town than any other place in the United | him, he said, in a voice tremulous with emo States. The British armed vessels hovering on the coast destroyed the coasting and fishing business, and thus the loss of men in the war fell heavily upon the small seaport towns; for, being out of employment, nearly all the young and old men shouldered their muskets and joined the army. At Philadelphia he was welcomed with almost idolizing enthusiasm; for tender and thrilling indeed were the associations which linked together the history of the past and present of that city, in the person and services of Lafayette; the hospitalities of the state were appropriately dispensed by Governor Shultze. On landing at Baltimore, he was conducted to the 'tent of Washington,' and the freedom of the state and city conferred upon him in an address by Governor Stevens. For some time Lafayette could not precisely understand the compliment conveyed in the selection of the tent-especially one of that construction-for such proceedings. It was soon made plain, however, for, glancing around, he recognized a portion of Washing tion, "I remember!" Proceeding to Washington, Lafayette was received with open arms by President Monroe, at the executive mansion. Congress had just assembled in regular session, at the capitol. He was introduced to both houses, and was formally and elegantly addressed by Mr. Clay, speaker of the house of representatives, the two branches unanimously uniting in their legislative honors to the nation's guest. At this session the sum of two hundred thousand dollars, together with a township, consisting of twentyfour thousand acres of fertile land, was voted by congress to General Lafayette, as an expression of the grateful memory with which the people of America regarded his services in their behalf. A few of the members felt themselves constrained, from some doubts respecting its constitutionality, to vote against this appropriation. Lafayette, taking one of them by the hand, said to him with considerable feeling: "I appreciate your views. If I had been a member, I should have voted with you, not only because I partake of the sentiments which determined your votes, but also because I think that the American nation has done too much for me." Most characteristic of Lafayette's disinterestedness and magnanimity was that remark! At this time, Governor Pleasant was chief magistrate of the 'Old Dominion,' and warmly welcomed the nation's guest. The emotions experienced by Lafayette, as he once more trod the battle-fields of Virginia, can of course hardly be described. Yorktown, distinguish ed for the surrender of Cornwallis, which event gave the finishing blow to the the war, presented a vast field Taking Camden, South Carolina-Governor Richard J. Manning,-in his tour, Lafayette assisted in laying the cornerstone of a monument erected to the name and memory of Baron de Kalb, a German by birth, who came over in the same vessel with Lafayette, in 1776, and volunteered his services in the American army for three years. of tents at the reception of Lafayette. | forty-three years. They were lighted for The same house occupied by Cornwallis, as the evening, and notwithstanding the his head-quarters in 1781, was still stand- fatigues of the day, some of the old soldiers ing. The general appearance of the place remained till the last vestige of these Britgave evidence of a deserted village. The ish candles had expired in the sockets. houses of yore, which had been riddled with balls and blackened with smoke, still retained the marks of battle. In many parts of the ground were seen broken shells, and gun-carriages, with various implements of war,-some on rocks, and others half buried in the earth; every arrangement having been made to give the town, on Lafayette's arrival, the appearance of a place taken and occupied after a severe contest in battle. One of the tents erected on this occasion, was the one used by Washington at the time of the siege, together with others which had furnished temporary apartments for weary soldiers during the eventful campaign. An arch, bearing the names of Lafayette, Hamilton, and Laurens, was erected on the very spot where the redoubt stood which was stormed by Lafayette; an obelisk was also erected, bearing the names of distinguished Frenchmen. And on the same spot it is said that the orator of the occasion was designing, at the close of his address, to place a blended civic crown and national wreath in honor of Lafayette, who, while he acknowledged the unique compliment, gracefully averted its consummation, and, taking the symbolic garland in his hand, called for Colonel Fish, the only survivor of the attack upon the redoubt, and declared that half the honor belonged to him. Washington's marquee was erected. on the plain, just out of the village. Being escorted to this tent, Lafayette gave an affecting welcome to the officers of the militia. Two old veterans were there, who had faced the enemy in war, and stood firm in the midst of the roar of the cannon; but as they pressed the hand of Lafayette on this occasion, the old heroes wept and fainted. Some of the servants who were present discovered in an obscure corner of a cellar a large box of candles, bearing marks of belonging to Cornwallis's military stores-having remained undisturbed for He fell while bravely engaged in the battle at Camden, pierced with eleven deadly wounds. It is said that Washington, visiting the baron's grave many years after his death, sighed as he looked upon it, and exclaimed, "There lies the brave De Kalb, the generous stranger, who came from a distant land to fight our battles, and to water with his blood the tree of Liberty. Would to God he had lived to share with us in its fruits!" At Savannah, Georgia, after being welcomed by Governor Troup, Lafayette united in the same service commemorative of Generals Greene and Pulaski. On the seventeenth of June, Lafayette witnessed the laying of the corner-stone of Bunker Hill monument, at Charlestown, Massachusetts; he was the only surviving major-general of the revolution who was present at this ceremony. present at this ceremony. Colonel Francis K. Huger participated in the patriotic services the man who, when a lad, walked with Lafayette over his father's grounds, and who, some thirty years before this seventeenth of June, risked his life in attempting to aid the escape of Lafayette from the castle of Olmutz. The people of Charlestown not only welcomed Huger, but gave him a seat by the side of Lafayette, in the carriage which moved in the procession, and also one near him at the festive board. Daniel Webster was the orator for the day; it was the fiftieth anniversary of the battle; and everything conspired to render the day memorable. As the procession passed, Lafayette was continually hailed with demonstrations of love and gratitude. The procession was several miles long, and, on arriving at the historic spot, the impressive rite of laying the corner-stone was performed by the grand master of the Freemasons, the president of LAFAYETTE'S BIRTHPLACE. the Monument Association, and General Lafayette, in the presence of a vast concourse of people. The assembly then moved to a spacious amphitheatre, where the oration was pronounced by Mr. Webster, before as great a multitude as was ever, perhaps, assembled within the sound of a human voice. There was one place-Kaskaskia, on the route of Lafayette's tour, at which, though no preparations had been made to receive him, he paused a short time; and here it was that a most affecting incident occurred. Curiosity induced one of his companions to go and look at an Indian encampment, a short distance from the town. He there met with an educated Indian woman, who spoke the French language tolerably well, and who expressed a desire to see Lafayette, and to show him a relic which she always carried with her, and which was "very dear to her." She wished to show it to Lafayette, as proof of the veneration with which his name was regarded among their tribes. It was a letter written by Lafayette in 1778, and addressed to her father, Panisciowa, a chief of one of the six nations. This letter She and in the morning reached his hut, which was situated in a narrow valley. As she came to his bedside, he took from his pouch a paper wrapped in a dry skin, and gave it to her, with a charge to preserve it as a precious gift, saying: "It is a powerful charm to interest the pale-faces in your favor. I received it from a great French warrior, whom the English dreaded as much as the Americans loved him, and with whom I fought in my youth." The chief died the next day. Mary returned to her white. friends, and soon after married the young warrior, who was her father's friend and companion. She had the pleasure of showing the letter to Lafayette, who recognized it, and listened with great respect and deep feeling to her touching story. Another most interesting episode was that which transpired at Lafayette's reception in Nashville, Tenn., Governor Carroll presiding at the state ceremonies. There had come from different parts of the country about forty officers and soldiers of the revolution. Among the number was an aged man who had traveled one hundred and fifty miles. His name was Haguy, a German, and he was one of those who "I have come many miles to see the 'young general.' I have had two happy days in my life-one, when I landed with you on the American coast, nearly fifty years ago, and to-day when I see your face again. I have lived long enough." The sensation produced by this scene, in that great throng, was for a time completely overpowering. Not less interesting was the interview, at Buffalo, between Lafayette and 'Red Jacket,' the old chief of the Seneca tribe of Indians. They had both met in council at Fort Schuyler, in 1784. Red Jacket, in conversation with General Lafayette, made some allusions to that famous council, and to those who participated in its proceedings, when Lafayette inquired with some curiosity "Where is the young warrior, I wonder, who opposed the burying of the tomahawk?" "He is here before you," instantly replied the aged chief. "Ah, I see," replied the general, "time has changed us. We were once young and active." "But," said the chief, "time has made less change on you than on me." Saying this he uncovered his head, and exhibited his entire baldness. The general wore a wig, and, not wishing to deceive Red Jacket, took it from his head, to the no small amusement of the astonished Indian. A visit to the tomb of Washington was one of the most notable events in Lafayette's tour. His arrival there was announced by the firing of cannon, which brought to his memory the din of war,the scenes of the revolution, when he, with the great but now lifeless chieftain, were side by side in battle. Standing for awhile upon the consecrated ground and -- amidst the solemn stillness of the place, he descended alone into the tomb with his head uncovered. There he remained in solitary contemplation for some time-the living aged veteran communing with the illustrious dead. He returned with his face bathed in tears, and, taking his son and Levasseur, the secretary, by the hand, led them into the tomb. He could not speak, but pointed mutely to the coffin of Washington. They knelt reverently by it, kissed it, and, rising, threw themselves into the arms of Lafayette, and for a few moments wept in silence. Lafayette was now presented, by the hand of Mr. Custis, one of the surviving family connections of Washington, with a massive finger-ring containing a portion of the hair of his departed friend. He was also the recipient of some other personal memorials of the "Father of his Country." During this tour Lafayette visited every one of the twenty-four states of the Union, and traveled over five thousand miles. In nearly every region which he visited, towns or counties, and literary, scientific or civic associations, named in honor of him, still preserve his memory. Indeed, one of the foremost of the great colleges of the Middle states dates from the same period. At Easton, in Pennsylvania, the citizens convened on the 27th of December, 1824, and resolved to establish LAFAYETTE COLLEGE, an eminent institution of learning, in memory of and "as a testimony of respect for the talents, virtues and signal sevices, of General Lafayette, in the great cause of Freedom." When the time which he had allotted for his tour had expired, Lafayette repaired to Washington, to pay his parting respects to the chief magistrate of the nation, John Quincy Adams, who had succeeded President Monroe. This took place at the presidential mansion, on the sixth of September, 1825. The farewell address from the president, in behalf of the whole American people, was a most affecting tribute to the lofty character and patriotic services of Lafayette, during his long and eventful career, and closed with the following words: "You are 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 called to sorrow-most of all, that we shall see your face no more, -for we shall indulge the pleasing anticipation of beholding our friend again. In the name of the whole people of the United States, I bid you a reluctant and affectionate farewell." To this parting address from the lips of the nation's distinguished chief magistrate, Lafayette replied in a strain of patriotic and impassioned eloquence never to be forgotten. On the same day he embarked for France, on board the Brandywine, a new frigate, named thus in compli ment to Lafayette, who, on the banks of that river, was wounded in his first battle for American freedom. In the whole range of history, ancient or modern, there is no instance of similar honors being paid to any hero, by the united and spontaneous will of a great people; and when, nine years after, he paid the debt of nature, that same great people gave vent to universal grief, and every tongue spoke words of eulogy to the memory of America's most illustrious friend. parting with you we take comfort in the thought that, wherever you may be, to the last pulsation of your heart, our country will ever be present to your affections; and a cheering consolation assures us that we are not |