CHAPTER XII.

CHAPTER XII.

Interesting Ceremony at Washington—Letter to Liberator Bolivar—Bolivar’s Reply—Comments of theNiles Registerupon the Departure of the Nation’s Guest—Description of the Farewell Ceremonies—Parting Address of President Adams—General La Fayette’s Impressive Reply—Parting Scenes—The General escorted to the Potomac—Military Review—La Fayette embarks on a Steamer—Parting Salute—The Fleet pauses at Mount Vernon—La Fayette’s Last View of Washington’s Tomb—La Fayette transferred to theBrandywine—Farewell in the Captain’s Cabin—Comments of the Press upon La Fayette’s Memorable Visit—A Belfast Journal—The VermontNorth Star—A French Author’s Address to the Youth of France—A Letter from Paris—La Fayette’s Reception at Havre—Gift presented to the General by the Midshipmen of theBrandywine—La Fayette’s Words of Thanks—Reception of General La Fayette at La Grange—The EdinburghObserverComments upon the Visit of La Fayette to America.

“’Tis liberty alone that gives the flowerOf fleeting life its lustre and perfume;And we are weeds without it.”—Cowper.

“’Tis liberty alone that gives the flowerOf fleeting life its lustre and perfume;And we are weeds without it.”—Cowper.

“’Tis liberty alone that gives the flowerOf fleeting life its lustre and perfume;And we are weeds without it.”—Cowper.

“’Tis liberty alone that gives the flower

Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume;

And we are weeds without it.”—Cowper.

“AN interesting ceremony took place at Washington a day or two before the departure of the Nation’s Guest. This was the presentation to the representative of the Columbian Republic certain presents to be forwarded by him to Bolivar, the Liberator. The presents consisted of a medal of gold presented to Lady Washington by the city of Williamsburg, in honor of her illustrious husband, and also a portrait of General Washington, inclosing in the back of the picture a lockof the patriarch’s hair. These gifts were presented by George Washington P. Custis, by the honored hands of the last of the generals of the army of North American independence—General La Fayette. The following is a translation of the letter written by General La Fayette to the president, Liberator Bolivar, which, together with a letter from George Washington Custis, accompanied the gifts.”

“President Liberator: My religious and filial devotion to the memory of General Washington could not be better appreciated in his family than by the honorable charge now bestowed upon me. While I recognize the perfect likeness of the portrait, I am happy to think that among all existing characters, and all those recorded in history, General Bolivar is the one to whom my paternal friend would have preferred to offer it. What shall I say more to the great citizen whom South America has hailed by the name of liberator, a name confirmed by both worlds, and who, possessing an influence equal to his disinterestedness, carries in his heart the love of liberty, without any exception, and of the republic, without any alloy? However, I feel authorized by the public and recent testimonies of your kindness and esteem to present you with the personal congratulation of a veteran of our common cause, who, on the eve of his departure for another hemisphere, shall follow with his best wishes the glorious complement of your labors, and that solemn congress at Panama where will be consolidated and completed all the principles and all the interests of American independence, freedom, and policy.“Accept, President Liberator, the homage of my deep and respectful attachment.“La Fayette.”

“President Liberator: My religious and filial devotion to the memory of General Washington could not be better appreciated in his family than by the honorable charge now bestowed upon me. While I recognize the perfect likeness of the portrait, I am happy to think that among all existing characters, and all those recorded in history, General Bolivar is the one to whom my paternal friend would have preferred to offer it. What shall I say more to the great citizen whom South America has hailed by the name of liberator, a name confirmed by both worlds, and who, possessing an influence equal to his disinterestedness, carries in his heart the love of liberty, without any exception, and of the republic, without any alloy? However, I feel authorized by the public and recent testimonies of your kindness and esteem to present you with the personal congratulation of a veteran of our common cause, who, on the eve of his departure for another hemisphere, shall follow with his best wishes the glorious complement of your labors, and that solemn congress at Panama where will be consolidated and completed all the principles and all the interests of American independence, freedom, and policy.

“Accept, President Liberator, the homage of my deep and respectful attachment.

“La Fayette.”

To which letter La Fayette subsequently received the following reply:—

“Lima, March 16, 1826.“General: For the first time I behold the characters traced by the hand of the benefactor of the New World. I owe that happiness to Colonel Mesh, who has just handed me your honorable of the 13th October last.“It is with inexpressible pleasure that I learned from the public papers that you had had the goodness to honor me with a treasure from Mount Vernon. The likeness of Washington, and one of the monuments of his glory, are, it is said, to be presented to me by you in the name of the illustrious citizen’s eldest son of liberty in the New World. How shall I express the value which my heart attaches to a testimony of esteem so glorious for me? The family of Mount Vernon honor me beyond my hopes; for Washington, from the hands of La Fayette, is the most sublime recompense that man could desire.“Washington was the courageous protector of social reform, and you, sir, you are the heroic citizen, the champion of liberty, who served America with the one hand, and the Old World with the other. What mortal could suppose himself worthy of the honor with which you deign to overwhelm me? Hence my confusion is in proportion with the extent of gratitude, which I offer to you with the respect and veneration which every man owes to the Nestor of liberty.“I am, with the greatest consideration, your respectful admirer,“Bolivar.”

“Lima, March 16, 1826.

“General: For the first time I behold the characters traced by the hand of the benefactor of the New World. I owe that happiness to Colonel Mesh, who has just handed me your honorable of the 13th October last.

“It is with inexpressible pleasure that I learned from the public papers that you had had the goodness to honor me with a treasure from Mount Vernon. The likeness of Washington, and one of the monuments of his glory, are, it is said, to be presented to me by you in the name of the illustrious citizen’s eldest son of liberty in the New World. How shall I express the value which my heart attaches to a testimony of esteem so glorious for me? The family of Mount Vernon honor me beyond my hopes; for Washington, from the hands of La Fayette, is the most sublime recompense that man could desire.

“Washington was the courageous protector of social reform, and you, sir, you are the heroic citizen, the champion of liberty, who served America with the one hand, and the Old World with the other. What mortal could suppose himself worthy of the honor with which you deign to overwhelm me? Hence my confusion is in proportion with the extent of gratitude, which I offer to you with the respect and veneration which every man owes to the Nestor of liberty.

“I am, with the greatest consideration, your respectful admirer,

“Bolivar.”

TheNiles Registerof September 3, 1825, says:—

“General La Fayette will commence his return voyageto Europe, by proceeding to the new and splendid frigateBrandywine, on the 8th inst., which now lies in the Potomac; and millions of wishes will be offered up that he may have prosperous gales and pleasant weather, and a happy meeting with his friends, a long life of serenity and peace, and a triumphant exit from this world to that which is to come. Highly favored man—who hast thyself seen and felt all that grateful posterity can confer for imperishable deeds of virtue, farewell!—and, if so it shall yet be that the evening of thy days and thy night of death are passed in this land of the free, every house will be open to receive thee, or every heart be engaged to invoke eternal blessings upon thee.”

From the same paper, dated September 10, we quote the following:—

“La Fayette has departed. He left Washington on Wednesday last in the steamboatMount Vernon, and in due season reached the new frigateBrandywinelying at the mouth of the Potomac, which was also visited by the steamboatConstitution, from Baltimore, with a large party of gentlemen. All was done that could be done to honor the Nation’s Guest, and the people were not less zealous to show their affection for him on the day of his departure, than to press about him on that of his arrival among us more than a year ago. For some time past he had made his home with the President, from whom and all else he received every civility and kindness that it was possible, by those who loved him the more the better they knew him, to bestow upon him. We shall give some of the particulars of the ceremonies and proceedings that took place on the interesting occasion. The parting in the grand hall of the President’s house filled with citizens and officers, on Wednesdaylast, is described as one of the most sublime and affecting scenes that can be imagined. The President’s address to him is a composition worthy of the occasion; he delivered it with great emotion, yet with much dignity; but hardly one was present who did not feel the tears moistening his eyes or trickling down his cheeks, and many will be in like manner affected even when theyreadit. La Fayette’s reply is also eloquent and abounds with feeling. The silence of the grave prevailed while either was speaking. When the latter had ended he gave vent to his tears with embraces, and all partook of his emotions.

“The last three weeks which the Nation’s Guest spent in our happy land were exceedingly well appropriated. After witnessing the magnificent ceremony at Boston on the anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill, he leisurely returned to the city of Washington, visiting many of his personal friends on the way, and reviewing the battle-field at Brandywine.

“From the city of Washington he made delightful excursions into Virginia, in which it happened that three out of all the Presidents which we have had yet, reside as citizens.

“The last days of his visit were properly spent by La Fayette in the nation’s house, on the invitation of its present possessor, the chief magistrate of the United States. Mr. Adams was in his early youth a favorite with the general, having much personal communication with him; and of his disposition and ability to represent the hospitality and feeling of the millions of free people over whose affairs he presides there could not be a doubt. La Fayette was at home in the national house, in the city of Washington, and in the heart of a family which offered every inducement that can operate on the humanmind to make him comfortable: this was his abode till the moment of his departure to embark in theBrandywine, named in compliment to him, and peculiarly fitted for his accommodation—her ‘giddy mast’ bearing the stripes and the stars, her bosom to contain the person of our guest; a man of whom it may be said, ‘take him all in all, we ne’er shall look upon his like again,’ unless he shall again visit our shores; one who was the same, great and good, in prosperity and adversity—grateful for kind offices, forgiving of injuries, zealous to confer benefits, modest when on the pinnacle of human glory, dignified and collected in the proud presence of kings. But I must not proceed—if, after Mr. Adams’ display of eloquence and power, he who commands words and they obey him, honestly confessed ‘a want of language to give utterance to his feelings’—who among us may attempt it? I shall, therefore, proceed to notice some of the things which happened at the departure of La Fayette, with this simple remark, that if there is any American who can read, unmoved, Mr. Adams’ valedictory address to him, or the reply of the general to that address, I would not possess that man’s heart for his fortune though he were a Crœsus.

“The 7th inst. was the day appointed for his departure. The civil and military authorities and the whole people of Washington had prepared to honor it. The banks were closed and all business suspended, and nothing else engaged attention except the ceremonies prescribed for the occasion.

“At about twelve o’clock the authorities of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, the principal officers of the general government, civil, military, and naval, some members of Congress, and other respectable strangers were assembled in the President’s house to takeleave of La Fayette. He entered the great hall in silence, leaning on the marshal of the district and on the arm of one of the President’s sons. Mr. Adams then with much dignity, but with evident emotion, addressed him in the following terms:—

”Address of the President of the United States to General La Fayette, on taking leave of him at his departure on the 7th of September, 1825.“‘General La Fayette: It has been the good fortune of many of my distinguished fellow-citizens, during the course of the year now elapsed, upon your arrival at their respective places of abode, to greet you with the welcome of the nation. The less pleasing task now devolves upon me, of bidding you, in the name of the nation, adieu.“‘It were no longer seasonable, and would be superfluous, to recapitulate the remarkable incidents of your early life—incidents which associated your name, fortunes, and reputation in imperishable connection with the independence and history of the North American Union.“‘The part which you performed at that important juncture was marked with characters so peculiar, that, realizing the fairest fable of antiquity, its parallel could scarcely be found in theauthenticrecords of human history.“‘You deliberately and perseveringly preferred toil, danger, the endurance of every hardship, and the privation of every comfort, in defence of a holy cause, to inglorious ease, and the allurements of rank, affluence, and unrestrained youth, at the most splendid and fascinating court of Europe.“‘That this choice was not less wise than magnanimous,the sanction of half a century, and the gratulations of unnumbered voices, all unable to express the gratitude of the heart with which your visit to this hemisphere has been welcomed, afford ample demonstration.“‘When the contest of Freedom, to which you had repaired as a voluntary champion, had closed, by the complete triumph of her cause in this country of your adoption, you returned to fulfil the duties of the philanthropist and patriot in the land of your nativity. There, in a consistent and undeviating career of forty years, you have maintained, through every vicissitude of alternate success and disappointment, the same glorious cause to which the first years of your active life had been devoted,—the improvement of the moral and political condition of man.“‘Throughout that long succession of time, the people of the United States, for whom and with whom you had fought the battles of liberty, have been living in the full possession of its fruits—one of the happiest among the family of nations. Spreading in population; enlarging in territory; acting and suffering according to the condition of their nature; and laying the foundations of the greatest, and, we humbly hope, the most beneficent power that ever regulated the concerns of man upon earth.“‘In the lapse of forty years, the generation of men with whom you co-operated in the conflict of arms has nearly passed away. Of the general officers of the American army in that war, you alone survive; of the sages who guided our councils; of the warriors who met the foe in the field or upon the wave, with the exception of a few, to whom unusual length of days has been allotted by Heaven, all now sleep with their fathers. A succeeding, and even a third, generation have arisen to taketheir places; and their children’s children, while rising up to call them blessed, have been taught by them, as well as admonished by their own constant enjoyment of freedom, to include in every benison upon their fathers, the name of him who came from afar, with them, and in their cause to conquer or to fall.“‘The universal prevalence of these sentiments was signally manifested by a resolution of Congress, representing the whole people, and all the states of this Union, requesting the President of the United States to communicate to you the assurances of grateful and affectionate attachment of this government and people, and desiring that a national ship might be employed at your convenience, for your passage to the borders of our country.“‘The invitation was transmitted to you by my venerable predecessor; himself bound to you by the strongest ties of personal friendship; himself one of those whom the highest honors of his country had rewarded for blood early shed in her cause, and for a long life of devotion to her welfare. By him the services of a national ship were placed at your disposal. Your delicacy preferred a more private conveyance, and a full year has elapsed since you landed upon our shores. It were scarcely an exaggeration to say that it has been to the people of the Union a year of uninterrupted festivity and enjoyment, inspired by your presence. You have traversed the twenty-four states of this great confederacy. You have been received with rapture by the survivors of your earliest companions in arms. You have been hailed as a long-absent parent by their children, the men and women of the present age; and a rising generation, the hope of future time, in numbers surpassing the whole population of that day when you fought at the head, and by theside of their forefathers, have vied with the scanty remnants of that hour of trial, in acclamations of joy at beholding the face of him whom they feel to be the common benefactor of all. You have heard the mingled voices of the past, the present, and the future age, joining in one universal chorus of delight at your approach; and the shouts of unbidden thousands, which greeted your landing on the soil of freedom, have followed every step of your way, and still resound, like the rushing of many waters, from every corner of our land.“‘You are now about to return to the country of your birth, of your ancestors, of your posterity. The executive government of the Union, stimulated by the same feeling which had prompted the Congress to the designation of a national ship for your accommodation in coming hither, has destined the first service of a frigate recently launched at the metropolis, to the less welcome but equally distinguished trust, of conveying you home. The name of the ship has added one more memorial to distant regions and to future ages, of a stream already memorable at once in the story of your sufferings and of our independence.“‘The ship is now prepared for your reception, and equipped for sea. From the moment of her departure, the prayers of millions will ascend to Heaven, that her passage may be prosperous, and your return to the bosom of your family as propitious to your happiness as your visit to this scene of your youthful glory has been to that of the American people.“‘Go, then, our beloved friend; return to the land of brilliant genius, of generous sentiment, of heroic valor; to that beautiful France, the nursing mother of the twelfth Louis, and the fourth Henry; to the native soil of Bayard and Coligni, of Turenne and Catinat, of Fénélonand d’Aguesseau. In that illustrious catalogue of names which she claims as of her children, and with honest pride holds up to the admiration of other nations, the name of La Fayette has already for centuries been enrolled. And it shall henceforth burnish into brighter fame; for if, in after days, a Frenchman shall be called to indicate the character of his nation by that of one individual during the age in which we live, the blood of lofty patriotism shall mantle in his cheek, the fire of conscious virtue shall sparkle in his eye, and he shall pronounce the name ofLa Fayette. Yet we, too, and our children, in life and after death, shall claim you for our own. You are ours by that more than patriotic self-devotion with which you flew to the aid of our fathers at the crisis of their fate.“‘Ours by that long series of years in which you have cherished us in your regard. Ours by that unshaken sentiment of gratitude for your services which is a precious portion of our inheritance. Ours by that tie of love, stronger than death, which has linked your name for the endless ages of time, with the name of Washington.“‘At the painful moment of parting from you, we take comfort in the thought, that wherever you may be, to the last pulsation of your heart, our country will be ever present to your affections; and a cheering consolation assures us that we are not called to sorrow most of all, that we shall see your face no more. We shall indulge the pleasing anticipation of beholding our friend again. In the meantime, speaking in the name of the whole people of the United States, and at a loss only for language to give utterance to that feeling of attachment with which the heart of the nation beats as the heart of one man—I bid you a reluctant and affectionate farewell.’“To which General La Fayette made the following answer:—“‘Amidst all my obligations to the general government, and particularly to you, sir, its respected chief magistrate, I have most thankfully to acknowledge the opportunity given me, at this solemn and painful moment, to present the people of the United States with a parting tribute of profound, inexpressible gratitude.“‘To have been, in the infant and critical days of these states, adopted by them as a favorite son, to have participated in the toils and perils of our unspotted struggle for independence, freedom, and equal rights, and in the foundation of the American era of a new social order, which has already pervaded this, and must for the dignity and happiness of mankind successfully pervade every part of the other hemisphere, to have received at every stage of the Revolution, and during forty years after that period, from the people of the United States and their representatives at home and abroad, continual marks of their confidence and kindness, has been the pride, the encouragement, the support of a long and eventful life.“‘But how could I find words to acknowledge that series of welcomes, those unbounded and universal displays of public affection, which have marked each step, each hour, of a twelve months’ progress through the twenty-four states, and which, while they overwhelm my heart with grateful delight, have most satisfactorily evinced the concurrence of the people in the kind testimonies, in the immense favors bestowed on me by the several branches of their representatives, in every part and at the central seat of the confederacy.“‘Yet gratifications still higher awaited me: in the wonders of creation and improvement that have met myenchanted eye; in the unparalleled and self-felt happiness of the people, in their rapid prosperity and insured security, public and private, in a practice of good order,—the appendage of true freedom,—and a national good sense,—the final arbiter of all difficulties,—I have had proudly to recognize a result of the republican principles for which we have fought, and a glorious demonstration to the most timid and prejudiced minds of the superiority, over degrading aristocracy or despotism, of popular institutions founded on the plain rights of man, and where the local rights of every section are preserved under a constitutional bond of union. The cherishing of that union between the states, as it has been the farewell entreaty of our great paternal Washington, and will ever have the dying prayer of every American patriot, so it has become the sacred pledge of the emancipation of the world, an object in which I am happy to observe that the American people, while they give the animating example of successful free institutions in return for an evil entailed upon them by Europe, and of which a liberal and enlightened sense is everywhere more and more generally felt, show themselves every day more anxiously interested.“‘And now, sir, how can I do justice to my deep and lively feelings for the assurances, most peculiarly valued, of your esteem and friendship; for your so very kind references to old times, to my beloved associates, to the vicissitudes of my life; for your affecting picture of the blessings poured by the several generations of the American people on the remaining days of a delighted veteran; for your affectionate remarks on this sad hour of separation, on the country of my birth, full, I can say, of American sympathies; on the hope so necessary to me of my seeing again the country that has deigned, near ahalf-century ago, to call me hers? I shall content myself, refraining from superfluous repetitions, at once, before you, sir, and this respected circle, to proclaim my cordial confirmation of every one of the sentiments which I have had daily opportunities publicly to utter; from the time when your venerable predecessor, my old brother in arms and friend, transmitted to me the honorable invitation of Congress; to this day, when you, my dear sir, whose friendly connection with me dates from your earliest youth, are going to consign me to the protection, across the Atlantic, of the heroic national flag, on board the splendid ship, the name of which has been not the least flattering and kind among the numberless favors conferred upon me.“‘God bless you, sir, and all who surround us. God bless the American people, each of their states, and the federal government. Accept this patriotic farewell of an overflowing heart; such will be its last throb when it ceases to beat.’”“As the last sentence was pronounced,” says theNational Intelligencer, “the general advanced, and, while the tears poured over his venerable cheeks, again took the President in his arms. He retired a few paces, but, overcome by his feelings, again returned, and uttering in broken accents, ‘God bless you!’ fell once more on the neck of Mr. Adams. It was a scene at once solemn and moving, as the sighs and stealing tears of many who witnessed it bore testimony. Having recovered his self-possession, the general stretched out his hands, and was, in a moment, surrounded by the greetings of the whole assembly, who pressed upon him, each eager to seize, perhaps for the last time, that beloved hand which was opened so freely for our aid, when aid was so precious, and which grasped, with firm and undeviating hold,the steel which so bravely helped to achieve our deliverance. The expression which now beamed from the face of this exalted man was of the finest and most touching kind. The hero was lost in the father and the friend: dignity melted into subdued affection, and the friend of Washington seemed to linger with a mournful delight among the sons of his adopted country. A considerable period was then occupied in conversing with various individuals, while refreshments were presented to the company. The moment of departure at length arrived, and having once more pressed the hand of Mr. Adams, he entered the barouche accompanied by the secretaries of state, of the treasury, and of the navy.”Another writer says:—“The parting being over, the carriage of the general, preceded by the cavalry, the marine corps, and Captain Edwards’ rifle corps, and followed by the carriages containing the corporate authorities of the cities, of the district, and numerous military and high civil officers of the government, moved forward, followed by the remaining military companies. In taking up the escort the whole column moved through the court in front of the President’s mansion, and paid him the passing salute as he stood in front to receive it. The whole scene—the peals of artillery, the animating sound of numerous military bands, the presence of the vast concourse of people, and the occasion that assembled them—altogether produced emotions not easily described, but which every American will readily conceive.“On reaching the bank of the Potomac, near where theMount Vernonsteam vessel was in waiting, all the carriages in the procession, except the general’s, wheeled off, and the citizens in them assembled on foot around that of the general. The whole military body thenpassed him in review, as he stood in the barouche of the President, attended by the secretaries of state, of the treasury, and of the navy. After the review, the general proceeded to the steam vessel, under a salute of artillery, surrounded by as many citizens, all eager to catch the last look, as could press on the large wharf; and at four o’clock, this great and good and extraordinary man trod for the last time the soil of America, followed by the blessings of every patriotic heart that lives on it.“As the vessel moved off, and for a short time after, the deepest silence was observed by the whole of the vast multitude that lined the shore. The feeling that pervaded them was that of children bidding a final farewell to a venerated parent. The crowd remained gazing after the retiring vessel, until she had passed Greenleaf’s Point, where another salute repeated the valedictory sounds of respect, and these again were, not long after, echoed by the heavy guns of Fort Washington, and reminded us of the rapidity with which this benefactor and friend of our country was borne from it.“The general was accompanied to theBrandywineby the Secretary of the Navy, the mayors of the three cities of the district, the commander-in-chief of the army, the generals of the militia of the district, Commodore Bainbridge, Mr. Custis, of Arlington, and several other gentlemen.”The trip to theBrandywine, and the ceremonies on board of the frigate on the reception of the general, are thus described by one of the passengers in the steamboatMount Vernon:—“The moment of separation arrived. TheMount Vernonreceived her venerable freight, and the general, from the midst of the suite, whom the government had detailed as an escort of honor, waved his hand and bowedto the thousands who thronged the shores, an affectionate adieu.“Under the discharge of artillery, and the fervent benedictions of the vast assemblage who still lingered and looked, when they no longer spoke, a last farewell, theMount Vernonproceeded on her way.“On passing Alexandria, the wharves and shipping were crowded with citizens and neighbors, all business was suspended, and the ‘hum of men’ was hushed in the respectful silence which pervaded this ‘parting hour.’ The general, uncovered, took the station which would place him nearest to his friends, where he could best give and best receive the salute of mutual attachment and esteem. So abstracted from ordinary considerations were the minds of all parties, that the steersman neared the town till the general became enveloped in the smoke of the cannon, which, however appropriate to enemies, were nearer than is usual to friends. The boat, after passing, returned, and repassed the town, again and again producing the most enthusiastic expressions of affectionate farewell. The ramparts of Fort Washington paid their honors, as the mansion, the groves, and the tomb of Mount Vernon opened to view. The progress of the little fleet was arrested, that the last of the generals might pay his pious homage and filial duty to the tomb of the paternal chief.“La Fayette arose—the wonders which he had performed for a man of his age, in successfully accomplishing labors enough to have tested his meridian vigor, whose animation rather resembles the spring than the winter of life, now seemed unequal to the task he was about to perform,—to take a last look at the grave of Washington! He advanced to the effort: a silence the most impressive reigned around, till the strains of sweetand plaintive music completed the grandeur and sacred solemnity of the scene. All hearts beat in unison with the throbbings of the veteran’s bosom, as he looked, and that for the last time, on the sepulchre which contains the ashes of the first of men. He spoke not, but appeared absorbed in the mighty recollections which the place and the occasion inspired.“After this noble scene, the fleet resumed its course, and, after a voyage of safety and expedition, anchored near theBrandywinethe ensuing morning. The general was received in the commodore’s barge, and repaired, through very inclement weather, to the gallant bark which is to bear him to his other home. He was placed on the deck of the ship by an ornamented chair, rigged for the special purpose, and under a salute from the main battery—the music of the band, and the greetings of the commodore, his officers, and many guests, who were assembled for this interesting event; but above all, by the warm embrace of the Revolutionary worthies, who had repaired to the ship to take another farewell of their beloved associate of the heroic time. After a sumptuous collation served in the captain’s cabin, and a number of feeling and appropriate toasts, among which was the following by La Fayette:—“‘The national flag of the United States; ever the pledge of glory; on this day the rendezvous of friendship’; and by Mr. Custis, of Arlington:—“‘TheBrandywine, which bears to his native land the last of the generals of the army of American independence, and the great apostle of the rights of mankind.—May the winds of Heaven not visit her course too roughly, but with kindest breath swell the bosom of her sails, and the guardian genius that protects the just and good, be an ever-watchful Palinurus to guide her helm.’After which Colonel Bentalou, of Baltimore, offered the following toast:—“‘The memory of General Washington—the military father and beloved friend of our nation’s guest.’“This toast was drunk standing, and the final moment of separation having arrived, the last adieus were spoken.“The barges of the ship bore the sorrowing guests to their respective vessels, while the thunders of the superbBrandywinetold to the echoes around the adieu to La Fayette.”The day had been boisterous and rainy, but just as the affecting scene had closed, the sun burst forth in all his glory, as a propitious omen.The editor of theIrishman, a journal conducted at Belfast, in the issue of September, 1825, in commenting upon the proceedings at Washington on the occasion of the farewell to La Fayette, says:—“We this day give our readers one of the most interesting scenes which can be laid before the human mind,—the departure and farewell address of the greatest republic the world ever saw, to that veteran hero, whose sword was one of the first in the field to assert her freedom. The address of Mr. Adams is a chaste and beautiful composition,—a triumphant recapitulation of the glories of liberty,—and the reply of the old soldier is characterized by all the fire of youth and wisdom of age. TheIrishmanfeels no small pleasure in being the first journal to give these immortal productions to the people of Ireland.”TheNorth Star, printed at Danville, Vermont, says, regarding La Fayette’s last act in America:—“We are informed that General La Fayette has addressed a letter to General Fletcher, from on board theBrandywine, on the subject of the imprisonment ofGeneral William Barton, and inclosed a draft, with a request that the sum for which General Barton was confined should be paid. That request has been complied with, and General Barton was informed that he was no longer a prisoner. With what emotions of surprise and gratitude this intelligence was received by the valiant captor of Prescott can be better imagined than described. The scene was rendered more interesting by the peculiarly delicate manner in which the business was conducted and the fact announced by General Fletcher. All participated in the satisfaction which was expressed, that General Barton was at liberty to return to his family, after a separation of more than thirteen years.”Mr. Kerate, a French author of a work entitled “Divine Worship,” taking our reception of La Fayette as his standard, addresses the French youth, and thus urges their ambition to fly to the succor of the Greeks:—“A man is at this moment traversing the continent of North America. The whole population crowds around him; from the sources of the rivers, from the recesses of the forests, they flock to see him; the maidens of the banks of the Ohio crown him with flowers; the youths desire to behold him, to touch his garments; the old men to press his hand before they lose him. These marks of respect will be transmitted from generation to generation; they will become family documents. At his approach the magistrates make room to receive him among them; his presence diffuses joy in the cities; he brings glory to the tombs of the brave; it might be thought that they had waited for him to begin their immortality; he himself is loaded with benedictions and honors. What, then, has he done? Is he a prince or a potentate? No! With the means at the command of a private man he assisted an oppressed nation. YoungFrenchmen! this is the picture you should have before your eyes; it is worthy of you.”A letter from Paris, dated Sept. 7th, and published in one of the London papers, says:—“Our ministers are under a good deal of embarrassment in regard to the manner of receiving La Fayette, who, according to the accounts brought by theEdward Bonaffe, must soon arrive. The moment our ministers heard that the general was coming in the frigateBrandywine, they despatched orders to the authorities at Havre, to prevent any kind of meeting and every mark of honor which might be attempted to be bestowed upon him. On the other hand, the most respectable of the merchants and other inhabitants have resolved to express their esteem for his character by every means in their power. The military commandant is a violent royalist, but the mayor is a good-natured, moderate man, who wishes to avoid every sort of tyrannical measures. The American frigate is another subject of embarrassment. It is usual, when a frigate enters the port, for her to salute the batteries with fifteen guns, but this salute must be returned by an equal number. Now, our government are afraid that, if they reply to the American salute, the people will think they are expending powder in honor of La Fayette; but if they do not agree to return, they will be obliged to let the frigate enter without saluting, for they well know that the American captain will not burn a match without an assurance of reciprocity.”The editor of theNiles Registeradds:—“The writer of the letter justly estimates the fact. Morris and his crew would rather fight the largest and the best-fitted frigate that ever belonged to France, than fire a salute but with the belief that it would be returned,gun for gun. The stripes and stars may be hauled down by a conqueror, but shall not be disgraced.”TheNiles Registerfor November says:—“La Fayette was received at Havre with the greatest enthusiasm. It does not appear that the government had taken any measures to prevent a favorable greeting of him. TheBrandywinesaluted the forts, which returned an equal number of guns. On the day of his disembarkation, the general proceeded to his country-seat, accompanied for two leagues by a numerous cavalcade, consisting of young men of the principal families of Havre and its neighborhood.”When General La Fayette was about to leave the frigateBrandywine, on her arrival at Havre, a farewell address was presented to him by the midshipmen attached to the ship. To this flattering attention General La Fayette thus verbally replied:—“My dear young Friends: I am unable to express my feelings towards you. Before I had the pleasure of your acquaintance I considered it an honor to belong to the United States navy: since then my knowledge of you as individuals has added to my admiration of the chivalry of your profession, and rendered sanguine my expectations of its future achievements. Your country has reason to be proud of you; I part from you with regret: but should your duties or inclinations bring you again to France, remember that La Grange is the home of every American. Farewell!”The ParisConstitutionnelof the 20th December, 1825, contained a circumstantial account of the reception of La Fayette at La Grange, after his return from his visit to America. The neighboring villages united in a public festival in his honor, notwithstanding strong efforts on the part of the municipal authorities to prevent rejoicing of any kind.The following is a translation of one of the addresses delivered to the general by deputations, together with one of his answers.Address: “At length we again behold you, grown younger from the atmosphere of liberty which you have been breathing, and the spectacle of the happiness of a powerful and grateful people, which you have contemplated with delight. Like the Americans, we could wish to describe to you our love, pleasure, and admiration; but these sentiments, agitating too strongly our hearts, deprive us of the power of so doing.”To which the general replied:—“The affecting welcome which awaited me here, and the fresh testimonials of attachment which you lavish upon me to-day, fill up the measure of my joy in finding myself in the bosom of my family and in the midst of you, my dear friends and neighbors. During my journeys over the free and prosperous territories of the United States it was sweet to me to think that the voices of that excellent and admirable people would resound even as far as your abodes, and that you would enjoy them for me.“The enemies of the people’s cause have cast it as a reproach upon me that, in expressing my sentiments at the American meetings, I thought also of you. They were right to believe this; and, in fact, at the sight of the wonders of the public prosperity and private happiness which, in that immense country, are the fruits of liberty, equality, legal and national order, it would have been difficult for me to forget the wish I had ever cherished, that my French countrymen should exercise the same rights and obtain the same felicity.“You see me now restored to my retreat of La Grange, which is dear to me on so many accounts;and to those agricultural employments of which you know me to be so fond, and which, for a long series of years, I shared with you, my neighbors, and the greater part of the friends who surround me. Your regard, fully reciprocated on my part, causes them to be more and more prized. Accept, I pray you, my thanks for the fine festival that you have prepared for me, and that fills my heart with delight and gratitude.”More than six thousand persons were present at this joyous commemoration of the return of him whom they called theAmerican Nation’s Guest. The dancing was continued throughout the night, and the air was filled with cries of “Long live La Fayette!” “Long live the friend of the people!” On the following day the general received a number of distinguished visitors from Paris.The EdinburghObserverthus comments upon this memorable visit of La Fayette to America:—“After a residence of nearly twelve months in the United States, General La Fayette has at last returned to Europe. Hitherto we have, somehow, abstained from saying a single word on the extraordinary spectacles by which his visit has been throughout distinguished. We have, like all mankind, been struck mute, as it were, by each successive gushing out of the spontaneous and unpurchased homage of ten millions of free people. We have stood by, in almost stupid wonder, while so many more than classic triumphs, so much higher than classic feelings, were performing and bursting around us, hardly knowing, indeed, whether we had to deal with the honest excitement of a real and gallant people, or were cheated by the solemn phantasies of a race of Bedlamites. It was not, in fact, till after the blinding pageant had passed away that we could bring ourselves to talk soberly eitherof its fitness or its reality. At last, however, the question does rush upon our minds: Why have all these things been? How is it that for twelve long months we have heard of nothing but processions, feastings, and jubilees, among a people pre-eminent among all men for thrift, jealousy, and stubbornness? What can this or any man have done, to turn upon himself the rejoicing lustre of so many millions of eyes, to call down blessings from so incalculable a host of uplifted hands, and to feel the honors and gratitude of a mighty people wafted to his bosom as by the voice of a single man? What is it, in fact, that has swayed the hearts of these stout republicans throughout the twenty-four communities, that has hurried, all along that vast line, every woman from her distaff, and every infant from its cradle, to shout, on the steps of a total stranger to their blood, and has now melted so many jarring interests into one general prayer of regret, thankfulness, and safety? This is not anything like a venal sycophancy to dignity or riches or descent; it is not the conventual homage of one great authority to another, nor can it be placed even among the reasonable but frigid trophies of a mere general merit. It is too stupendous, too immediate, too much akin to the burning ardor of children to a parent. It is a portion of the unbounded gratitude of a gallant people to thefounder of their freedom. It is no mere temporary return of any present benefit, but a part of the perpetual worship owing to an author of their political existence. It is the homage of America to the Nestor of the Revolution. Her early warriors are now no more. Her Franklins and Washingtons have long since sunk, one after another, amid the tears of their people, into an illustrious tomb. One commander alone remains who fought at Flat-Bush, at Brandywine, and at Yorktown. What wonder,then, that the honors, and almost the merits, of the extinguished mighty should seem to concentrate around their sole surviving fellow? Generation after generation has sundered him from everything in America that could excite rivalry and add a sting to passion. He left them in a feverish and bloody infancy; he has returned in their peaceful and majestic manhood. He left them worn, divided, and impoverished; he has found them strong, unanimous, and rich. He has come to see the grain quietly waving over the fields of slaughter; to find their once vacant harbors crowded with a gallant navy; their unsheltered beaches secured by impregnable works; their swampy forests swarming with a gay and growing population. And he can say, what no living leader can say with him, ‘This is partly my work; in the heart of a corrupted state I digested the manual of freedom; hemmed round by the blandishments of luxury, I preserved the spirit of independence; I forsook the court for the sword; I adopted danger for ease; and here are my rewards!’ It was the younger Scaliger, we believe, who would have preferred the honor of writing a single ode of Horace, to the empire of Germany, and he was right. But what are the honors of all the odes of all the Horaces that ever lived, to this pride of a patriot’s bosom, to the outbursting of a nation’s gratitude? After all, there is much more in these things than the merit or the praise of any one person, or any one set of persons. It is not man individually, but man collectively, that is here chiefly concerned. These rewards and these deservings are, in fact, the recognition by Nature of her own nobility. They form the evidence which she bears to the eternity of her own character; they are the proud effusions of her thankfulness to the power which impressed that character upon her.”

”Address of the President of the United States to General La Fayette, on taking leave of him at his departure on the 7th of September, 1825.

“‘General La Fayette: It has been the good fortune of many of my distinguished fellow-citizens, during the course of the year now elapsed, upon your arrival at their respective places of abode, to greet you with the welcome of the nation. The less pleasing task now devolves upon me, of bidding you, in the name of the nation, adieu.

“‘It were no longer seasonable, and would be superfluous, to recapitulate the remarkable incidents of your early life—incidents which associated your name, fortunes, and reputation in imperishable connection with the independence and history of the North American Union.

“‘The part which you performed at that important juncture was marked with characters so peculiar, that, realizing the fairest fable of antiquity, its parallel could scarcely be found in theauthenticrecords of human history.

“‘You deliberately and perseveringly preferred toil, danger, the endurance of every hardship, and the privation of every comfort, in defence of a holy cause, to inglorious ease, and the allurements of rank, affluence, and unrestrained youth, at the most splendid and fascinating court of Europe.

“‘That this choice was not less wise than magnanimous,the sanction of half a century, and the gratulations of unnumbered voices, all unable to express the gratitude of the heart with which your visit to this hemisphere has been welcomed, afford ample demonstration.

“‘When the contest of Freedom, to which you had repaired as a voluntary champion, had closed, by the complete triumph of her cause in this country of your adoption, you returned to fulfil the duties of the philanthropist and patriot in the land of your nativity. There, in a consistent and undeviating career of forty years, you have maintained, through every vicissitude of alternate success and disappointment, the same glorious cause to which the first years of your active life had been devoted,—the improvement of the moral and political condition of man.

“‘Throughout that long succession of time, the people of the United States, for whom and with whom you had fought the battles of liberty, have been living in the full possession of its fruits—one of the happiest among the family of nations. Spreading in population; enlarging in territory; acting and suffering according to the condition of their nature; and laying the foundations of the greatest, and, we humbly hope, the most beneficent power that ever regulated the concerns of man upon earth.

“‘In the lapse of forty years, the generation of men with whom you co-operated in the conflict of arms has nearly passed away. Of the general officers of the American army in that war, you alone survive; of the sages who guided our councils; of the warriors who met the foe in the field or upon the wave, with the exception of a few, to whom unusual length of days has been allotted by Heaven, all now sleep with their fathers. A succeeding, and even a third, generation have arisen to taketheir places; and their children’s children, while rising up to call them blessed, have been taught by them, as well as admonished by their own constant enjoyment of freedom, to include in every benison upon their fathers, the name of him who came from afar, with them, and in their cause to conquer or to fall.

“‘The universal prevalence of these sentiments was signally manifested by a resolution of Congress, representing the whole people, and all the states of this Union, requesting the President of the United States to communicate to you the assurances of grateful and affectionate attachment of this government and people, and desiring that a national ship might be employed at your convenience, for your passage to the borders of our country.

“‘The invitation was transmitted to you by my venerable predecessor; himself bound to you by the strongest ties of personal friendship; himself one of those whom the highest honors of his country had rewarded for blood early shed in her cause, and for a long life of devotion to her welfare. By him the services of a national ship were placed at your disposal. Your delicacy preferred a more private conveyance, and a full year has elapsed since you landed upon our shores. It were scarcely an exaggeration to say that it has been to the people of the Union a year of uninterrupted festivity and enjoyment, inspired by your presence. You have traversed the twenty-four states of this great confederacy. You have been received with rapture by the survivors of your earliest companions in arms. You have been hailed as a long-absent parent by their children, the men and women of the present age; and a rising generation, the hope of future time, in numbers surpassing the whole population of that day when you fought at the head, and by theside of their forefathers, have vied with the scanty remnants of that hour of trial, in acclamations of joy at beholding the face of him whom they feel to be the common benefactor of all. You have heard the mingled voices of the past, the present, and the future age, joining in one universal chorus of delight at your approach; and the shouts of unbidden thousands, which greeted your landing on the soil of freedom, have followed every step of your way, and still resound, like the rushing of many waters, from every corner of our land.

“‘You are now about to return to the country of your birth, of your ancestors, of your posterity. The executive government of the Union, stimulated by the same feeling which had prompted the Congress to the designation of a national ship for your accommodation in coming hither, has destined the first service of a frigate recently launched at the metropolis, to the less welcome but equally distinguished trust, of conveying you home. The name of the ship has added one more memorial to distant regions and to future ages, of a stream already memorable at once in the story of your sufferings and of our independence.

“‘The ship is now prepared for your reception, and equipped for sea. From the moment of her departure, the prayers of millions will ascend to Heaven, that her passage may be prosperous, and your return to the bosom of your family as propitious to your happiness as your visit to this scene of your youthful glory has been to that of the American people.

“‘Go, then, our beloved friend; return to the land of brilliant genius, of generous sentiment, of heroic valor; to that beautiful France, the nursing mother of the twelfth Louis, and the fourth Henry; to the native soil of Bayard and Coligni, of Turenne and Catinat, of Fénélonand d’Aguesseau. In that illustrious catalogue of names which she claims as of her children, and with honest pride holds up to the admiration of other nations, the name of La Fayette has already for centuries been enrolled. And it shall henceforth burnish into brighter fame; for if, in after days, a Frenchman shall be called to indicate the character of his nation by that of one individual during the age in which we live, the blood of lofty patriotism shall mantle in his cheek, the fire of conscious virtue shall sparkle in his eye, and he shall pronounce the name ofLa Fayette. Yet we, too, and our children, in life and after death, shall claim you for our own. You are ours by that more than patriotic self-devotion with which you flew to the aid of our fathers at the crisis of their fate.

“‘Ours by that long series of years in which you have cherished us in your regard. Ours by that unshaken sentiment of gratitude for your services which is a precious portion of our inheritance. Ours by that tie of love, stronger than death, which has linked your name for the endless ages of time, with the name of Washington.

“‘At the painful moment of parting from you, we take comfort in the thought, that wherever you may be, to the last pulsation of your heart, our country will be ever present to your affections; and a cheering consolation assures us that we are not called to sorrow most of all, that we shall see your face no more. We shall indulge the pleasing anticipation of beholding our friend again. In the meantime, speaking in the name of the whole people of the United States, and at a loss only for language to give utterance to that feeling of attachment with which the heart of the nation beats as the heart of one man—I bid you a reluctant and affectionate farewell.’

“To which General La Fayette made the following answer:—

“‘Amidst all my obligations to the general government, and particularly to you, sir, its respected chief magistrate, I have most thankfully to acknowledge the opportunity given me, at this solemn and painful moment, to present the people of the United States with a parting tribute of profound, inexpressible gratitude.

“‘To have been, in the infant and critical days of these states, adopted by them as a favorite son, to have participated in the toils and perils of our unspotted struggle for independence, freedom, and equal rights, and in the foundation of the American era of a new social order, which has already pervaded this, and must for the dignity and happiness of mankind successfully pervade every part of the other hemisphere, to have received at every stage of the Revolution, and during forty years after that period, from the people of the United States and their representatives at home and abroad, continual marks of their confidence and kindness, has been the pride, the encouragement, the support of a long and eventful life.

“‘But how could I find words to acknowledge that series of welcomes, those unbounded and universal displays of public affection, which have marked each step, each hour, of a twelve months’ progress through the twenty-four states, and which, while they overwhelm my heart with grateful delight, have most satisfactorily evinced the concurrence of the people in the kind testimonies, in the immense favors bestowed on me by the several branches of their representatives, in every part and at the central seat of the confederacy.

“‘Yet gratifications still higher awaited me: in the wonders of creation and improvement that have met myenchanted eye; in the unparalleled and self-felt happiness of the people, in their rapid prosperity and insured security, public and private, in a practice of good order,—the appendage of true freedom,—and a national good sense,—the final arbiter of all difficulties,—I have had proudly to recognize a result of the republican principles for which we have fought, and a glorious demonstration to the most timid and prejudiced minds of the superiority, over degrading aristocracy or despotism, of popular institutions founded on the plain rights of man, and where the local rights of every section are preserved under a constitutional bond of union. The cherishing of that union between the states, as it has been the farewell entreaty of our great paternal Washington, and will ever have the dying prayer of every American patriot, so it has become the sacred pledge of the emancipation of the world, an object in which I am happy to observe that the American people, while they give the animating example of successful free institutions in return for an evil entailed upon them by Europe, and of which a liberal and enlightened sense is everywhere more and more generally felt, show themselves every day more anxiously interested.

“‘And now, sir, how can I do justice to my deep and lively feelings for the assurances, most peculiarly valued, of your esteem and friendship; for your so very kind references to old times, to my beloved associates, to the vicissitudes of my life; for your affecting picture of the blessings poured by the several generations of the American people on the remaining days of a delighted veteran; for your affectionate remarks on this sad hour of separation, on the country of my birth, full, I can say, of American sympathies; on the hope so necessary to me of my seeing again the country that has deigned, near ahalf-century ago, to call me hers? I shall content myself, refraining from superfluous repetitions, at once, before you, sir, and this respected circle, to proclaim my cordial confirmation of every one of the sentiments which I have had daily opportunities publicly to utter; from the time when your venerable predecessor, my old brother in arms and friend, transmitted to me the honorable invitation of Congress; to this day, when you, my dear sir, whose friendly connection with me dates from your earliest youth, are going to consign me to the protection, across the Atlantic, of the heroic national flag, on board the splendid ship, the name of which has been not the least flattering and kind among the numberless favors conferred upon me.

“‘God bless you, sir, and all who surround us. God bless the American people, each of their states, and the federal government. Accept this patriotic farewell of an overflowing heart; such will be its last throb when it ceases to beat.’”

“As the last sentence was pronounced,” says theNational Intelligencer, “the general advanced, and, while the tears poured over his venerable cheeks, again took the President in his arms. He retired a few paces, but, overcome by his feelings, again returned, and uttering in broken accents, ‘God bless you!’ fell once more on the neck of Mr. Adams. It was a scene at once solemn and moving, as the sighs and stealing tears of many who witnessed it bore testimony. Having recovered his self-possession, the general stretched out his hands, and was, in a moment, surrounded by the greetings of the whole assembly, who pressed upon him, each eager to seize, perhaps for the last time, that beloved hand which was opened so freely for our aid, when aid was so precious, and which grasped, with firm and undeviating hold,the steel which so bravely helped to achieve our deliverance. The expression which now beamed from the face of this exalted man was of the finest and most touching kind. The hero was lost in the father and the friend: dignity melted into subdued affection, and the friend of Washington seemed to linger with a mournful delight among the sons of his adopted country. A considerable period was then occupied in conversing with various individuals, while refreshments were presented to the company. The moment of departure at length arrived, and having once more pressed the hand of Mr. Adams, he entered the barouche accompanied by the secretaries of state, of the treasury, and of the navy.”

Another writer says:—

“The parting being over, the carriage of the general, preceded by the cavalry, the marine corps, and Captain Edwards’ rifle corps, and followed by the carriages containing the corporate authorities of the cities, of the district, and numerous military and high civil officers of the government, moved forward, followed by the remaining military companies. In taking up the escort the whole column moved through the court in front of the President’s mansion, and paid him the passing salute as he stood in front to receive it. The whole scene—the peals of artillery, the animating sound of numerous military bands, the presence of the vast concourse of people, and the occasion that assembled them—altogether produced emotions not easily described, but which every American will readily conceive.

“On reaching the bank of the Potomac, near where theMount Vernonsteam vessel was in waiting, all the carriages in the procession, except the general’s, wheeled off, and the citizens in them assembled on foot around that of the general. The whole military body thenpassed him in review, as he stood in the barouche of the President, attended by the secretaries of state, of the treasury, and of the navy. After the review, the general proceeded to the steam vessel, under a salute of artillery, surrounded by as many citizens, all eager to catch the last look, as could press on the large wharf; and at four o’clock, this great and good and extraordinary man trod for the last time the soil of America, followed by the blessings of every patriotic heart that lives on it.

“As the vessel moved off, and for a short time after, the deepest silence was observed by the whole of the vast multitude that lined the shore. The feeling that pervaded them was that of children bidding a final farewell to a venerated parent. The crowd remained gazing after the retiring vessel, until she had passed Greenleaf’s Point, where another salute repeated the valedictory sounds of respect, and these again were, not long after, echoed by the heavy guns of Fort Washington, and reminded us of the rapidity with which this benefactor and friend of our country was borne from it.

“The general was accompanied to theBrandywineby the Secretary of the Navy, the mayors of the three cities of the district, the commander-in-chief of the army, the generals of the militia of the district, Commodore Bainbridge, Mr. Custis, of Arlington, and several other gentlemen.”

The trip to theBrandywine, and the ceremonies on board of the frigate on the reception of the general, are thus described by one of the passengers in the steamboatMount Vernon:—

“The moment of separation arrived. TheMount Vernonreceived her venerable freight, and the general, from the midst of the suite, whom the government had detailed as an escort of honor, waved his hand and bowedto the thousands who thronged the shores, an affectionate adieu.

“Under the discharge of artillery, and the fervent benedictions of the vast assemblage who still lingered and looked, when they no longer spoke, a last farewell, theMount Vernonproceeded on her way.

“On passing Alexandria, the wharves and shipping were crowded with citizens and neighbors, all business was suspended, and the ‘hum of men’ was hushed in the respectful silence which pervaded this ‘parting hour.’ The general, uncovered, took the station which would place him nearest to his friends, where he could best give and best receive the salute of mutual attachment and esteem. So abstracted from ordinary considerations were the minds of all parties, that the steersman neared the town till the general became enveloped in the smoke of the cannon, which, however appropriate to enemies, were nearer than is usual to friends. The boat, after passing, returned, and repassed the town, again and again producing the most enthusiastic expressions of affectionate farewell. The ramparts of Fort Washington paid their honors, as the mansion, the groves, and the tomb of Mount Vernon opened to view. The progress of the little fleet was arrested, that the last of the generals might pay his pious homage and filial duty to the tomb of the paternal chief.

“La Fayette arose—the wonders which he had performed for a man of his age, in successfully accomplishing labors enough to have tested his meridian vigor, whose animation rather resembles the spring than the winter of life, now seemed unequal to the task he was about to perform,—to take a last look at the grave of Washington! He advanced to the effort: a silence the most impressive reigned around, till the strains of sweetand plaintive music completed the grandeur and sacred solemnity of the scene. All hearts beat in unison with the throbbings of the veteran’s bosom, as he looked, and that for the last time, on the sepulchre which contains the ashes of the first of men. He spoke not, but appeared absorbed in the mighty recollections which the place and the occasion inspired.

“After this noble scene, the fleet resumed its course, and, after a voyage of safety and expedition, anchored near theBrandywinethe ensuing morning. The general was received in the commodore’s barge, and repaired, through very inclement weather, to the gallant bark which is to bear him to his other home. He was placed on the deck of the ship by an ornamented chair, rigged for the special purpose, and under a salute from the main battery—the music of the band, and the greetings of the commodore, his officers, and many guests, who were assembled for this interesting event; but above all, by the warm embrace of the Revolutionary worthies, who had repaired to the ship to take another farewell of their beloved associate of the heroic time. After a sumptuous collation served in the captain’s cabin, and a number of feeling and appropriate toasts, among which was the following by La Fayette:—

“‘The national flag of the United States; ever the pledge of glory; on this day the rendezvous of friendship’; and by Mr. Custis, of Arlington:—

“‘TheBrandywine, which bears to his native land the last of the generals of the army of American independence, and the great apostle of the rights of mankind.—May the winds of Heaven not visit her course too roughly, but with kindest breath swell the bosom of her sails, and the guardian genius that protects the just and good, be an ever-watchful Palinurus to guide her helm.’After which Colonel Bentalou, of Baltimore, offered the following toast:—

“‘The memory of General Washington—the military father and beloved friend of our nation’s guest.’

“This toast was drunk standing, and the final moment of separation having arrived, the last adieus were spoken.

“The barges of the ship bore the sorrowing guests to their respective vessels, while the thunders of the superbBrandywinetold to the echoes around the adieu to La Fayette.”

The day had been boisterous and rainy, but just as the affecting scene had closed, the sun burst forth in all his glory, as a propitious omen.

The editor of theIrishman, a journal conducted at Belfast, in the issue of September, 1825, in commenting upon the proceedings at Washington on the occasion of the farewell to La Fayette, says:—

“We this day give our readers one of the most interesting scenes which can be laid before the human mind,—the departure and farewell address of the greatest republic the world ever saw, to that veteran hero, whose sword was one of the first in the field to assert her freedom. The address of Mr. Adams is a chaste and beautiful composition,—a triumphant recapitulation of the glories of liberty,—and the reply of the old soldier is characterized by all the fire of youth and wisdom of age. TheIrishmanfeels no small pleasure in being the first journal to give these immortal productions to the people of Ireland.”

TheNorth Star, printed at Danville, Vermont, says, regarding La Fayette’s last act in America:—

“We are informed that General La Fayette has addressed a letter to General Fletcher, from on board theBrandywine, on the subject of the imprisonment ofGeneral William Barton, and inclosed a draft, with a request that the sum for which General Barton was confined should be paid. That request has been complied with, and General Barton was informed that he was no longer a prisoner. With what emotions of surprise and gratitude this intelligence was received by the valiant captor of Prescott can be better imagined than described. The scene was rendered more interesting by the peculiarly delicate manner in which the business was conducted and the fact announced by General Fletcher. All participated in the satisfaction which was expressed, that General Barton was at liberty to return to his family, after a separation of more than thirteen years.”

Mr. Kerate, a French author of a work entitled “Divine Worship,” taking our reception of La Fayette as his standard, addresses the French youth, and thus urges their ambition to fly to the succor of the Greeks:—

“A man is at this moment traversing the continent of North America. The whole population crowds around him; from the sources of the rivers, from the recesses of the forests, they flock to see him; the maidens of the banks of the Ohio crown him with flowers; the youths desire to behold him, to touch his garments; the old men to press his hand before they lose him. These marks of respect will be transmitted from generation to generation; they will become family documents. At his approach the magistrates make room to receive him among them; his presence diffuses joy in the cities; he brings glory to the tombs of the brave; it might be thought that they had waited for him to begin their immortality; he himself is loaded with benedictions and honors. What, then, has he done? Is he a prince or a potentate? No! With the means at the command of a private man he assisted an oppressed nation. YoungFrenchmen! this is the picture you should have before your eyes; it is worthy of you.”

A letter from Paris, dated Sept. 7th, and published in one of the London papers, says:—

“Our ministers are under a good deal of embarrassment in regard to the manner of receiving La Fayette, who, according to the accounts brought by theEdward Bonaffe, must soon arrive. The moment our ministers heard that the general was coming in the frigateBrandywine, they despatched orders to the authorities at Havre, to prevent any kind of meeting and every mark of honor which might be attempted to be bestowed upon him. On the other hand, the most respectable of the merchants and other inhabitants have resolved to express their esteem for his character by every means in their power. The military commandant is a violent royalist, but the mayor is a good-natured, moderate man, who wishes to avoid every sort of tyrannical measures. The American frigate is another subject of embarrassment. It is usual, when a frigate enters the port, for her to salute the batteries with fifteen guns, but this salute must be returned by an equal number. Now, our government are afraid that, if they reply to the American salute, the people will think they are expending powder in honor of La Fayette; but if they do not agree to return, they will be obliged to let the frigate enter without saluting, for they well know that the American captain will not burn a match without an assurance of reciprocity.”

The editor of theNiles Registeradds:—

“The writer of the letter justly estimates the fact. Morris and his crew would rather fight the largest and the best-fitted frigate that ever belonged to France, than fire a salute but with the belief that it would be returned,gun for gun. The stripes and stars may be hauled down by a conqueror, but shall not be disgraced.”

TheNiles Registerfor November says:—

“La Fayette was received at Havre with the greatest enthusiasm. It does not appear that the government had taken any measures to prevent a favorable greeting of him. TheBrandywinesaluted the forts, which returned an equal number of guns. On the day of his disembarkation, the general proceeded to his country-seat, accompanied for two leagues by a numerous cavalcade, consisting of young men of the principal families of Havre and its neighborhood.”

When General La Fayette was about to leave the frigateBrandywine, on her arrival at Havre, a farewell address was presented to him by the midshipmen attached to the ship. To this flattering attention General La Fayette thus verbally replied:—

“My dear young Friends: I am unable to express my feelings towards you. Before I had the pleasure of your acquaintance I considered it an honor to belong to the United States navy: since then my knowledge of you as individuals has added to my admiration of the chivalry of your profession, and rendered sanguine my expectations of its future achievements. Your country has reason to be proud of you; I part from you with regret: but should your duties or inclinations bring you again to France, remember that La Grange is the home of every American. Farewell!”

The ParisConstitutionnelof the 20th December, 1825, contained a circumstantial account of the reception of La Fayette at La Grange, after his return from his visit to America. The neighboring villages united in a public festival in his honor, notwithstanding strong efforts on the part of the municipal authorities to prevent rejoicing of any kind.

The following is a translation of one of the addresses delivered to the general by deputations, together with one of his answers.

Address: “At length we again behold you, grown younger from the atmosphere of liberty which you have been breathing, and the spectacle of the happiness of a powerful and grateful people, which you have contemplated with delight. Like the Americans, we could wish to describe to you our love, pleasure, and admiration; but these sentiments, agitating too strongly our hearts, deprive us of the power of so doing.”

To which the general replied:—

“The affecting welcome which awaited me here, and the fresh testimonials of attachment which you lavish upon me to-day, fill up the measure of my joy in finding myself in the bosom of my family and in the midst of you, my dear friends and neighbors. During my journeys over the free and prosperous territories of the United States it was sweet to me to think that the voices of that excellent and admirable people would resound even as far as your abodes, and that you would enjoy them for me.

“The enemies of the people’s cause have cast it as a reproach upon me that, in expressing my sentiments at the American meetings, I thought also of you. They were right to believe this; and, in fact, at the sight of the wonders of the public prosperity and private happiness which, in that immense country, are the fruits of liberty, equality, legal and national order, it would have been difficult for me to forget the wish I had ever cherished, that my French countrymen should exercise the same rights and obtain the same felicity.

“You see me now restored to my retreat of La Grange, which is dear to me on so many accounts;and to those agricultural employments of which you know me to be so fond, and which, for a long series of years, I shared with you, my neighbors, and the greater part of the friends who surround me. Your regard, fully reciprocated on my part, causes them to be more and more prized. Accept, I pray you, my thanks for the fine festival that you have prepared for me, and that fills my heart with delight and gratitude.”

More than six thousand persons were present at this joyous commemoration of the return of him whom they called theAmerican Nation’s Guest. The dancing was continued throughout the night, and the air was filled with cries of “Long live La Fayette!” “Long live the friend of the people!” On the following day the general received a number of distinguished visitors from Paris.

The EdinburghObserverthus comments upon this memorable visit of La Fayette to America:—

“After a residence of nearly twelve months in the United States, General La Fayette has at last returned to Europe. Hitherto we have, somehow, abstained from saying a single word on the extraordinary spectacles by which his visit has been throughout distinguished. We have, like all mankind, been struck mute, as it were, by each successive gushing out of the spontaneous and unpurchased homage of ten millions of free people. We have stood by, in almost stupid wonder, while so many more than classic triumphs, so much higher than classic feelings, were performing and bursting around us, hardly knowing, indeed, whether we had to deal with the honest excitement of a real and gallant people, or were cheated by the solemn phantasies of a race of Bedlamites. It was not, in fact, till after the blinding pageant had passed away that we could bring ourselves to talk soberly eitherof its fitness or its reality. At last, however, the question does rush upon our minds: Why have all these things been? How is it that for twelve long months we have heard of nothing but processions, feastings, and jubilees, among a people pre-eminent among all men for thrift, jealousy, and stubbornness? What can this or any man have done, to turn upon himself the rejoicing lustre of so many millions of eyes, to call down blessings from so incalculable a host of uplifted hands, and to feel the honors and gratitude of a mighty people wafted to his bosom as by the voice of a single man? What is it, in fact, that has swayed the hearts of these stout republicans throughout the twenty-four communities, that has hurried, all along that vast line, every woman from her distaff, and every infant from its cradle, to shout, on the steps of a total stranger to their blood, and has now melted so many jarring interests into one general prayer of regret, thankfulness, and safety? This is not anything like a venal sycophancy to dignity or riches or descent; it is not the conventual homage of one great authority to another, nor can it be placed even among the reasonable but frigid trophies of a mere general merit. It is too stupendous, too immediate, too much akin to the burning ardor of children to a parent. It is a portion of the unbounded gratitude of a gallant people to thefounder of their freedom. It is no mere temporary return of any present benefit, but a part of the perpetual worship owing to an author of their political existence. It is the homage of America to the Nestor of the Revolution. Her early warriors are now no more. Her Franklins and Washingtons have long since sunk, one after another, amid the tears of their people, into an illustrious tomb. One commander alone remains who fought at Flat-Bush, at Brandywine, and at Yorktown. What wonder,then, that the honors, and almost the merits, of the extinguished mighty should seem to concentrate around their sole surviving fellow? Generation after generation has sundered him from everything in America that could excite rivalry and add a sting to passion. He left them in a feverish and bloody infancy; he has returned in their peaceful and majestic manhood. He left them worn, divided, and impoverished; he has found them strong, unanimous, and rich. He has come to see the grain quietly waving over the fields of slaughter; to find their once vacant harbors crowded with a gallant navy; their unsheltered beaches secured by impregnable works; their swampy forests swarming with a gay and growing population. And he can say, what no living leader can say with him, ‘This is partly my work; in the heart of a corrupted state I digested the manual of freedom; hemmed round by the blandishments of luxury, I preserved the spirit of independence; I forsook the court for the sword; I adopted danger for ease; and here are my rewards!’ It was the younger Scaliger, we believe, who would have preferred the honor of writing a single ode of Horace, to the empire of Germany, and he was right. But what are the honors of all the odes of all the Horaces that ever lived, to this pride of a patriot’s bosom, to the outbursting of a nation’s gratitude? After all, there is much more in these things than the merit or the praise of any one person, or any one set of persons. It is not man individually, but man collectively, that is here chiefly concerned. These rewards and these deservings are, in fact, the recognition by Nature of her own nobility. They form the evidence which she bears to the eternity of her own character; they are the proud effusions of her thankfulness to the power which impressed that character upon her.”

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