Gilbert Motier Lafayette, (formerly marquis de,) was born at
Chavagnac, near Brioude, in Auvergne, Sept. 6, 1757, was educated in
the college of Louis le Grand, in Paris, placed at court as an officer
in one of the guards of honor, and, at the age of 17, was married to
the granddaughter of the duke de Noailles. It was under these
circumstances that the young marquis de Lafayette entered upon a
career so little to be expected of a youth of vast fortune, of high
rank, of powerful connections, at the most brilliant and fascinating
court in the world. He left France secretly for America, in 1777, and
arrived at Charleston, South Carolina, April 25, being then 19 years
old. The state of this country, it is well known, was at that time
most gloomy: a feeble army, without clothing or arms, was with
difficulty kept together before a victorious enemy; the government was
without resources or credit, and the American agents in Paris were
actually obliged to confess that they could not furnish the young
nobleman with a conveyance. ‘Then,’ said he, ‘I will fit out a vessel
myself;’ and he did so. The sensation produced in this country, by his
arrival, was very great: it encouraged the almost disheartened people
to hope for succor and sympathy from one of the most powerful nations
in Europe. Immediately on his arrival, Lafayette received the offer of
a command in the continental army, but declined it, raised and
equipped a body of men at his own expense, and then entered the
service as a volunteer without pay. He lived in the family of the
commander-in-chief, and won his full affection and confidence. He was
appointed major-general in July, and, in September, was wounded at
Brandywine. He was employed in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island in 1778,
and, after receiving the thanks of his country for his important
services, embarked at Boston, in January, 1779, for France, where it
was thought that he could assist the cause more effectually for a
time. The treaty concluded between France and America, about the same
period, was, by his personal exertions, made effective in our favor,
and he returned to America with the intelligence that a French force
would soon be sent to this country. Immediately on his arrival, he
entered the service, and received the command of a body of infantry of
about 2000 men, which he clothed and equipped, in part, at his own
expense. His forced march to Virginia, in December, 1780, raising 2000
guineas at Baltimore, on his own credit, to supply the wants of his
troops; his rescue of Richmond; his long trial of generalship with
Cornwallis, who boasted that ‘the boy could not escape him;’ the siege
of Yorktown, and the storming of the redoubt, are proofs of his
devotion to the cause of American independence. Desirous of serving
that cause at home, he again returned to France for that purpose.
Congress, which had already acknowledged his merits on former
occasions, now passed new resolutions, Nov. 23, 1781, in which,
besides the usual marks of approbation, they desired the American
ministers to confer with him in their negotiations. In France, a
brilliant reputation had preceded him, and he was received with the
highest marks of public admiration. Still he urged upon his government
the necessity of negotiating with a powerful force in America, and
succeeded in obtaining orders to this effect. On his arrival in Cadiz,
he found 49 ships with 20,000 men, ready to follow him to America, had
not peace rendered it unnecessary. A letter from him communicated the
first intelligence of that event to congress. The importance of his
services in France may be seen by consulting his letters in the
Correspondence of the American Revolution, (Boston, 1831.) He received
pressing invitations, however, to revisit the country. Washington in
particular, urged it strongly; and, for the third time, Lafayette
landed in the United States, Aug. 4, 1784. After passing a few days at
Mount Vernon, he visited Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston,
etc., and was everywhere received with the greatest enthusiasm and
delight. Previous to his return to France, congress appointed a
deputation, consisting of one member from each state, ‘to take leave
of him on behalf of the country, and assure him that these United
States regard him with particular affection, and will not cease to
feel an interest in whatever may concern his honor and prosperity.’
After his return, he was engaged in endeavoring to mitigate the
condition of the Protestants in France, and to effect the abolition of
slavery. In the assembly of the notables, in 1787, he proposed the
suppression of _lettres de cachet_, and of the state-prisons, the
emancipation of the Protestants, and the convocation of the
representatives of the nation. When asked by the count D’Artois, since
Charles X, if he demanded the states-general――‘Yes,’ was his reply,
‘and something better.’ Being elected a member of the states-general,
which took the name of _national assembly_ (1789), he proposed a
declaration of rights, and the decree providing for the responsibility
of the officers of the crown. Two days after the attack on the
Bastile, he was appointed (July 15) commander-in-chief of the national
guards of Paris. The court and national assembly were still at
Versailles, and the populace of Paris, irritated at this, had already
adopted, in sign of opposition, a blue and red cockade (being the
colors of the city of Paris). July 26, Lafayette added to this cockade
the white of the royal arms, declaring at the same time that the
tri-color should go round the world. On the march of the populace to
Versailles (October 5 and 6), the national guards clamored to be led
thither. Lafayette refused to comply with their demand, until, having
received orders in the afternoon, he set off, and arrived at 10
o’clock, after having been on horseback from before daylight. He
requested that the interior posts of the _chateau_ might be committed
to him; but this request was refused, and the outer posts only were
entrusted to the national guards. This was the night on which the
assassins murdered two of the queen’s guards, and were proceeding to
further acts of violence, when Lafayette, at the head of the national
troops, put an end to the disorder, and saved the lives of the royal
family. In the morning he accompanied them to Paris. On the
establishment of the Jacobin club at Paris, he organized, with Bailly,
then mayor of Paris, the opposing club of Feuillans. Jan. 20, 1790, he
supported the motion for the abolition of titles of nobility, from
which period he renounced his own, and has never since resumed it. The
constitution of a representative monarchy, which was the object of his
wishes, was now proposed, and July 13, 1790, was appointed for its
acceptance by the king and the nation, and, in the name of 4,000,000
national guards, Lafayette swore fidelity to the constitution.
Declining the dangerous power of constable of France, or generalissimo
of the national guards of the kingdom, after having organized the
national militia, and defended the king from the popular violence, he
resigned all command, and retired to his estates. The first coalition
against France (1792) soon called him from his retirement. Being
appointed one of the three major-generals in the command of the French
armies, he established discipline, and defeated the enemy at
Philippeville, Maubeuge and Florennes, when his career of success was
interrupted by the domestic factions of his country. Lafayette openly
denounced the terrible Jacobins, in his letter of June 16, in which he
declared that the enemies of the revolution, under the mask of popular
leaders, were endeavoring to stifle liberty under the excesses of
licentiousness. June 20, he appeared at the bar of the assembly, to
vindicate his conduct, and demand the punishment of the guilty authors
of the violence. But the Mountain had already overthrown the
constitution, and nothing could be effected. Lafayette then offered to
conduct the king and his family to Compiègne. This proffer being
declined, he returned to the army, which he endeavored to rally round
the constitution. June 30, he was burnt in effigy at the Palais-Royal,
and Aug. 5, was accused of treason before the assembly. Still he
declared himself openly against the proceedings of August 10; but,
finding himself unsupported by his soldiers, he determined to leave
the country, and take refuge in some neutral ground. Some persons have
charged general Lafayette with a want of firmness at this period; but
it is without a full understanding of the situation of things.
Conscious that a price was set on his head at home, knowing that his
troops would not support him against the principles which were
triumphing in the clubs and the assembly, and sensible that, even if
he were able to protract the contest with the victorious faction, the
frontiers would be exposed to the invasions of the emigrants and their
foreign allies, with whom he would have felt it treason against the
nation to have negotiated, he had no alternative. Having been captured
by an Austrian patrol, he was delivered to the Prussians, by whom he
was again transferred to Austria. He was carried, with great secrecy,
to Olmutz, where he was subjected to every privation and suffering,
and cut off from all communication with his friends, who were not even
able to discover the place of his confinement until late in 1794. An
unsuccessful attempt was made to deliver him from prison by Dr.
Bollman, a German, and colonel Huger, of Charleston, S. C. His wife
and daughters, however, succeeded in obtaining admission to him, and
remained with him nearly two years, till his release. Washington had
written directly to the emperor of Austria on his behalf, without
effect; but, after the memorable campaign of Bonaparte in Italy, the
French government required that the prisoners at Olmutz should be
released, which was done Aug. 25, 1797, after a negotiation that
lasted three months. Refusing to take any part in the revolutions of
the 18th Fructidor, or of the 18th Brumaire, he returned to his estate
at La Grange, and, declining the dignity of senator, offered him by
Bonaparte, he gave his vote against the consulate for life, and,
taking no further part in public affairs, devoted himself to
agricultural pursuits. On the restoration of the Bourbons, in 1814, he
perceived that their principles of government were not such as France
required, and he did not therefore leave his retirement. The 20th of
March, 1815, again saw Napoleon on the imperial throne, and
endeavoring to conciliate the nation by the profession of liberal
principles Lafayette refused, though urged, through the medium of
Joseph, to see him, protested against the _acte additionnel_ of April
22, declined the peerage offered him by the emperor, but accepted the
place of representative, to which the votes of his fellow-citizens
called him. He first met Napoleon at the opening of the chambers: the
emperor received him with great marks of kindness, to which, however,
he did not respond; but, although he would take no part in the
projects of Napoleon, he gave his vote for all necessary supplies, on
the ground that France was invaded, and that it was the duty of all
Frenchmen to defend their country. June 21, Napoleon returned from
Waterloo, and it was understood that it was determined to dissolve the
house of representatives, and establish a dictatorship. Two of his
counselors informed Lafayette that in two hours the representative
body would cease to exist. Immediately on the opening of the session,
he ascended the tribune, and addressed the house as follows: ‘When,
for the first time after an interval of many years, I raise a voice
which all the old friends of liberty will still recognize, it is to
speak of the dangers of the country, which you only can save. This,
then, is the moment for us to rally round the old tri-colored
standard, the standard of ‘89, of liberty, of equality, of public
order, which we have now to defend against foreign violence, and
domestic usurpation.’ He then moved that the house declare itself in
permanent session, and all attempts to dissolve it high treason; that
whoever should make such an attempt, should be considered a traitor,
etc. In the evening, Napoleon sent Lucien to the house, to make one
more effort in his favor. Lucien, in a strain of impassioned
eloquence, conjured the house not to compromise the honor of the
French nation by inconstancy to the emperor. At these words, Lafayette
rose in his place, and, addressing himself directly to the orator,
exclaimed, ‘Who dares accuse the French nation of inconstancy to the
emperor? Through the sands of Egypt, and the wastes of Russia, over 50
fields of battle, this nation has followed him devotedly; and it is
for this that we now mourn the blood of three millions of Frenchmen.’
This appeal had such an effect on the assembly, that Lucien resumed
his seat without finishing his discourse. A deputation of five members
from each house was then appointed to deliberate in committee with the
council of ministers. Of this deputation, general Lafayette was a
member, and he moved that a committee should be sent to the emperor to
demand his abdication. The arch-chancellor refused to put the motion;
but the emperor sent in his abdication the next morning (June 22). A
provisional government was formed, and Lafayette was sent to demand a
suspension of hostilities of the allies, which was refused. On his
return, he found Paris in possession of the enemy; and, a few days
after (July 8), the doors of the representatives’ chamber were closed,
and guarded by Prussian troops. Lafayette conducted a number of the
members to the house of Lanjuinais, the president, where they drew up
a protest against this act of violence, and quietly separated.
Lafayette now retired once more to La Grange, where he remained till
1818, when he was chosen member of the chamber of deputies. Here he
continued to support his constitutional principles, by opposing the
laws of exception, the establishment of the censorship of the press,
the suspension of personal liberty, etc, and by advocating the cause
of public instruction, the organization of a national militia, and the
inviolability of the charter.
In August, 1824, he landed at New York, on a visit to the United
States, upon the invitation of the president, and was received, in
every part of the country, with the warmest expressions of delight and
enthusiasm. He was proclaimed, by the popular voice, ‘the guest of the
nation,’ and his presence was everywhere the signal for festivals and
rejoicings. He passed through the 24 states of the Union in a sort of
triumphal procession, in which all parties joined to forget their
dissensions, in which the veterans of the war renewed their youth, and
the young were carried back to the doings and sufferings of their
fathers. Having celebrated, at Bunker hill, the anniversary of the
first conflict of the revolution, and, at Yorktown, that of its
closing scene, in which he himself had borne so conspicuous a part,
and taken leave of the four ex-presidents of the United States, he
received the farewell of the president in the name of the nation, and
sailed from the capital in a frigate named, in compliment to him, the
Brandywine, September 7, 1825, and arrived at Havre, where the
citizens, having peaceably assembled to make some demonstration of
their respect for his character, were dispersed by the _gendarmerie_.
In December preceding, the congress of the United States made him a
grant of $200,000, and a township of land, ‘in consideration of his
important services and expenditures during the American revolution.’
The grant of money was in the shape of stock, bearing interest at six
per cent., and redeemable December 31, 1834. In August, 1827, he
attended the obsequies of Manuel, over whose body he pronounced a
eulogy. In November, the chamber of deputies was dissolved. Lafayette
was again returned a member by the new elections. Shortly before
the revolution of 1830, he traveled to Lyons, etc., and was
enthusiastically received――a striking contrast to the conduct of the
ministers towards him, and an alarming symptom to the despotic
government. During the revolution of July, 1830, he was appointed
general-in-chief of the national guards of Paris, and, though not
personally engaged in the fight, his activity and name were of the
greatest service. To the Americans, Lafayette, the intimate friend of
Washington, had appeared, in his late visit, almost like a great
historical character returning from beyond the grave. In the eyes of
the French, he was a man of the early days of their revolution――a man,
moreover, who never changed side or principle. His undeviating
consistency is acknowledged by all, even by those who do not allow him
the possession of first rate talents. When the national guards were
established throughout France, after the termination of the struggle,
he was appointed their commander-in-chief, and his activity in this
post was admirable. August 17, he was made marshal of France. His
influence with the government seems to have been, for some time,
great, but whether his principles were too decidedly republican to
please the new authorities (a few days after the adoption of the new
charter, he declared himself against hereditary peerage, and
repeatedly called himself a pupil of the American school), or whether
he was considered as the rallying point of the republican party, or
whatever may have been the reason, he sent in his resignation in
December, 1830, which was accepted, and count Lobau appointed chief of
the national guards of Paris. Lafayette declared from the tribune,
that he had acted thus in consequence of the distrust which the power
accompanying his situation seemed to excite in some people. On the
same occasion, he also expressed his disappprobation of the new law of
election. Shortly before his resignation, he exerted himself most
praiseworthily to maintain order during the trial of the ex-ministers.
The Poles made him first grenadier of the Polish national guards. He
died at Paris, May 18, 1834. Regnault-Warin’s _Memoires sur le General
Lafayette_ (Paris, 1824), contains many facts relative to his
political life in France. His secretary, M. Levasseur, published an
account of his tour in the United States (Paris, 1825), which has been
translated in America.