command until Cornwallis should -arrive. It was during this interval that Arnold took occasion to -write Lafayette about prisoners of war. Mindful of his instructions -to have nothing to do with Arnold except to punish him, Lafayette -refused to receive the letter, saying to the messenger who brought -it that he would gladly read a communication from any other British -officer. Arnold had a keen interest in the treatment of prisoners--for -very personal reasons. A story was current to the effect that one of -Lafayette's command who was taken prisoner was questioned by Arnold -himself and asked what the Americans would do to him in case he was -captured. "Cut off the leg which was wounded in your country's service, -and hang the rest of you!" was the prompt reply. The renegade general -was not popular in either army. Soon after Cornwallis's arrival he was -ordered elsewhere, and his name fades out of history. - -Lafayette counted the hours until Wayne should join him, but Cornwallis -reached Virginia first, with troops enough to make Lafayette's -situation decidedly grave. All the Americans could do was to follow the -plan Steuben had adopted before Lafayette's arrival; retreat slowly, -[Pg 155]removing stores to places of safety whenever possible. General -Greene gave Lafayette permission to act independently, but, while -this enabled him to make quick decisions, it increased his load of -responsibility and did not in the least augment his strength. - -In the North he had longed for more to do; here it was different. -He wrote Alexander Hamilton, "For the present, my dear friend, my -complaint is quite of the opposite nature," and he went on with a -half-humorous account of his duties, his situation, and the relative -strength of the two armies. The British, he thought, had between four -thousand and five thousand men. "We have nine hundred Continentals. -Their infantry is near five to one, their cavalry ten to one. Our -militia is not numerous, some without arms, and are not used to war." -Wayne's men were necessary even to allow the Americans to be beaten -"with some decency." "But," he added, "if the Pennsylvanians come, Lord -Cornwallis shall pay something for his victory!" The Virginia militia -showed symptoms of deserting as harvest-time approached and the call -of home duties grew strong. Then there was the danger of contagious -disease. "By the utmost care to avoid infected ground, we have hitherto -got rid of the smallpox," Lafayette wrote in another letter. "I wish -the harvest-time might be as easily got over." - -Cornwallis was fully aware of his superior numbers and had a simple -plan. "I shall now proceed to dislodge Lafayette from Richmond, -and with my light troops to destroy magazines or stores in the -[Pg 156]neighborhood.... From thence I propose to move to the neck -at Williamsburg, which is represented as healthy ... and keep myself -unengaged from operations which might interfere with your plan for the -campaign until I have the satisfaction of hearing from you," he wrote -Clinton. He was very sure that the "aspiring boy," as he contemptuously -called Lafayette, could not escape him. But the "boy" had no intention -of being beaten--"indecently"--if he could hold out until Wayne -arrived. He knew that one false move would be his ruin and there was -no wild planning. "Independence has rendered me more cautious, as I -know my warmth," he told Hamilton. He knew how to travel swiftly, -and sometimes it was necessary to move as swiftly as possible. Even -so the British advance might come up just as the last of his little -force disappeared. If Cornwallis tried a short cut to head him off, he -changed his direction; and more of those apparently aimless lines were -traced upon the map. - -On the 10th of June Wayne joined him about thirty-five miles west of -Fredericksburg. His force was smaller than Lafayette had hoped for, -"less than a thousand men in all"; but from that time the Continental -troops no longer fled. Indeed, Cornwallis no longer pursued them, -but veered off, sending General Tarleton's famous cavalry on a raid -toward Charlottesville, where it made prisoners of several members -of the Virginia legislature and almost succeeded in capturing Gov. -Thomas Jefferson. Another portion of his force turned its attention -[Pg 157]upon Steuben where he was guarding supplies. But gradually -pursuit became retreat and the general direction of the zigzag was -back toward the sea. The chances were still uncertain enough to make -the game exciting. There was one moment when Lafayette's flank was in -imminent danger; his men, however, marched by night along a forgotten -wood road and reached safety. Six hundred mounted men who came to join -him from neighboring counties were warmly welcomed, for he sorely -needed horses. At one time, to get his men forward more speedily for -an attack--attacks were increasingly frequent--each horse was made to -carry double. After he and General Steuben joined forces on the 19th of -June the English and Americans each had about four thousand men, though -in the American camp there were only fifteen hundred regulars and fifty -dragoons. - -Weapons for cavalry were even scarcer than horses. Swords could not be -bought in the state; but Lafayette was so intent upon mounted troops -that he planned to provide some of them with spears, "which," he -argued, "in the hands of a gentleman must be a formidable weapon." Thus -reverting to type, as biologists say, this descendant of the Crusaders -drove his enemy before him with Crusaders' weapons down the peninsula -between the York and the James rivers. - - -[Pg 158]XVIII - -YORKTOWN - - -One of General Wayne's officers, Captain Davis of the First -Pennsylvania, whose military skill, let us hope, exceeded his knowledge -of spelling, kept a diary full of enthusiasm and superfluous capital -letters. By this we learn that the Fourth of July, 1781, was a wet -morning which cleared off in time for a "Feu-de-joy" in honor of -the day. The Americans had by this time forced the British down the -peninsula as far as Williamsburg, and were themselves camped about -fifteen miles from that town. While the "Feu-de-joy" went up in smoke -the British were busy; for Cornwallis had received letters which -decided him to abandon Williamsburg, send a large part of his men -north to reinforce Clinton, and consolidate the rest with the British -garrison at Portsmouth, near Norfolk. - -The battle of Green Springs, the most serious encounter of Lafayette's -Virginia campaign, took place on the 6th of July, near Jamestown, when -the British, in carrying out this plan, crossed to the south side of -the river James. Cornwallis was sure that Lafayette would attack, and -[Pg 159]arranged an ambush, meaning to lure him with the belief that -all except the British rear-guard had passed to the other bank. The -ruse only half succeeded, for Lafayette observed that the British -clung tenaciously to their position and replaced the officers American -riflemen picked off one after the other. Riding out on a point of land, -he saw the British soldiers waiting under protection of their guns -and spurred back to warn General Wayne, but by that time the battle -had opened. Wayne's men suffered most, being nearly surrounded. In a -tight place Wayne always preferred "among a choice of difficulties, to -advance and charge"; and this was exactly what he did, straight into -the British lines. The unexpectedness of it brought success; and in the -momentary confusion he fell back to a place of safety. Afterward he had -a word to say about Lafayette's personal conduct. Reporting that no -officers were killed, though most of them had horses shot or wounded -under them, he added: "I will not condole with the Marquis for the loss -of two of his, as he was frequently requested to keep at a greater -distance. His native bravery rendered him deaf to the admonition." - -The British retained the battle-field and the Americans most of the -glory, as was the case in so many fights of the Revolution. British -military writers have contended that Lafayette was in mortal danger -and that Cornwallis could have annihilated his whole force if he had -attacked that night. What Cornwallis did was to cross the river next -morning and proceed toward Portsmouth. The affair at Green Springs -[Pg 160]added materially to Lafayette's reputation. Indeed, with the -exception of burning a few American stores, increasing Lafayette's -military reputation was about all the British accomplished in this -campaign. An American officer with a taste for figures gleefully -estimated that Cornwallis's "tour in Virginia" cost King George, one -way and another, more than would have been needed to take all the -British aristocracy on a trip around the world. - -Cornwallis got his soldiers safely upon their transports, but it was -written in the stars that they were not to leave Virginia of their own -free will. Orders came from Clinton telling him not to send them north, -and giving him to understand that his recent acts were not approved. -Clinton directed him to establish himself in a healthy spot on the -peninsula between the York and James rivers and to gain control of -a seaport to which British ships could come. He suggested Old Point -Comfort, but Cornwallis's engineers decided that Yorktown, with the -neck of land opposite called Gloucester, was the only place that would -serve. Here Cornwallis brought his army on the 1st of August and began -building defenses. - -Following the battle of Green Springs, Lafayette occupied Williamsburg -and gave his men the rest they needed after their many weeks of -marching. He sent out detachments on various errands, but this was a -season of comparative quiet. Soon he began to long for excitement, -and wrote to Washington that he did not know about anything that was -happening in the world outside of Virginia, that he was homesick for -[Pg 161]headquarters, and that if he could not be there to help in the -defense of New York, at least he would like to know what was going on. -The answer only whetted his curiosity. Washington bade him await a -confidential letter explaining his plans. - -The military situation as Washington saw it was exceedingly -interesting. Colonel Laurens's mission to the French court had turned -out badly. Perhaps he had not taken sufficiently to heart Lafayette's -advice; but young Rochambeau had not fared much better. In May it -had been learned that there was never to be any second division of -the French army; a blow that was softened by the assurance that -considerable money was actually on the way and that a French fleet, -which had sailed for the West Indies under command of Comte de Grasse, -might visit the coast of the United States for a short time. - -It was the approach of this French fleet which caused Clinton -uneasiness in New York and made Cornwallis embark part of his troops -for the North. Washington took good care to let Clinton rest in the -belief that New York was to be attacked, but it became increasingly -evident to him that the greatest blow he could strike would be to -capture Cornwallis's army. He arranged with Admiral de Grasse to sail -to Chesapeake Bay instead of to New York, sent word to Lafayette to -be on the lookout for the French fleet, moved Rochambeau's soldiers -from Newport to the Hudson, left a sufficient number of them there and -started south with all the rest of the army, moving with the greatest -possible speed. Those of us who have read about this merely as long [Pg -162]past history do not realize the risks involved in planning such -far-reaching combinations in days before cables and telegraph lines. - -"To blockade Rhode Island, fool Clinton, shut him up in New York, -and keep Cornwallis in Virginia," says a French writer, "it was -necessary to send from the port of Brest and later from the Antilles -to Chesapeake Bay a flotilla destined to take from the English all -hope of retreat and embarkation at the exact instant that Washington, -Rochambeau, and Lafayette should come and force the English in their -last intrenchments. This grand project which decided the outcome of the -war could be conceived only by men of superior talent." Lafayette's -friend, De Ségur, said that "it required all the audacity of Admiral -Comte de Grasse and the skill of Washington, sustained by the bravery -of Lafayette, the wisdom of Rochambeau, the heroic intrepidity of our -sailors and our troops, as well as the valor of the American militia." - -Fortunately the geography of the Atlantic coast helped Washington keep -his secret even after he was well started. If De Grasse came to New -York, Washington's logical goal was Staten Island, and the route of the -Continental army would be the same in either case for a long distance. -After Philadelphia had been left behind and Washington's plan became -evident, it was too late for Clinton to stop him. - -Thus the net tightened about Cornwallis. French ships in the bay -effectually cut off hope of reinforcement or escape by sea. Lafayette -[Pg 163]stationed Wayne where he could interpose if the British -attempted to go by land toward the Carolinas. He sent his faithful -friend, De Gimat, down the bay to meet the French admiral and give him -information, and disposed his own forces to cover the landing of any -soldiers De Grasse might bring him. - -It must have been a fine sight when twenty-eight large ships of the -line and four French frigates sailed up the James River on the 2d of -September and landed three thousand soldiers, "all very tall men" in -uniforms of white turned up with blue. Lafayette's Americans, drawn up -not far from the battleground of Green Springs, donned their ragged -best in their honor. "Our men had orders to wash and put on clean -clothes," a diary informs us. - -With this addition to his force Lafayette approached Yorktown. General -Saint-Simon, the commander of the three thousand very tall men, was -much older than Lafayette, besides being a marshal of France, but he -gallantly signified his willingness to serve under his junior; and -officers and privates alike accepted cheerfully the scanty American -fare, which was all Lafayette could get for his enlarged military -family. He found difficulty in collecting even this and wrote -Washington that his duties as quartermaster had brought on violent -headache and fever, but that the indisposition would vanish with three -hours' needed sleep. - -In spite of their politeness it was evident that the visitors were -anxious to be through with their task and away. Admiral de Grasse had -a rendezvous for a certain date in the West Indies and insisted from -[Pg 164]the first that his stay in American waters must be short. The -French were scarcely inclined to await the arrival of Washington; yet -with all Washington's haste he had only reached Chester, Pennsylvania, -on the way to Head of Elk when he heard of De Grasse's arrival. Those -who were with him when the news came were more impressed by the way he -received it than by the news itself. His reserve and dignity fell from -him like a garment, and his face beamed like that of a delighted child -as he stood on the river-bank waving his hat in the air and shouting -the glad tidings to Rochambeau. - -When Washington reached Williamsburg on the 13th of September he -found both Lafayette and General Wayne the worse for wear. Wayne, -with characteristic impetuosity, had tried to pass one of Lafayette's -sentries after dark and was nursing a slight wound in consequence. -Lafayette's quartermaster headache had developed into an attack of -ague; but that did not prevent his being present at the ceremonies -which marked the official meeting of the allied commanders. There were -all possible salutes and official visits, and, in addition, at a grand -supper a band played a kind of music seldom heard in America in those -days--the overture to a French opera "signifying the happiness of a -family when blessed with the presence of their father." - -Washington's arrival of course put an end to Lafayette's independent -command. With the Commander-in-chief present he became again what -he had been the previous summer, merely the commander of a division -[Pg 165]of light infantry, and as such took part in the siege of -Yorktown, which progressed unfalteringly. The night of October 14th -witnessed its most dramatic incident, the taking of two redoubts, one -by French troops, the other by Americans under Lafayette. Among his -officers were Gimat, John Laurens, and Alexander Hamilton. Six shells -in rapid succession gave the signal to advance, and his four hundred -men obeyed under fire without returning a shot, so rapidly that the -place was taken at the point of the bayonet in a very few minutes. -Lafayette's first care was to send an aide with his compliments and -a message to Baron Viomenil, the French commander, whose troops were -still attacking; the message being that the Americans had gained their -redoubt and would gladly come to his assistance if he desired it. This -was a bit of vainglory, for Viomenil had nettled Lafayette by doubting -if his Americans could succeed. On the night of October 15th the -British attempted a sortie which failed. After an equally unsuccessful -attempt to escape by water, Cornwallis felt that there was no more -hope, for his works were crumbling and, in addition to his loss in -killed and wounded, many of his men were sick. He wrote a short note to -Washington asking for an armistice to arrange terms of surrender. - -The time of surrender was fixed for two o'clock on the afternoon of -October 19, 1781. Lafayette had suggested that Cornwallis's bands be -required to play a British or a German air when the soldiers marched -to lay down their arms. This was in courteous retaliation for the -[Pg 166]treatment our own troops had received at British hands at the -surrender of Charleston, when they had been forbidden to play such -music. It was to the tune of "The World Turned Upside Down" that they -chose to march with colors cased, between the long lines of French and -Americans drawn up on the Hampton Road, to a field where a squadron -of French had spread out to form a huge circle. The French on one -side of the road under their flag with the golden fleur-de-lis were -resplendent in uniforms of white turned up with blue. The Americans -were less imposing. In the militia regiments toward the end of their -line scarcely a uniform was to be seen, but at their head Washington -and his officers, superbly mounted, stood opposite Rochambeau and the -other French generals. Eye-witnesses thought that the British showed -disdain of the ragged American soldiers and a marked preference for -the French, but acts of discourtesy were few, and the higher officers -conducted themselves as befitted gentlemen. Cornwallis did not appear -to give up his sword, but sent General O'Hara to represent him, and it -was received on Washington's part by General Lincoln, who had given up -his sword to the British at Charleston. - -As each British regiment reached the field where the French waited it -laid down its arms at the command of its colonel and marched back to -Yorktown, prisoners of war. The cheeks of one colonel were wet with -tears as he gave the order, and a corporal was heard to whisper to -his musket as he laid it down, "May you never get so good a master!" -[Pg 167]Care was taken not to add to the humiliation of the vanquished -by admitting sightseers, and all agree that there was no cheering or -exulting. "Universal silence was observed," says General "Lighthorse -Harry" Lee, who was there. "The utmost decency prevailed, exhibiting -in demeanor an awful sense of the vicissitudes of human life, mingled -with commiseration for the unhappy." There was more than commiseration; -there was real friendliness. Rochambeau, learning that Cornwallis was -without money, lent him all he needed. Dinners were given at which -British officers were the guests of honor; and we have Lafayette's word -for it that "every sort of politeness" was shown. - -Washington's aide, Colonel Tilghman, rode at top speed to Philadelphia -with news of the surrender, reaching there after midnight on the 24th. -He met a watchman as he entered the city, and bade him show him the way -to the house of the president of Congress. The watchman, of course, -learned the great news, and while Tilghman roused the high official, -the watchman, who was a patriot, though he had a strong German accent, -continued his rounds, calling, happily: - -"Basht dree o'glock, und Corn-wal-lis isht da-a-ken!" - - -[Pg 168]XIX - -"THE WINE OF HONOR" - - -About the time that Colonel Tilghman rode into Philadelphia a large -British fleet appeared just outside of Chesapeake Bay, thirty-one -ships one day and twenty-five more the next; but they were too late. -As a French officer remarked, "The chicken was already eaten," and two -days later the last sail had disappeared. The surrender of Cornwallis -cost England the war, but nobody could be quite sure of it at that -time. Washington hoped the French admiral would still help him by -taking American troops south, either to reinforce General Greene near -Charleston or for operations against Wilmington, North Carolina. Two -days after the fall of Yorktown, when Washington made a visit of thanks -to De Grasse upon his flagship, Lafayette accompanied his chief; and -after Washington took leave Lafayette stayed for further consultation, -it being Washington's plan to give Lafayette command of this expedition -against Wilmington in case it should be decided upon. The young general -came ashore in high spirits, sure that two thousand American soldiers -[Pg 169]could sail for North Carolina within the next ten days. -Reflection, however, showed the admiral many obstacles, chief of them -being that he had positive orders to meet a Spanish admiral in the West -Indies on a certain day, now very near. Taking troops to Wilmington -might delay him only a few hours, but on the other hand contrary winds -might lengthen the time to two weeks, in which case he would have to -sail off to the rendezvous, carrying the whole American expedition -with him. After thinking it over, he politely but firmly refused. -Reinforcements for General Greene were sent by land under command -of another officer, the expedition to Wilmington was given up, and -Lafayette rode away to Philadelphia to ask leave of Congress to spend -the following winter in Paris. This was readily granted in resolutions -which cannily combined anticipation of future favors with thanks for -the service he had already rendered. - -Once more he sailed from Boston on the _Alliance_. This time the voyage -was short and lacked the exciting features of his previous trip on -her. Wishing to surprise his wife, he landed at Lorient and posted to -Paris with such haste that he arrived quite unexpectedly on the 21st -of January, to find an empty house, Adrienne being at the moment at -the Hotel de Ville, attending festivities in honor of the unfortunate -little Dauphin. When the news of her husband's return finally reached -her on the breath of the crowd she was separated from her home by -streets in such happy turmoil that she could not hope to reach the -Hotel de Noailles for hours. Marie Antoinette hastened this journey's -[Pg 170]end in a lovers' meeting in right queenly fashion by holding -up a royal procession and sending Madame Lafayette home in her own -carriage. Accounts written at the time tell how the husband heard his -wife's voice and flew to the door, how she fell into his arms half -fainting with emotion, and how he carried her inside and the great -doors closed while the crowd in the street applauded. What happened -after that we do not know, except that he found other members of his -family strangely altered. "My daughter and your George have grown -so much that I find myself older than I thought," the father wrote -Washington. - -Paris set about celebrating his return with enthusiasm. A private -letter which made much of the queen's graciousness to Madame Lafayette -remarked as of lesser moment that a numerous and joyous band of -"_poissards,_" which we may translate "the rabble," brought branches -of laurel to the Hôtel de Noailles. A prima donna offered him the same -tribute at the opera, but in view of later happenings this homage of -the common people was quite as significant. In vaudeville they sang -topical songs about him; pretty ladies frankly showed him their favor; -the ancient order of Masons, of which he was a member, gave him the -welcome reserved for heroes; and he was wined and dined to an extent -that only a man blessed with his strong digestion could have withstood. -One of these dinners was given by the dissolute old Maréchal de -Richelieu, nephew of the famous cardinal, and to this were bidden "all -[Pg 171]the _maréchals_ of France," who drank Washington's health with -fervor and bade the guest of honor convey to him "their homage." - -It had been more than a century since France won a victory over -England comparable to this capture of Cornwallis, and national pride -and exultation were plainly apparent in the honors bestowed upon the -returned soldier. "Your name is held in veneration," Vergennes assured -him. "It required a great deal of skill to maintain yourself as you -did, for so long a time, in spite of the disparity of your forces, -before Lord Cornwallis, whose military talents are well known." And -the new Minister of War, M. de Ségur, father of Lafayette's boyhood -friend, informed him that as "a particular and flattering favor" the -king had been pleased to make him a marshal of France, his commission -dating from the 18th of October. This rank corresponded to that of -major-general in the American army, and Lafayette was to assume it -at the end of the American war. There were officers in the army who -did not approve of this honor. They could not see that Lafayette had -done anything to warrant making a French colonel into a major-general -overnight and over the heads of officers of higher rank. They were -quite sure they would have done as well had the opportunity come their -way. Kings do not often reward subjects for services rendered a foreign -nation; and the part that strikes us as odd is that Lafayette had been -fighting against monarchy, the very form of government his own king -represented. But Lafayette's life abounded in such contradictions. - -[Pg 172]His popularity was no nine days' affair. Franklin found it of -very practical use. "He gains daily in public esteem and affection, -and promises to be a great man in his own country," the American -wrote, after Lafayette had been back for some weeks, adding, "he has -been truly useful to me in my efforts to obtain increased assistance." -Before the young hero arrived Franklin had found it difficult to -arrange a new American loan, but with such enthusiasm sweeping Paris it -was almost easy. The town went quite wild. John Ledyard, the American -explorer, who was there at the time, wrote: "I took a walk to Paris -this morning and saw the Marquis de Lafayette. He is a good man, this -same marquis. I esteem him: I even love him, and so do we all, except -some who worship." Then he added, "If I find in my travels a mountain -as much elevated above other mountains as he is above ordinary men, I -will name it Lafayette." - -Envoys to discuss peace had already reached Paris, but it was not at -all certain that England would give up the contest without one more -campaign. To be on the safe side it was planned to send a combined -fleet of French and Spanish ships convoying twenty-four thousand -soldiers to the West Indies to attack the English island of Jamaica. -Ships and men were to be under command of Admiral d'Estaing, who -wished Lafayette to go with him as chief-of-staff. After the work was -done in the West Indies D'Estaing would sail northward and detach six -thousand troops to aid a revolution in Canada, a project Lafayette had -never wholly abandoned. The expedition was to sail from Cadiz, and -[Pg 173]Lafayette was already in Spain with part of the French force -when he learned that the preliminary treaty of peace had been signed -at Versailles on January 20, 1782. He longed to carry the news to -America himself, but was told that he could do much in Spain to secure -advantageous trade agreements between that country and the United -States. So he contented himself with borrowing a vessel from the fleet -that was now without a destination, and sending two letters by it. -One, very dignified in tone, was addressed to Congress. The other, to -Washington, was joyously personal. "If you were a mere man like Cæsar -or the King of Prussia," he wrote, "I would almost regret, on your -account, to see the end of the tragedy in which you have played so -grand a role. But I rejoice with you, my dear General, in this peace -which fulfils all my desires.... What sentiments of pride and joy I -feel in thinking of the circumstances which led to my joining the -American cause!... I foresee that my grandchildren will be envied when -they celebrate and honor your name. To have had one of their ancestors -among your soldiers, to know that he had the good fortune to be the -friend of your heart, will be the eternal honor that shall glorify -them; and I will bequeath to the eldest among them, so long as my -posterity shall endure, the favor you have been pleased to bestow upon -my son George." - -The ship on which these letters were sent was called, appropriately, -_La Triomphe_; and, as he hoped, it did actually carry the news of -peace to America, reaching port ahead of all others. - -[Pg 174]For himself, he remained in Spain, doing what he could for -America. The things he witnessed there made him a better republican -than ever. He wrote to his aunt that the grandees of the court looked -rather small, "especially when I saw them upon their knees." Absolute -power, exercised either by monarchs or subjects, was becoming more and -more distasteful to him. The injustice of negro slavery, for example, -wrung his heart. In the very letter to Washington announcing peace he -wrote: "Now that you are to taste a little repose, permit me to propose -to you a plan that may become vastly useful to the black portion of the -human race. Let us unite in buying a little property where we can try -to enfranchise the negroes and employ them merely as farm laborers." -He did buy a plantation called Belle Gabrielle in Cayenne, French -Guiana, and lavished money and thought upon it. It was an experiment -in which his wife heartily joined, sending out teachers for the black -tenantry and making their souls and morals her special care. The French -Revolution put an end to this, as it did to so many enterprises; and -it seems a bitter jest of fortune that when Lafayette's property was -seized these poor creatures were sold back again into slavery--in the -name of Freedom and Equality. - -In March, 1783, Lafayette took his wife to Chavaniac, possibly for the -first time. One of the two aunts who made the old manor-house their -home had just died, leaving the other desolate. While Adrienne won the -affections of the lonely old lady, her husband set about improving -the condition of the peasants on the estate. Bad harvests had brought -[Pg 175]about great scarcity of food. His manager proudly showed his -granaries full of wheat, remarking, "Monsieur le Marquis, now is the -time to sell." The answer, "No, this is the time to give away," left -the worthy steward breathless. Whether Lafayette's philanthropies -would win the approval of social workers to-day we do not know. The -list of enterprises sounds well. During the next few years he built -roads, brought an expert from England to demonstrate new methods in -agriculture, imported tools and superior breeds of animals, established -a weekly market and an annual fair, started the weaving industry and a -school to teach it, and established a resident physician to look after -the health of his tenants. He was popular with them. On his arrival he -was met in the town of Rion by a procession headed by musicians and the -town officials, who ceremoniously presented "the wine of honor" and -were followed by local judges in red robes who "made him compliments," -while the people cried, "Vive Lafayette!" and danced and embraced, -"almost without knowing one another." A few weeks later the tenants -from a neighboring manor came bringing him a draught of wine from their -town, and expressing the wish that they might come under his rule. This -he was able to gratify a few years later, when he bought the estate. - -In May, 1783, Lafayette realized the long-cherished dream of having -a home of his own. The Hôtel de Noailles was very grand and very -beautiful, and while he was away fighting it was by far the best place -[Pg 176]for Adrienne and the children; but it belonged to her people, -not to him. From camps he had written her about this home they were -some day to have together; and now that he had returned to France -to stay they bought a house in the rue de Bourbon and set up their -domestic altar there. They had three children; for a daughter had -been born to them in the previous September. Like George, she was as -American as her father could make her. "I have taken the liberty of -naming her Virginia," he wrote General Washington. Benjamin Franklin, -to whom he also announced the new arrival, hoped he would have children -enough to name one after each state of the Union. - -In May, also, something happened which must have pleased Lafayette -deeply. He was given the Cross of Saint-Louis, the military decoration -his father had worn; and the man who received him into the order was -his father-in-law, the Duc d'Ayen, who had so bitterly opposed his -going to America. - -With large estates in the country, a new house in town, a list of -acquaintances which included everybody worth knowing in Paris and more -notables in foreign countries than even he could write to or receive -letters from, and a keen interest in the politics, philanthropy, and -commerce of two hemispheres, he might have passed for a busy man. -Yet he found time for an entirely new enthusiasm. A German doctor -named Mesmer had made what he believed to be important discoveries -in a new force and a new mode of healing, called animal magnetism. -Lafayette enrolled himself as a pupil. "I know as much as ever a -[Pg 177]sorcerer knew!" he wrote enthusiastically to Washington. On -paying his initiation fee of a hundred golden louis he had signed a -paper promising not to reveal these secrets to any prince, community, -government, or individual without Mesmer's written consent, but -the disciple was eager to impart his knowledge to his great friend -and hoped to gain permission. Louis XVI was satirical. "What will -Washington think when he learns that you have become first apothecary -boy to Mesmer?" he asked. - -Lafayette was planning a visit to America and sent a message to Mrs. -Washington that he hoped "soon to thank her for a dish of tea at Mount -Vernon." "Yes, my dear General, before the month of June is over you -will see a vessel coming up the Potomac, and out of that vessel will -your friend jump, with a panting heart and all the feelings of perfect -happiness." He did indeed make the visit during the summer of 1784, -though a few weeks later than June. Whether they had time during his -ten days at Mount Vernon to talk about Mesmer history does not state. -The hours must have been short for all the things clamoring to be -said. Then Lafayette made a tour that carried him to Portsmouth, New -Hampshire, as far west as Fort Schuyler, for another treaty-making -powwow with his red brothers the Indians, and south to Yorktown. -Everywhere bells pealed and balls and dinners were given. Before he -turned his face toward France he had a few more quiet days at Mount -Vernon with Washington, who accompanied him on his homeward way as far -[Pg 178]as Annapolis. At parting the elder man gave him a tender letter -for Adrienne, and on the way back to Mount Vernon wrote the words of -farewell which proved prophetic: "I have often asked myself, since our -carriages separated, whether that was the last sight I ever should have -of you; and though I wished to say No, my fears answered Yes." - -Washington lived fourteen years longer; but in the mean time the storm -of the French Revolution broke and everything that had seemed enduring -in Lafayette's life was wrecked. Until that storm burst letters and -invitations and presents flashed across the see as freely as though -propelled by Mesmer's magic fluid. Mrs. Washington sent succulent -Virginia hams to figure at dinners given by the Lafayettes in Paris. -A picture of the household in the rue de Bourbon has come down to us -written by a young officer to his mother: - -"I seemed to be in America rather than in Paris. Numbers of English and -Americans were present, for he speaks English as he does French. He has -an American Indian in native costume for a footman. This savage calls -him only 'father.' Everything is simple in his home. Marmontel and the -Abbé Morrolet were dinner guests. Even the little girls spoke English -as well as French, though they are very small. They played in English, -and laughed with the Americans. This would have made charming subjects -for English engravings." - -Lafayette on his part sent many things to that house on the banks -of the Potomac. He sent his friends, and a letter from him was an -[Pg 179]infallible open sesame. He sent his own accounts of journeys -and interviews. He sent animals and plants that he thought would -interest Washington, the farmer. Asses, for example, which were hard to -get in America, and rare varieties of seeds. In time he sent the key of -the Bastille. But that, as romancers say, is "another story," and opens -another chapter in Lafayette's life. - - -[Pg 180]XX - -THE PASSING OF OLD FRANCE - - -Lafayette took his business of being a soldier seriously, and in the -summer of 1785 made another journey, this time in the interest of his -military education. Frederick II, King of Prussia, was still living. -Lafayette obtained permission to attend the maneuvers of his army, -counting himself fortunate to receive lessons in strategy from this -greatest warrior of his time. He was not surprised to find the old -monarch bent and rheumatic, with fingers twisted with gout, and head -pulled over on one side until it almost rested on his shoulder; or to -see that his blue uniform with red facings was dirty and sprinkled with -snuff. But he was astonished to discover that the eyes in Frederick's -emaciated old face were strangely beautiful and lighted up his -countenance at times with an expression of the utmost sweetness. It -was not often that they transformed him thus from an untidy old man to -an angel of benevolence. Usually they were keen, sometimes mockingly -malicious. - -It was certainly not without malice that he seated the young French -[Pg 181]general at his table between two other guests, Lord Cornwallis -and the Duke of York; and in the course of long dinners amused himself -by asking Lafayette questions about Washington and the American -campaigns. Lafayette answered with his customary ardor, singing praises -of his general and even venturing to praise republicanism in a manner -that irritated the old monarch. - -"Monsieur!" Frederick interrupted him in such a flight. "I once knew -a young man who visited countries where liberty and equality reigned. -After he got home he took it into his head to establish them in his own -country. Do you know what happened?" - -"No, Sire." - -"He was hanged!" the old man replied, with a sardonic grin. It was -plain he liked Lafayette or he would not have troubled to give him the -warning. - -Lafayette continued his journey to Prague and Vienna and Dresden, -where he saw other soldiers put through their drill. Then he returned -to Potsdam for the final grand maneuvers under the personal direction -of Frederick, but a sudden acute attack of gout racked his kingly old -bones, and the exercises which, in his clockwork military system, could -no more be postponed than the movements of the planets, were carried -out by the heir apparent, to Lafayette's great disappointment. He wrote -Washington that the prince was "a good officer, an honest fellow, a man -of sense," but that he would never have the talent of his two uncles. -As for the Prussian army, it was a wonderful machine, but "if the -resources of France, the vivacity of her soldiers, the intelligence -[Pg 182]of her officers, the national ambition and moral delicacy were -applied to a system worked out with equal skill, we would as far excel -the Prussians as our army is now inferior to theirs--which is saying a -great deal!" - -_Vive la France! Vivent_ moral distinctions! He may not have realized -it, but Lafayette was all his life more interested in justice than in -war. - -Almost from the hour of his last return from America the injustice with -which French Protestants were treated filled him with indignation. -Though not openly persecuted, they were entirely at the mercy of -official caprice. Legally their marriages were not valid; they could -not make wills; their rights as citizens were attacked on every side. -To use Lafayette's expression, they were "stricken with civil death." -He became their champion. - -Everybody knew that very radical theories had been applauded in France -for many years, even by the men who condemned them officially. Dislike -of liberal actions, however, was still strong, as Lafayette found when -he attempted to help these people. His interest in them was treated as -an amiable weakness which might be overlooked in view of his many good -qualities, but should on no account be encouraged. "It is a work which -requires time and is not without some inconvenience to me, because -nobody is willing to give me one word of writing or to uphold me in any -way. I must run my chance," he wrote Washington. He did, however, get -permission from one of the king's ministers to go to Languedoc, where -[Pg 183]Protestants were numerous, in order to study their condition -and know just what it was he advocated. Evidence that he gathered thus -at first hand he used officially two years later before the Assembly -of Notables. So his championship of the French Protestants marks the -beginning of this new chapter in Lafayette's life, his entrance into -French politics. - -Outwardly the condition of the country remained much as it had been; -but discontent had made rapid progress during the years of Lafayette's -stay in America. An answer attributed to the old Maréchal de Richelieu -sums up the change. The old reprobate had been ill and Louis XVI, with -good intentions, but clumsy cruelty, congratulated him on his recovery. -"For," said the king, "you are not young. You have seen three ages." -"Rather," growled the duke, "three reigns!" "Well, what do you think of -them?" "Sire, under Louis XIV nobody dared say a word; under Louis XV -they spoke in whispers; under your Majesty they speak loudly." - -This education in discontent had proceeded under three teachers: -extravagance, hunger, and the success of America's war of independence. -Louis really desired to see his people happy and prosperous. He had -made an attempt at reforms, early in his reign, but, having neither -a strong will nor a strong mind, it speedily lapsed. Even under his -own eyes at Versailles many abuses continued, merely because they -had become part of the cumbersome court etiquette which Frederick II -had condemned back in the days of Louis's grandfather. Many other -[Pg 184]abuses had increased without even the pretense of reforming -them. There was increased personal extravagance among the well-to-do; -increased extortion elsewhere. Tax-collectors were still going about -shutting their eyes to the wealth of men who had influence and judging -the peasants as coldly as they would judge cattle. In one district they -were fat; they must pay a heavier tax. Chicken feathers were blowing -about on the ground? That meant the people had poultry to eat; the -screw could be given another vigorous turn. Among all classes there -seemed to be less and less money to spend. With the exception of a few -bankers and merchants, everybody from the king down felt poor. The -peasants felt hungry. The poor in cities actually were very hungry; -almost all the nobles were deeply in debt. In short, the forces for -good and ill which had already honeycombed the kingdom when Lafayette -was a boy had continued their work, gnawing upward and downward and -through the social fabric until only a very thin and brittle shell -remained. And, as the Maréchal de Richelieu pointedly reminded his weak -king, people were no longer afraid to talk aloud about these things. - -The success of the Revolution in America had done much to remove the -ban of silence. Loans made by France had added to the scarcity of -money; and it was these loans which had brought America success. The -people across the ocean had wiped the slate clean and begun afresh. -Why not follow their example? In the winter of 1782, when Paris was -[Pg 185]suffering from the Russian influenza, a lady with a clever -tongue and the eye of a prophet had said, "We are threatened with -another malady which will come from America--the _Independenza!_" -Thoughtful people were beginning to believe that a change was only a -matter of time; but that it would come slowly and stretch over many -years. - -Meanwhile the months passed and the glittering outer shell of the -old order of things continued to glitter. Lafayette divided his time -between Paris, the court, and Chavaniac. He made at least one journey -in the brilliant retinue of the king. He dined and gave dinners. He did -everything in his power to increase commerce with the United States. -He took part in every public movement for reform, and instituted small -private ones of his own. One of these was to ask the king to revoke -a pension of seven hundred and eighty livres that had been granted -him when he was a mere baby, and to divide it between a retired old -infantry officer and a worthy widow of Auvergne. Incidentally people -seemed to like him in spite of his republicanism. It was no secret -to any one that he had come home from America a thorough believer in -popular government. - -His fame was by no means confined to France and the lands lying to -the west of it. Catherine II of Russia became curious to see this -much-talked-of person and invited him to St. Petersburg. Learning -that she was soon to start for the Crimea, he asked leave to pay his -respects to her there; but that was a journey he never made. Before he -could set out Louis XVI called a meeting of the Assembly of Notables, -[Pg 186]to take place on February 22, 1787. This was in no true sense -a parliament; only a body of one hundred and forty-four men who held -no offices at court, selected arbitrarily by the king to discuss such -subjects as he chose to set before it. The subject was to be taxation, -how to raise money for government expenses, a burning question with -every one. - -Deliberative assemblies were no new thing in France. Several times in -long-past history a king had called together representative men of -the nobles, the clergy, and even of the common people, to consider -questions of state and help bring about needed reforms. Such gatherings -were known as States General. But they had belonged to a time before -the kings were quite sure of their power, and it was one hundred and -seventy years since the last one had been called. Little by little, in -the mean time, even the provincial parliaments, of which there were -several in different parts of France, had been sapped of strength -and vitality. There was a tendency now to revive them. Lafayette had -stopped in Rennes on his way home from Brest after his last trip across -the Atlantic, to attend such a gathering in Brittany, where he owned -estates, his mother having been a Breton. Favoring representative -government as he did, he was anxious to see such assemblages meet -frequently at regular intervals. - -The call for the Assembly of Notables had come about in an unexpected -way. Some years before, the Minister of Finance, Necker, had printed -a sort of treasurer's report showing how public funds had been spent. -[Pg 187]This was a great novelty, such questions having been shrouded -in deepest mystery. Everybody who could read read Necker's report. -It was seen on the dressing-tables of ladies and sticking out of the -pockets of priests. Necker had meant it to pave the way for reforms, -because he believed in cutting down expenses instead of imposing more -taxes. It roused such a storm of discussion and criticism that he was -driven from the Cabinet; after which his successor, M. Calonne, "a -veritable Cagliostro of finance," managed to juggle for four years with -facts and figures before the inevitable day of reckoning came. This -left the country much worse off than it had been when he took office; -so badly off, in fact, that the king called together the Assembly of -Notables. - -By an odd coincidence it held its first meeting at Versailles on a date -forever linked in American minds with ideas of popular liberty--the 22d -of February. For practical work, it was divided into seven sections or -committees, each one of which was presided over by a royal prince. If -the intention had been to check liberal tendencies among its members, -the effort was vain. The spirit of independence was in it, and it -refused to solve the king's financial riddles for him. - -From the beginning Lafayette took an active and much more radical part -than some of his friends wished. He worked in behalf of the French -Protestants. He wanted to reform criminal law; to give France a jury -system such as England had; and he advocated putting a stop to the -abuses of _lettres de cachet_. He was very plain-spoken in favor of -[Pg 188]cutting down expenses, particularly in the king's own military -establishment, in pensions granted to members of the royal family, and -in the matter of keeping up the palaces and pleasure-places that former -monarchs had loved, but which Louis XVI never visited. He believed in -taxing lands and property belonging to the clergy, which had not as yet -been taxed at all. He wanted the nobility to pay their full share, too, -and he thought a treasurer's report should be published every year. -Indeed, he wanted reports printed about all departments of government -except that of Foreign Affairs. - -This was worse than amiable weakness, it was rank republicanism; the -more dangerous because, as one of the ministers said, "all his logic is -in action." The queen, who had never more than half liked him, began -to distrust him. Calonne, who was about to leave the treasury in such -a muddle, declared that he ought to be shut up in the Bastille; and a -remark that Lafayette was overheard to make one day when the education -of the dauphin was under discussion did not add to his popularity with -the court party. "I think," he said, "that the prince will do well to -begin his study of French history with the year 1787." - -One day he had the hardihood to raise his voice and say, "I appeal -to the king to convene a national assembly." There was a hush of -astonishment and of something very like fear. "What!" cried a younger -brother of the king, the Comte d'Artois, who presided over the section -of which Lafayette was a member. "You demand the convocation of [Pg -189]the States General?" "Yes, Sire." "You wish to go on record? To -have me say to the king that M. de Lafayette has made a motion to -convene the States General?" "Yes, Monseigneur--and better than that!" -by which Lafayette meant he hoped such an assembly might be made more -truly representative than ever before. - -That Lafayette realized the personal consequences of his plain speaking -there is no doubt. He wrote to Washington, "The king and his family, -as well as the notables who surround him, with the exception of a few -friends, do not pardon the liberties I have taken or the success I have -gained with other classes of society." If he cherished any illusions, -they were dispelled a few months later when he received a request from -the king to give up his commission as major-general. - -As for his appeal for a meeting of the States General, nobody -possessed the hardihood to sign it with him, and it had no immediate -consequences. Before the Assembly of Notables adjourned it advised -the king to authorize legislative assemblies in the provinces, which -he did, Lafayette being one of the five men named by the monarch to -represent the nobility in his province of Auvergne. At the sessions of -this provincial assembly he further displeased the members of his own -class, but the common people crowded about and applauded him wherever -he went. "He was the first hero they had seen, and they were never -tired of looking at him," a local chronicler states, with disarming -frankness. - -[Pg 190]The situation grew worse instead of better. The country's debt -increased daily. The Assembly of Notables held another session; but -it was only to arrange details for the meeting of the States General -which the king had at last been forced to call. It was to meet in May, -1789, and was to be made up, as the other had been, of nobles, clergy, -and more humble folk, called the bourgeoisie, or the Third Estate. But -there was one immense difference. Instead of being appointed by the -king, these were to be real representatives, nobles elected by the -nobles, clergy by the clergy, and the common people expressing their -own choice. In addition, people of all classes were invited to draw up -_cahiers_--that is, statements in writing showing the kind of reforms -they desired. - -The nobles and clergy held small meetings and elected delegates from -among their own number. The Third Estate elected men of the upper -middle class, or nobles of liberal views. Lafayette found considerable -opposition among the nobles of Auvergne, but the common people begged -him to represent them, promising to give him their unanimous vote if he -would do so. He preferred, however, to make the fight in his own order -and was successful, taking his seat, when the States General convened, -as a representative of the nobility of Auvergne. - - -[Pg 191]XXI - -THE TRICOLOR - -When the representatives of the people of France, to the number of -more than twelve hundred, came together in a great hall in the palace -at Versailles on the 5th of May, 1789, the king opened the session, -with the queen and royal princes beside him on a throne gorgeous with -purple and gold. Immediately in front of him sat his ministers, and in -other parts of the hall were the three orders in separate groups. The -nobles were brilliant in ruffles and plumes. The Third Estate was sober -enough in dress, but there were six hundred of them; twice as many in -proportion as had ever been allowed in a similar gathering. Most of -them were lawyers; only forty belonged to the farming class. In the -group of clergy some wore the flaming scarlet robes of cardinals, some -the plain cassocks of village priests; and events proved that these -last were brothers in spirit with the six hundred. The galleries were -crowded with ladies and courtiers and envoys from distant lands. Even -roofs of neighboring houses were covered with spectators bent on seeing -all they could. - -[Pg 192]The queen looked anxious. She had no fondness for reforms; -but of the two upon the throne she had the stronger character and was -therefore the better king. She was brave, quick to decide, and daring -to execute. Unfortunately she was also narrow-minded and had little -sympathy with the common people. Louis had already proved himself a -complete failure as a ruler. He was a good husband, a lover of hunting, -and a passable locksmith. It was a bit of tragic irony that his hobby -should have been the making of little, smoothly turning locks. After -his one attempt at reform he had not even tried to govern, but spent -his days in meaningless detail, while the country drifted toward ruin. - -Necker, who was once more in charge of the treasury, meant to keep -the States General very busy with the duty for which they had been -convened, that of providing money. But if the Notables had been -refractory, this assembly was downright rebellious. A quarrel developed -at the very outset about the manner of voting. In previous States -General the three orders had held their meetings separately, and in -final decisions each order had cast only one vote. The nobles and -clergy could be counted on to vote the same way, which gave them a safe -majority of two to one. Expecting the rule to hold this time, very -little objection had been raised to the proposal that the Third Estate -elect six hundred representatives instead of three hundred. The people -liked it and it meant nothing at all. Now that the six hundred had been -elected, however, they contended that the three orders must sit in one -[Pg 193]assembly and that each man's vote be counted separately, which -made all the difference in the world. A few liberals among the nobles -and more than a few of the clergy in simple cassocks appeared to agree -with them. The quarrel continued for six weeks, and meanwhile neither -party was able to do any work. - -At the end of that time the number favoring the new way of voting had -increased. These declared themselves to be the National Assembly of -France and that they meant to begin the work of "national regeneration" -at once, whether the others joined them or not. Reforms were to be -along lines indicated in the _cahiers_, or written statements of -grievances, that voters had been urged to draw up at the time of the -election. Tens of thousands of these had been received, some written -in the polished phrases of courtiers, some in the earnest, ill-chosen -words of peasants. All expressed loyalty to the king; and almost all -demanded a constitution to define the rights of people and king alike. -Among other things they asked that _lettres de cachet_ be abolished; -that the people be allowed liberty of speech; that the States General -meet at regular intervals; and that each of the three orders pay its -just share of the taxes. - -Soon after the liberals declared their intention of going to work -they found the great hall at Versailles closed and were told curtly -that it was being prepared for a royal session. They retired to a -near-by tennis-court, lifted the senior representative from Paris, an -astronomer named Bailly, to a table, elected him president of their -[Pg 194]National Assembly, and took an oath not to disband until they -had given France a constitution. A few days later the king summoned all -the members of the States General to the great hall, scolded them for -their recent acts in a speech written by somebody else, commanded that -each order meet in future by itself, and left the hall to the sound -of trumpets and martial music. The clergy and the nobles obediently -withdrew. The Third Estate and a few liberals from the other orders -remained. The king's master of ceremonies, a very important personage -indeed, came forward and repeated the king's order. Soldiers could be -seen behind him. There was a moment's silence; then Mirabeau, a homely, -brilliant nobleman from the south of France, who had been rejected by -his own order, but elected by the Third Estate, advanced impetuously -toward the master of ceremonies, crying, in a loud voice, "Go tell your -master that we are here by the will of the people, and that we shall -not leave except at the point of the bayonet." Next he turned to the -Assembly and made a motion to the effect that persons laying hands upon -any member of the Assembly would be considered "infamous and traitors -to the nation--guilty of capital crime." The master of ceremonies -withdrew and reported the scene to the king. Louis, weak as water, -said: "They wish to remain? Let them." And they did remain, to his -undoing. - - -[Illustration: THE BASTILLE - -From a contemporary print] - -[Illustration: SIEGE OF THE BASTILLE] - -Lafayette was in an embarrassing position. He sympathized with the -Third Estate, yet he had been elected to represent the nobles, and -his commission bound him to vote according to their wishes. He [Pg -195]considered resigning in order to appeal again to the voters of -Auvergne; but before he came to a decision the king asked the nobles -and clergy to give up their evidently futile opposition. Lafayette took -his place with the others in the National Assembly, but refrained for a -time from voting. The king and his ministers seemed to have no settled -policy. One day they tried to please the Third Estate; on another it -was learned that batteries were being placed where they could fire upon -the Assembly and that regiments were being concentrated upon Paris. It -was upon a motion of Mirabeau's for the removal of these threatening -soldiers that Lafayette broke his silence and began to take part again -in the proceedings of the Assembly. - -On the 11th of July, about a fortnight after the nobles and clergy had -resumed their seats, he presented to the Assembly his Declaration of -Rights, modeled upon the American Declaration of Independence, to be -placed at the head of the French Constitution. Two days later he was -elected vice-president of the Assembly "with acclamations." Toward -evening of the 14th the Vicomte de Noailles came from Paris with the -startling news that people had been fighting in the streets for hours; -that they had gained possession of the Bastille, the gray old prison -which stood in their eyes for all that was hateful in the old regime; -that its commander and several of its defenders had been murdered; and -that their heads were being carried aloft on pikes among the crowds. - -[Pg 196]On the 15th the king came with his brothers to the Assembly -and made a conciliatory speech, after which Lafayette hurried away to -Paris at the head of a delegation charged with the task of quieting the -city. They were met at the Tuileries gate and escorted to the Hôtel de -Ville, where the City Council of Paris, a parliament in miniature, held -its meetings. Lafayette congratulated the city on the liberty it had -won, delivered the king's message, and turned to go. As he was leaving -the room somebody cried out saying that here was the man Paris wanted -to command its National Guard, and that Bailly, who accompanied him, -ought to be mayor. It was one of those sudden ideas that seem to spread -like wildfire. Lafayette stopped, drew his sword, and, acting upon that -first impulse which he was so apt to follow, swore then and there to -defend the liberty of Paris with his life if need be. He sent a message -to the National Assembly asking permission to assume the new office, -and on the 25th took, with Bailly, a more formal oath. The force of -militia which he organized and developed became the famous National -Guard of Paris; while this governing body at the Hotel de Ville which -had so informally elected him, enlarged and changing from time to time -as the Revolution swept on, became the famous, and infamous, "Commune." -Lafayette himself, not many days after he assumed the new office, -ordered the destruction of the old Bastille. One of its keys he sent to -Washington at Mount Vernon. Another was made into a sword and presented -by his admirers to the man whose orders had reduced the old prison to a -heap of stones. - -[Pg 197]The court party was aghast. The Comte d'Artois and two of his -friends shook the dust of their native land from their feet and left -France, the first of that long army of _émigrés_ whose flight still -further sapped the waning power of the king. Louis was of one mind one -day, another the next. Against the entreaties and tears of the queen he -accepted an invitation to visit Paris and was received, as Lafayette -had been, with cheers. He made a speech, ratifying and accepting all -the changes that had taken place; and to celebrate this apparent -reconciliation between the monarch and his subjects Lafayette added the -white of the flag of the king to red and blue, the colors of the city -of Paris, making the Tricolor. Up to that time the badge of revolution -had been green, because Camille Desmoulins, one of its early orators, -had given his followers chestnut leaves to pin upon their caps. But the -livery of the Comte d'Artois, now so hated, was green, and the people -threw away their green cockades and enthusiastically donned the red, -white, and blue, echoing Lafayette's prediction that it would soon make -the round of Europe. - -The passions which had moved the city of Paris spread outward through -the provinces as waves spread when a stone is cast into a pool. One -town after another set up a municipal government and established -national guards of its own. Peasants in country districts began -assaulting tax-collectors, hanging millers on the charge that they were -raising the price of bread, and burning and looting châteaux in their -[Pg 198]hunt for old records of debts and judgments against the common -people. July closed in a veil of smoke ascending from such fires in all -parts of the realm. - -All day long on the 4th of August the Assembly listened to reports of -these events, a dismaying recital that went on and on until darkness -fell and the candles were brought in. About eight o'clock, when the -session seemed nearing its end, De Noailles mounted the platform and -began to speak. He said that there was good reason for these fires -and the hate they disclosed. The châteaux were symbols of that kind -of unjust feudal government which was no longer to be tolerated. He -moved that the Assembly abolish feudalism. His motion was seconded by -the Duc d'Aiguillon, the greatest feudal noble in France, with the -one exception of the king. The words of these two aristocrats kindled -another sort of fire--an emotional fire like that of a great religious -revival. Noble after noble seemed impelled to mount the platform and -renounce his special privileges. Priests and prelates followed their -example. So did representatives of towns and provinces. The hours of -the day had passed in increasing gloom; the night went by in this -crescendo of generosity. By morning thirty or more decrees had been -passed and feudalism was dead, so far as law could kill it. - -The awakening from this orgy of feeling was like the awakening from any -other form of emotional excess. With it came the knowledge that neither -the world nor human nature can be changed overnight. When the news went -[Pg 199]abroad there were many who interpreted as license what had been -given them for liberty. Forests were cut down. Game-preserves were -invaded and animals slaughtered. Artisans found themselves out of work -and hungrier than ever because of the economy now necessarily practised -by the nobility. Such mighty reforms required time and the readjustment -of almost every detail of daily life. Even before experience made this -manifest the delegates began to realize that towns and bishoprics -and provinces might refuse to ratify the impulsive acts of their -representatives; and some of the nobles who had spoken for themselves -alone did not feel as unselfish in the cold light of day as they had -believed themselves to be while the candles glowed during that strange -night session. The final result was to bring out differences of opinion -more sharply and to widen the gulf between conservatives who clung to -everything which belonged to the past and liberals whose desire was to -give the people all that had been gained and even more. - - -[Pg 200]XXII - -THE SANS-CULOTTES - - -Lafayette's position as commander of the National Guard of Paris was -one of great importance. "He rendered the Revolution possible by giving -it an army," says a writer of his own nation, who does not hesitate -to criticize him, but who also assures us that from July, 1789, to -July, 1790, he was perhaps the most popular man in France. Being a -born optimist, he was sure that right would soon prevail. If he had -too great belief in his own leadership it is not surprising, since -every previous undertaking of his life had succeeded; and he certainly -had more experience in revolution than any of his countrymen--an -experience gained in America under the direct influence of Washington. -He had gone to America a boy afire with enthusiasm for liberty. He -returned to France a man, popular and successful, with his belief in -himself and his principles greatly strengthened. He was impulsive and -generous, he had a good mind, but he was not a deep thinker, and from -the very nature of his mind it was impossible for him to foresee the -full difficulty of applying in France the principles that had been -[Pg 201]so successful in America. In France politics were much more -complicated than in a new country where there were fewer abuses to -correct. France was old and abuses had been multiplying for a thousand -years. To borrow the surgeon's phrase, the wound made by revolution -in America was a clean wound that healed quickly, "by the first -intention." In France the wound was far more serious and horribly -infected. It healed in time, but only after a desperate illness. - -It is interesting that three of Lafayette's most influential American -friends, Washington, Jefferson, and Gouverneur Morris, had misgivings -from the first about the situation in France, fearing that a revolution -could not take place there without grave disorders and that Lafayette -could not personally ride such a storm. Morris, who was then in Paris, -urged caution upon him and advised him to keep the power in the hands -of the nobility. When Lafayette asked him to read and criticize his -draft of The Declaration of Rights before it was presented to the -Assembly, Morris suggested several changes to make it more moderate; -"for," said this American, "revolutions are not won by sonorous -phrases." - -Although keen for reform and liking to dress it in sonorous phrases, -Lafayette had no wish to be rid of the king. He did not expect to have -a president in France or the exact kind of government that had been -adopted in the United States. "Lafayette was neither republican nor -royalist, but always held that view half-way between the two which -theorists call a constitutional monarchy," says a French writer. "In -[Pg 202]all his speeches from 1787 to 1792 he rarely used the word -'liberty' without coupling it with some word expressing law and order." - -Events proved that he was too thoroughly a believer in order to please -either side. One party accused him of favoring the aristocrats, the -other of sacrificing everything for the applause of the mob. What he -tried to do was to stand firm in the rush of events, which was at first -so exhilarating and later changed to such an appalling sweep of the -furies. If he had been less scrupulous and more selfish he might have -played a greater role in the Revolution--have risen to grander heights -or failed more abjectly--but for a time he would have really guided -the stormy course of events. As it was, events overtook him, carried -him with them, then tossed him aside and passed him by. Yet even so -he managed for three years to dominate that tiger mob of Paris "more -by persuasion than by force." This proves that he was no weakling. -Jefferson called him "the Atlas of the Revolution." - -There was opposition to him from the first. Mirabeau and Lafayette -could never work wholeheartedly together, which was a pity, for with -Mirabeau's eloquence to carry the National Assembly and Lafayette's -popularity with the National Guard they could have done much. The -cafés, those people's institutes of his young days, speedily developed -into political clubs of varying shades of opinion, most of which grew -more radical hourly. Marie Antoinette continued to be resentful and -bitter and did all in her power to thwart reform and to influence the -[Pg 203]king. In addition to parties openly for and against the new -order of things there were individuals, both in high and low places, -who strove to spread disorder by underhand means and to use it for -selfish ends. One was the powerful Duc d'Orléans, cousin of the king, -very rich and very unprincipled, whose secret desire was to supplant -Louis upon the throne. He used his fortune to spread discontent through -the Paris mob during the long cold winter, when half the inhabitants of -the town went hungry. His agents talked of famine, complained of delay -in making the Constitution, and gave large sums to the poor in ways -that fed their worst passions, while supplying their very real need for -bread. - -Even after the lapse of one hundred and thirty years it is uncertain -just how much of a part he played in the stormy happenings of the early -days of October, 1789. On the night of the 2d of October the king and -queen visited the hall at Versailles where the Garde du Corps, the -royal bodyguard, was giving a banquet. The diners sprang to their feet -and drank toasts more fervent than discreet. In the course of the next -two days rumor spread to Paris that they had trampled upon the Tricolor -and substituted the white of the Bourbons. Out of the garrets and slums -of the city the mob boiled toward the Hôtel de Ville, crying that a -counter-revolution had been started and that the people were betrayed. -Lafayette talked and harangued. On the 5th he held the crowds in check -from nine o'clock in the morning until four, when he learned that a -[Pg 204]stream of malcontents, many of them women, had broken away and -started for Versailles, muttering threats and dragging cannon with them. - -Lafayette had confessed to Gouverneur Morris only a few days before -that his National Guard was not as well disciplined as he could wish. -Whether this was the reason or because he felt it necessary to get -express permission from the Hôtel de Ville, there was delay before -he and his militia set out in pursuit. He had sworn to use the Guard -only to execute the will of the people. For what followed he has been -severely blamed, while other witnesses contend just as hotly that -he did all any commander could do. That night he saved the lives of -several of the Garde du Corps; posted his men in the places from -which the palace guard had been withdrawn by order of the king; made -each side swear to keep the peace; gave his personal word to Louis -that there would be no violence; saw that everything was quiet in the -streets near the palace where the mob still bivouacked; then, worn with -twenty hours' incessant labor, went to the house of a friend for a -little sleep. - -That sleep was the cause of more criticism than any act of his -seventy-six years of life; for the mob, driven by an instinct for evil -which seems strongest in crowds at dawn, hurled itself against the -palace gates, killed the two men on guard before the queen's door, and -forced its way into her bedchamber, from which she fled, half dressed, -to take refuge with the king. Lafayette hurried back with all possible -haste; made his way to the royal couple; addressed the crowd in the -palace courtyard, telling them the king would show his trust by going -[Pg 205]back with them voluntarily to take up his residence in Paris; -and persuaded the queen to appear with him upon a balcony, where, in -view of all the people, he knelt and kissed her hand. After that he -led out one of the palace guard and presented him with a tricolored -cockade; and, touched by these tableaux, the mob howled delight. That -night, long after dark, the royal family entered the Tuileries, half -monarchs, half prisoners. But discontent had been only partly appeased, -and during the melancholy ride to the city Marie Antoinette gave the -mob its watchword. Seeing a man in the dress of the very poor riding on -the step of her coach she had remarked disdainfully that never before -had a sans-culotte--a man without knee-breeches--occupied so honorable -a position. The speech was overheard and taken up and shouted through -the crowd until "sans-culotte" became a symbol of the Revolution. - -The events of that day proved that Lafayette had not the quality of a -great leader of men. How much of his ill success was due to bad luck, -how much to over-conscientiousness in fulfilling the letter of his -oath, how much to physical weariness, we may never know. The royal -family believed he had saved their lives, and the vilest accusations -against him, including the one that he really wished Louis to fall -a victim of the mob, appear to have been manufactured twenty-five -years later in the bitterness of another political struggle. It is -significant that very soon after the king came to Paris Lafayette held -a stormy interview with the Duc d'Orléans, who forthwith left France. - -[Pg 206]Since that melancholy ride back to Paris the rulers of France -have never lived at Versailles. Within ten days the National Assembly -followed the king to town, and during the whole remaining period of -the Revolution the mob had the machinery of government in its keeping. -It invaded the legislative halls to listen to the making of the -Constitution, it howled approval of speeches or drowned them in hisses, -and called out from the windows reports to the crowds packing the -streets below. - -Political clubs soon became the real censors of public opinion, taking -an ever larger place in the life of the people, until, alas! they began -to take part in the death of many of them. The most influential club -of all was the Jacobins, known by that name because of the disused -monastery where it held its meetings. It began as an exclusive club -of well-to-do gentlemen of all parties, who paid large dues and met -to discuss questions of interest. Then it completely changed its -character, took into its organization other clubs in Paris and other -cities, and by this means became a vast, nation-wide political machine -of such iron discipline that it was said a decree of the Jacobins -was better executed than any law passed by the National Assembly. -When its decrees grew more radical its membership changed by the -simple process of expelling conservative members, until Robespierre -became its controlling spirit. Another club more radical still was -the Cordelières, in which Marat and Danton, those stormy petrels of -the Terror, held sway. This smaller organization influenced even the -[Pg 207]Jacobins and through them every village in France. Several of -the most radical leaders published newspapers of vast influence, like -Marat's _Ami du Peuple_, which carried their opinions farther than the -spoken word could do, out into peaceful country lanes. In the cities -the great power of the theater was directed to the same violent ends. -In vain the more conservative patriots started clubs of their own; the -others had too great headway. The Feuillants, that Lafayette and Bailly -were instrumental in founding, was called contemptuously the club of -the monarchists. All these changes were gradual, but little by little, -as time passed, the aims of the revolutionists altered. What had been -at first a cry for justice became an appeal for liberty, then a demand -for equality, and finally a mad howl for revenge. - - -[Pg 208]XXIII - -POPULARITY AND PRISON - - -So many local National Guards and revolutionary town governments had -been formed that France was in danger of being split into a thousand -self-governing fragments. Some of these came together in local -federations for mutual benefit; and as the anniversary of the fall -of the Bastile rolled around, Paris proposed a grand federation of -all such organizations as a fitting way to celebrate the new national -holiday. The idea caught popular fancy, and the city made ready for it -with a feverish good will almost as strange as that of the memorable -night when nobles and clergy in the National Assembly had vied with one -another to give up their century-old privileges. - -The spot chosen for the ceremonies was the Champs de Mars, where the -Eiffel Tower now stands. It is a deal nearer the center of Paris now -than it was in 1790, when it was little more than a great field on the -banks of the Seine, near the military academy. This was to be changed -into an immense amphitheater three miles in circumference, a work -[Pg 209]which required a vast amount of excavating and building and -civil engineering. Men and women of all classes of society volunteered -as laborers, and from dawn till dark a procession, armed with spades -and every implement that could possibly be used, passed ceaselessly -between the heart of the city and the scene of the coming festivity. -Eye-witnesses tell us that on arriving each person threw down his coat, -his cravat, and his watch, "abandoning them to the loyalty of the -public" and fell to work. "A delicate duchess might be seen filling a -barrow to be trundled away by a fishwife"; or a chevalier of the Order -of Saint-Louis laboring with a hurried, flustered little school-boy; -or a priest and an actor doing excellent team-work together. A hundred -orchestras were playing; workers quitted their labors for a few turns -in the dance, then abandoned that again for toil. - -Lafayette encouraged them by his enthusiastic presence, and filled and -trundled a barrow with his own hands; and when the king appeared one -day to view the strange scene he was greeted with extravagant joy. -Though this went on for weeks, the undertaking was so vast and the best -efforts of duchesses and school-boys so far from adequate, that a hurry -call had to be sent out, in response to which it was estimated that -during the last few days of preparation two hundred and fifty thousand -people were busy there. Evil rumors were busy, too, under cover of the -music, and whispers went through the crowd that no provisions were -to be allowed to enter Paris during the entire week of festivities -and that the field had been honeycombed with secret passages and laid -[Pg 210]with mines to blow up the whole great throng. Such rumors -were answered by a municipal proclamation which ended with the words, -"Cowards may flee these imaginary dangers: the friends of Revolution -will remain, well knowing that not a second time shall such a day be -seen." - -The miracle was accomplished. By the 14th of July the whole Champs de -Mars had been transformed into an amphitheater of terraced greensward, -approached through a great triumphal arch. But on the day itself not a -single green terrace was visible, so thick were the masses of people -crowding the amphitheater and covering the hills on the other side -of the river. Opposite the triumphal arch a central pavilion for the -king, with covered galleries on each side, had been built against the -walls of the military school. On the level green in the center of the -great Champs de Mars stood an altar to "The Country," reached by a -flight of fifty steps. One hundred cannon, two thousand musicians, -and two hundred priests with the Tricolor added to their vestments, -were present to take part in the ceremonies. A model of the destroyed -Bastile lay at the foot of the altar. Upon the altar itself were -inscriptions, one of which bade the spectators "Ponder the three sacred -words that guarantee our decrees. The Nation, the Law, the King. You -are the Nation, the Law is your will, the King is the head of the -Nation and guardian of the Law." - -The multitude was treated first to the spectacle of a grand procession -streaming through the three openings of the triumphal arch. Deputies -from the provinces, members of the National Assembly, and [Pg -211]representatives of the Paris Commune, with Mayor Bailly at their -head, marched slowly and gravely to their places. After them came the -visiting military delegations, the Paris guards, and regular troops -who had been called to Paris from all parts of the kingdom, to the -number of forty thousand or more, each with its distinctive banner. -These marched around the altar and broke into strange dances and mock -combats, undeterred by heavy showers. When the rain fell the ranks -of spectators blossomed into a mass of red and green umbrellas, no -longer the novelty they once had been. When a shower passed umbrellas -were furled and the crowd took on another color. At three o'clock -the queen appeared with the Dauphin beside her. Then the king, in -magnificent robes of state, took his seat on a purple chair sown with -fleurs-de-lis, which had been placed on an exact line and level with -a similar chair upholstered in blue for the president of the National -Assembly. - -The king had been named for that one day Supreme Commander of all the -National Guards of France. He had delegated his powers, whatever they -may have been, to Lafayette; and it was Lafayette on a white horse such -as Washington rode who was here, there, and everywhere, the central -figure of the pageant as he moved about fulfilling the duties of his -office. General Thiébault wrote in his _Memoirs_ that the young buoyant -figure on the shining horse, riding through that great mass of men, -seemed to be commanding all France. "Look at him!" cried an enthusiast. -"He is galloping through the centuries!" And it was upon Lafayette, -[Pg 212]at the crowning moment of the ceremony, that all eyes rested. -After the two hundred priests had solemnly marched to the altar and -placed ahead of all other banners their sacred oriflamme of St.-Denis, -Lafayette dismounted and approached the king to receive his orders. -Then, slowly ascending the many steps to the altar, he laid his sword -before it and, turning, faced the soldiers. Every arm was raised and -every voice cried, "I swear!" as he led them in their oath of loyalty; -and as if in answer to the mighty shout, the sun burst at that instant -through the stormclouds. Music and artillery crashed in jubilant sound; -other cannon at a distance took up the tale; and in this way news of -the oath was borne to the utmost limits of France. The day ended with -fireworks, dancing, and a great feast. Lafayette was the center of -the cheers and adulation, admirers pressing upon him from all sides. -He was even in danger of bodily harm from the embraces, "perfidious -or sincere," of a group of unknown men who had to be forcibly driven -away by his aides-de-camp. That night somebody hung his portrait upon -the railing surrounding the statue of France's hero-king, Henri IV; an -act of unwise enthusiasm or else of very clever malignity of which his -critics made the most. - -After this, his enemies increased rapidly. The good will and harmony -celebrated at the Feast of the Federation had been more apparent than -real; a "delicious intoxication," as one of the participants called it, -and the ill-temper that follows intoxication soon manifested itself. -The Jacobins grew daily more radical. The club did not expel Lafayette; -[Pg 213]he left it of his own accord in December, 1790; but that was -almost as good for the purposes of his critics. - -The task he had set himself of steering a middle course between -extremes became constantly more difficult. Mirabeau was president of -the Jacobin Club after Lafayette left it, and their mutual distrust -increased. Gouverneur Morris thought Lafayette able to hold his own -and that "he was as shrewd as any one." He said that "Mirabeau has the -greater talent, but his adversary the better reputation." In spite of -being president of the Jacobins, Mirabeau was more of a royalist than -Lafayette and did what he could to ruin Lafayette with the court party. -The quarrel ended only with Mirabeau's sudden death in April, 1791. -At the other extreme Marat attacked Lafayette for his devotion to the -king, saying he had sold himself to that side. Newspapers circulated -evil stories about his private life. Slanders and attacks, wax figures -and cartoons, each a little worse than the last, flooded Paris at this -time. Some coupled the queen's name with his, which increased her -dislike of him, and in the end may have played its small part in her -downfall. - -The king and queen were watched with lynxlike intensity by all parties, -and about three months after Mirabeau's death they made matters much -worse by betraying their fear, and what many thought their perfidy, -in an attempt to escape in disguise, meaning to get help from outside -countries and return to fight for their power. There had been rumors -[Pg 214]that they contemplated something of this sort, and Lafayette -had gone frankly to the king, urging him not to commit such folly. The -king reassured him, and Lafayette had announced that he was willing to -answer "with his head" that Louis would not leave Paris. One night, -however, rumors were so persistent that Lafayette went himself to the -Tuileries. He talked with a member of the royal family, and the queen -saw him when she was actually on her way to join the king for their -flight. Luck and his usual cleverness both failed Lafayette that night. -He suspected nothing, yet next morning it was discovered that the royal -beds had not been slept in and that the fugitives were already hours -on their way. Lafayette issued orders for their arrest, but clamor was -loud against him and Danton was for making him pay literally with his -head for his mistake. - -Almost at the frontier the king and queen were recognized through the -likeness of Louis to his portrait on the paper money that flooded the -kingdom, and they were brought back to Paris, real prisoners this -time. They passed on their way through silent crowds who eyed them -with terrifying hostility. The queen, who was hysterical and bitter, -insisted on treating Lafayette as her personal jailer. Louis, whatever -his faults, had a sense of humor and smiled when Lafayette appeared "to -receive the orders of the king," saying it was evident that orders were -to come from the other side. It is strange that he was not dethroned at -once, for he had left behind him a paper agreeing to repeal every law -[Pg 215]that had been passed by the National Assembly. Dread of civil -war was still strong, however, even among the radicals, and he was -only kept a prisoner in the Tuileries until September, when the new -Constitution was finished and ready for him to sign. After he swore to -uphold it he was again accorded royal honors. - -But meantime there had been serious disturbances. Lafayette had felt it -his duty to order the National Guard to fire upon the mob; and for that -he was never forgiven. On that confused day an attempt was made upon -his life. The culprit's gun missed fire, and when he was brought before -Lafayette the latter promptly set him at liberty; but before midnight a -mob surrounded Lafayette's house, crying that they had come to murder -his wife and carry her head to the general. The garden wall had been -scaled, and they were about to force an entrance when help arrived. - -After the Constitution became the law of the land, Lafayette followed -Washington's example, resigned his military commission, and retired -to live at Chavaniac. Several times before when criticism was very -bitter he had offered to give up his sword to the Commune, but there -had been no one either willing or able to take his place and he had -been persuaded to remain. Now he felt that he could withdraw with -dignity and a clear conscience. In accepting his resignation the -Commune voted him a medal of gold. The National Guard presented him -with a sword whose blade was made from locks of the old Bastille, and -on his 360-mile journey to Chavaniac he received civic crowns enough to -[Pg 216]fill his carriage. His reception at home was in keeping with -all this. "Since you are superstitious," he wrote Washington, "I will -tell you that I arrived here on the anniversary of the surrender of -Cornwallis." But even in far-away Chavaniac there were ugly rumors and -threats against his life. The local guard volunteered to keep a special -watch; an offer he declined with thanks. - -Bailly retired as mayor of Paris soon after this, whereupon Lafayette's -friends put up his name as a candidate. The election went against -him two to one in favor of Pétion, a Jacobin, and from that time the -clubs held undisputed sway. According to law the new Assembly had -to be elected from men who had not served in the old one; this was -unfortunate, since it deprived the new body of experienced legislators. -The pronounced royalists in the Assembly had now dwindled to a scanty -hundred. - -Neighboring powers showed signs of coming to the aid of Louis, and -the country did not choose to wait until foreign soldiers crossed its -frontiers. Nobody knew better than Lafayette how unprepared France was -for war against a well-equipped enemy, but the marvels America had -accomplished with scarcely any equipment were fresh in his memory, and -he looked upon foreign war as a means of uniting quarreling factions -at home--a dangerous sort of political back-fire, by no means new, but -sometimes successful. Before December, 1791, three armies had been -formed for protection. Lafayette was put in command of one of them, -his friend Rochambeau of another, and the third was given to General -[Pg 217]Luckner, a Bavarian who had served France faithfully since the -Seven Years' War. - -Lafayette's new commission bore the signature of the king. He hurried -to Paris, thanked his sovereign, paid his respects to the Assembly, -and departed for Metz on Christmas Day in a semblance of his old -popularity, escorted to the city barriers by a throng of people and a -detachment of the National Guard. He entered on his military duties -with enthusiasm, besieging the Assembly with reports of all the army -lacked, consulting with his co-commanders, and putting his men through -stiff drill. - -By May war had been declared against Sardinia, Bohemia, and Hungary, -but the back-fire against anarchy did not work. Troubles at home -increased. The Paris mob became more lawless, and on the 20th of June, -1792, the Tuileries was invaded and the king was forced to don the -red cap of Liberty; a serio-comic incident that might easily have -become tragedy if Louis had possessed more spirit. Lafayette spoke the -truth about this king when he said that he "desired only comfort and -tranquillity--beginning with his own." - -Feeling that his monarch had been insulted, Lafayette hurried off -to Paris to use his influence against the Jacobins. He went without -specific leave, though without being forbidden by General Luckner, his -superior officer, who knew his plan. To his intense chagrin he found -that he no longer had an atom of influence in Paris. The court received -him coldly, the Assembly was completely in the hands of the Jacobins, -[Pg 218]timid people were too frightened to show their real feelings, -and the National Guard, upon whose support Lafayette had confidently -relied, was now in favor of doing away with kingship altogether. - -Lafayette could not succor people who refused to be helped, and he -returned to the army, followed by loud accusations that he had been -absent without leave and that he was "the greatest of criminals." -"Strike Lafayette and the nation is saved!" Robespierre had shouted, -even before he appeared on his fruitless mission. "Truly," wrote -Gouverneur Morris, "I believe if Lafayette should come to Paris at -this moment without his army he would be knifed. What, I pray you, is -popularity?" - -In July Prussia joined the nations at war, threatening dire vengeance -if Paris harmed even a hair of the king or queen. The mob clamorously -paraded the streets, led by five hundred men from Marseilles, singing a -new and strangely exciting song whose music and whose words, "To arms! -To arms! Strike down the tyrant!" were alike incendiary. In spite of -his recent rebuff, Lafayette made one more attempt to rescue the king, -not for love of Louis or of monarchy, but because he believed that -Louis now stood for sane government, having signed the Constitution. -It is doubtful whether the plan could have succeeded; it was one of -Lafayette's generous dreams, based on very slight foundation. He -wanted to have himself and General Luckner called to Paris for the -coming celebration of July 14th. At that time, making no secret of -it, the king should go with his generals before the Assembly and [Pg -219]announce his intention of spending a few days at Compiègne, as he -had a perfect right to do. Once away from Paris and surrounded by the -loyal troops the two generals would have taken care to bring with them, -Louis could issue a proclamation forbidding his brothers and other -_émigrés_ to continue their plans and could say that he was himself at -the head of an army to resist foreign invasion; and, having taken the -wind out of the sails of the Jacobins by this unexpected move, could -return to Paris to be acclaimed by all moderate, peace-loving men. - -There were personal friends of the king who urged him to try this as -the one remaining possibility of safety. Others thought it might save -Louis, but could not save the monarchy. The queen quoted words of -Mirabeau's about Lafayette's ambition to keep the king a prisoner in -his tent. "Besides," she added, "it would be too humiliating to owe -our lives a second time to that man." So Lafayette was thanked for his -interest and his help was refused. On the 10th of August there was -another invasion of the Tuileries, followed this time by the massacre -of the Swiss Guard. The royal family, rescued from the palace, was kept -for safety for three days in a little room behind the one in which -the Assembly held its sessions; then it was lodged, under the cruel -protection of the Commune, in the small medieval prison called the -Temple, in the heart of Paris. - -With the Commune in full control, it was not long before an accusation -was officially made against Lafayette. "Evidence" to bear it out was -speedily found; and on August 19th, less than ten days after [Pg -220]the imprisonment of the king, the Assembly, at the bidding of the -Commune, declared Lafayette a traitor. He knew he had nothing to hope -from his own troops, for only a few days before this his proposal that -they renew their oath of fidelity to the Nation, the Law, and the -King had met with murmurs of disapproval, until one young captain, -making himself spokesman, had declared that Liberty, Equality, and -the National Assembly were the only names to which the soldiers could -pledge allegiance. - -Lafayette still had faith in the future, but the present offered -only two alternatives--flight, or staying quietly where he was to be -arrested and carried to Paris, where he would be put to death as surely -as the sun rose in the east. This was what his Jacobin friends seemed -to expect him to do, and they assailed him bitterly for taking the -other course. He could not see that his death at this time and in this -way would help the cause of civil liberty. He said that if he must die -he preferred to perish at the hands of foreign tyrants rather than by -those of his misguided fellow-countrymen. He placed his soldiers in the -best position to offset any advantage the enemy might gain through his -flight, and, with about a score of officers and friends, crossed the -frontier into Liège on the night of August 20th, meaning to make his -way to Holland and later to England. From England, in case he could not -return and aid France, he meant to go to America. - -Instead of that, the party rode straight into the camp of an Austrian -advance-guard. - - -[Pg 221]XXIV - -SOUTH CAROLINA TO THE RESCUE! - - -It was eight o'clock at night, a few leagues from the French border. -Their horses were weary and spent. The road approached the village -of Rochefort in such a way that they could see nothing of the town -until almost upon it, and the gleam of this camp-fire was their first -intimation of the presence of the Austrians. It would have availed -nothing to turn back. If they went toward the left they would almost -certainly fall in with French patrols, or those of the _émigrés_ who -were at Liège. To the right a whole chain of Austrian posts stretched -toward Namur. "On all sides there was an equality of inconvenience," -as Lafayette said. One of the party rode boldly forward to interview -the commandant and ask permission to spend the night in the village -and continue the journey next day. This was granted after it had been -explained that they were neither _émigrés_ nor soldiers on their way to -join either side, but officers forced to leave the French army, whose -only desire was to reach a neutral country. - -[Pg 222]A guide was sent to conduct them to the village inn. Before -they had been there many minutes Lafayette was recognized, and it was -necessary to confess the whole truth. The local commander required a -pass from the officer at Namur, and when that person learned the name -of his chief prisoner he would hear nothing more about passports, -but communicated in joyful haste with his superior officer, the Duc -de Bourbon. At Namur Lafayette received a visit from Prince Charles -of Lorraine, who sent word in advance that he wished "to talk about -the condition in which Lafayette had left France." Lafayette replied -that he did not suppose he was to be asked questions it might be -inconvenient to answer, and when the high-born caller entered with his -most affable manner he was received with distant coolness by all the -prisoners. - -From Namur they were taken to Nivelles, where they were presented with -a government order to give up all French treasure in their possession. -Lafayette could not resist answering that he was quite sure their -Royal Highnesses would have brought the treasure with them had they -been in his place; and the amusement of the Frenchmen increased as the -messenger learned, to his evident discomfiture, that the twenty-three -of them combined did not have enough to keep them in comfort for two -months. That same day the prisoners were divided into three groups. -Those who had not served in the French National Guard were given -their liberty and told to leave the country. Others were sent to -the citadel at Antwerp and kept there for two months. Lafayette and -[Pg 223]three companions who had served with him in the Assembly, -Latour Maubourg, a lifelong friend, Alexander Lameth, and Bureaux de -Pusy, were taken to Luxembourg. There was only time for a hurried -leave-taking. Lafayette spent it with an aide who was to go to Antwerp. -Feeling sure he was marked for death, he dictated to this officer a -message to be published to the French people when he should be no more. - -Before leaving Rochefort he had found means of sending a letter to his -wife, who was at Chavaniac overseeing repairs upon the old manor-house. -It was from this letter that she learned what had befallen him, and -she carried it in her bosom until she was arrested in her turn. The -message to Adrienne began characteristically on a note of optimism. -"Whatever the vicissitudes of fortune, dear heart, you know my soul -is not of a temper to be cast down." He told of his misfortune in a -gallant way, saying the Austrian officer thought it his duty to arrest -him. He hurriedly reviewed the reasons that led up to his flight, said -that he did not know how long his journey "might be retarded," and bade -her join him in England with all the family. His closing words were: "I -offer no excuses to my children or to you for having ruined my family. -There is not one of you who would owe fortune to conduct contrary -to my conscience. Come to me in England. Let us establish ourselves -in America, where we shall find a liberty which no longer exists in -France, and there my tenderness will endeavor to make up to you the -joys you have lost." - -[Pg 224]His journey was "retarded" for five years, and for a large -part of that time seemed likely to end only at the grave, possibly by -way of the executioner's block. It is to be hoped that his sense of -humor allowed him to enjoy one phase of his situation. He had been -driven from France on the charge that he favored the king, yet he -was no sooner across the border than he was arrested on exactly the -opposite charge; that of being a dangerous revolutionist, an enemy to -all monarchs. When he demanded a passport he received the sinister -answer that he was to be kept safely until the French king regained -his power and was in a position to sentence him himself. He was sent -from prison to prison. First to Wezel, where he remained three months -in a rat-infested dungeon, unable to communicate with any one, and -watched over by an officer of the guard who was made to take a daily -oath to give him no news. "One would think," said Lafayette, "that -they had imprisoned the devil himself." He was so thoroughly isolated -that Latour Maubourg, a few cells away, learned only through the -indiscretion of a jailer that he was seriously ill. Maubourg asked -permission, in case the illness proved fatal, to be with him at the -last, but was told that no such privilege could be granted. But -Lafayette did not die and even in the worst of his physical ills had -the spirit to reply, "The King of Prussia is impertinent!" when a royal -message came offering to soften the rigors of his captivity in return -for information about France. The message was from that "honest prince" -who in Lafayette's opinion "would never have the genius of his uncle." - -[Pg 225]Another answer, equally inconsiderate of royal feelings, -resulted in the transfer of the prisoners to Magdebourg, where they -were kept a year. On these journeys from place to place they served as -a show to hundreds who pressed to see them. There were even attempts -to injure them, but Lafayette believed he saw more pitying faces than -hostile ones in the crowds. Once fate brought them to an inn at the -same moment with the Comte d'Artois and his retinue, all of whom, -with a single exception, proved blind to the presence of their former -friends. We have details of the way in which Lafayette was lodged and -treated at Magdebourg, from a letter he managed to send to his stanch -friend, the Princesse d'Hénin in London. - -"Imagine an opening under the rampart of the citadel, surrounded by a -high, strong palisade. It is through that, after opening successively -four doors each guarded with chains and padlocks and bars of iron, that -one reaches, not without some trouble and some noise, my dungeon, which -is three paces wide and five and a half long. The side wall is covered -with mold; that in front lets in light, but not the sun, through a -small barred window. Add to this two sentinels who can look down into -our subterranean chamber, but are outside the palisade so that we -cannot speak to them.... The noisy opening of our four doors occurs -every morning to allow my servant to enter; at dinner-time, that I may -dine in presence of the commandant of the citadel and of the guard; and -at night when my servant is taken away to his cell." The one ornament -[Pg 226]on his prison wall was a French inscription, in which the -dismal words _souffrir_ and _mourir_ were made to rhyme. The one break -in the prison routine had been an execution, upon which, had he chosen, -Lafayette could have looked from his window as from a box at the opera. - -After a year of this he was moved again and turned over to the -Emperor of Prussia, his prison journeys ending finally at the gloomy -fortress of Olmütz in the Carpathian Mountains. Something may be said -in defense of the severity with which his captors guarded him. He -steadfastly refused to give his parole, preferring, he said, to take -his liberty instead of having it granted him. This undoubtedly added -a zest to life in prison which would otherwise have been lacking, and -very likely contributed not a little to his serenity and even to his -physical well-being. It transformed the uncomfortable prison routine -into a contest of wits, with the odds greatly against him, but which -left him honorably free to seize any advantage that came his way. He -foiled the refusal to allow him writing materials by writing letters as -he wrote that one to Madame d'Hénin, with vinegar and lampblack in a -book on a blank leaf which had escaped the vigilant eye of his guard. -Knowing very little German, he dug out of his memory forgotten bits of -school-day Latin to use upon his jailers. He took every bit of exercise -allowed him in order to keep up his physical strength. He believed he -might have need of it. He even lived his life with a certain gay zest, -and took particular delight in celebrating the Fourth of July, 1793, in -[Pg 227]his lonely cell by writing a letter to the American minister at -London. He gave his vivid imagination free rein in concocting plans of -escape. - -Friends on the outside were busy with plans, too; and though he got -no definite news of them, his optimism was too great to permit him to -doubt that they were doing everything possible for his release. At the -very outset of his captivity he applied to be set free on the ground -that he was an American citizen, though there was small chance of the -request being granted. He was sure Washington would not forget him; -he knew that Gouverneur Morris had deposited a sum of money with his -captors upon which he might draw at need. Madame de Staël, the daughter -of Necker, and the Princesse d'Hénin were in London, busy exercising -feminine influence in his behalf. General Cornwallis and General -Tarleton had interceded for him, and later he learned that Fitzpatrick, -the young Englishman he had liked on their first meeting in London, the -same who afterward carried letters for him from America, had spoken -for him in Parliament. Fox and Sheridan and Wilberforce added their -eloquence; but the cautious House of Commons decided it was none of its -business and voted against the proposal to ask for Lafayette's release, -in the same proportion that the citizens of Paris had rejected him for -mayor. - -French voices also were raised in his behalf. One of the earliest -and most courageous was that of Lally Tollendal, who as member of -the French Assembly had quarreled with Lafayette for being so much -[Pg 228]of a monarchist. But later he changed his mind and acted as -go-between in the negotiations for Lafayette's final plan to remove the -royal family to Compiègne. From his exile in London Lally Tollendal now -addressed a memorial to Frederick William II, telling him the plain -truth, that it was unjust to keep Lafayette in jail as an enemy of the -French king, because it was an effort to save Louis which had proved -his ruin. "Those who regard M. de Lafayette as the cause, or even one -of the causes, of the French Revolution are entirely wrong," this -friend asserted. "He has played a great role, but he was not the author -of the piece.... He has not taken part in a single one of its evils -which would not have happened without him, while the good he did was -done by him alone." - -Then Lally Tollendal went on to tell how on the Sunday after Louis -was arrested and brought back from Varennes Lafayette by one single -emphatic statement had put an end, in a committee of the Assembly, to -an ugly discussion about executing the king and proclaiming a republic. -"I warn you," he had said, "that the day after you kill the king the -National Guard and I will proclaim the prince royal." Lally Tollendal -expatiated upon how evenly Lafayette had tried to deal out justice to -royalists and revolutionists alike; how in the last days of his liberty -he had said in so many words that the Jacobins must be destroyed; and -that he had with difficulty been restrained from raising a flag bearing -the words, "No Jacobins, no Coblenz," as a banner around which friends -of the king and conservative republicans might rally. But the strict -[Pg 229]impartiality this disclosed had little charm for a king of -Prussia and the appeal bore no fruit. - -There were more thrilling efforts to aid him close at hand. "It is -a whole romance, the attempt at rescuing Lafayette," says a French -biographer. The opening scene of this romance harks back to the night -when Lafayette made his first landing on American soil, piloted through -the dark by Major Huger's slaves. The least noticed actor in that -night's drama had been Major Huger's son, a very small boy, who hung -upon the words of the unexpected guests and followed them with round, -child eyes. Much had happened to change two hemispheres since, and even -greater changes had occurred in the person of that small boy. He had -grown up, he had resolved to be a surgeon, had finished his studies in -London, and betaken himself to Vienna to pursue them further. There -in the autumn of 1794 in a café he encountered a Doctor Bollman of -Hanover. They fell into conversation, and before long Bollman confided -to Huger that he had a secret mission. He had been charged by Lally -Tollendal and American friends of Lafayette then in London to find out -where the prisoner was and to plan for his escape. In his search he -had traveled up and down Germany as a wealthy physician who took an -interest in the unfortunate, particularly in prisoners, and treated -them free of charge. For a long time he had found no clue, but at -Olmütz, whose fortifications proved too strong in days past even for -Frederick the Great, he had been invited to dinner by the prison doctor -[Pg 230]and in turn had entertained him, plying him well with wine. -They talked about prisoners of note. The prison doctor admitted that he -had one now on his hands; and before the dinner was over Bollman had -sent an innocent-sounding message to Lafayette. Later he was allowed to -send him a book, with a few written lines purporting to be nothing more -than the names of some friends then in London. - -When the book was returned Bollman lost no time in searching it for -hidden writing. In this way he learned that Lafayette had lately -been allowed to drive out on certain days a league or two from the -prison for the benefit of his health, and that his guard on such -occasions consisted of a stupid lieutenant and the corporal who drove -the carriage. The latter was something of a coward. Lafayette would -undertake to look after both of them himself if a rescuer and one -trusty helper should appear. No weapons need be provided; he would -take the officer's own sword away from him. All he wanted was an extra -horse or two, with the assurance that his deliverers were ready. It -was a bold plan, but only a bold plan could succeed. There were too -many bolts and bars inside the prison to make any other kind feasible. -Lameth had been set at liberty; his two other friends, Latour Maubourg -and Bureaux de Pusy, were in full sympathy with the plan, and to make -it easier had refrained from asking the privilege of driving out -themselves. Bollman added that he could not manage the rescue alone -and had come away to hunt for a trusty confederate. Huger had already -[Pg 231]told of his unforgotten meeting with Lafayette, and there was -no mistaking the eagerness with which he awaited Bollman's next word -or the joy with which he accepted the invitation to take part in the -rescue. He was moved by something deeper than mere love of adventure. -"I simply considered myself the representative of the young men of -America and acted accordingly," he said long after. - -The two men returned to Olmütz and put up at the inn where Bollman had -stayed before. They managed to send a note to Lafayette. His answer -told them he would leave the prison on November 8th for his next drive, -how he would be dressed, and the signal by which they might know he was -ready. It was a market day, with many persons on the road. They paid -their score, sent their servants ahead with the traveling-carriage and -luggage to await their arrival at a town called Hoff, while they came -more slowly on horseback. Then they rode out of the gray old town. -Neither its Gothic churches, its hoary university, nor the ingenious -astronomical clock that had rung the hours from its tower for three -hundred and seventy years; not even the fortifications or the prison -itself, built on a plain so bare that all who left it were in full view -of the sentinels at the city gates, interested these travelers as did -the passers-by. Presently a small phæton containing an officer and a -civilian was driven toward them, and as it went by the pale gentleman -in a blue greatcoat raised his hand to pass a white handkerchief over -his forehead. The riders bowed slightly and tried to look indifferent, -but that was hard work. Turning as soon as they dared, they saw that -[Pg 232]the carriage had stopped by the side of the road. Its two -passengers alighted; the gentleman in blue handed a piece of money to -the driver, who drove off as though going on an errand. Then leaning -heavily upon the officer, seeming to find difficulty in walking, he -drew him toward a footpath. But at the sound of approaching horsemen, -he suddenly seized the officer's sword and attempted to wrench it from -its scabbard. The officer grappled with him. Bollman and Huger flew to -his assistance. In the act of dismounting Bollman drew his sword and -his horse, startled by the flashing steel, plunged and bolted. Huger -managed to keep hold of his own bridle, while he helped Bollman tear -away the officer's hands that were closing about Lafayette's throat. -The Austrian wrenched himself free and ran toward the town, shouting -with all his might. - -Here were three men in desperate need of flight, the alarm already -raised, and only two horses to carry them to safety--one of these -running wild. Huger acted with Southern gallantry and American speed. -He got Lafayette upon his own steed, shouted to him to "Go to Hoff!" -and caught the other horse. Misunderstanding the injunction, Lafayette, -who thought he had merely been told to "Go off," rode a few steps, -then turned back to help his rescuers. They motioned him away and he -disappeared, in the wrong direction. The remaining horse reared and -plunged, refusing to carry double. Huger persuaded Bollman to mount -him, since he could be of far greater use to Lafayette, and saw him -[Pg 233]gallop away. By that time a detachment of soldiers was bearing -down upon him, and between their guns he entered the prison Lafayette -had so lately quitted. - -At the end of twenty miles Lafayette had to change horses. He appealed -to an honest-looking peasant, who helped him to find another one, but -also ran to warn the authorities. These became suspicious when they saw -Lafayette's wounded hand, which had been bitten by the officer almost -to the bone. They arrested him on general principles and he was carried -back to a captivity more onerous than before. He was deprived of all -rides, of course, of all news, even of the watch and shoe-buckles which -up to this time he had been allowed to retain. Bollman reached Hoff and -waited for Lafayette until nightfall, then made his way into Silesia. -But he was captured and returned to Austria and finally to Olmütz. - -The treatment accorded Lafayette's would-be rescuers was barbarous in -the extreme. Huger was chained hand and foot in an underground cell, -where he listened to realistic descriptions of beheadings, and, worse -still, of how prisoners were walled up and forgotten. Daily questions -and threats of torture were tried to make him confess that the attempt -was part of a wide-spread conspiracy. As his statements and his courage -did not waver, the prison authorities came at last to believe him, -and he was taken to a cell aboveground where it was possible to move -three steps, though he was still chained. He found that Bollman was -confined in the cell just above him. The latter let down a walnut [Pg -234]shell containing a bit of ink and also a scrap of paper. With these -Huger wrote a few lines to the American minister at London, telling of -their plight and ending with the three eloquent words, "Don't forget -us!"--doubly eloquent to one who knew those stories of walled-up -prisoners underground. They bribed the guard to smuggle this out of the -prison, and in time it reached its destination. The American minister -did not forget them. Through his good offices they were released and -told to leave the country. They waited for no second invitation, which -was very wise, because the emperor repented his clemency. He sent an -order for their rearrest, but it arrived, fortunately, just too late to -prevent their escape across the border. - - -[Pg 235]XXV - -VOLUNTEERS IN MISFORTUNE - - -Lafayette, in his uncomfortable cell, was left in complete ignorance of -the fate of Bollman and Huger, though given to understand that they had -been executed or soon would be, perhaps under his own window. The long, -dreary days wore on until more than a year had passed, with little to -make one day different from another, though occasionally he was able -to communicate with Pusy or Maubourg through the ingenuity of his -"secretary," young Felix Pontonnier, a lad of sixteen, who had managed -to cling to him with the devotion of a dog through all his misfortunes. -Prison air was hard upon this boy and prison officials were harder -still, but his spirits were invincible. He whistled like a bird, he -made grotesque motions, he talked gibberish, and these antics were not -without point. They were a language of his own devising, by means of -which he conveyed to the prisoners such scraps of information as came -to him from the outside world. - -His master had need of all Felix's cheer to help him bear up against -the anxiety that grew with each bit of news from France, and grew -greater still because of the absence of news from those he loved [Pg -236]best. For the first seven months he heard not a word from wife and -children, though soon after his capture he learned about the early days -of September in Paris, when the barriers had been closed and houses -were searched and prisons "purged" of those suspected of sympathy with -the aristocracy. Since then he had heard from his wife; but he had -also learned of the trial and death of the king; and rumors had come -to him of the Terror. Adrienne's steadfastness had been demonstrated -to him through all the years of their married life. Where principle -was involved he knew she would not falter; and he had little hope that -she could have escaped imprisonment or a worse fate. He had heard -absolutely nothing from her now for eighteen months. His captivity has -been called "a night five years long," and this was its darkest hour. - -Then one day, without the least previous warning, the bolts and bars -of his cell creaked at an unusual hour; they were pushed back--and he -looked into the faces of his wife and daughters. The authorities broke -in upon the first instant of incredulous recognition to search their -new charges; possessed themselves of their purses and the three silver -forks in their modest luggage, and disappeared. The complaining bolts -slid into place once more and a new prison routine began, difficult to -bear in spite of the companionship, when he saw unnecessary hardships -press cruelly upon these devoted women. Bit by bit he learned what had -happened in the outside world: events of national importance of which -[Pg 237]he had not heard in his dungeon, and also little incidents that -touched only his personal history; for instance, the ceremonies with -which the Commune publicly broke the mold for the Lafayette medal, and -how the mob had howled around his Paris house, clamoring to tear it -down and raise a "column of infamy" in its place. He forbore to ask -questions at first, knowing how tragic the tale must be, and it was -only after the girls had been led away that first night and locked into -the cell where they were to sleep that he learned of the grief that had -come to Adrienne about a week before the Terror came to an end--the -execution on a single day of her mother, her grandmother, and her -beloved sister Louise. - -In time he learned all the details of her own story: the months she -had been under parole at Chavaniac, where through the kind offices of -Gouverneur Morris she received at last the letter from her husband -telling her that he was well. Her one desire had been to join him, but -there was the old aunt to be provided for, and there were also pressing -debts to settle; a difficult matter after Lafayette's property was -confiscated and sold. Mr. Morris lent her the necessary money, assuring -her that if she could not repay it Americans would willingly assume it -as part of the far larger debt their country owed her husband. - -She asked to be released from her parole in order to go into Germany -to share his prison. Instead she had been cast into prison on her -own account. The children's tutor, M. de Frestel, who had been their -father's tutor before them, conspired with the servants and sold their -[Pg 238]bits of valuables that she might make the journey to prison -in greater comfort. He contrived, too, that the mother might see her -children before she was taken off to Paris, and she made them promise, -in the event of her death, to make every effort to rejoin their father. -In Paris she lived through many months of prison horror, confined part -of the time in the old Collège Du Plessis where Lafayette had spent his -boyhood, seeing every morning victims carried forth to their death and -expecting every day to be ordered to mount into the tumbrels with them. -Had she known it, she was inquired for every morning at the prison door -by a faithful maidservant, who in this way kept her children informed -of her fate. George was in England with his tutor. At Chavaniac the -little girls were being fed by the peasants, as was the old aunt, for -the manor-house had been sold and the old lady had been allowed to buy -back literally nothing except her own bed. - -At last Robespierre himself died under the guillotine and toward the -end of September, 1794, a less bloodthirsty committee visited the -prisons to decide the fate of their inmates. Adrienne Lafayette was the -last to be examined at Du Plessis. Her husband was so hated that no -one dared speak her name. She pronounced it clearly and proudly as she -had spoken and written it ever since misfortune came upon her. It was -decided that the wife of so great a criminal must be judged by higher -authority; meanwhile she was to be kept under lock and key. James -Monroe, who was now American minister to Paris, interceded for her, -but she was only transferred to another prison. Here a worthy priest, -[Pg 239]disguised as a carpenter, came to her to tell her how on a day -in July the three women dearest to her had been beheaded, and how he, -running beside the tumbrel through the storm that drenched them on -their way to execution, had been able, at no small risk to himself, to -offer them secretly the consolations of religion. - -Finally in January, 1795, largely through the efforts of Mr. Monroe, -she was released. Her first care was to make a visit of thanks to Mr. -Monroe and to ask him to continue his kindness by obtaining a passport -for herself and her girls so that they might seek out her husband. -George was to be sent to America, for she felt sure that his father, if -still alive, would desire him to be there for a time under the care of -Washington, and, if he had perished in prison, would have wished his -son to grow up an American citizen. - -Getting the passport proved a long and difficult undertaking. When -issued it was to permit Madame Motier of Hartford, Connecticut, and -her two daughters to return to America. It was necessary to begin the -journey in accordance with this, and they embarked at Dunkirk on a -small American vessel bound for Hamburg. There they left the ship and -went to Vienna on another passport, but still as the American family -named Motier. In Vienna the American family hid itself very effectively -through the help of old friends, and Adrienne contrived to be received -by the emperor himself, quite unknown to his ministers. His manner to -her and her girls was so gracious that she came away "in an ecstasy of -joy," though he told her he could not release the prisoner. She [Pg -240]was so sure her husband was well treated and so jubilant over the -emperor's permission to write directly to him if she had reason to -complain, that she was not at all cast down by the warnings and evident -unfriendliness of the prime minister and the minister of war with whom -she next sought interviews. - -Leaving Vienna by carriage, she and her daughters traveled all one -day and part of the next northward into the rugged Carpathian country -before an interested postboy pointed out the steeples and towers of -Olmütz. Once in the town, they drove straight to the house of the -commandant, who took good care not to expose his heart to pity by -seeing these women, but sent the officer in charge of the prison to -open its doors and admit them to its cold welcome. - -The room in which they found Lafayette did well enough in point of -size and of furnishings. It was a vaulted stone chamber facing south, -twenty-four feet long, fifteen wide, and twelve high. Light entered -by means of a fairly large window shut at the top with a padlock, but -which could be opened at the bottom, where it was protected by a double -iron grating. The furnishings consisted of a bed, a table, chairs, a -chest of drawers, and a stove; and this room opened into another of -equal size which served as an antechamber. The vileness consisted in -the sights and smells outside the window and the dirt within. - -The routine that began when the door of this room opened so -unexpectedly to admit Lafayette's wife and daughters continued for -almost two years. Madame Lafayette described it in a letter to her [Pg -241]aunt, Madame de Tessé, an exile in Holstein, with whom she and her -girls spent a few days after leaving the ship at Hamburg. "At last, -my dear aunt, I can write you secretly. Friends risk their liberty, -their life, to transmit our letters and will charge themselves with -this one for you.... Thanks to your good advice, dear aunt, I took the -sole means of reaching here. If I had been announced I would never -have succeeded in entering the domains of the emperor.... Do you wish -details of our present life? They bring our breakfast at eight o'clock -in the morning, after which I am locked with the girls until noon. We -are reunited for dinner, and though our jailers enter twice to remove -the dishes and bring in our supper, we remain together until they -come at eight o'clock to take my daughters back to their cage. The -keys are carried each time to the commandant and shut up with absurd -precautions. They pay, with my money, the expenses of all three, and we -have enough to eat, but it is inexpressibly dirty. - -"The physician, who does not understand a word of French, is brought -to us by an officer when we have need of him. We like him. M. de -Lafayette, in the presence of the officer, who understands Latin, -speaks with him in that language and translates for us. When this -officer, a huge corporal of a jailer, who does not dare to speak to -us himself without witnesses, comes with his great trousseau of keys -in his hand to unpadlock our doors, while the whole guard is drawn up -outside in the corridor and the entrance to our rooms is half opened -[Pg 242]by two sentinels, you would laugh to see our two girls, one -blushing to her ears, the other with a manner now proud, now comic, -passing under their crossed sabers; after which the doors of our cells -at once close. What is not pleasant is that the little court on the -same level with the corridor is the scene of frequent punishment of the -soldiers, who are there beaten with whips, and we hear the horrible -music. It is a great cause of thankfulness to us that our children up -to the present time have borne up well under this unhealthy regime. As -for myself, I admit that my health is not good." - -It was so far from good that she asked leave to go to Vienna for a -week for expert medical advice, but was told, after waiting long for -an answer of any kind, that she had voluntarily put herself under the -conditions to which her husband was subject, and that if she left -Olmütz she could not return. "You know already that the idea of leaving -M. de Lafayette could not be entertained by any one of us. The good we -do him is not confined to the mere pleasure of seeing us. His health -has been really better since we arrived. You know the influence of -moral affections upon him, and however strong his character, I cannot -conceive that it could resist so many tortures. His excessive thinness -and his wasting away have remained at the same point since our arrival, -but his guardians and he assure me that it is nothing compared to the -horrible state he was in a year ago. One cannot spend four years in -such captivity without serious consequences. I have not been able to -see Messrs. Maubourg and Pusy, or even to hear their voices. Judging -[Pg 243]from the number of years with which their so-called guardians -credit them, they must have aged frightfully. Their sufferings here -are all the harder for us to bear because these two loyal and generous -friends of M. de Lafayette have never for an instant permitted their -case to be considered separately from his own. You will not be -surprised that he has enjoined them never to speak for him, no matter -what may be the occasion or the interest, except in a manner in harmony -with his character and principles; and that he pushes to excess what -you call 'the weakness of a grand passion.'" - -So, in mingled content and hardship, the days passed. The young girls -brought a certain amount of gaiety into the gray cell, even of material -well-being. After their arrival their father was supplied with his -first new clothing since becoming a prisoner, garments of rough cloth, -cut out "by guesswork," that his jailer rudely declared were good -enough for him. Out of the discarded coat Anastasie contrived shoes -to replace the pair that was fairly dropping off his feet; and one -of the girls took revenge upon the jailer by drawing a caricature -of him on a precious scrap of paper which was hidden and saved and -had a proud place in their home many years later. Madame Lafayette, -though more gravely ill than she allowed her family to know, devoted -herself alternately to her husband and to the education of the girls; -and in hours which she felt she had a right to call her own wrote -with toothpick and lampblack upon the margins of a volume of Buffon -[Pg 244]that biography of her mother, the unfortunate Madame d'Ayen, -which is such a marvel of tender devotion. In the evenings, before -his daughters were hurried away to their enforced early bedtime, -Lafayette read aloud from some old book. New volumes were not allowed; -"everything published since 1788 was proscribed," says a prison letter -of La tour de Maubourg's, "even though it were an _Imitation of Jesus -Christ_." - -Long after she was grown Virginia, the younger daughter, remembered -with pleasure those half-hours with old books. From her account of -their prison life we learn that it was the rector of the university -who enabled her mother to send and receive letters unknown to their -jailers. "We owe him the deepest gratitude. By his means some public -news reached our ears.... In the interior of the prison we had -established a correspondence with our companions in captivity. Even -before our arrival our father's secretary could speak to him through -the window by means of a Pan's pipe for which he had arranged a cipher -known to M. de Maubourg's servant. But this mode of correspondence, the -only one in use for a long time, did not allow great intercourse. We -obtained an easier one with the help of the soldiers whom we bribed by -the pleasure of a good meal. Of a night, through our double bars, we -used to lower at the end of a string a parcel with part of our supper -to the sentry on duty under our windows, who would pass the packet in -the same manner to Messrs. Maubourg and Pusy, who occupied separate -parts of the prison." - -[Pg 245]Though they could see no change from day to day, the prisoners -were conscious, on looking back over several weeks or months, that -they were being treated with greater consideration. After every -vigorous expression in favor of Lafayette by Englishmen and Americans, -especially after every military success gained by France, their jailers -became a fraction more polite. When talk of peace between Austria -and France began, Tourgot, the emperor's prime minister, preferred -to have his master give up the prisoners of his own free will rather -than under compulsion. In July, 1797, the Marquis de Chasteler, "a -perfect gentleman, highly educated, and accomplished," came to Olmütz -to inquire with much solicitude, on the emperor's behalf, how the -prisoners had been treated, and to offer them freedom under certain -conditions. One condition was that they should never set foot again on -Austrian territory without special permission. Another stipulated that -Lafayette should not even stay in Europe, but must sail forthwith for -America. To this he replied that he did not wish to stay in Austria, -even at the emperor's most earnest invitation, and that he had often -declared his intention of emigrating to America; but that he did not -propose to render account of his actions to Frederick William II or -to make any promise which seemed to imply that that sovereign had any -rights in the matter. Madame Lafayette and his two friends, Maubourg -and Pusy, whom he saw for the first time in three years when they were -brought to consult with him over this proposal, agreed fully with -Lafayette's stand; and the result was that all of them stayed in prison. - - -[Pg 246]XXVI - -EXILES - -But hope grew. On the very day of Chasteler's visit the prisoners -learned that negotiations for peace, already begun, contained a -clause which would set them free. These negotiations were being -directed in part--a very important part--by a remarkable man who had -been only an unknown second lieutenant when the troubles began in -France, but whose name was now on everybody's lips and whose power was -rapidly approaching that of a dictator. The elder De Ségur, father -of Lafayette's friend, had started him on his spectacular career by -placing him in the military academy. His name was Napoleon Bonaparte. A -man even less sagacious than he would have seen the advantage of making -friends rather than enemies of Lafayette's supporters in Europe and -America. - -Thus it was partly because of repeated demands for his release coming -from England and France and America, and largely because Napoleon -willed it, that Lafayette was finally set free. Also there is little -doubt that Austria was heartily tired of being his jailer. Tourgot -[Pg 247]said that Lafayette would have been released much earlier if -anybody had known what on earth to do with him, but that neither Italy -nor France would tolerate him within its borders. Tourgot supposed the -emperor would raise no objection to the arrangement he had concluded to -turn over "all that caravan" to America as a means of getting rid of -him; "of which I shall be very glad," he added. The American consul at -Hamburg was to receive the prisoners, and he promised that they should -be gone in ten days. This time Lafayette was not given a chance to say -Yes or No. - -On September 18, 1797, five years and a month after he had been -arrested, and two years lacking one month from the time Madame -Lafayette and the girls joined him, the gates of Olmütz opened and -he and his "caravan" went forth: Latour Maubourg, Bureaux de Pusy, -the faithful Felix, and other humble members of their retinue who had -shared imprisonment with them. Louis Romeuf, the aide-de-camp, who -had taken down Lafayette's farewell words to France and who had been -zealous in working for his relief, rode joyously to meet them, but so -long as Austria had authority the military kept him at arm's-length. -The party had one single glimpse of him, but it was not until they had -reached Dresden that he was permitted to join them. - -Gradually sun and wind lost their feeling of strangeness on -prison-blanched cheeks. Gradually the crowds that gathered to watch -them pass dared show more interest. Lafayette's face was not unknown to -all who saw him. An Austrian pressed forward to thank him for saving -[Pg 248]his life in Paris on a day when Lafayette had set his wits -against the fury of the mob. When the party reached Hamburg Gouverneur -Morris and his host, who was an imperial minister, left a dinner-party -to go through the form of receiving the prisoners from their Austrian -guard, thus "completing their liberty." The short time spent in Hamburg -was devoted to writing letters of thanks to Huger, to Fitzpatrick, and -the others who had worked for their release. - -The one anxiety during this happy journey had been caused by the -condition of Madame Lafayette, who showed, now that the strain was -removed, how very much the prison months had cost her. She did her best -to respond to the demands made upon her strength by the friendliness -of the crowds; but it was evident that in her state of exhaustion a -voyage to America was not to be thought of. From Hamburg, therefore, -the Lafayettes went to the villa of Madame Tessé on the shores of Lake -Ploën in Holstein. Here they remained several weeks in happy reunion -with relatives and close friends; and it was here a few months later -that Anastasie, Lafayette's elder daughter, was married to a younger -brother of Latour de Maubourg, to the joy of every one, though to the -mock consternation of the lively, white-haired Countess of Tessé, -who declared that these young people, ruined by the Revolution, were -setting up housekeeping in a state of poverty and innocence unequaled -since the days of Adam and Eve. - -The Lafayettes and the Maubourgs took together a large castle at -[Pg 249]Lhemkulen, not far from Madame de Tessé, where Lafayette -settled himself to wait until he should be allowed to return to France. -It was here that George rejoined his family. He had been a child when -his father saw him last; he returned a man, older than Lafayette had -been when he set out for America. Washington had been very kind to -him, but his years in America had not been happy. Probably he felt -instinctively the constraint in regard to him. - -Washington had been much distressed by Lafayette's misfortune and -had taken every official step possible to secure his release. It -was through the good offices of the American minister at London -that Lafayette had learned that his wife and children still lived. -Washington had sent Madame Lafayette not only sympathetic words, but -a check for one thousand dollars, in the hope that it might relieve -some of her pressing necessities. He even wrote the Austrian emperor -a personal letter in Lafayette's behalf. When he heard that George -was to be sent him he "desired to serve the father of this young man, -and to become his best friend," but he did not find the godfatherly -duty entirely easy. It threatened to conflict with his greater duty -as father of his country, strange as it seems that kindness to one -innocent, unhappy boy could have that effect. Washington was President -of the United States at the time and it behooved the young nation to -be very circumspect. Diplomacy is a strange game of many rules and -pitfalls; and it might prove embarrassing and compromising to have -as member of his family the son of a man who was looked upon by [Pg -250]most of the governments of Europe as an arch criminal. - -Washington wrote to George in care of the Boston friend to whose house -the youth would go on landing, advising him not to travel farther, -but to enter Harvard and pursue his studies there. But M. Frestel -also came to America, by another ship and under an assumed name, and -George continued his education with him instead of entering college. -He possessed little of his father's faculty for making friends, though -the few who knew him esteemed him highly. The most impressionable -years of his life had been passed amid tragic scenes, and his natural -reserve and tendency to silence had been increased by anxiety about -his father's fate. After a time he went to Mount Vernon and became -part of the household there. One of Washington's visitors wrote: "I -was particularly struck with the marks of affection which the general -showed his pupil, his adopted son, son of the Marquis de Lafayette. -Seated opposite to him, he looked at him with pleasure and listened -to him with manifest interest." A note in Washington's business -ledger shows that the great man was both generous and sympathetic in -fulfilling his fatherly duties. It reads: "By Geo. W. Fayette, gave for -the purpose of his getting himself such small articles of clothing as -he might not choose to ask for, $100." It was at Mount Vernon that the -news of his real father's release came to George. He rushed out into -the fields away from everybody, to shout and cry and give vent to his -emotion unseen by human eyes. - -[Pg 251]His father was pleased by the development he noted in him; -pleased by the letter Washington sent by the hand of "your son, who -is highly deserving of such parents as you and your estimable lady." -Pleased, too, that George had the manners to stop in Paris on the -way home long enough to pay his respects to Napoleon, and that, in -the absence of the general, he had been kindly received by Madame -Bonaparte. Natural courtesy as well as policy demanded that the -Lafayettes fully acknowledge their debt to Napoleon. One of Lafayette's -first acts on being set free had been to write him the following joint -letter of thanks with Maubourg and Pusy: - - "CITIZEN GENERAL: The prisoners of Olmütz, happy in owing their - deliverance to the good will of their country and to your - irresistible arms, rejoiced during their captivity in the thought - that their liberty and their lives depended upon the triumphs of - the Republic and of your personal glory. It is with the utmost - satisfaction that we now do homage to our liberator. We should have - liked, Citizen General, to express these sentiments in person, to - look with our own eyes upon the scenes of so many victories, the army - which won them, and the general who has added our resurrection to the - number of his miracles. But you are aware that the journey to Hamburg - was not left to our choice. From the place where we parted with our - jailers we address our thanks to their victor. - - "From our solitary retreat in the Danish territory of Holstein, where -[Pg 252] we shall endeavor to re-establish the health you have saved - to us, our patriotic prayers for the Republic will go out united with - the most lively interest in the illustrious general to whom we are - even more indebted for the services he has rendered liberty and our - country than for the special obligation it is our glory to owe him, - and which the deepest gratitude has engraved forever upon our hearts. - - "Greetings and respect. - - "LA FAYETTE, - - LATOUR MAUBOURG, - - BUREAUX DE PUSY." - -Lafayette could no more leave politics alone than he could keep -from breathing; and even in its stilted phrases of thanks this -letter managed to show how much more he valued the Republic than any -individual. Perhaps even at that early date he mistrusted Napoleon's -personal ambition. - -With the leisure of exile on his hands, and pens and paper once more -within easy reach, he plunged into correspondence and into the project -of writing a book with Maubourg and Pusy to set forth their views of -government. Pens and paper seem to have been the greatest luxuries of -his exile, for the family fortunes were at a low ebb. Two of Madame -Lafayette's younger sisters joined her and the three pooled their -ingenuity and their limited means to get the necessaries of life at -the lowest possible cost. "The only resource of the mistress of the -establishment was to make 'snow eggs' when she was called upon to -[Pg 253]provide an extra dish for fifteen or sixteen persons all dying -of hunger." This state of things continued after they had gone to live -at Vianen near Utrecht in Holland, in order to be a little closer to -France. Lafayette had asked permission of the Directory to return with -the officers who had left France with him, but received no answer. - -Since Madame Lafayette's name was not on the list of suspected persons, -she could come and go as she would, and she made several journeys, when -health permitted, to attend to business connected with the inheritance -coming to her from her mother's estate. She was in Paris in November, -1799, when the Directory was overthrown and Napoleon became practically -king of France for the term of ten years with the title of First -Consul. She sent her husband a passport under an assumed name and bade -him come at once without asking permission of any one and without -any guaranty of personal safety beyond the general one that the new -government promised justice to all. This was advice after his own heart -and he suddenly appeared in Paris. Once there he wrote to Napoleon, -announcing his arrival. Napoleon's ministers were scandalized and -declared he must go back. Nobody had the courage to mention the subject -to the First Consul, whose anger was already a matter of wholesome -dread; but Madame Lafayette took the situation into her own hands. She -went to see Napoleon as simply as if she were calling upon her lawyer, -and just as if he were her lawyer she laid her husband's case before -him. The calm and gentle effrontery filled him with delight. "Madame, -[Pg 254]I am charmed to make your acquaintance!" he cried; "you are a -woman of spirit--but you do not understand affairs." - -However, it was agreed that Lafayette might remain in France, provided -he retired to the country and kept very quiet while necessary -formalities were complied with. In March, 1800, his name and those of -the companions of his flight were removed from the lists of _émigrés_. -After this visit of Madame Lafayette to the First Consul the family -took up its residence about forty miles from Paris at La Grange near -Rozoy, a château dating from the twelfth century, which had belonged -to Madame d'Ayen. But it was not as the holder of feudal dwellings and -traditions that Lafayette installed himself in the place that was to be -his home for the rest of his life. He had willingly given up his title -when the Assembly abolished such things in 1790. Mirabeau mockingly -called him "Grandison Lafayette" for voting for such a measure. It was -as an up-to-date farmer that he began life all over again at the age -of forty-two. He made Felix Pontonnier his manager, and they worked -literally from the ground up, for the estate had been neglected and -there was little money to devote to it. Gradually he accumulated -plants and animals and machines from all parts of the world; writing -voluminous letters about flocks and fruit-trees, and exchanging much -advice and many seeds; pursuing agriculture, he said, himself, "with -all the ardor he had given in youth to other callings." A decade later -he announced with pride that "with a little theory and ten years of -experience he had succeeded fairly well." - -[Pg 255]As soon as Napoleon's anger cooled he received Lafayette -and Latour Maubourg, conversing affably, even jocularly about their -imprisonment. "I don't know what the devil you did to the Austrians," -he said, "but it cost them a mighty effort to let you go." For a time -Lafayette saw the First Consul frequently and was on excellent terms -with other members of his family. Lucien Bonaparte is said to have -cherished the belief that Lafayette would not have objected to him as -a son-in-law. But in character and principle Lafayette and the First -Consul were too far apart to be really friends. It was to the interest -of each to secure the good will of the other, and both appear honestly -to have tried. The two have been said to typify the beginning and the -end of the French Revolution: Lafayette, the generous, impractical -theories of its first months: Napoleon, the strong will and strong hand -needed to pull the country out of the anarchy into which these theories -had degenerated. Lafayette was too much of an optimist and idealist not -to speak his mind freely to the First Consul, even when asking favors -for old friends. Napoleon was too practical not to resent lectures -from a man whose theories had signally failed of success; and far too -much of an autocrat to enjoy having his personal favors refused. The -grand cross of the Legion of Honor, a seat in the French Senate at a -time when it depended on the will of Napoleon and not on an election of -the people, and the post of minister to the United States were refused -in turn. Lafayette said he was more interested in agriculture than in -[Pg 256]embassies, and made it plain that an office to which he was -elected was the only kind he cared to hold. If Napoleon hoped to gain -his support by appealing to his ambition, he failed utterly. - -Gradually their relations became strained and the break occurred in -1802 when Napoleon was declared Consul for life. Lafayette was now an -elector for the Department of Seine and Marne, an office within the -gift of the people, and as such had to vote on the proposal to make -Bonaparte Consul for life. - -He cast his vote against it, inscribing on the register of his -Commune: "I cannot vote for such a magistracy until public liberty -is sufficiently guaranteed. Then I shall give my vote to Napoleon -Bonaparte"; and he wrote him a letter carefully explaining that there -was nothing personal in it. "That is quite true," says a French -biographer. "A popular government, with Bonaparte at its head, would -have suited Lafayette exactly." - -Napoleon as emperor and autocrat suited him not at all. He continued -to live in retirement, busy with his farm, his correspondence, and -his family, or when his duties as Deputy took him to Paris, attending -strictly to those and avoiding intercourse with Napoleon's ministers. -He made visits to Chavaniac to gladden the heart of the old aunt who -was once more mistress of the manor-house, and he rejoiced in George's -marriage to a very charming girl. In February, 1803, while in Paris, a -fall upon the ice resulted in an injury that made him lame for life. -The surgeon experimented with a new method of treatment whose only -[Pg 257]result was extreme torture even for Lafayette, whose power of -bearing pain almost equaled that of his blood brothers, the American -Indians. It was during this season of agony that Virginia, his youngest -child, was married in a neighboring room to Louis de Lasteyrie, by the -same priest who had followed the brave De Noailles women to the foot of -the scaffold. Instead of the profusion of plate and jewels which would -have been hers before the Revolution, the family "assessed itself" -to present to the bride and her husband a portfolio containing two -thousand francs--about four hundred dollars. - -In 1807 the greatest grief of Lafayette's life came to him in the death -of his wife, who had never recovered from the rigors of Olmütz. "It -is not for having come to Olmütz that I wish to praise her here," the -heartbroken husband wrote to Latour Maubourg soon after the Christmas -Eve on which her gentle spirit passed to another life, "but that she -did not come until she had taken the time to make every possible -provision within her power to safeguard the welfare of my aunt and the -rights of my creditors, and for having had the courage to send George -to America." The gallant, loving lady was buried in the cemetery of -Picpus, the secret place where the bodies of the victims to the Terror -had been thrown. A poor working-girl had discovered the spot, and -largely through the efforts of Madame Lafayette and her sister a chapel -had been built and the cemetery put in order--which perhaps accounts -for the simplicity of Virginia's wedding-gift. - - -[Pg 258]XXVII - -A GRATEFUL REPUBLIC - - -During the long, dark night of Lafayette's imprisonment he had -dreamed of America as the land of dawn and hope, and planned to make -a new home there, but when release came this had not seemed best. -Madame Lafayette's health had been too frail, and La Grange, with its -neglected acres, was too obviously awaiting a master. "Besides, we -lack the first dollar to buy a farm. That, in addition to many other -considerations, should prevent your tormenting yourself about it," he -told Adrienne. One of these considerations was the beloved old aunt -at Chavaniac, who lived to the age of ninety-two and never ceased to -be the object of his special care. Also his young people, with their -marriages and budding families, were too dear to permit him willingly -to put three thousand miles of ocean between them and himself. - -But he had never lost touch with his adopted country. At the time he -declined Napoleon's offer to make him minister to the United States -he wrote a correspondent that he had by no means given up the hope of -visiting it again as a private citizen; though, he added, humorously, -[Pg 259]he fancied that if he landed in America in anything except a -military uniform he would feel as embarrassed and as much out of place -as a savage in knee-breeches. After Napoleon sold Louisiana to the -United States, foreseeing he could not profitably keep it, Jefferson -sounded Lafayette about coming to be governor of the newly acquired -territory. That offer, too, he had seen fit to refuse; but his friends -called him "the American enthusiast." - -Time went by until almost fifty years had passed since the "Bostonians" -took their stand against the British king. To celebrate the -semi-centennial, America decided to raise a monument to the heroes -of Bunker Hill. Lafayette was asked to lay the corner-stone at the -ceremonies which were to take place on the fiftieth anniversary of the -battle. It became the pleasant duty of President James Monroe, who -had served as a subaltern in the battle where Lafayette received his -American wound, to send him the official invitation of Congress and -to place a government frigate at his disposal for the trip. A turn of -French elections in 1824 had left him temporarily "a statesman out of a -job," without even the duty of representing his district in the Chamber -of Deputies. There was really no reason why he should not accept and -every reason why he might at last gratify his desire to see America and -American friends again. - -He sailed on July 12, 1824, not, however, upon the United States -frigate, but on the _Cadmus_, a regular packet-boat, preferring, he -said, to come as a private individual. His son accompanied him, as did -[Pg 260]Col. A. Lavasseur, who acted as his secretary. These, with his -faithful valet, Bastien, made up his entire retinue, though he might -easily have had a regiment of followers, so many were the applications -of enthusiastic young men who seemed to look upon this as some new -sort of military expedition. On the _Cadmus_ he asked fellow-travelers -about American hotels and the cost of travel by stage and steamboat, -and M. Lavasseur made careful note of the answers. He had no idea of -the reception that awaited him. When the _Cadmus_ sailed into New York -harbor and he saw every boat gay with bunting and realized that every -man, woman, and child to whom coming was possible had come out to meet -him, he was completely overcome. "It will burst!" he cried, pressing -his hands to his heart, while tears rolled down his cheeks. - -Whether he wished or no, he found himself the nation's guest. The -country not only stopped its work and its play to give him greeting; -it stopped its politics--and beyond that Americans cannot go. It was -a campaign summer, but men forgot for a time whether they were for -Adams or Crawford, Clay or Jackson. Election Day was three months off, -politics could wait; but nobody could wait to see this man who had come -to them out of the past from the days of the Revolution, whose memory -was their country's most glorious heritage. They gave him salutes and -dinners and receptions. They elected him to all manner of societies. -Mills and factories closed and the employees surged forth to shout -[Pg 261]themselves hoarse as they jostled mayors and judges in the -welcome. Dignified professors found themselves battling in a crowd of -their own students to get near his carriage. Our whole hard-headed, -practical nation burst into what it fondly believed to be poetry in -honor of his coming. Even the inmates of New York's Debtors' Prison -sent forth such an effusion of many stanzas. If these were not real -poems, the authors never suspected it. There was truth in them, at any -rate. "Again the hero comes to tread the sacred soil for which he bled" -was the theme upon which they endlessly embroidered. Occasionally the -law sidestepped in his honor. A deputy sheriff in New England pinned -upon his door this remarkable "Notice. Arrests in civil suits postponed -to-day, sacred to Freedom and Freedom's Friend." - -Lafayette arrived in August and remained until September of the -following year, and during that time managed, to tread an astonishing -amount of our sacred soil, considering that he came before the day -of railroads. The country he had helped to create had tripled in -population, and, instead of being merely a narrow strip along the -Atlantic, now stretched westward a thousand miles. He visited all the -states and all the principal towns. It was not only in towns that he -was welcomed. At the loneliest crossroads a musket-shot or a bugle-call -brought people magically together. The sick were carried out on -mattresses and wrung his hand and thanked God. Babies were named for -him. One bore through life the whole name Welcome Lafayette. Miles of -[Pg 262]babies already named were held up for him to see--and perhaps -to kiss. Old soldiers stretched out hands almost as feeble as those -of babies in efforts to detain him and fight their battles o'er. With -these he was very tender. Small boys drew "Lafayette fish" out of the -brooks on summer days, and when he came to their neighborhood ran -untold distances to get sight of him. Often he helped them to points -of vantage from which they could see something more than forests of -grown-up backs and legs during the ceremonies which took place before -court-houses and state-houses. Here little girls, very much washed and -curled, presented him with useless bouquets and lisped those artless -odes of welcome. Sometimes they tried to crown him with laurel, a -calamity he averted with a deft hand. Back of the little girls usually -stood a phalanx of larger maidens in white, carrying banners, who were -supposed to represent the states of the Union; and back of the maidens -was sometimes a wonderful triumphal arch built of scantling and covered -with painted muslin, the first achievement of its kind in local history. - -The country was really deeply moved by Lafayette's visit. It meant to -honor him to the full, but it saw no reason to hide the fact that it -had done something for him as well. "The Nation's Guest. France gave -him birth; America gave him Immortality," was a statement that kept -everybody, nations and individuals alike, in their proper places. In -short, the welcome America gave Lafayette was hearty and sincere. -Whether it appeared as brilliant to the guest of honor, accustomed from -[Pg 263]youth to pageants at Versailles, as it did to his hosts we may -doubt. It was occasionally hard for M. Lavasseur to appear impressed -and not frankly astonished at the things he saw. Lafayette enjoyed it -all thoroughly. The difficult rôle fell to his son George, who had -neither the interest of novelty nor of personal triumph to sustain -him. He already knew American ways, and it was equally impossible for -him to join in the ovation or to acknowledge greetings not meant for -himself. He made himself useful by taking possession of the countless -invitations showered upon his father and arranging an itinerary to -embrace as many of them as possible. - -[Illustration: MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE IN 1824 - -From a painting by William Birch] - -[Illustration: MADAME DE LAFAYETTE - -After a miniature in the possession of the family] - -To those who have been wont to think of this American triumphal -progress of Lafayette's as steady and slow, stopping only for -demonstrations of welcome and rarely if ever doubling on its tracks, -it is a relief to learn that Lafayette did occasionally rest. He -made Washington, the capital of the country, his headquarters, and -set out from there on longer or shorter journeys. The town had not -existed, indeed had scarcely been dreamed of, for a decade after -his first visit. What he thought of the straggling place, with its -muddy, stump-infested avenues, we shall never know. He had abundant -imagination--which was one reason the town existed; for without -imagination he would never have crossed the ocean to fight for American -liberty. Among the people he saw about him in Washington during the -official ceremonies were many old friends and many younger faces -mysteriously like them. To that striking sentence in Henry Clay's -[Pg 264]address of welcome in the House of Representatives, "General, -you find yourself here in the midst of posterity," he could answer, -with truth and gallantry, "No, Mr. Speaker, posterity has not yet begun -for me, for I find in these sons of my old friends the same political -ideals and, I may add, the same warm sentiments toward myself that I -have already had the happiness to enjoy in their fathers." - -His great friend Washington had gone to his rest; but there were -memories of Washington at every turn. He made a visit to Mount Vernon -and spent a long hour at his friend's tomb. He entered Yorktown -following Washington's old campaign tent, a relic which was carried -ahead of the Lafayette processions in that part of the country, in -a spirit almost as reverent as that the Hebrews felt toward the Ark -of the Covenant. At Yorktown the ceremonies were held near the Rock -Redoubt which Lafayette's command had so gallantly taken. Zachary -Taylor, who was to gain fame as a general himself and to be President -of the United States, presented a laurel wreath, which Lafayette turned -from a compliment to himself to a tribute to his men. "You know, sir," -he said, "that in this business of storming redoubts with unloaded -arms and fixed bayonets, the merit of the deed lies in the soldiers -who execute it," and he accepted the crown "in the name of the light -infantry--those we have lost as well as those who survive." - -Farther south, at Camden, he laid the corner-stone of a monument to his -friend De Kalb; and at Savannah performed the same labor of love for -[Pg 265]one erected in honor of Nathanael Greene and of Pulaski. At -Charleston, also, he met Achille Marat, come from his home in Florida -to talk with Lafayette about his father, who met his death at the hands -of Charlotte Corday during the French Revolution. There were many -meetings in America to remind him of his life abroad. Francis Huger -joined him for a large part of his journey; he saw Dubois Martin, now -a jaunty old gentleman of eighty-three. It was he who had bought _La -Victoire_ for Lafayette's runaway journey. In New Jersey he dined with -Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon, who was living there quietly -with his daughter and son-in-law. - -Both on the Western frontier and at the nation's capital he met Indian -chiefs with garments more brilliant and manners quite as dignified -as kings ever possessed. In a time of freshet in the West he became -the guest of an Indian named Big Warrior and spent the night in his -savage home. On another night he came near accepting unwillingly the -hospitality of the Ohio River, for the steamboat upon which he was -traveling caught fire, after the manner of river boats of that era, -and "burned a hole in the night" and disappeared. He lost many of his -belongings in consequence, including his hat, but not his serenity or -even a fraction of his health, though the accident occurred in the -pouring rain. - -Everywhere, particularly in the West, he came to towns and counties -bearing his own name. In the East he revisited with his son spots made -memorable in the Revolution. On the Hudson he rose early to point out -[Pg 266]to George the place where André had been taken and the house -to which he and Washington had come so soon after Arnold's precipitate -flight. At West Point he reviewed the cadets, slim and straight and -young, while General Scott and General Brown, both tall, handsome -men, looking very smart indeed in their plumes and dress uniforms, -stood beside their visitor, who was almost as tall and military in his -bearing and quite as noticeable for the neatness and plainness of his -civilian dress. - -Lafayette was broader of shoulder and distinctly heavier than he had -been forty years before. Even in his youth he had not been handsome, -though he possessed for Americans the magnetism his son so sadly -lacked. His once fair complexion had turned brown and his once reddish -hair had turned gray, but that was a secret concealed under a chestnut -wig. He carried a cane and walked with a slight limp, which Americans -attributed enthusiastically to his wound in their service, but which -was really caused by that fall upon the ice in 1803. Despite his -checkered fortunes his sixty-eight years had passed lightly over his -head. Perhaps he did not altogether relish being addressed as Venerable -Sir by mayors and town officials, any more than he liked to have laurel -wreaths pulling his wig awry, but he knew that both were meant in -exquisite politeness. - -And, true Frenchman that he was, he never allowed himself to be outdone -in politeness. Everywhere incidents occurred, trivial enough, but very -charming in spirit, that have been treasured in memory and handed down -to this day. In New London two rival congregations besought him to [Pg -267]come to their churches and listen to their pastors. He pleased -them both. He led blind old ladies gallantly through the minuet. He -held tiny girls in his arms and, kissing them, said they reminded him -of his own little Virginia. He chatted delightfully with young men -who accompanied him as governors' aides in turn through the different -states; and if he extracted local information from these talks to use -it again slyly, with telling effect, in reply to the very next address -of welcome, that was a joke between themselves which they enjoyed -hugely. "He spoke the English language well, but slower than a native -American," one of these young aides tells us. He was seldom at a loss -for a graceful speech, though this was a gift that came to him late in -life. And his memory for faces seldom played him false. When William -Magaw, who had been surgeon of the old First Pennsylvania, visited him -and challenged him for recognition, Lafayette replied that he did not -remember his name, but that he knew very well what he had done for -him--he had dressed his wound after the battle of the Brandywine! - -The processions and celebrations in Lafayette's honor culminated in -the ceremony for which he had crossed the Atlantic, the laying of the -corner-stone at Bunker Hill. Pious people had said hopefully that -the Lord could not let it rain on such a day; and their faith was -justified, for the weather was perfect. We are told that on the 17th of -June "everything that had wheels and everything that had legs" moved in -the direction of the monument. Accounts tell of endless organizations -[Pg 268]and of "miles of spectators," until there seemed to be not room -for another person to sit or stand. The same chaplain who had lifted up -his young voice in prayer in the darkness on Cambridge Common before -the men marched off to battle was there in the sunlight to raise his -old hands in blessing. Daniel Webster, who had not been born when the -battle was fought, was there to make the oration. He could move his -hearers as no other American has been able to do, playing upon their -emotions as upon an instrument, and never was his skill greater than -upon that day. He set the key of feeling in the words, "Venerable men," -addressed to the forty survivors of the battle, a gray-haired group, -sitting together in the afternoon light. Lafayette had met this little -company in a quiet room before the ceremonies began and had greeted -each as if he were in truth a personal friend. After his part in the -ceremony was over he elected to sit with them instead of in the place -prepared for him. "I belong there," he said, and there he sat, his -chestnut wig shining in the gray company. - -While Webster's eloquence worked its spell, and pride and joy and pain -even to the point of tears swept over the thousands of upturned faces -as cloud shadows sweep across a meadow, Lafayette must have remembered -another scene, a still greater assembly, even more tense with feeling, -in which he had been a central figure: that fête of the Federation on -the Champs de Mars. Surely no other man in history has been allowed to -feel himself so intimately a part of two nations in their moments of -patriotic exaltation. - - -[Pg 269]XXVIII - -LEAVE-TAKINGS - - -Though the celebration at Bunker Hill was the crowning moment of -Lafayette's stay in America, he remained three months longer, sailing -home in September, 1825. The last weeks were spent in and near -Washington. Here he had fitted so perfectly into the scheme of life -that his comings and goings had ceased to cause remark, except as a -pleasant detail of the daily routine. Perhaps this is the subtlest -compliment Americans paid him. One of the mottoes in a hall decorated -in his honor had read, "_Où peut-on être mieux qu'au sein de sa -famille?_" "Where can a man feel more at home than in the bosom of his -family?"--and this attitude of Washingtonians toward him showed how -completely he had been adopted as one of themselves. - -He had made himself one in thought and spirit with the most -aggressively American of them all. A witty speech of his proves this. -A bill had been introduced in Congress to present him with two hundred -thousand dollars in money and "twenty-four thousand acres of fertile -land in Florida" to right a wrong unintentionally done him years -[Pg 270]before. He had been entitled at the time of our Revolution to -the pay of an officer of his rank and to a grant of public land to be -located wherever he chose. He refused to accept either until after the -Revolution in France had swept away his fortune. Then his agent in the -United States chose for him a tract of land near New Orleans which -Jefferson thought would be of great value. Congress was not informed -and granted this same land to the city. Lafayette had a prior claim, -but flatly refused to contest the matter, saying he could have no -quarrel with the American people. Everybody wanted the bill concerning -this reparation in the way of money and Florida land to pass, and it -was certain to go through, but there were twenty-six members of the -House and Senate who, for one reason and another, felt constrained -to vote against it. Some voted consistently and persistently against -unusual appropriations of any kind; some argued that it was an insult -to translate Lafayette's services into terms of cold cash. The struggle -between private friendship and public duty was so hard that some of -them came to make a personal explanation. "My dear friends!" he cried, -grasping their hands, "I assure you it would have been different had -I been a member of Congress. There would not have been twenty-six -objectors--there would have been twenty-seven! " During this American -visit he renewed old ties with, or made the acquaintance of, nine -men who had been or were to become Presidents of the United States: -John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, -[Pg 271]William Henry Harrison, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, and -Franklin Pierce. Perhaps there were others. He broke the rules of the -Puritan Sabbath by driving out to dine on that day with the venerable -John Adams at his home near Boston; but there was only one white horse -to draw his carriage instead of the customary four, and not a hurrah -broke the orderly quiet. Had it been a week-day the crowds would have -shouted themselves hoarse. Jefferson, ill and feeble, welcomed him -on the lawn at Monticello, the estate so dear to him which had been -ravaged by the British about the time Lafayette began his part in -driving Cornwallis to Yorktown. - -As was quite fitting, Lafayette was the guest of President John Quincy -Adams at the White House during the last days of his stay. One incident -must be told, because it is so very American and so amusing from -the foreign point of view. He expressed a desire to make a visit of -farewell to his old friend James Monroe, who had been President the -year before. He was now living on his estate of Oak Hill, thirty-seven -miles away. President Adams offered to accompany him, and on an August -day they set out by carriage after an early dinner. Mr. Adams, both -Lafayettes, and a friend rode in the presidential carriage. Colonel -Lavasseur and the son of the President followed in a "tilbury," a -kind of uncovered gig fashionable then on both sides of the Atlantic. -Servants and luggage brought up the rear. - -Lafayette had been passed free over thousands of miles of toll-road -[Pg 272]since he landed in the United States, but when they reached the -bridge across the Potomac the little procession halted and Mr. Adams -paid toll like an ordinary mortal. Scarcely had his carriage started -again when a plaintive, "Mr. President! Mr. President!" brought it to -a standstill. The gatekeeper came running up with a coin in his hand. -"Mr. President," he panted, "you've done made a mistake. I reckon yo' -thought this was two bits, but it's only a levy. You owe me another -twelve and a half cents." The President listened, gravely examined -the coin, counted the noses of men and horses, and agreed that he was -at fault. He was just reaching down into the presidential pocket when -he was arrested by a new exclamation. The gatekeeper had recognized -Lafayette and was thoroughly crestfallen. "I reckon the joke's on me," -he said, apologetically. "All the toll-roads has orders to pass the -general free, so I owe you something instid of you owin' me money. I -reckon I ought to pass you-all as the general's bodyguard." But to -this Adams demurred. He was not anybody's bodyguard. He was President -of the United States, and, though it was true that toll-roads passed -the guest of the nation free, General Lafayette was riding that day in -his private capacity, as a friend of Mr. Adams. There was no reason -at all why the company should be cheated out of any of its toll. The -gatekeeper considered this and acknowledged the superiority of Yankee -logic. "That sounds fair," he admitted. "I reckon you-all do owe me -twelve and a half cents." In the tilbury young Adams grinned and -[Pg 273]Colonel Lavasseur chuckled his appreciation. "The one time -General Lafayette does not pass free over your roads," he said, "is -when he rides with the ruler of the country. In any other land he could -not pay, for that very reason." - -When the day of farewell came Washington streets were filled with men -and women come out to see the last of the nation's guest. Stores and -public buildings were closed and surrounding regions poured their -crowds into the city. Everybody was sad. The cavalry escort which for a -year had gathered at unholy hours to speed Lafayette on his way or to -meet him on his return, whenever he could be persuaded to take it into -his confidence, met for the last time on such pleasant duty, taking its -station near the White House, where as many citizens as possible had -congregated. The hour set for departure was early afternoon. Officials -had begun to gather before eleven o'clock. At noon the President -appeared and took his place with them in a circle of chairs in the -large vestibule, whose outside doors had been opened wide to permit all -who could see to witness the public leave-taking. - -After a brief interval of silence an inner door opened and Lafayette -came forward with the President's son and the marshal of the District. -Mr. Adams rose and made a short address. Lafayette attempted to reply, -but was overcome with feeling, and it was several moments before he -regained control of his voice. At the end of his little speech he -cried, "God bless you!" and opened his arms wide with a gesture that -included everybody. Then the crowd pressed forward and surrounded him -[Pg 274]until he retired to Mrs. Adams's sitting-room for the real -farewell with the President's household. After that Mr. Adams and he -appeared upon the portico. Lafayette stepped into a waiting carriage. -Flags dipped, cannon boomed, and the procession took up its march to -the wharf where a little steamer waited to carry the travelers down the -Potomac to the new government frigate Brandywine, on which they were -to sail. At the river's edge he reviewed the militia of the District -of Columbia, standing with some relatives of Washington's during -this final ceremony. It is said that a cheer that was like a cry of -bereavement rose from the crowd and mingled with the last boom of the -military salute as the boat swung out into the stream. - -The sun had dropped below the horizon when they neared Mount Vernon. -The company was at dinner, everybody, even George Lafayette, working -hard to overcome the sadness that threatened to engulf the company. -The marshal came and bent over Lafayette, who pushed back his plate -and bowed his head upon his breast. Then he rose and hurried to the -deck for a parting look, at the home of his friend most of the company -following him. The eyes of both father and son sought out the stately -house set on a hill, which held so many associations for both of them. -The younger man had found the beautiful place less well cared for than -during the lifetime of its owner. Lafayette had returned to it only to -visit a tomb. - -The trees near the mansion were already beginning to blur in the short -[Pg 275]September twilight. Silently, with his head a little bent and a -little turned to the right, as was his habit, he watched it as the boat -slipped by. The afterglow behind the house had deepened to molten gold -when a bend in the river blotted it from his sight. He turned like a -man coming out of a dream and hurried to his cabin without a word. - -"Only then," says Lavasseur, "did he fully realize the sacrifice made -to France in leaving America." - - -[Pg 276]XXIX - -PRESIDENT--OR KING-MAKER? - - -The ocean was no kinder than usual to Lafayette on his homeward voyage -and the reception he met in Havre lacked enthusiasm. Louis XVIII, who -was king when he went away, had died during his absence and another -brother of the ill-fated Louis XVI had mounted the throne, with the -title of Charles X. He was no other than the Comte d'Artois who had -presided over Lafayette's section in the Assembly of Notables and -had been blind to his presence when the two reached the same inn at -the same moment in Austria. His ministers were no more friendly to -liberals of Lafayette's way of thinking than those of his brothers had -been; but the liberals of France showed a distinct desire to notice -the home-coming of Lafayette. Police could and did disperse young men -on horseback who gathered under his windows at the inn in Rouen for a -serenade; but there were other ways of paying respect. One took the -form of a contest of poets "to celebrate a voyage which history will -place among the great events of the century." There were eighty-three -[Pg 277]contestants, and Béranger, who had already paid his tribute, -acted as a judge. In due time the victor was ceremoniously given a -prize. Lafayette must have been reminded of the burst of rhyme in -America quite as much by contrast as by similarity. - -His children came to meet him, which more than compensated for official -neglect; and the welcome of several hundred neighbors when he reached -La Grange convinced him that his local popularity was not impaired. -On the whole he had reason to be well content. He brought home ruddy -health, knowledge of the love in which he was held by twelve million -warm-hearted Americans, and, a lesser consideration, doubtless, but one -for which to be properly grateful, the prospect of speedily rebuilding -the family fortunes. The grant of land voted by Congress was for -thirty-six sections of six hundred and forty acres each, "east of and -adjoining the city of Tallahassee in Leon County, Florida." So far -as the writer has been able to learn, it never greatly benefited him -or his heirs; but that fact was mercifully hidden in the future. In -addition to the land there was a goodly sum of money to his credit in a -Philadelphia bank. - -He had stood the fatigues of the trip wonderfully. His cousin who -went to see him soon after his return marveled to find him "big, fat, -fresh, and joyous," showing not the least ill effects from having "gone -several months practically without sleep, in addition to talking, -writing, traveling, and drinking for all he was worth (_pour tout de -bon_) ten hours out of the twenty-four." And he brought home from -[Pg 278]across the sea another gift: an ease in public speaking which -astonished the friends who remembered the impatient scorn his silences -roused in Marie Antoinette and how seldom he made speeches in the -Assembly of Notables. During his command of the National Guard of Paris -his utterances had of necessity been more frequent and more emphatic, -but they betrayed none of the pleasure in addressing audiences that he -now evidently felt. It was as though the friendliness of the American -people had opened for him a new and delightful channel through which he -could express his good will toward all the world. His voice lent itself -well to public speaking; it could be soft or sonorous by turns, and -he had the art of using plain and simple words. His physician, Doctor -Cloquet, tells how some workmen were seen puzzling over a newspaper -and criticizing it rather severely until they came to a speech by -Lafayette. "Good!" said the reader, his face clearing. "At least we can -understand what this man says. He speaks French." - -Delighting workmen was not a gift to ingratiate him with a Bourbon -king whose government was growing less popular every day. Lafayette -retired to La Grange among its vineyards and orchards in the flat -region of La Brie and took up life there again; cultivating his estate; -carrying on an immense correspondence in that small, well-formed script -of his which is yet so difficult to read; rejoicing in his family -and receiving many visitors. It was a cosmopolitan procession that -made its way up the Rozoy road to the château whose Norman towers had -[Pg 279]been old before the discovery of the New World. Some in that -procession were old friends, members of the French nobility, who came -in spite of Lafayette's politics; others were complete strangers drawn -to him from distant parts of the earth by these same opinions. French, -English, Americans, Austrians, Algerian sheiks, black men from the West -Indies--all were welcome. - -In his study, an upper room in one of his five towers, he was literally -in the center of his world. From a window overlooking the farm-yard he -could direct the laborers by megaphone if he did not choose to go down -among them. His "speaking-trumpet," as Charles Sumner called it, still -lay on his desk when this American made his pious pilgrimage years -after Lafayette's death. On the walls of the library and living-room -hung relics that brought vividly to mind the history of two continents -during momentous years. The American Declaration of Independence and -the French Declaration of Rights hung side by side. A copy in bronze -of Houdon's bust of Washington had the place of honor. A portrait -of Bailly, a victim of the Revolution, hung over the fireplace in -Lafayette's study. There were swords presented by French admirers and -gifts from American cities and Indian chiefs. There was one room which -was entered only by Lafayette and his children, and that but once a -year, on the anniversary of his wife's death. It had been hers and was -closed and kept just as she left it. - -Her death marked a distinct period in his life. There were those who -said that when she died Lafayette lost more than a loved companion; -[Pg 280]that he lost his conscience. In proof of this they pointed out -how in the later years of his life, after her steadying influence was -removed, he veered about in the troubled sea of French politics, like a -ship without a rudder. It is true only in a superficial sense; but it -is true that he was never quite the same after she died. - -For seven years immediately after this loss he took no active part in -public affairs; partly because of his private sorrow, partly because -of his opposition to the emperor. He had been disappointed in Napoleon -and the latter distrusted him. "All the world is reformed," Napoleon -grumbled, "with one exception. That is Lafayette. He has not receded -from his position by so much as a hair's breadth. He is quiet now, but -I tell you he is ready to begin all over again." George and Lafayette's -son-in-law suffered from this displeasure in their army careers. -"These Lafayettes cross my path everywhere!" Napoleon is said to have -exclaimed when he found the names of the young men on an army list -submitted for promotion, and promptly scratched them off. - -Then fortune began to go against the emperor and invading armies came -marching into France. Lafayette offered his sword and his experience -to his country, but the advice he gave appeared too dangerous and -revolutionary. What he desired was to force the abdication of Napoleon -at that time. He was in Paris on March 31, 1814, when foreign soldiers -entered the city. Powerless to do anything except grieve, he shut -himself up in his room. Napoleon retired to Elba and the brother of -[Pg 281]Louis XVI was summoned to take the title of Louis XVIII. -This was the prince Lafayette had intentionally offended when he was -scarcely more than a boy. - -After he was made king, however, Lafayette wrote him a note of -congratulation and appeared in uniform at his first royal audience -wearing the white cockade. That certainly seemed like a change of -front, but Lafayette thought it a necessity. "It had to be Napoleon -or the Bourbons," he wrote Jefferson. "These are the only possible -alternatives in a country where the idea of republican executive power -is regarded as a synonym for excesses committed in its name." He -accepted the government of Louis XVIII as more liberal than that of the -emperor. Time and again after this he aided in the overthrow of one man -or party, only to turn against the new power he had helped create. He -even tried to work with Napoleon again after Louis XVIII fled to Ghent -and Bonaparte returned from Elba to found his "new democratic empire," -known as the Hundred Days. Waterloo came at the end of it; then -Lafayette voiced the demand for the emperor's abdication and pressed it -hard. - -"What!" he cried in answer to Lucien Bonaparte's appeal to the Chamber -of Deputies not to desert his brother, because that would be a -violation of national honor, "you accuse us of failing in duty toward -honor, toward Napoleon! Do you forget all we have done for him? The -bones of our brothers and of our children cry aloud from the sands of -Africa, from the banks of the Guadalquivir and the Tagus, from the -[Pg 282]shores of the Vistula and the glacial deserts of Russia. During -more than ten years three million Frenchmen have perished for this man -who wants to-day to fight all Europe. We have done enough for him. Our -duty now is to save our country!" - -Lafayette was one of the deputation sent by the Chamber to thank the -ex-emperor after his abdication, and admired Napoleon's self-possession -during that trying scene. He thought Napoleon "played grandly the role -necessity forced upon him." Lafayette was also one of the commission -sent to negotiate with the victorious allies. It was there that he gave -his spirited answer to the demand that Napoleon be given up. "I am -astonished you should choose a prisoner of Olmütz as the person to whom -to make that shameful proposal." - -Louis XVIII returned to power and soon Lafayette was opposing him. -So it went on for years. He said of himself that he was a man of -institutions, not of dynasties; and that he valued first principles so -much that he was very willing to compromise on matters of secondary -importance. He cared nothing for apparent consistency and did whatever -his erratic republican conscience dictated, without a thought of how -it might look to others. He was a born optimist, but a poor judge of -men; and in spite of repeated disappointments believed the promises -of each new ruler who came along. Liberal representative government -was of supreme importance in his eyes. If France was not yet ready -for a president, she could have it under a king. Each administration -[Pg 283]that promised a step in this direction received his support, -each lapse from it his censure. That appears to be the key to the many -shifting changes of his later life. - -His popularity among the people waxed and waned. Usually it kept him -his seat in the Chamber of Deputies. From 1818 to 1824 he represented -the Sarthe; from 1825 to the close of his life the district of Meaux. -It was in the interval between that he made his visit to America. He -returned to find Charles X king. As that monarch lost popularity his -own influence gained. Charles's ministers thought their sovereign -showed ill-placed confidence and esteem when he freely acknowledged -that this liberal leader had rendered services to his family that no -true man could forget. "I know him well," Charles said. "We were born -in the same year. We learned to mount a horse together at the riding -academy at Versailles. He was a member of my division in the Assembly -of Notables. The fact is neither of us has changed--he no more than I." -That was just the point. Neither had changed. Charles X was a Bourbon -to the bone, and Lafayette had come back from America with renewed -health, replenished means, and all the revolutionary impetuosity of -youth. He had not one atom of that willingness to put up with "things -as they are" which grows upon many reformers as their hair turns gray. -John Quincy Adams divined this and advised Lafayette to have nothing -more to do with revolutions. "He is sixty-eight years old, but there is -fire beneath the cinders," the President of the United States confided -to his diary in August, 1825. - -[Pg 284]The cinders glowed each time Charles X emphasized his -Bourbonism; and caught fire again when the king made the Prince de -Polignac prime minister in defiance of all liberal Frenchmen. That -happened in 1829. Lafayette took occasion to visit Auvergne, the -province of his birth, in company with his son, and was received with -an enthusiasm rivaling his most popular days in America. The journey -was prolonged farther than strict necessity required and did much -to unite opposition to the king, for leaders of the liberal party -profited by banquets and receptions in Lafayette's honor to spread -their doctrines. More than one official who permitted such gatherings -lost his job in consequence. Lafayette returned to La Grange; but in -the following July, when the storm broke, he called for his horses -and hurried to Paris. The Chamber of Deputies was not in session; he -thought it ought to be; and he started as soon as he had read a copy -of the Royal Ordinances which limited the freedom of the press and -otherwise threatened the rights of the people. - -Before he reached Paris blood had been shed and barricades had been -thrown across the streets. Alighting from his carriage, he told the -guards his name, dragged his stiff leg over the obstructions, and -joined the little group of legislators who were striving to give this -revolt the sanction of law. Having had more experience in revolutions -than they--this was his fourth--he became their leader, and on July -29, 1830, found himself in the exact position he had occupied forty -[Pg 285]years before, commander of the National Guard and practically -dictator of France. An unwillingly admiring biographer says that he had -learned no wisdom in the interval; that he "pursued the same course -with the same want of success." This time he held the balance of power -for only two days, but it was actual concentrated power while it -lasted. It was he who sent back to Charles the stern answer that his -offers of compromise came too late, that the royal family had ceased to -reign. And it was he who had to choose the next form of government for -France. - -It was a dramatic choice. He was frankly ambitious; and quite within -his reach lay the honor he would have preferred above all others. The -choice lay between becoming himself President of France or, making a -new king. It was put to him fairly and squarely: "If we have a republic -you will be president. If a monarchy, the Duc d'Orléans will be king. -Will you take the responsibility of a republic?" A man with "a canine -appetite for fame" and nothing more could have found but one answer, -and that not the answer Lafayette gave. In his few hours of power he -had talked with men from all parts of France. These confirmed his -belief that the country was not yet ready for the change to a republic. -It would be better to have a king for a while longer, provided he was a -liberal king, pledged to support a constitution. The Duc d'Orléans gave -promise of being just such a king. He was son of the duke Lafayette had -banished from Paris after the mob attacked Versailles in 1789; but he -[Pg 286]had fought on the liberal side. The people knew him as Philippe -Égalité--"Equality Philip"--and during recent years he had given -evidence of being far more democratic than any other member of his -family. To choose him would please liberals and conservatives alike, -because he was next in line of succession after the sons of the deposed -king. - -Being by no means devoid of ambition, the duke was already in Paris, -awaiting what might happen. The Deputies sent him an invitation to -become lieutenant-general of the kingdom. Accounts vary as to the -manner in which it was accepted. One has him walking with ostentatious -humility through the streets to the Hôtel de Ville, preceded by a -drummer to call attention to the fact that he was walking and that -he wore a tricolored scarf. Another has him on horseback without the -scarf. It matters little; they agree that he was not very well received -and that shouts of "No more Bourbons!" betrayed the suspicion that the -duke's liberality, like the scarf, if he wore one, could be put on for -the occasion. Accounts agree, too, that it was Lafayette who swung -popular feeling to his side. He met him at the foot of the stairs and -ascended with him to the Chamber of Deputies; and in answer to the -coolness with which he was greeted and the evident hostility of the -crowd outside, thrust a banner into the duke's hand and drew him to a -balcony, where he publicly embraced him. Paris was easily moved by such -spectacles. Carried away by the sight of the two enveloped in the folds -of the same flag, and that the Tricolor, which had been forbidden for -[Pg 287]fifteen years, they burst into enthusiastic shouts of "Vive -Lafayette!" "Long live the Duc d'Orléans!" Chateaubriand says that -"Lafayette's republican kiss made a king," and adds, "Singular result -of the whole life of the hero of two worlds!" - -[Illustration: MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE AND LOUIS PHILIPPE - -After the Revolution of 1830, it was Lafayette who swung popular -feeling to the side of Louis Philippe] - -Louis Philippe, the new king, promised to approve certain very liberal -measures known as the program of the Hôtel de Ville; Lafayette saw -to that. The king even agreed in conversation with Lafayette that -the United States had the best form of government on earth. He -had spent some years in America and probably knew. He was called, -enthusiastically or mockingly, as the case might be, the Bourgeois -King; but the suspicion that his sympathies with the people were only -assumed proved well founded. As time wore on it became manifest that he -was as eager for arbitrary power as ever Louis XIV had been, without -possessing Louis XIV's great ability. At first, however, everything was -rose-colored. A few days after the new king had ascended the throne -Lafayette wrote: "The choice of the king is good. I thought so, and I -think so still more since I know him and his family. Things will not go -in the best possible way, but liberty has made great progress and will -make still more. Besides, I have done what my conscience dictated; and -if I have made a mistake, it was made in good faith." - -That belief at least he could keep to the end. Two weeks after Louis -Philippe became king Lafayette was appointed general in command of the -National Guards of the kingdom, a position he held from August until -Christmas. Then a new law abolished the office in effect but not in -[Pg 288]appearance. Lafayette sent the king his resignation and refused -to reconsider it or even to talk the matter over, as the king asked -him to do. "No, my dear cousin, I understand my position," Lafayette -wrote Philip de Ségur. "I know that I weigh like a nightmare on the -Palais Royal; not on the king and his family, who are the best people -in the world, and I love them tenderly, but on the people who surround -them.... Without doubt I have been useful in his advancement. But if I -sacrificed for him some of my personal convictions, it was only on the -faith of the program of the Hôtel de Ville. I announced a king basing -his reign on republican institutions. To that declaration, which the -people seem to forget, I attach great importance; and it is that which -the court does not forgive.... From all this the conclusion follows -that I have become bothersome. I take my stand. I will retain the same -friendliness for the royal family, but I have only one word of honor, -and I cannot change my convictions." - -So once again, near the close of his life, he found himself in -opposition to a government he had helped to create. - - -[Pg 289]XXX - -SEVENTY-SIX YEARS YOUNG - - -Although he had resigned the office to which the king had appointed -him, Lafayette continued to hold his place in the Chamber of Deputies; -the office to which the people had elected him. Here he worked in -behalf of the oppressed of his own and other nations; the Irish, for -example, and the Poles, in whose struggles for liberty he was deeply -interested. - -When the Chamber of Deputies was in session he lived in Paris. -Vacations were spent at La Grange, where he pursued the varied -interests of his many-sided life, particularly enjoying, in his -character of farmer, the triumph of his beasts and fruits in -neighborhood fairs. In the winter of 1834 he was as usual in Paris, and -on the 26th of January made the speech in behalf of Polish refugees -then in France which proved to be his last public address. A few days -later he attended the funeral of one of the Deputies, following the -coffin on foot all the long distance from the house to the cemetery, -as was the French custom, and standing on the damp ground through the -[Pg 290]delivery of the funeral discourses. The exposure and fatigue -were too much for even his hardy old body. - -He was confined to his room for many weeks, but carried on a life as -normal as possible, having his children around him, receiving visits -of intimate friends, reading journals and new books, and dictating -letters. One of these was to Andrew Jackson about his fight with the -United States Senate. The inactivity of the sick-chamber was very -irksome to him, and by the 9th of May he was so far improved that -his physicians allowed him to go for a drive. Unfortunately a storm -came up, the weather turned suddenly cold, and he suffered a chill, -after which his condition became alarming. When it was known that -he was a very sick man, friends and political enemies--he had no -personal enemies--hastened to make inquiries and to offer condolences. -Occasionally George Lafayette was able to answer that his father -seemed better; but the improvement was not real. On the 20th of May he -appeared to wake and to search for something on his breast. His son put -into his hands the miniature of Adrienne that he always wore. He had -strength to raise it to his lips, then sank into unconsciousness from -which he passed into the sleep of death. - -He was laid to rest in the cemetery of Picpus beside the wife who had -awaited him there for more than a quarter of a century; but his grave -was made in earth from an American battle-field that he had brought -home with him after his last visit. Fifteen natives of Poland bore the -coffin to the hearse. There were honorary pall-bearers representing the -[Pg 291]Chamber of Deputies, the National Guard, the Army, the United -States, Poland, and his own electoral district of Meaux. It was purely -a military funeral. His party friends hotly declared that it was not a -funeral at all, only a monster military parade. The government feared -that his burial might be made the occasion for political demonstrations -and ordered out such an immense number of troops that "the funeral car -passed almost unseen in the midst of a battalion whose bayonets ... -kept the people from rendering homage to their liberator." "He was -there lifeless, but not without honor," wrote an indignant friend. -"The French army surrounded him in his coffin as relentlessly as the -Austrian army had held him a prisoner at Olmütz." Even the cemetery -was guarded as if to withstand a siege. "Only the dead and his family -might enter.... One would say that the government looked upon the -mortal remains of this friend of liberty as a bit of prey which must -not be allowed to escape." The liberals resented this fancied attitude -of the government so bitterly that a cartoonist drew Louis Philippe -rubbing his hands together with satisfaction as the procession passed -and saying, gleefully, "Lafayette, you're caught, old man!" Only one -incident occurred to justify so many precautions. In the Place Vendome -a few score young men carrying a banner tried to break through the line -of soldiers, but were repulsed. Elsewhere people looked on in silence. - -Lafayette's political friends complained that not one of the king's -[Pg 292]ministers was to be seen in the procession. The ministers -answered that politics were out of place at the funeral of such -a distinguished man; and that the government rendered its homage -regardless of party. While friends and foes wrangled thus over the -coffin, Nature did her beautiful consoling best. Chateaubriand, -standing in the silent crowd, saw the hearse stop a moment as it -reached the top of a hill, and as it stopped a fugitive ray of sunlight -came to rest upon it, then disappeared, gilding the guns and military -trappings as it passed. - -In spite of all this recrimination Lafayette's death passed -comparatively unnoticed in France, for it occurred during a season of -political turmoil and he had retired several years before from active -affairs. Three thousand miles away the news produced far greater -effect. He was mourned in America with universal sorrow. All over the -country flags floated at half-mast. The House and Senate of the United -States passed resolutions which were sent to George Lafayette, while -the members wore crape upon their arms for thirty days and the Senate -Chamber and Hall of Representatives remained draped in black until the -end of the session. Our army and navy wore a tribute of crape upon -their sleeves also, and on a given day every city in the Union heard -the mourning salute of twenty-four guns, and after that at half-hour -intervals until sunset the booming of a single cannon. "Touching -honors," says a French writer, "rendered by a great people to the -memory of a stranger who had served them sixty years before." - - * * * * * - -[Pg 293]Lafayette lived to hold his great-grandchild in his arms, yet -the period of his life seems very short if measured by the changes -that came about while he walked the earth. It was a time when old -men dreamed dreams and young men saw visions, and during Lafayette's -seventy-six years some of the visions became realities, some of his -dreams he saw well on the way to fulfilment. - -The French regard Lafayette's American career as only an episode in -his life; while Americans are apt to forget that he had a career in -France. He lived in three distinct periods of history, so different -that they might have been centuries apart. He saw medieval Europe; the -stormy period of change, and something very like the modern world we -know to-day. Peasants knelt in the dust before the nobles, after he -was a grown man; yet, in his old age, railroads and republicanism were -established facts. "To have made for oneself a rôle in one or another -of these periods suffices for a career," says his French biographer -Donoil; "very few have had a career in all." - -Lafayette played an important part in all three. Not only that; it -was his strange good fortune to hold familiar converse with two of -the greatest figures in history--the two very greatest of his own -age--Washington and Napoleon. That he seems even measurably great in -such company shows his true stature. Washington was his friend, who -loved him like a son. Napoleon appears to have been one of the very few -men Lafayette could never quite bring himself to trust, though Napoleon -[Pg 294]rendered him an immense service and did everything in his great -power to win his support. - -If, as certain French historians say, Lafayette and Napoleon were -dictators in turn, Lafayette's task was in a way the harder of the two; -for Napoleon's turn came after the fury had spent itself and men were -beginning to recover, sobered by their own excesses. It was in the -mounting delirium of their fever that Lafayette's middle course brought -upon him first distrust, then enmity from both sides. - -If an Austrian prison had not kept him from destruction he must have -perished during the Revolution, for he was never swerved by fear of -personal danger. One of his eulogists asserts that he was "too noble -to be shrewd." Another says that he judged men by his own feelings and -was "misled by illusions honorable to himself." After his experience in -America he undoubtedly expected to play a great part in the uprising -in France, and, not realizing the strength of selfishness and passion, -helped to let loose forces too powerful to control. One of his critics -has asserted that he never made a wise or a correct decision; but -critics and eulogists alike agree that he was upright and brave. They -are justified in saying he was vain. His vanity took the form of -believing himself right. - -He was not self-seeking, and the lack of that quality caused him to -be regarded with puzzled surprise by men who could not understand his -willingness to step aside in favor of some one else, when he thought -the cause demanded it. "It seemed so foolish," said Madame de Staël -[Pg 295]in her sympathetic portrait, "to prefer one's country to -oneself... to look upon the human race, not as cards to be played for -one's own profit, but as an object of sacred devotion." Chateaubriand -said that forty years had to pass after Lafayette's death before people -were really convinced that he had been an idealist and not a fool. The -fact was brought home to them, little by little, as records scattered -to the four winds during the Revolution gradually saw the light of -print; here a public document, there a private letter, there again a -bit of personal reminiscence. Fitting together like a puzzle, they -showed at last how one single idea had inspired all Lafayette's acts, -even when they seemed most erratic. "Fortunately for him," says one -of his French biographers, "it was the idea of the century--political -liberty." - -In his lifetime he arranged his papers for publication and dictated -occasional bits of comment; but these were only fragmentary, as many of -his papers were lost. Besides, it was a task for which he had no great -zest. He said it seemed ungracious to accuse men of persecuting him who -afterward died for the very principles he upheld. He was sure history -would accord to each his just deserts. Madame de Staël said that his -belief in the final triumph of liberty was as strong as the belief of a -pious man in a future life. He said himself that liberty was to him a -love, a religion, a "geometric certainty." - -To his last day he pursued this ideal of his wherever it led him. His -failure to learn worldly wisdom irritated many. It was incongruous, -like the contrast between his polished old-time manners and the rash -[Pg 296]utterances that fell from his lips. It must be confessed that -in his latter years he was not always clear-sighted as to the means he -employed. Once he descended to methods better suited to Italy in the -Middle Ages than to political reformers in 1822. There were times, too, -when he seemed bent on self-destruction. Those near him were convinced -that he would like to lose his life provided he could thereby add to -the luster of his reputation. "I have lived long," was his answer to -intimate friends who gave him counsels of prudence. "It seems to me -that it would be quite fitting to end my career upon the scaffold, a -sacrifice to liberty." - -Napoleon's estimate of him was short and severe. "Lafayette was another -of the fools; he was not cut out for the great rôle he wanted to play." -When some one ventured to remind the ex-emperor of Lafayette's spirited -refusal to give him up on the demand of the allied powers, Napoleon -answered dryly that he was not attacking Lafayette's sentiments or -his good intentions, but was merely complaining of the mess he made -of things. Lafayette's estimate of the former emperor was even more -severe. He thought Napoleon's really glorious title had been "Soldier -of the Revolution" and that the crown was for him "a degradation." -American history would have been the loser if either of these men -had not lived. Lafayette helped win us our country. By selling us -Louisiana, Napoleon almost doubled its extent. Napoleon's heart rarely -led him into trouble; personal ambition seldom led Lafayette far -[Pg 297]astray. The two can be contrasted, but not compared. There is -food for thought in the fact that a statue of Lafayette, modeled by an -American sculptor and given by five million American schoolchildren to -France, should have been erected in the Louvre on the spot once set -apart for a statue of the French emperor. - -Madame de Staël thought Lafayette more like the English and Americans -than like the French, even in his personal appearance. Another French -estimate, that he had "a cold manner, masking concentrated enthusiasm," -is quite in keeping with American character, as was his incorrigible -dash of optimism. It was to America, a country of wide spaces and few -inhabitants, that he followed his vision of liberty in early manhood, -and there where the play and interplay of selfish interests was far -less complicated than in France he saw it become a practical reality. -Later he championed many noble causes in many parts of the world. Next -to political freedom and as a necessary part of it, he had at heart -the emancipation of the negroes. This he tried himself to put into -practice. He was shocked when he returned to our country in 1824 to -find how much race prejudice had increased. He remembered that black -soldiers and white messed together during the American Revolution. - -Religious liberty for Protestants, civil rights for Jews and -Protestants; suppression of the infamous _lettres de cachet_; trial -by jury; a revision of French criminal law to allow the accused -the privilege of counsel, of confronting witnesses, and of free -[Pg 298]communication with his family--benefits, by the way, which were -all enjoyed by the accused in the state trials which took place while -Lafayette was in power; abolition of the death penalty and freedom of -the press were some of the measures most ardently championed by this -believer in liberty and law. - -He remained a man of visions to the end. After his death one of the -men who wrote in praise of him said that if he had lived during the -Middle Ages he would have been the founder of a great religious order, -one which had a profound moral truth as its guiding principle. Another -compared him to a Knight of the Round Table fighting for the lady of -his adoration, whose name was Liberty. Possibly no knight-errant, -ancient or modern, can seem altogether sane, much less prudent, to the -average unimaginative dweller in this workaday world. Yet what would -the workaday world be without its knights-errant of the past; the good -their knight-errantry has already accomplished; the courage it inspires -for to-day; the promise it gives us for the future? - -If we dwell on the few times that Lafayette did not choose wisely, the -times when the warm impulses of his heart would have carried farther -had his head taken a more masterful part in directing his acts, we are -tempted to echo the criticism made upon the unfortunate Louis XVI, -"What a pity his talents did not equal his virtues!" But when we think -of the generous, optimistic spirit of Lafayette, and how that spirit -remained unchanged through good fortune and ill from boyhood to old -age; of his fearless devotion to right as he saw the right; of his -[Pg 299]charm, and of the great debt our country owes him, his mistakes -fade away altogether and we see only a very gallant, inspiring figure -uniting the Old World with the New. - -There can be no better eulogy for this brave gentleman, beloved of -Washington, than the few words he wrote in all simplicity after he had -been called upon to make his great decision between Louis Philippe and -himself: - -"I did as my conscience dictated. If I was mistaken, the mistake was -made in good faith." - -[Pg 300] - -[Pg 301]INDEX - -A - -Adams, Charles Francis, 271, 272. -Adams, John, 87, 270, 271. -Adams, John Quincy, 260, 270, 271-274, 283. -Adams, Mrs. John Quincy, 274. -Aiguillon, Duc d', 198. -André, Major John, 140-143, 265. -Arbuthnot, Adm. Marriot, 133. -Arnold, Gen. Benedict, 84, 139-143, 146, 147, 149, 151-154, 266. -Arnold, Mrs. Benedict, 140-143. -Ayen, Marshal de Noailles, Duc d', 15-17, 29, 44-46, 49, 50, 55, -91, 124. -Ayen, Duchesse d', 15-18, 21, 29, 45, 46, 80, 237, 239, 243, 244, 254. - -B - -Bailly, Jean Sylvain, 193, 196, 207, 211, 216, 279. -Bedaulx, Captain de, 55. -Béranger, Pierre Jean de, 276, 277. -Big Warrior, 265. -Bollman, Dr. Justis Eric, 229-235. -Bonaparte, Joseph, 265. -Bonaparte, Lucien, 255, 281. -Bonaparte, Napoleon, 108, 246, 251, 252, 255, 256, 258, 259, -265, 280-282, 293, 294, 296. -Bourbon, Duc de, 222. -Braddock, Gen. Edward, 70. -Broglie, Comte de, 32, 35, 41, 48, 68. -Brown, Gen. Jacob, 266. -Buckle, Henry Thomas, 22. -Buisson, Chevalier du, 62, 64, 65, 68. -Burgoyne, Gen. John, 74, 77, 83, 84, 91, 101, 108. -Byron, Adm. John, 114. - -C - -Cadwallader, Gen. John, 109. -Calonne, Charles Alexandre de, 187, 188. -Carmichael, William, 39, 42, 43, 55. -Catherine II of Russia, 185. -Charles, Prince of Lorraine, 222. -Charles VII of France, 3. -Charles X of France (Comte d'Artois), 188, 197, 225, 276, 283-285. -Chasteler, Marquis de, 245, 246. -Chateaubriand, François, 287, 292, 295. -Clarence, Duke of, 2. -Clay, Henry, 260, 263, 264. -Clinton, Gen. Sir Henry, 44, 91, 104-107, 109, 114, 133-135, 153, 156, 160-162. -Cloquet, Dr. Jules Germain, 278. -Cochran, Surgeon-General John, 79, 120, 121. -Conway Cabal, 84, 85, 91-99, 103, 111. -Conway, Gen. Thomas, 85, 92, 95-97, 99, 103. -Corday, Charlotte, 265. -Cornwallis, Gen. Charles: - Operations against Philadelphia, 78, 79, 85, 86. - Capture of Charleston, 133. - Virginia campaign, 149, 153-165, 271. - Surrender, 127, 165-168, 171, 216. - Guest of Frederick the Great, 181. - Intercedes for Lafayette, 227. -Coudray, Philip C. J. B. T. de, 66. -Crawford, William Harris, 260. - -D - -Danton, Georges Jacques, 206. -Davis, Capt. John, 158. -Deane, Silas, 36, 37, 43, 55, 66-69, 87, 89, 114. -Desmoulins, Camille Benoit, 197. -Donoil, Henri, 293. -Doria, Andrea, 2. - -E - -Estaing, Adm. Charles Hector, Comte d', 113-119, 134, 172. - -F - -Fénelon, Francois de Salignac, 10, 11. -Feyon, Abbé, 8, 14, 81. -Fitzpatrick, Mr., 89, 90, 227. -Fox, Charles James, 227. -Francis I of France, 2. -Franklin, Benjamin, 39, 40, 42, 43, 67, 70, 89, 101, 129, 171, 172, 176. -Frederick the Great, 12, 100, 173, 180, 181, 183, 229. -Frederick William II of Prussia, 181, 224, 226, 228, 229, 239, 245, 249. -Frestal, M. de, 237, 238. - -G - -Gage, Gen. Thomas, 73. -Gates, Gen. Horatio, 84, 85, 92, 95, 98, 111. -George III of England, 32, 44, 47, 80, 81, 99, 127, 143, 160, 259. -Germain, Lord George, 44. -Gimat, Major de, 79, 163, 165. -Gloucester, William Henry, Duke of, 32, 33. -Grasse, Adm. Francois J. P., Comte de, 161-163, 168, 169. -Greene, Gen. Nathanael, 78, 85, 86, 108, 109, 116, 117, 146, 149, -153, 155, 168, 169, 265. -Guichen, Adm. Comte de, 138. - -H - -Hamilton, Alexander, 155, 156, 165. -Harrison, Benjamin, 75. -Harrison, William Henry, 270, 271. -Hénin, Princesse d', 225-227. -Henri IV of France, 31, 212. -Howe, Adm. Richard, 106, 117. -Howe, Gen. William, Viscount, 47, 73-77, 79, 80, 82, 83, 85, 89, 91, 94, 104-106. -Huger, Maj. Benjamin, 59, 60, 62, 229. -Huger, Francis Kinloch, 59, 229-235, 265. - -J - -Jackson, Andrew, 260, 271, 290. -Jefferson, Thomas, 92, 147, 156, 201, 202, 270, 271. -Joan of Arc, 3. -Jones, John Paul, 125, 126. - -K - -Kalb, Johan, Baron de: - Accompanies Lafayette to America, 35, 36, 41, 44, 48-51, 57, 58, 60, 62, 63. - Treatment by Congress, 65, 68-70. - Interest in Lafayette's wound, 80. - With Lafayette at Albany, 96, 99. - Monument, 264. -Knox, Gen. Henry, 137, 140. -Kosciuszko, Gen. Tadensz, 84. - -L - -Lafayette, Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert-Dumotier, Marquis de: - Birth, 3, 4. - Boyhood, 5-12. - Marriage, 14-18. - Life at Court, 19, 27-31. - With his regiment, 20, 32-35. - Smallpox, 21. - Resolves to go to America, 34. - Efforts to leave France, 35-47. - Departure and voyage, 48-56. - Lands: goes to Philadelphia, 57-63. - Reception by Congress, 64-69. - Enters American Army, 70-72, 74, 75. - Battle of the Brandywine, 77-80. - At Bethlehem: rejoins army, 80-83. - Intrigues against, 84, 85, 91-98. - Skirmish near Gloucester, 85-87. - Conduct, in army, 88, 89, 94. - Attends Indian council, 98, 99. - Returns to Valley Forge, 99, 102. - At Barren Hill, 104-107. - Votes to attack Clinton, 109. - Battle of Monmouth Court House, 109-111. - Liaison officer, 113-116, 118. - Joint command with General Greene, 116-117. - Challenges Earl of Carlisle, 119. - Granted leave of absence, 119. - Illness and homeward voyage, 120-123. - Winter in France, 124-128. - Rejoins Washington, 130. - Again liaison officer, 134-138. - West Point, and André, 139-143. - French officers' attitude toward, 144, 145. - First campaign in Virginia, 146-148. - Second campaign in Virginia, 150-165. - At Yorktown, 165-169. - Popularity in France, 169-172, 175, 176, 196, 200, 212, 283. - In Spain, 172-174. - Plan to free slaves, 174. - Improvements at Chavaniac, 174, 175. - Paris home, 175, 176, 178. - Interest in Mesmer, 176, 177. - Visit to America, 1784, 177, 178. - Sends gifts to Washington, 179, 196. - Visits Frederick the Great, 180-182. - Champion of reforms, 182-183, 185, 187-190, 297. - Member Assembly of Notables, 185-190. - Vice-President National Assembly, 195. - Commands Paris National Guard, 196-215, 284, 285, 298. - Invents the Tricolor, 197. - Neither Republican nor Royalist, 201, 202, 213. - Blamed for attack on Versailles, 203, 205. - At fête of Federation, 209-212. - Slanders and attacks upon, 213. - Arrests king and queen, 214. - Defeated for mayor of Paris, 216. - Commands army of defense, 216-220. - Last effort to save Louis XVI, 218, 219. - Flight and arrest, 219-221. - Imprisonment, 222-247. - Attempted escape, 229-233. - Exile, 248-253. - Returns to Paris, 253. - Life at La Grange, 254, 278, 279, 289. - Death of his wife, 257, 279, 280. - Relations with Napoleon, 251, 255, 256, 280-282. - Member, Chamber of Deputies, 256, 259, 283, 284, 286, 289. - Revisits America, 259-275. - Lays corner-stone at Bunker Hill, 267-269. - Welcome in France, 276, 277. - Relations with Louis XVIII, 280-282. - Relations with Charles X, 283-285. - Relations with Louis Philippe, 285-288. - Illness and death, 289-290. - Character, 10, 29, 30, 82, 86, 87, 92, 119, 125, 126, 136, - 145, 159, 200, 254, 255, 282, 283, 294-296, 298, 299. - Correspondence with: - Bollman, 230. - Mlle. de Chavaniac, 14. - Congress, 66, 173. - d'Estaing, 114, 115. - Fitzpatrick, 248. - French Minister, 139-143. - Governor of Martinique, 82. - Hamilton, 155, 156. - Mme. d'Hénin, 225, 226. - Huger, 248. - Jefferson, 281. - Louis XVI, 124. - Maubourg, 257. - Napoleon, 251, 252. - Nelson, 155. - Relatives, 137, 174. - Vergennes, 145. - Washington, 85, 86, 96, 97, 116, 117, 127, 135, 146, 150, 152, - 153, 160, 161, 170, 173, 174, 176, 177, 181, 182, 189. - His wife, 53-55, 59-63, 76, 80, 81, 88-90, 93, 102, 129, 133, - 137, 143, 144, 223, 237, 258. - Opinion of Washington, 71, 91. - Opinion of the American Revolution, 108. - Family of: - Ancestors, 2-4, 33. - Aunts, 4, 5, 7, 174, 238, 256, 257. - Children: - Anastasie, 92, 125, 129, 170, 175, 176, 178, 236, 238-244, 247, 248. - George Washington, 129, 130, 170, 173, 175, 236, 238, 239, 249-251, - 256, 259, 263, 265, 271, 274, 280, 284, 290, 292. - Henriette, 29, 102. - Virginia, 175, 176, 178, 236, 238-244, 247, 257, 267. - Cousin, 277. - Father, 3, 4, 33, 35. - Granchildren, 258, 293. - Mother, 3-9, 12. - Uncles, 9, 14, 35. - Wife: - Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles. - Marriage, 15-18. - Before the French Revolution, 19, 29, 45, 46, 102, 129, 169, 170, 174-176, 178. - Experiences during the Terror, 237, 238. - At Olmütz, 236, 240-245. - Release and exile, 247, 248. - Visits Napoleon, 253, 254. - Inherits La Grange, 254. - Death, 257. - Influence over her husband, 279, 280. - Mentioned, 32, 53, 59-63, 67, 80, 81, 88, 93, 102, 103, 129, 133, 143, - 144, 169, 178, 215, 223, 258, 290. -Lally Tollendal, Trophime Gerard, Marquis de, 227, 228. -Lameth, Alexandre, 223, 230. -Lasteyrie, Louis du Saillant, Marquis de, 257. -Laurens, Henry, 79, 80, 138. -Laurens, Col. John, 138, 145, 161, 165. -Ledyard, John, 172. -Lee, Arthur, 39, 42, 43. -Lee, Gen. Charles, 85, 108-111. -Lee, Gen. "Lighthorse Harry," 167. -Leszczynska, Marie, 9. -Levasseur, Col. A., 260, 271-273, 275. -Lincoln, Gen. Benjamin, 166. -Louis XIV of France, 13, 183. -Louis XV of France, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 19-22, 25, 30, 183. -Louis XVI of France: - Lacks confidence, 21, 30, 194. - Orders Lafayette's arrest, 47. - Receives American commissioners, 101. - Letter to, from Congress, 119. - Interviews with Lafayette, 124, 128, 177, 214. - Makes Lafayette marshal of France, 171. - Talk with Richelieu, 183. - Convenes Assembly of Notables, 185. - Opens States General, 191. - Contests with National Assembly, 193-196. - Cheered and attacked, 197, 203-205. - Attempt to escape, 213, 214. - Signs Constitution, 215. - Last weeks of reign, 217-219. - Death of, 236. - Mentioned, 32, 34, 36, 39, 52, 188, 189, 198, 201-206, 216, - 224, 228, 280-281. -Louis XVIII of France, 30, 276, 280-282. -Louis Philippe (Philippe Égalité), 285-288, 291. -Lovell, James, 64-67. -Luckner, General, 217. - -M - -Madison, James, 270. -Magaw, William, 267. -Marat, Achille, 265. -Marat, Jean Paul, 206, 207, 213. -Marie Antoinette: - Character, 21, 192, 202, 278. - Court of, 29, 30, 101, 169, 170, 191. - Admires Franklin, 42. - Opposes visit of Louis to Paris, 197. - Attacked at Versailles, 203-205. - At fête of Federation, 211. - Name coupled with Lafayette's, 213. - Refuses Lafayette's help, 219. - Arrest of, 219. -Marmontel, Jean Frangois, 178. -Martin, Dubois, 41, 265. -Maubourg, Charles Latour, 248. -Maubourg, Latour, 223, 224, 230, 235, 242, 245, 247, 251, 252, 257. -Maurepas, Jean F. P., Comte de, 30, 31, 50, 82, 125. -Mauroy, Vicomte de, 51, 52, 65. -Mesmer, Friedrich Anton, 176, 177. -Mirabeau, Gabriel Honors Riquetti, Comte du, 194, 195, 202, 213, 219, 254. -Monroe, James, 238, 259, 270, 271. -Morgan, Gen. Daniel, 84. -Morris, Gouverneur, 64, 201, 213, 218, 227, 237, 248. -Morrolet, Abbé, 178. - -N - -Necker, Jacques, 186, 187, 227. -Noailles, Louis de, 15-17, 29, 237, 239, 257. -Noailles, Madame de, 237, 239, 257. -Noailles, Marquis de, ambassador to England, 43, 47. -Noailles, Vicomte de, 17, 29, 39, 40, 45, 136, 145, 195, 198. - -O - -O'Hara, Gen. James, 166. -Orléans, Louis Philippe Joseph, Duc d', 203, 205. - -P - -Pétion, Jerôme, 216. -Phillips, Gen. William, 149-154. -Pierce, Franklin, 271. -Polignac, Prince de, 284. -Pontonnier, Félix, 235, 244, 247, 254. -Pulaski, Count Casimir, 81, 265. -Pusy, Bureaux de, 223, 230, 235, 242-244, 247, 251, 252. - -R - -Rawdon, Francis, Marquis of Hastings, 44, 149. -Raynal, Abbé, 81. -Richelieu, Cardinal, 3. -Richelieu, Maréchal Louis F. A. du Plessis, Duc de, 170, 183, 184. -Rivière, Comte de la, 9, 14. -Robespierre, Maximilian, M. I., 218, 238. -Rochambeau, Col. Donatien M. J. de V., Vicomte de, 137, 161. -Rochambeau, Jean Baptiste D. de V., Comte de, 133-137, 141, 161, 162, 166, 167, 216. -Romeuf, Louis, 223, 247. -Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 11. - -S - -Saint-Germain, Claude Louis, Comte de, 101. -Saint-Simon, Gen. Claude Henri, Comte de, 163. -Schuyler, Gen. Philip, 84, 97, 98, 108. -Scott, Gen. Winfield, 266. -Ségur, Louis Philippe, Comte de, 27, 30, 32, 39, 40, 45, 162, 171, 288. -Ségur, Philippe Henri, Marquis de, 171, 246. -Sheridan, Richard Brinsley Butler, 227. -Simcoe, Col. John G., 153. -Staël, Madame de, 227, 294, 297. -Sterling, Lord, 79. -Steuben, Gen. Friedrich W. A. H. F., Baron von, 100, 101, 146, 152, 154, 157. -Stormont, Lord, 36. -Sullivan, Gen. John, 79, 115, 118, 119. -Sumner, Charles, 279. - -T - -Tarleton, Gen. Sir Banastre, 156, 227. -Taylor, Zachary, 264, 271. -Temay, Admiral, 133, 134, 141. -Tessé, Madame de, 241, 248, 249. -Thiébault, General, 211. -Tilghman, Col. Tench, 167, 168. -Tourgot, Austrian Prime Minister, 245-247. - -V - -Vergennes, Charles Gravier, Comte de, 52, 127, 128, 145, 171. -Viomenil, Baron Charles J. H. du H., 165. -Voltaire, François Marie Arouet, 22, 25. - -W - -Washington, George: - Friendship for Lafayette, 71, 75, 91, 97, 119-121, 146, 176-179. - His military skill, 72-74. - Battle of the Brandywine, 78, 79. - Sends his surgeon to Lafayette, 79. - Battle of Germantown, 82. - Conway Cabal, 84, 85, 91, 92, 94-96. - Recommends Lafayette to Congress, 87. - Orders cheers for King of France, 102. - At Monmouth, 109-112. - Intercourse with French allies, 114, 118, 135-138, 144. - Meeting with Lafayette, 130. - Threatens New York, 134. - Visits West Point, 139-143. - Letters to Lafayette, 146, 161, 251. - Orders Lafayette back to Virginia, 149, 150. - Takes his own army to Virginia, 161-164. - Siege and surrender of Yorktown, 164-167. - Visits French admiral, 168. - Kindness to George Lafayette, 249-250. - Mentioned: 33, 35, 42, 86, 100, 105, 114, 125, 127, 135, 137, 149, - 160, 163-167, 170, 176-178, 181, 182, 200, 201, 227, 249-251, 264, - 274, 279, 293. -Washington, Martha, 177, 178. -Washington, Mary, 148. -Wayne, Gen. Anthony, 109, 131, 150, 154-156, 159, 162-164. -Webster, Daniel, 268. -Wilberforce, William, 227. -Woodford, Gen. William, 83. - -Y - -York, Frederick Augustus, Duke of 181. - - -THE END - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Boys' Life of Lafayette, by Helen Nicolay - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOYS' LIFE OF LAFAYETTE *** - -***** This file should be named 50232-0.txt or 50232-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/2/3/50232/ - -Produced by Madeleine Fournier. Images from the Internet Archive. - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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