procession was conducted, were crowded with inhabitants in every part.
The ladies thus situated, caught the enthusiasm of the occasion, waved
their white handkerchiefs, and, with smiles and gladness, greeted
the veteran hero, who appeared affected and delighted by these
demonstrations of a joyful welcome. The moment Lafayette arrived at
the line of the city, the bells struck, and rang merry peals, while the
procession was passing through the streets.
Excepting the cavalcade, the procession passed through the Common from
Boylston to Park street, on the eastern margin, and between too lines
of children of both sexes, belonging to the several schools in the city.
Their ages were from about eight to twelve, and nearly three thousand in
number. Their dress was neat and uniform; the misses in white, and the
masters in white pantaloons and blue spencers. They also wore ribbons
in their breasts, stamped with a miniature likeness of Lafayette. As
the carriage, in which the general rode, was passing, one of the misses
darted from the line where she was standing, and begged to speak with
him. She was handed into the carriage, and by the Mayor presented
to Lafayette, who pressed an affectionate kiss on her blooming, yet
blushing cheek. She had confidence, however, to address him, and to
place a wreath of flowers, which she held, on his head. He made her a
short but affectionate reply, and placed the wreath on the seat of the
carriage. Attached to the wreath of flowers was a small piece of paper,
carefully folded, which contained these lines: said to be composed by
the mother of the child.
"An infant hand presents these blushing flowers,
Glowing and pure as childhood's artless hours,
Where roses bloom, and buds of _promise_ smile,
Repaying with their charms the culturers toil.
Oh! _take them_ FATHER, they were culled _for you_!
(Still bright with warm _affection's_ sacred dew--)
O let them _live_ in thy benignant smile,
And o'er thy _brow of glory_ bloom awhile!
'Twined with the _laurel_ Fame on thee bestowed
When thy _young heart_ with patriot ardor glow'd;
_Self exiled_ from the charms of _wealth_ and _love_,
And, _home_, and _friends_, thou didst _our champion
prove_,
And, by the side of Glorious WASHINGTON,
Didst make our grateful country _all thine own_!
Go, fragile offering, speak the ardent joy
Our bosoms feel, which _Time_ can ne'er destroy!"
Arches were thrown across several of the principal streets, through
which Lafayette was conducted, covered with evergreens and flowers, and
containing appropriate mottos. There were two in Washington-street, the
largest, and part of the distance, the widest street in the City.--On
one of these was very legibly written--"1776--WASHINGTON and LAFAYETTE.
_Welcome Lafayette--A Republic not ungrateful_." On the other
"WELCOME LAFAYETTE."
"The Fathers in glory shall sleep,
Who gather'd with thee to the fight;
But the sons will eternally keep
The tablet of gratitude bright.
We bow not the neck
And we bend not the knee,
But our hearts, LAFAYETTE,
We surrender to thee."
The lines were from the pen of a citizen of Boston, whose poetic talents
had often delighted the public, and who had received the highest praise
from those capable of appreciating the productions of genius.
When the possession arrived at the steps of the State House, near the
head of Park Street, salutes were fired by a battalion of artillery on
the eminence on the western part of the Common, and at the Navy Yard at
Charlestown. Salutes were also fired by a battalion of artillery, placed
on the heights of Dorchester, (now South Boston,) when General Lafayette
reached the line of the city, at 11 o'clock. The President of the
United States had caused an order to be issued, on the first arrival of
Lafayette, at New-York, requiring, that he be received by the military
officers of the nation, at all public posts, with the salutes and honors
due to one of the highest rank in the army.
The Governor and Executive Council of the Commonwealth, were assembled
in the spacious Senate Chamber to receive Lafayette in the name of the
Representatives of the people, and in pursuance of their resolve of June
preceding, as well as in accordance with their own personal feelings
and wishes. His Excellency the Governor, here addressed him with great
feeling, [Footnote: Governor Eustis was so affected, that he had to
call on one of the aids to read the greater part of the address.] in the
following concise and pertinent speech:
"SIR, OUR FRIEND,--
"In the name of the government, and in behalf of the citizens of
Massachusetts, I have the honor to greet you with a cordial, an
affectionate welcome.
"We thank God, that he has been pleased to preserve you through
the scenes of peril and of suffering, which have distinguished your
patriotic and eventful life, and that we are indulged with this occasion
of renewing to you our grateful acknowledgements for the important
services which you have rendered to our common country.
"In the last surviving Major General of the American revolutionary army,
we recognize a benefactor and friend, from a distant and gallant nation;
who, inspired by a love of liberty, subjected himself in his youth,
to the toils and hazards of a military life, in support of our rights.
Under our illustrious Washington, you were instrumental in establishing
the liberties of our country, while your gallantry in the field, secured
to yourself an imperishable renown.
"With the enjoyment of the blessings of independence, we shall never
cease to associate the name of Lafayette, and our prayer to heaven will
be for his health and prosperity."
To which the General, with much animation, replied:--
"SIR,
"When, in the name of the people and government of this State, your
Excellency is pleased so kindly to welcome an American veteran, I am
proud to share the honors and enjoyments of such a reception with my
revolutionary companions and brother soldiers. Sir, I am delighted with
what I see, I am oppressed with what I feel; but I depend upon you, as
an old friend, to do justice to my sentiments."
Afterwards, a great number of gentlemen were introduced to Lafayette, in
the Senate Chamber; of whom were the Judges and other public officers of
the United States, of the State and of the City; members of the society
of Cincinnati, with their venerable and distinguished President, Hon.
John Brooks, late Governor of the Commonwealth. Lafayette recognized his
old military and personal friend, at the first sight, and embraced
him with great cordiality and affection. Some other veterans of
the revolutionary army, who were present, he also recollected; and
discovered strong emotions as they approached him and took his hand.
Indeed, he was so eager to meet them, that he very generally first
seized them, and clung to them with all the affection of a brother. The
scene was inexpressibly affecting. There was not a heart untouched--not
a cheek unmoistened by the falling tear. To weep then was not weakness;
it was proof of gratitude and of a generous feeling, which is an honor
to human nature.
By particular request, and to gratify the wishes of the people collected
in front of the State House, General Lafayette appeared in the colonnade
of this superb edifice, where he was greeted with loud and continued
cheers. He was then conducted by the committee of arrangements, to the
residence provided for him at the head of Park Street. A public dinner
was given by the city authorities, in honor of their noble guest; and
the invitation was extended to Senators and members of Congress, the
Governor and Ex-Governor of the Commonwealth, judicial and other public
characters.
A committee of the society of Cincinnati Called upon General Lafayette
at the residence of the Governor, in Roxbury, and before his entrance
into Boston. They were anxious to offer him their congratulations at the
earliest moment; and to bid him welcome to the land they had unitedly
struggled to defend. And a few days after his arrival, the whole society
waited on him, when their President made the following address:--
"SIR,
"The Society of Cincinnati of the State of Massachusetts seize the
earliest moment after your arrival in this city, of extending to you
the hand of friendship and affection. We offer you our most cordial
congratulations on your safe arrival again, after the lapse of forty
years, on the shores of our favored country, once the theatre of our
united toils, privations, and combats with a powerful foe, but now the
peaceful domain of a great, a free, and independent people. We hail
you, sir, in unison with the millions of our fellow citizens; most
respectfully hail you as a Statesman, as a Philanthropist, and as the
early, inflexible, and devoted friend, not only of our beloved country,
but of the sacred principles of civil liberty and human rights. But we
greet you under more tender and hallowed associations; in the endearing
relation of a brother-soldier, who, in the ardor of youth commenced in
the field with us your career of glory, in the holy cause of Liberty and
American Independence.
"But here recollections crowd upon our minds too powerful for utterance.
Words would but mock the deep emotions of our hearts should we attempt
to express them, in contemplating the character, attributes, and
services of the parental Chief, under whose auspices we trod together
the field of honor. To the profound veneration and love for his memory
that penetrates your bosom, we refer you as to a transcript of our own.
It would be vain to imagine the joy that would swell the great mind
of Washington, were he still living to recognize with our nation, the
generous disinterestedness, the glowing ardor, the personal sacrifices,
and the gallant achievements of his much loved Fayette. But it is
equally vain to endeavor on this occasion, to exclude such interesting
reflections from the mind, or to deny it the melancholy pleasure of
lingering on the solemn reality, that not a single individual of the
General Staff of the army of the American Revolution now survives to
participate in the joy that your presence in the United States has
awakened.
"To us it is peculiarly grateful that you are permitted after a lapse of
so long a period, to witness the consummation of the principles of our
revolution. You will perceive, sir, that the hopes and predictions of
the wise and good men who were your particular associates in the arduous
struggle, have been fulfilled and surpassed. You will behold a great
people united in their principles of jurisprudence, cemented together
by the strong ties of mutual interests and happy under the fostering
influence of a free and energetic government.
"You will, therefore, allow us to reiterate our felicitations on your
safe arrival among us, and to welcome you once more to the good land
which your youthful valor contributed to elevate and distinguish.
"May your future life be as tranquil and happy as your past has been
useful, uniform, and glorious."
To which the General returned the following answer:
"Amidst the inexpressible enjoyments which press upon my heart, I could
not but feel particularly eager and happy to meet my beloved brothers in
arms. Many, many, I call in vain; and at the head of them, our matchless
paternal Chief, whose love to an adopted son, I am proud to say, you
have long witnessed--But while we mourn together, for those we have
lost, while I find a consolation, in the sight of their relations
and friends, it is to me a delightful gratification, to recognise my
surviving companions of our revolutionary army--that army so brave, so
virtuous, so united by mutual confidence and affection. That we have
been the faithful soldiers of independence, freedom, and equality,
those three essential requisites of national and personal dignity and
happiness; that we have lived to see those sacred principles secured to
this vast Republic, and cherished elsewhere by all generous minds, shall
be the pride of our life, the boast of our children, the comfort of our
last moments.--Receive, my dear brother soldiers, the grateful thanks,
and constant love of your old companion and friend."
On Wednesday was the anniversary of commencement in Harvard University,
at Cambridge. The corporation had requested the president, to send
a particular invitation to General Lafayette, to be present on the
occasion. He had expressed a wish, soon after his arrival at New-York,
to attend that literary anniversary. The corporation heard of his
intention with great satisfaction. They were sensible of his love of
literature, and of his attachment to this ancient seminary. And they
remembered, that the governors of the college appreciated his merits
_forty years_ before, by conferring upon him the highest honors they
could bestow. At a meeting of the corporation on the 21st of August, it
was voted--
"That the corporation learn with peculiar satisfaction, the intention
of General Lafayette to visit this part of our country, at the period of
the approaching commencement, and regard the event as auspicious to that
joyous and interesting anniversary; and respectfully request, that he
will favor the university with his company on that occasion; and thereby
afford to the members of the university, and to those who are candidates
for its honors, the opportunity of seeing and honoring the distinguished
patriot and soldier, whose willing sacrifices and valuable services
were devoted to the cause which has secured to the successive races of
American youth, the blessings of education in a land of freedom; and
whose virtuous and glorious career holds forth to the rising generation,
a bright example of the qualities which ought to adorn those, who aspire
to aid in the councils, or maintain the rights and interests of a free
people."
General Lafayette was escorted from Boson to Cambridge, on Wednesday
morning, by a company of cavalry, and accompanied by the Governor
and Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth. In passing through
Cambridge Port, he was gratefully cheered by the assembled citizens, and
eloquently addressed by one of the most distinguished, in the name of
the whole. The reply of Lafayette was characteristic and affectionate.
He was met by the Corporation and Professors, on his arriving within the
precincts of the college, and thus addressed by the learned President
Kirkland--
"We bid you welcome, General Lafayette, to the most ancient of the
seminaries of our land. The Overseers and Fellows of the University, the
Professors and other officers, the candidates for the academic honors
of this day, and the students, tender you their respectful, their
affectionate salutations. We greet you with peculiar pleasure, at
this literary festival, gratified that, you regard the occasion with
interest, and espouse the attachment, which as members of a republic, we
cannot fail to cherish to the cause of learning and education.
"As a man, sustaining his part through various scenes, prosperous and
adverse, of an eventful life, your character and course, marked by moral
dignity, have challenged particular respect and sympathy. As the patron,
the champion and benefactor of America, you have a relation to us, by
which we call you our own, and join gratitude and affection to exalted
esteem. The early and costly pledges you gave of devotion to the
principles and spirit of our institutions, your adoption of our perilous
and uncertain contest for national existence, your friendship in the
hour of our greatest need, have associated your name in the minds and
hearts of Americans, with the dearest and most affecting recollections.
The fathers teach their children, and the instructors their pupils, to
hold you in love and honor; and the history of these states takes charge
of your claims to the grateful remembrance of all future generations.
"It is a pleasing reflection attending the progress of these
communities, that it justifies our friends and supporters; and that the
predilections and hopes in our favor, which you indulged in the ardor
of youth, have been followed by good auspices till your advanced age.
We are, indeed, happy in presenting you the fruit of your toils and
dangers, in the kindly operation of the causes, which you did so much to
call into action, and we rejoice in every demonstration we are able
to give, that your care for us has not been vain. Knowing how you
feel yourself to have a property in our welfare, and sensible of the
enjoyment accruing to your generous spirit from our prosperity, we find
in these considerations, new motives to maintain liberty with ardor; and
in the exercise of our functions, feel bound to endeavour to send out
from our care, enlightened and virtuous men, employing their influence
to secure to their country the advantages, and prevent and remedy the
evils attending the wide diffusion among a people of political power.
"Accept our wishes and prayers for your health and happiness. May the
Invisible Hand which has been your safeguard thus far, continue its
protecting care. May the Supreme Disposer, the Witness and Judge of
character and conduct, having appointed you a long and tranquil evening
of days, receive you to the final and glorious reward of the faithful in
a perfect state."
The following is the substance of the General's reply:--
"It is with real pleasure, sir, that I find myself again at this
University, which I visited for the first time, more than forty years
ago. The great improvements which have been made here during the
interval, are striking evidences of the tendency of liberal political
institutions, to promote the progress of civilization and learning.
I beg, you to accept my warmest thanks for your kind expressions of
personal civility to myself, and my best wishes for the continued
prosperity of the valuable establishment over which you preside."
When he entered the place provided for the celebration of commencement,
where a numerous company of ladies and gentlemen had assembled, to
attend the ceremonies and literary performances of the day, there was
an instantaneous and universal acclamation; not stunning and boisterous;
but the decorous and chastened greeting of an intelligent audience. When
he, reached the stage, he bowed repeatedly to the assembly, with great
apparent sensibility. Several of the young gentlemen, alluded to him in
their orations; and some dwelt particularly on his early devotion to the
cause of America in the struggle for independence, with great effect.
These notices, though short and indirect, were calculated to excite the
grateful recollections of the audience; who responded to the sentiments
with enthusiastic acclamations.
Thursday and Saturday mornings, for several hours, he received the
personal compliments and congratulations of a great number of the
inhabitants of Boston and vicinity, of both sexes. They were presented
to him, on the spacious area of the ground floor of the State House.
The house provided for his residence while in the city, though unusually
large, was not well adapted for such crowds of visitors as pressed to
behold him. Many aged people were presented, who had served with him in
the revolutionary war, or recollected events of that period, which they
were desirous to relate. Some were on crutches, and others bared their
arms to show the honorable scars occasioned by the bayonet or ball of
the enemy, in the "glorious fight" for freedom. Some could boast of
having fought under his command, or by his side, at Brandywine and
Monmouth; and others, that followed in his path of peril and glory in
Virginia, in 1781, and assisted in successfully storming the redoubt at
Yorktown, on the memorable evening of the 15th of October, which decided
the fate of Cornwallis.
He seized the hands of these his old companions in arms, with great
eagerness and emotion; and while they, in the honest pride of their
souls related their "hair-breadth escapes," which led the spectators
almost to envy their claims to such honourable boasting, the veteran
hero exclaimed, "O my brave Light Infantry! My gallant troops!"--Several
aged citizens who were personally engaged in opposing the British forces
who marched to Lexington and Concord, for the purpose of destroying the
Provincial stores collected at the latter place, were present at this
interview. A gun was also shown to General Lafayette, from which was
fired the ball, which killed the first of the regular troops slain on
that memorable occasion. These meetings revived recollections important
to be preserved, and served to remind the rising generations of the
principles and deeds of their fathers. We trust they did not awaken any
angry or hostile feelings towards an ancient enemy; but served only to
kindle our gratitude to Almighty God, for his gracious interpositions in
our behalf, and to perpetuate our respect for the remains of those who
offered up their lives for our freedom and welfare.
On Thursday, by particular request of the literary society of "_Phi Beta
Kappa_," so called, in the university, General Lafayette attended
the celebration of their anniversary at Cambridge. It was never known
before, that any one, however distinguished either for literature or
virtue, was invited to dine with the society, unless a member of some
other branch of the association. The departure in this case, from the
invariable usages and rules of the society, is proof of the very high
estimation in which Lafayette is held, and of the disposition, in all
classes of citizens, to manifest their respect for his character. He
proceeded to the university, about 1 o'clock, when he was again greeted
with the hearty cheers of the citizens, as he passed the high-way,
and when he arrived. The public performances on this occasion, were an
oration and a poem. The latter was prepared at very short notice,
and had particular reference to the visit of the illustrious hero and
philanthropist, Lafayette. It purported to be the vision of the _Genius
of Liberty_. It was a felicitous effort of the poetic muse. The gradual
but certain dissolution of ancient despotic systems was predicted, as by
the spirit of inspiration; and the blessings and joys of well regulated
freedom were described with a masterly pencil, as extending and
spreading in all parts of the civilized world. It was the electrifying
voice of genius speaking to hearts full of gratitude and swelling with
joyous emotions.