Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

intent only upon the welfare and honor of his country, ought to have preferred to HENRY CLAY. Let him name the man, and then judge you, my fellow-citizens, of my motives."

When Mr. Adams was on a tour in the western States, in the fall of 1843, in addressing the chairman of the committee of his reception, at Maysville, Kentucky, he said: "I thank you, sir, for the opportunity you have given me of speaking of the great statesman who was associated with me in the administration of the General Government, at my earnest solicitation; who belongs not to Kentucky alone, but to the whole Union; and who is not only an honor to this State, and this nation, but to mankind. The charges to which you refer, after my term of service had expired, and it was proper for me to speak, I denied before the whole country. And I here reiterate and re-affirm that denial; and as I expect shortly to appear before my God, to answer for the conduct of my whole life, should these charges have found their way to the throne of eternal justice, I WILL in the presence of OMNIPOTENCE pronounce them FALSE.'

[ocr errors]

Before the world Mr. Clay and Mr. Adams stand acquitted of the calumny which their enemies endeavored, with an industry worthy a better cause, to heap upon them. The history of their country will do them ample justice. Their names shall stand upon its pages, illuminated by a well-earned fame for patriotism and faithful devotion to public interests,

when those of their accusers will be lost in a merited oblivion.

Mr. Adams, having entered upon his duties as President of the United States, prosecuted them with all that diligence and industrious application which was one of the leading characteristics of his life. Unawed by the opposition and the misrepresentations of his political enemies, and uncorrupted by the power and influence at his control, he pursued the even tenor of his way, having a single object in view, the promotion of the welfare of the people over whom he had been called to preside.

In the meantime, the heart of the nation was being stirred by old and valued reminiscences. LA FAYETTE, -a hero of the revolution-the companion of Washington-whose blood had enriched American soil in defence of American, freedom-had expressed a wish to re-visit once more, before departing life, the scenes of his early struggles and well-earned glories. This intimation was first given in the following letter to Col. Willet, an old friend and fellow-soldier of La Fayette, who was then still living in New-York.

"Paris, July 15, 1822.

"MY DEAR SIR :-I avail myself of a good opportunity to remind you of your old friend and fellow-soldier, in whose heart no time nor distance can abate the patriotic remembrance and personal affections of our revolutionary times. We remain but too few survivors of that glorious epoch, in which the fate of two hemispheres

has been decided. It is an additional monitor to think more of the ties of brotherly friendship which united us. May it be in my power, before I join our departed companions, to visit such of them as are still inhabitants of the United States, and to tell you personally, my dear Willet, how affectionately

"I am your sincere friend,

LA FAYETTE."

Intelligence of this desire to visit America having reached Congress, resolutions were passed placing a Government ship at his disposal:

"Whereas that distinguished champion of freedom, and hero of our Revolution, the friend and associate of Washington, the Marquis de La Fayette, a volunteer General Officer in our Revolutionary War, has expressed an anxious desire to visit this country, the independence of which his valor, blood, and treasure, were so instrumental in achieving: Therefore

"Be it Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be requested to communicate to the Marquis de La Fayette the expression of those sentiments of profound respect, gratitude, and affectionate attachment, which are cherished towards him by the Government and people of this country; and to assure him that the execution of his wish and intention to visit this country, will be hailed by the people and Government with patriotic pride and joy.

"And be it further Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to ascertain from the Marquis de La Fayette, the time when it will be most agreeable for him to perform his visit; and that he offer to the Marquis a conveyance to this country in one of our national ships."

La Fayette modestly declined this offer of a public ship. He sailed from Havre in the packet-ship Cadmus, accompanied by his son, George Washington La Fayette, and arrived in New York on the 15th of August, 1824.

His reception at New York was sublime and brilliant in the extreme. The meeting between La Fayette, Col. Willet, Gen. Van Cortland, Gen. Clarkson, and other revolutionary worthies, was highly affecting. He knew them all. After the ceremony of embracing and congratulations were over, La Fayette sat down by the side of Col. Willet. "Do you remember," said the colonel," at the battle of Monmouth, I was a volunteer aid to Gen. Scott? I saw you in the heat of battle, you were but a boy, but you were a serious and sedate lad." 'Aye, aye," returned La Fayette, "I remember well. And on the Mohawk I sent you fifty Indians, and you wrote me that they set up such a yell that they frightened the British horse, and they ran one way, and the Indians another." Thus these veteran soldiers "fought their battles o'er again."

[ocr errors]

From New York La Fayette proceeded on a tour throughout the United States. Everywhere he was received and honored, as "THE NATION'S GUEST." For more than a year, his journey was a complete ovation. -a perpetual and splendid pageant. The people appeared delirious with joy and with anxiety to hail him, grasp him by the hand, and shower attentions and honors upon him. The gratitude and love of all persons, of every age, sex, and condition, seemed hardly to be restrained within bounds of propriety. As he passed through the country, every city, village, and hamlet, poured out its inhabitants en masse, to meet him. Celebrations, processions, dinners, illuminations, bon

fires, parties, balls, serenades, and rejoicings of every description, attended his way, from the moment he set foot on the American soil, until his embarkation to return to his native France.

The hearts of the people in the most distant parts of the Western Hemisphere were warmed and touched with the honors paid him in the United States. A letter written at that time from Buenos Ayres, says"I have just received newspapers from the United States, informing me of the magnificent reception of Gen. La Fayette. I have never read newspapers with such exquisite delight as these; and I firmly believe there never was so interesting and glorious an event in the civilized world, in which all classes of people participated in the general joy, as on this occasion. There is an association of ideas connected with this event, that produces in my soul emotions I cannot express, and fills my heart with such grateful recollections as I cannot forget but with my existence. That ten millions of souls, actuated by pure sentiments of gratitude and friendship, should with one voice pronounce this individual the 'Guest of the Nation,' and pay him the highest honors the citizens of a free nation can offer, is an event which must excite the astonishment of Europe, and show the inestimable value of liberty."

In June, 1825, La Fayette visited Boston, and on the 17th day of that month, it being the anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill, he participated in the ceremony of laying the corner stone of the monument in

« AnteriorContinuar »