CHARGES OF CORRUPTION AGAINST MR. CLAY AND MR. ADAMS--MR. ADAMS ENTERS
UPON HIS DUTIES AS PRESIDENT--VISIT OF LA FAYETTE--TOUR THROUGH THE
UNITED STATES--MR. ADAMS DELIVERS HIM A FAREWELL ADDRESS--DEPARTS FROM THE
UNITED STATES.
The election of Mr. Adams to the presidency, was a severe disappointment
to the friends of Gen. Jackson. As the latter had received a majority of
fifteen electoral votes over Mr. Adams, it was confidently anticipated,
nay, virtually demanded, that he should be elected by the House of
Representatives. This claim, it was insisted, was in accordance with the
will of the people, as expressed in the electoral colleges, and to resist
it would be to violate the spirit of the constitution, and to set at
nought the fundamental principles of our republican Government. A
sufficient reply to these positions is found in the fact, that Gen.
Jackson did not receive a majority of the electoral votes, and hence a
majority of the people could not be considered as desiring his election.
The absolute truth, subsequently obtained on this point, was, that Mr.
Adams had received more of the primary votes of the people than Gen.
Jackson; and thus, according to all republican principles, was entitled to
be considered the first choice of the citizens of the United States.
The position of Mr. Clay, in this contest for the presidency, was one of
great delicacy and difficulty. He was precisely in that critical posture,
that, whatever course he might pursue, he would be subject to
misrepresentation and censure, and could not but raise up a host of
enemies. Originally one of the four candidates for the presidency, he
failed, by five electoral votes, in having a sufficient number to be one
of the three candidates returned to the House of Representatives, of which
he was then Speaker. In this posture of affairs, it was evident that upon
the course which should be pursued by Mr. Clay, and his friends in the
House, depended the question who should be elected President. As Mr.
Crawford, on account of the critical state of his health, was considered
out of the question, Mr. Clay was left to choose between Mr. Adams and
Gen. Jackson.
In this posture of affairs, Mr. Clay saw, that however patriotic the
principles on which he acted, and however pure the motives by which he
might be governed in making his selection, he must inevitably expose
himself to the severest animadversions from the defeated party. But he did
not hesitate, in the discharge of what he believed to be a solemn duty he
owed his country, to throw his influence in behalf of the man whom he
believed the best fitted to serve that country in the responsible office
of the presidency. Long before it had been foreseen such a contingency
would occur, he had expressed his want of confidence in the ability and
fitness of Gen. Jackson for the executive chair. But in Mr. Adams he saw a
man of the utmost purity and integrity of private character--a scholar of
the ripest abilities--a statesman, a diplomatist, a patriot of
unquestioned talents and of long experience,--one who had been entrusted
with most important public interests by Washington, Adams, Jefferson,
Madison and Monroe, and also had received from these illustrious men every
mark of confidence--whose familiarity with the internal condition and
foreign relations of the Union was unequalled by any public man! Between
men so dissimilar in their qualifications, how could Mr. Clay, with the
slightest regard to the welfare of the nation, the claims of patriotism,
or the dictates of his conscience, hesitate to choose? He did not
hesitate. With an intrepid determination to meet all consequences, he
threw his influence in behalf of Mr. Adams, and secured his election.
This decisive step, as had been clearly foreseen, drew upon the head of
Mr. Clay the severest censures of the supporters of Gen. Jackson. Motives
of the deepest political corruption were attributed to him. They charged
him with making a deliberate stipulation or "bargain" with Mr. Adams, to
give his influence, on the understanding that he was to receive, in
payment, the appointment to the state department. The undoubted object of
this charge was to ruin Mr. Clay's future prospects, and make capital to
the advantage of Gen. Jackson in the next presidential campaign. It
implicated Mr. Adams equally with Mr. Clay. If the latter had been so
corrupt as to offer his support on the promise of office, the former was
quite as guilty in accepting of terms so venal. There never was a more
base charge against American statesmen--there never was one more entirely
destitute of foundation, or even shadow of proof! It was at no time
considered entitled to the slightest particle of belief by those who were
at Washington during these transactions and had an opportunity of knowing
the true state of things at that time. But there were many, throughout the
country, too ready to receive such reports in regard to public men. Both
Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay were greatly prejudiced by this alleged
collusion--a prejudice which years did not efface.
This charge first appeared in a tangible form shortly previous to the
election by the House of Representatives, in an anonymous letter in the
"Columbian Observer," at Philadelphia. It was soon ascertained to have
been written by Mr. Kremer, a member of the House of Representatives from
Pennsylvania. Mr. Clay immediately published a card in the National
Intelligencer, denying, in unequivocal terms, the allegation, and
pronouncing the author "an infamous calumniator, a dastard, and a liar!"
A few days after this, Mr. Kremer acknowledged himself the author of the
letter in the "Columbian Observer," and professed himself ready to prove
the corruptions alleged: whereupon Mr. Clay demanded that the House raise
a committee to investigate the case. The committee was appointed; but Mr.
Kremer, on grounds of the most frivolous description, refused to appear
before the committee, or to furnish a particle of proof of the truth of
the grave assertions he had uttered--thus virtually acknowledging their
slanderous character.
Mr. Clay being in this manner denied the privilege of vindicating his
innocence, and showing the depravity of his accusers, the matter continued
in an unsettled state until the next presidential campaign, when it was
revived in a more tangible form, and brought to bear adversely to Mr.
Adams's administration and reelection. In 1827, Gen. Jackson, in a letter
to Mr. Carter Beverly, which soon appeared in public print, made the
following statement:--
"Early in January, 1825, a member of Congress of high respectability
visited me one morning, and observed that he had a communication he was
desirous to make to me; that he was informed there was a great intrigue
going on, and that it was right I should be informed of it. * * * * * * *
He said he had been informed by the friends of Mr. Clay, that the friends
of Mr. Adams had made overtures to them, saying, if Mr. Clay and his
friends would unite in aid of Mr. Adams's election, Mr. Clay should be
Secretary of State; that the friends of Mr. Adams were urging, as a reason
to induce the friends of Mr. Clay to accede to their proposition, that if
I were elected President, Mr. Adams would be continued Secretary of State;
that the friends of Mr. Clay stated the West did not wish to separate from
the West, and if I would say, or permit any of my confidential friends to
say, that in case I were elected President Mr. Adams should not be
continued Secretary of State, by a complete union of Mr. Clay and his
friends, they would put an end to the presidential contest in one hour.
And he was of opinion it was right to fight such intriguers with their
own weapons."
On a subsequent statement, Gen. Jackson asserted that the gentleman who
called upon him with these propositions was James Buchanan, of
Pennsylvania.
This was the Kremer charge made definite in circumstances and
application; and if well grounded, was susceptible of plain proof. On the
appearance of this statement by Gen. Jackson, Mr. Clay came out with a
positive denial. He said:--
"I neither made, nor authorized, nor knew of any proposition whatever, to
either of the three candidates who were returned to the House of
Representatives, at the last presidential election, or to the friends of
either of them, for the purpose of influencing the result of the election,
or for any other purpose. And all allegations, intimations, and
inuendoes, that my vote on that occasion was offered to be given, or was
in fact given, in consideration of any stipulation or understanding,
express or implied, direct or indirect, written or verbal,--that I was, or
that any other person was not, to be appointed Secretary of State; or that
I was, or in any other manner to be, personally benefitted,--are devoid
of all truth, and destitute of any foundation whatever."
Here was a direct collision between Gen. Jackson and Mr. Clay. All now
rested with Mr. Buchanan. His testimony would either prostrate Mr. Clay,
or place him, in regard to this matter, beyond the reach of the foulest
tongue of calumny. In due time Mr. Buchanan made his statement, in which
he denied, in unequivocal language, having made any such proposition to
Gen. Jackson. In his explanation he says:--
"I called upon General Jackson solely as his friend, upon my individual
responsibility, and not as the agent of Mr. Clay, or any other person. I
never have been the political friend of Mr. Clay, since he became a
candidate for the office of President. Until I saw General Jackson's
letter to Mr. Beverly, of the 6th ult., and at the same time was informed,
by a letter from the editor of the United States Telegraph, that I was the
person to whom he alluded, the conception never once entered my head, that
he believed me to be the agent of Mr. Clay, or of his friends, or that I
had intended to propose to him terms of any kind from them, or that he
could have supposed me to be capable of expressing the opinion that 'it
was right to fight such intriguers with their own weapons.' Such a
supposition, had I entertained it, would have rendered me exceedingly
unhappy, as there is no man on earth whose good opinion I more valued than
that of General Jackson. * * * * * * * * * I owe it to my character to
make another observation. Had I ever known, or even suspected, that
General Jackson believed I had been sent to him by Mr. Clay or his
friends, I should immediately have corrected his erroneous impression, and
thus prevented the necessity for this most unpleasant explanation. * * * *
* * * I had no authority from Mr. Clay, or his friends, to propose any
terms to General Jackson in relation to their votes, nor did I ever make
any such proposition."
This statement fully and triumphantly exonerated Mr. Clay, Mr. Adams, and
their friends, from the charge of "bargain" and "corruption," which had
been so boldly made and widely disseminated. The only witness ever brought
upon the stand to support such an allegation, asserted, in a manner the
most positive and decisive, the entire innocence of the parties
implicated.
That Mr. Clay, in throwing his influence in behalf of Mr. Adams, was but
following out a resolution formed long before he had any opportunity of
communication with Mr. Adams or his friends, on the subject, is proved by
the following extract of a letter from a gentleman in Lexington, Ky., to
the editors of the National Intelligencer, dated March 21, 1825:--
"At different times, before Mr. Clay left this place for Washington, last
fall, I had conversations with him on the subject of the choice of a
President by the House of Representatives. In all of them, he expressed
himself as having long before decided in favor of Mr. Adams, in case the
contest should lie between that gentleman and General Jackson. My last
interview with him was, I think, the day before his departure, when he was
still more explicit, as it was then certain that the election would be
transferred to that tribunal, and highly probable that he would not be
among the number returned. In the course of this conversation, I took
occasion to express my sentiments with respect to the delicate and
difficult circumstances under which he would be placed. He remarked that I
could not more fully apprehend them than he did himself; but that nothing
should deter him from the duty of giving his vote; and that no state of
things could arise that would justify him in preferring General Jackson to
Mr. Adams, or induce him to support the former. So decisive, indeed, were
his declarations on this subject, that had he voted otherwise than he did,
I should have been compelled to regard him as deserving that species of
censure which has been cast upon him for constantly adhering to an early
and deliberate resolution."
It was thought, by some of Mr. Clay's friends, that he erred in judgment
in accepting the office of Secretary of State, as it would tend to
strengthen his enemies in their efforts to fix upon him the charge of
corruption. Among those entertaining this opinion was Mr. Crawford,
himself one of the three presidential candidates returned to the House of
Representatives. In a letter to Mr. Clay he says:--
"I hope you know me too well to suppose that I have countenanced the
charge of corruption which has been reiterated against you. The truth is,
I approved of your vote when it was given, and should have voted as you
did between Jackson and Adams. But candor compells me to say, that I
disapproved of your accepting an office under him."
In replying to this letter Mr. Clay remarked:--
"I do, my dear sir, know you too well to suppose that you ever
countenanced the charge of corruption against me. No man of sense and
candor--at least none that know me--ever could or did countenance it. Your
frank admission that you would have voted as I did, between Mr. Adams and
Gen. Jackson, accords with the estimate I have ever made of your
intelligence, your independence, and your patriotism. Nor am I at all
surprised, or dissatisfied, with the expression of your opinion, that I
erred in accepting the place which I now hold. * * * * * * * The truth is,
as I have often said, my condition was one full of embarrassments,
whatever way I might act. My own judgment was rather opposed to my
acceptance of the department of state. But my friends--and let me add, two
of your best friends, Mr. McLane of Delaware and Mr. Forsyth--urged us
strongly not to decline it. It was represented by my friends, that I
should get no credit for the forbearance, but that, on the contrary, it
would be said that my forbearance was evidence of my having made a
bargain, though unwilling to execute it. * * * * * * * * These and other
similar arguments were pressed upon me; and after a week's deliberation, I
yielded to their force. It is quite possible that I may have erred * * * *
* * I shall, at least, have no cause of self-reproach."
In 1829, after Mr. Adams had retired from the Presidential chair, in reply
to a letter from a committee of gentlemen in New Jersey, who had addressed
him, he spoke of Mr. Clay as follows: "Upon him the foulest slanders have
been showered. Long known and appreciated, as successively a member of
both Houses of your national Legislature, as the unrivalled Speaker, and
at the same time most efficient leader of debates in one of them; as an
able and successful negotiator of your interests, in war and peace, with
foreign powers, and as a powerful candidate for the highest of your
trusts, the department of state itself was a station which by its bestowal
could confer neither profit nor honor upon him, but upon which he has shed
unfading honor, by the manner in which he has discharged its duties.
Prejudice and passion have charged him with obtaining that office by
bargain and corruption. Before you, my fellow-citizens, in the presence of
our country and heaven, I pronounce that charge totally unfounded. This
tribute of justice is due from me to him, and I seize with pleasure the
opportunity afforded me by your letter, of discharging the obligation. As
to my motives for tendering to him the department of state when I did, let
that man who questions them come forward; let him look around among
statesmen and legislators, of this nation, and of that day; let him then
select and name the man whom, by his pre-eminent talents, by his splendid
services, by his ardent patriotism, by his all-embracing public spirit, by
his fervid eloquence in behalf of the rights and liberties of mankind, and
by his long experience in the affairs of the Union, foreign and domestic,
a President of the United States, 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."
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."
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, bonfires, 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
commemoration of that event, on Bunker Hill. During his tour at the east,
he visited the venerable ex-President John Adams, at Quincy.
But the time for his departure drew near. His journey had extended as far
south as New Orleans, west to St. Louis, north and east to Massachusetts.
He had passed through, or touched, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana,
Ohio, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.
A new frigate, the Brandywine, named in honor of the gallant exploits of
Gen. La Fayette at the battle of Brandywine, was provided by Congress to
convey him to France. It was deemed appropriate that he should take final
leave of the nation at the seat of government in Washington. President
Adams invited him to pass a few weeks in the presidential mansion. Mr.
Adams had been on intimate terms with La Fayette in his youth, with whom,
it is said, he was a marked favorite. During his sojourn at the capitol,
he visited ex-Presidents Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, at their several
places of residence.
Having paid his respects to these venerated sages, "the Nation's Guest"
prepared to take his final departure from the midst of a grateful people.
The 7th of September, 1825, was the day appointed for taking leave. About
12 o'clock, the officers of the General Government, civil, military, and
naval, together with the authorities of Washington, Georgetown, and
Alexandria, with multitudes of citizens and strangers, assembled in the
President's house. La Fayette entered the great hall in silence, leaning
on the Marshal of the District, and one of the sons of the President. Mr.
Adams then with evident emotion, but with much dignity and firmness,
addressed him in the following terms:--
"GENERAL LA FAYETTE: It has been the good fortune of many of my 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 the authentic records of human
history.
"You deliberately and perseveringly preferred toil, danger, the endurance
of every hardship, and 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 have 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 that 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 take
their 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 the 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 the side 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 this
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 sentiments, 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 Coligne, of Turenne and Catinat, of Fenelon and
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 of LA 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 then 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 ever be 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 mean time, 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 beats the heart of one man--I bid you a reluctant and
affectionate FAREWELL!!
At the conclusion of this address, Gen. La Fayette replied as follows:--
"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 trials 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,
successively 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 State's 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 twelvemonth's 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 my enchanted 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 a half a 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 everyone 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 of the farewell was pronounced, La Fayette advanced
and took President Adams in his arms, while tears poured down his
venerable cheeks. Retiring a few paces, he was overcome by his feelings,
and again returned, and falling on the neck of Mr. Adams, exclaimed in
broken accents, "God bless you!" It was a scene at once solemn and moving,
as the sighs and 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, and passed from the capital of
the Union. An immense procession accompanied him to the banks of the
Potomac, where the steamboat Mount Vernon awaited to convey him down the
river to the frigate Brandywine. The whole scene--the peals of artillery,
the sounds of numerous military bands, the presence of the vast concourse
of people, and the occasion that assembled them, produced emotions not
easily described, but which every American heart can readily conceive. As
the steamboat moved off, the deepest silence was observed by the whole
multitude that lined the shore. The feelings that pervaded them was that
of children bidding farewell to a venerated parent.
When the boat came opposite the tomb of Washington, at Mount Vernon, it
paused in its progress. 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 resembled
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 tomb of Washington!" He
advanced to the effort. A silence the most impressive reigned around, till
the strains of sweet and 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, for the last time, on the sepulchre
which contained 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 scene, the boat resumed its course, and the next morning
anchored in safety near the Brandywine. Here La Fayette took leave of
the Secretaries of State, the Treasury, and the Navy, and the guests who
had accompanied him from Washington, together with many military and naval
officers and eminent citizens who had assembled in various crafts near the
frigate to bid him farewell. The weather had been boisterous and rainy,
but just as the affecting scene had closed, the sun burst forth to cheer a
spectacle which will long be remembered, and formed a magnificent arch,
reaching from shore to shore--the barque which was to bear the venerable
chief being immediately in the centre. Propitious omen! Heaven smiles on
the good deeds of men! And if ever there was a sublime and virtuous action
to be blessed by heaven and admired by men, it is when a free and grateful
people unite to do honor to their friend and benefactor![Footnote:
National Intelligencer.]