Letter of Mr. Keratry on the anniversary of Bunker’s hill—Fair Mount
Water Works at Philadelphia—Germantown—Mr. Watson’s Historical
Box—Field of the Battle of Brandywine—Invocation of the Rev.
William Latta—Clergy of Lancaster—Return to Baltimore, lighted by
a fire.
Whilst the citizens of the United States were exhausting every means to
prove their grateful recollections of the ancient friend of their
fathers, of their country, and of their institutions, France was not
indifferent to the honours rendered to one of her sons on a distant
shore. By means of her writers, her poets and her orators, she united
her voice to that of republican America, to celebrate the principal
circumstances of this triumph, honourable alike to the two nations. It
was by means of one of the public journals,[21] printed at Paris and
transmitted to the United States, that Mr. Keratry, inspired by the
solemnity of Bunker’s hill, expressed the aspirations and sentiments of
every friend of liberty in France:—
“Nations acquit themselves of a sacred debt in honouring the memories of
their great citizens; but even by that they perform also an act of
personal preservation, since nothing can better excite a generous
patriotic devotion than the certainty secured to its author, of escaping
oblivion.
“There is in fact, in the acclamations of public gratitude, something
inspiring and almost contagious, which snatches man from himself, and
the interests of daily life. We sacrifice this life to assure ourselves
of another more brilliant and enduring. If told that these plaudits
should be decreed to frigid ashes, one would feel himself revived to
participate in this futurity of glory; and by a miracle of patriotism,
the general safety of a country results from all the sacrifices of
individuals.
“Nations capable of these sacrifices, even while endeavouring to throw
off a yoke of oppression, the inevitable tendency of which is to degrade
our species, wherever it is submitted to, were never without virtue. We
are entirely convinced, that as God judges men individually, by their
earthly conduct, in a future state, he pronounces also collectively on
nations here below according to their sum of merit, and this is the
providential justice of the present economy. According as he weighs
them, they prosper or they perish! Thus have colonies become
empires—thus have empires been swept away.
“Inhabitants of North America! citizens of an enfranchised world! behold
what has permitted you to become embodied and constitute a nation; see
what has guaranteed to you a perpetuity of ennobled existence! Your
nobility is produced by your habits of laborious exertion, and by your
domestic virtues. These virtues exist amongst you: where women are
chaste, men are brave; where religion is the free and spontaneous motion
of the creature toward the Creator, and is not transformed into a
political lever of worldly interests, salutary faith presides over
social order, and nerves the soul. You have had a Franklin, a
Washington, a Samuel Adams, a Jefferson: if needed, you will find
others. The tree abounds in sap, why then shall it not produce new
fruits? Your prosperity no longer excites my astonishment; it is in the
nature of things both human and divine.
“You do well, however, in enhancing the renown of these supporters of
your liberty; and in raising monuments worthy of those who died in
insuring it. The great citizen, who in 1765 was one of the founders of
the noble conspiracy in Boston, so influential on your destinies; he who
was on two memorable occasions commissioned by that city, to console, by
his eloquence, the shades of your illustrious compatriots, massacred the
2d of March, 1770; he who in 1775 assisted you to win the brilliant
auguries of the battle of Lexington, and who fell by a mortal blow at
Breed’s Hill, in the second engagement of your struggle for
independence, Dr. Warren, merited from yourselves and from your
children, a peculiar distinction.
“It was perhaps sufficient for the glory of this gallant patriot, whose
virtue was attested by the sorrow of his most decided enemies, and to
whose courage the entrenched earth yet bears witness, which received
with his blood his last drawn sigh: it was sufficient I say, that his
collected remains should have found an honourable sepulture in the bosom
of that city whose liberty he was so desirous to behold accomplished.
You have decreed more than this for his heroic companions in arms. Men
of North America, I congratulate you that the services of the brave
remain vivid in your memories: for it were the extreme of rashness, to
expect aught for the future of nations that forget the past, by which
they were established and by which they exist. There are in you the
elements of vigour, and you well know how to cherish them. You have
desired that the hand of one of the earliest defenders of your liberty
might assist you to complete the pious duty. Already have our
imaginations and our eyes followed to the tomb of Washington, this aged
soldier celebrated in the annals of two nations; nor can I believe that
the sun ever shone on a more noble spectacle on this earth. Let us
accompany, him yet farther, when on the 17th of the next month, he
united with you in founding the monument built by the citizens of Boston
to the memory of the brave of Bunker’s hill: fully worthy, indeed, to
solemnize with you this great obligation, his views no doubt were
directed toward his own country, whilst assisting you in the discharge
of your country’s debt. He shall intercede by his prayers for us, and
perhaps without envying the happy situation you owe to the civil and
military talents of your citizens, he will humbly ask of Providence why
those happy days seem to have been withdrawn from France, the dawn of
which she once beheld. No! in his grief he will be silent, lest the
tombstone, and the sacred bones which it protects, should render him a
reply too severe for us, inhabitants of ancient Europe, where,
pretensions to liberty are made without sacrifices, and to happiness
without virtue!
“Happy nation! in thy calendars are found no victories but those which
established thy independence. Nor dost thou desire others, unless a
noble sentiment should dictate to thee to be interested in the cause of
men oppressed by one of the hemispheres; for thou hast been oppressed,
and has received succour.
“Permit no one of thy citizens to become great with a greatness which
would be too personal to him, or which would disparage his compeers: for
a nation should not become a pedestal.
“Grant no distinctions to the living which they have not merited by
their achievements; nor to the dead, such as would retard the excellence
about to arise in competition with the past; for the transmission of
hereditary glory is the act of an unwise people, who alienate their
posterity to the advantage of strangers.
“Simple citizens of another state! I feel encouraged to send you this
address across the sea, whose waves separate us; but my spirit has
wished to commune with yours, and I have believed that the counsel of a
native son of France who rejoices in your fortunes, would not find a
haughty and disdainful reception, even at the moment when one of his own
countrymen is receiving the honours of your gratitude. That man to whom
is accorded the privilege of beholding himself honoured as posterity
will honour similarly great men, is preparing for a return to his native
shore: you know his heart went in search of the great and the happy of
the age, but that to him the cause of the just will ever be the good
cause, whether in triumph or defeat. Blow auspicious, then, ye winds.
Laden with gifts as in ancient days, crowned with flowers gathered by
the hands of your beauteous virgins and of their virtuous mothers, may
he speedily regain his fire-side! Soon may he be restored to expectant,
welcome embrace! Detain no longer the noble visitant on your shores! You
are rich enough in citizens. I shall not assent that they yet enrol
themselves amongst us, for it is permitted to no one to speak evil of
his country; but when the weak feel their own weaknesses and fears, the
presence of the strong is the more important.”
Governed by the feeling of his duties as a citizen, and by his
affections as the head of a numerous family, General Lafayette required
not the expression of these emanations of friendship to insure his
speedy return to France: nevertheless it was not without the kindest
emotions that they penetrated his bosom. This demonstration of his
countrymen’s continued affection contributed to mitigate the sacrifice
he felt himself bound in duty to make, in rejecting the entreaties of
the citizens of the United States, who universally and simultaneously
begged he would fix his residence amongst them.
The intention of the general was, to re-embark previous to the return of
the inclement season, but before quitting the American soil, he wished
to fulfil some engagements which he had made in different places; to
pass some time at the seat of the general government of the Union, and
to make a final visit to the ex-presidents, in their retirement in
Virginia. We were now in the middle of July, and there remained less
than two months for the execution of these designs, and he hastened
immediately to reach Pennsylvania. He passed rapidly through New Jersey,
surrounded by the customary demonstrations of the veneration of the
people. I shall not speak of the entertainments offered him by the
inhabitants of the towns he passed through, nor of his second visit to
Joseph Bonaparte, on his journey to Bordentown, where we had the
pleasure of meeting again, Colonel Achille Murat, who had just returned
from an interview with his brother, recently arrived from Spain. But we
shall pause an instant longer in Philadelphia, to visit the Water Works,
and attend the celebration festival with which the citizens particularly
engaged in these works desired to honour the nation’s guest.
We had visited, during our first stay in Philadelphia, the fine
machinery established on the Schuylkill, for the supplying of water to a
population of one hundred and twenty thousand persons, and we had been
struck with the simplicity of its mechanism, its admirable force, the
elegance and good taste of the building prepared for its protection;
however, being then pressed with other engagements, we but slightly
glanced at its general aspect, without entering into the examination of
details, and it was to supply this defect of our information that we
returned hither a second time with the committee entrusted with the
superintendence of the expenses of the establishment.
The tide in the Delaware extending far above Philadelphia, it followed
that its inhabitants could not employ the water of that stream for
culinary purposes, and heretofore they had no supply of potable water
but that which was furnished by some cisterns, which became exhausted
during the great dryness of the summer, or furnishing but an unwholesome
beverage, a great number of diseases ensued. The rapid growth of the
population soon rendered indispensable the supply of water of a better
quality, and in larger quantity. One pump wrought by steam power was
established on the border of the Schuylkill. The expense of maintaining
this pump in operation was very great, and its power insufficient, being
the only resource for the supply of a population of more than eighty
thousand souls at the end of the year 1818, at which time the watering
committee, composed of citizens distinguished for their skill and their
zeal in the public service, began to devise means for substituting, in
place of the old machinery, other works at once more suited to the
increasing demands of the city, more economical in their structure and
in the cost of continuing them in operation. Fair Mount, on the left
bank of the Schuylkill, seemed the point most favourable for the
execution of the views of the committee. The Schuylkill Navigation
Company having permitted the damming of the river to obtain a fall of
water, on condition that a canal with locks should be constructed at the
expense of the city, on the right bank of the river, in order that the
navigation should not be interrupted; and Messrs. White and Gillingham
having consented to yield, for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars,
their rights in the water courses, the committee, freed from every
obstacle, submitted their plans to the city councils, who approved them,
and voted the sum of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the
commencement of their execution.
The labour was commenced the 19th of April, 1819, under the direction of
Ariel Cooley, engineer, and was completed in four years. At the sight of
the canals it was found necessary to open, the immense piers and
embankments that had to be raised, the reservoirs which must be
excavated to a great depth in the solid rocks, it is almost
inconceivable that so many things could be achieved in so short a time.
Money, it is true, was not withheld, but money is not always sufficient,
we well know amongst us, for the accomplishment of great affairs; to act
well and promptly, we must have agents of promptness and ability, and at
the same time animated with honest zeal for the public welfare: such was
Cooley, who unfortunately forfeited his life in consequence of his
activity in the accomplishment of his duties. Incessantly exposed either
to the heat of the sun or to the freshness of the nights, he contracted
a fatal disease, which did not permit him to enjoy the fruits of his
labour. Philadelphia, to this day, regrets in him a good citizen, an
accomplished and disinterested artist.
As we have now seen them, the Water works at Fairmount can abundantly
supply the demands of the city, and afford to the friends of the useful
arts a monument worthy of their attention. The building that encloses
the machinery, is constructed of stone of a brilliant whiteness. It is
two hundred feet in length and fifty in breadth, and built in the Doric
order of architecture. The interior section is divided into twelve solid
vaulted apartments, designed for the reception of eight forcing pumps,
to be put in operation by wheels of fourteen feet in diameter, and
fourteen feet in length. Each extremity of the building is terminated by
a pavilion of the same order of architecture, the one serving for the
meetings of the watering committee, the other appropriated to the
superintendent of the establishment. Of the eight pumps there are yet
but three in operation, and by these alone there are carried into the
reservoir of distribution, which is more than a hundred feet above the
level of the river, nearly five millions of gallons of water in
twenty-four hours. Each wheel performs thirteen revolutions per minute;
they are formed with buckets perpendicular to the circumference, and
revolve with surprising regularity. Their construction is due to the
talents of Mr. Drury Bromley, who in this circumstance has forfeited no
part of his reputation as an able mechanician.
The pumps are from the establishment of Messrs. Rush and Muhlenburg;
they are castings of sixteen inches diameter, and are placed
horizontally after the plan of Mr. Graff. Their play is so simple and so
easy, that when they are in motion neither the smallest noise nor
friction can be observed. Throughout all the parts of this admirable
monument of American industry have been executed with the same care, and
it is impossible to visit it without a strong excitement of admiration
for all the individuals who have contributed to its design and
completion. Mr. John Moore, mason, and Mr. Frederick Erdman, carpenter,
have an equal share of honour with their collaborators; nor does any one
omit a just tribute of praise to the precision in the calculations of
Mr. Thomas Oaks, respecting the estimate and the application of the
forces requisite to obtain, with the least possible expense, the most
advantageous results. The total sum of expenditure, made in the
construction of this establishment, amounts to four hundred and
twenty-six thousand three hundred and thirty dollars, the interest of
which at five per cent, is twenty-one thousand three hundred and sixteen
dollars. The annual expense for salaries of workmen, repairs of
machinery, fuel, oil, &c. is only fifteen hundred dollars, which added
to the interest makes a total sum of only twenty-two thousand eight
hundred and sixteen dollars, for distributing in the city of
Philadelphia, almost five millions of gallons of water every twenty-four
hours. The original steam engine could not supply more than one million
six hundred thousand gallons of water, in twenty-four hours, and cost
annually thirty-thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight dollars: and in
order to obtain, by steam power, a daily supply of five millions of
gallons, it would have required an annual expense of at least sixty-one
thousand seven hundred and sixteen dollars. Thence there has been
secured, by the introduction of the new machinery, an annual saving of
thirty-eight thousand nine hundred dollars. To this great improvement
must likewise be added many other equally important advantages, such as
the healthfulness of the city, its great security against the ravages of
fire, the embellishment of public places by abundant fountains, the
opportunity afforded to every inhabitant of supplying his residence with
water, at the moderate price of five dollars a year, and the facility of
establishing in the city various factories, &c. by the aid of water
power.
All these details were received with a lively interest by General
Lafayette, who expressed his satisfaction and admiration, saying that
the water works at Fair Mount appeared to him the perfect representation
of the American government, in which were combined simplicity, power and
economy. Just as we were leaving this interesting spot, Mr. Lewis, as
president, and in behalf of the committee, presented the general a mode
of the machinery, and a vertical section of the building perfectly
executed in mahogany. He received it thankfully, and assured Mr. Lewis
that he would have sincere pleasure in exhibiting to his friends in
Europe, this evidence of the perfection of mechanic arts in the United
States.
Although, during the whole period of our second visit to Philadelphia,
the heat was excessive, so that Fahrenheit’s thermometer was generally
at the 98th degree, and rose sometimes to 104°, General Lafayette was
not the less assiduous in employing every day either in uniting with his
friends in the festivities to which he was invited, or in visiting the
environs of the city, nor did his health sustain one moment’s
unfavourable impression.
It was the 20th of June that we went to visit the field of battle at
Germantown and the mansion of Mr. Chew, on the walls of which may yet be
discovered traces of the cannon and musket balls, proving the prominence
of its situation in the battle that raged around it. After having
breakfasted with Mr. Benjamin Chew, the proprietor of this historic
mansion, the general continued his route to Chesnut Hill, in sight of
Barren Hill, where on the 20th of May, 1778, he effected so happily and
so successfully the famous retreat which laid the foundation of his fame
in military tactics: thence he returned to Germantown, to pass a short
time with the inhabitants, who anxiously requested he would visit their
academy, at which he was received by the students with enthusiasm. We
found amongst them the young Fernando Bolivar, adopted son of the
Liberator. General Lafayette spoke to him with pleasure of the hopes
which the friends of liberty and humanity repose in the character of his
uncle, who, until the present moment, had advanced with a firm pace in
the career pursued by Washington; the young man seemed penetrated with
grateful emotions, and expressed himself in such a manner as to excite a
hope, that his having been sent to the United States to study her
political institutions would not be without permanent benefit.
As we were leaving Germantown, Mr. John F. Watson offered for the
acceptance of the general a present of great value, on account of the
recollections it awakened. It was a box formed of many pieces of
different kinds of wood, the origin and history of which he thus
recited:
“The body of the box is made of a piece of black walnut, an ancient son
of the forest, that once occupied the spot where Philadelphia now
stands. Cotemporary with the trees which lent their shade to William
Penn and his companions, it continued till 1818, spreading its noble
branches in view of the hall in which our declaration of independence
was ratified.
“The cover is composed of four different pieces.
“The first is of a branch of a forest tree, the last surviving of those
which were removed in order to dig the first foundations of
Philadelphia.
“The vigour that yet animates the vegetation of this ancient tree, is an
evidence of the rapid growth of the city, which has risen and become
great whilst the tree is still flourishing.
“The second is a piece of oak, broken off the first bridge built in
1683, over the little river Canard. This piece was found in 1823 at
about six feet below the surface of the earth.
“The third is a piece of the famous elm under which Penn’s first treaty
with Shackamaxum was made. It fell from old age in 1810, but a branch
from it is now growing, and in a flourishing state, in the garden of the
hospital, and our fellow citizens delight to recount the story of its
origin whilst protected by its shade.
“The fourth awakens recollections of yet more olden time. It is a
fragment of the first house raised by European hands upon the American
shores! It is a piece of mahogany of the habitation constructed and
occupied in 1496, by the immortal Columbus. Honour to the Haytien
government, which still watches with care for the preservation of this
precious monument.
“I offer you these reliques with confidence,” continued Mr. Watson,
“persuaded, as I am, that it is with interest you receive every thing
connected with the remembrance of the first movements of a nation that
has received so many proofs of your friendship.”
General Lafayette was, indeed, highly flattered by Mr. Watson’s present.
He received it with gratitude, and a pledge that it should find a place
amongst the most precious memorials of his tour. To this first present
Mr. Watson added also another not less valuable; a piece of the American
frigate “Alliance,” in which Lafayette had twice crossed the ocean
during the revolutionary war.
On the 21st, we went to spend the day in the _state_ of Schuylkill. But
before speaking of the honours conferred there on the voyager, a few
words of explanation of this “state,” will be requisite. “In 1731 some
citizens of Philadelphia united themselves into an association having
both pleasure and beneficence for its design. They purchased a large
tract of land near the falls of the Schuylkill, built a house for the
accommodation of their meetings, elected a governor, council, secretary
of state, treasurer, and judge, established a seal, and constituted
themselves the ‘Colony of the Schuylkill.’ More than half a century
passed away without the slightest circumstance transpiring to give
occasion of trouble to the colony: every day was marked by its
benefactions, and delight and mutual confidence presided at all the
periodical festivals, at which the members were assembled at a common
table. But subject to the destiny of states, all of which have their
vicissitudes, the colony of Schuylkill was also to experience a
revolution. In 1783, at the conclusion of a dinner of more than fifty
covers, the colony rose and declared independence: resolved to revise
their constitution, and the Colony of the Schuylkill became, in the
course of a few hours, the ‘republic of the State of Schuylkill,’ and no
attempt was made on the part of the mother country to oppose it. Since
that time the new republic has gone on advancing in strength and riches;
its pleasures and its acts of benevolence followed at an equal rate.
Possessed now of an enlarged estate acquired by a treaty with a farmer,
she has transferred her seat of government, that is, her nets, her
kitchen and cellar, three miles farther down the stream, under the cool
shades on the banks of the river.”
Here it was that General Lafayette was received by the citizens and
magistrates, who in the costume of fishermen, awaited his arrival on the
frontier of their state. In a short and eloquent address, the secretary
of state recounted to him the history of the republic, from its
establishment to the present time, and concluded by announcing to him
that the title and all the rights of citizen had been granted to him by
a unanimous vote. As soon as the general had expressed his acceptance of
the honour and his gratitude, he was invested with the national costume,
and, his head being protected with the large straw hat, he entered into
the occupations of the community. Mr. George Lafayette, Mr. de Syon, and
myself, were also admitted to partake of the duties of the day; people
and magistrates, all with one accord, assisted without distinction in
the work. We embarked in the batteaux belonging to the republic, and
obtained an abundant supply of fish, and in four hours we were seated at
the banquet prepared by our own hands. Never was a repast attended with
greater gaiety, nor cheered by better wine, and long shall we have the
pleasure of remembering the delight and good cheer we found in the state
of Schuylkill.
The week we had just spent in Philadelphia, as it were in his own
family, had entirely composed the fatigue of the general; and although
the heat continued excessive, he undertook, on the 25th, his journey to
Wilmington, where a great number of Pennsylvanians and Virginians were
in waiting to conduct him to the field of the battle of Brandywine. This
field was not rendered illustrious by a victory, as has been said, but
its remembrance is not less dear to Americans, who gratefully recollect
the blood spilled there by their fathers, and by young Lafayette, in the
defence of their rights, and to secure their independence. Happy that
country in which events are appreciated more by their influence on its
destinies than by the eclat of the moment! The men who took the first
steps in procuring the liberties of the United States in the battles of
Bunker’s hill and on the banks of the Brandywine, are at this day not
less honoured in the eyes of the nation than those who sealed it last,
at the battle of Yorktown.
In the beginning of September, 1777, General Howe, at the head of
eighteen thousand men of the British army, embarked on board the fleet
commanded by his brother, and left New York without the possibility of
the Americans ascertaining precisely the object of his expedition. A few
days after it was ascertained that he had entered the Chesapeake, and
had landed at the Head of Elk, for the purpose of marching to attack
Philadelphia, Washington immediately marched through this city, where
the congress were then in session, and advanced to meet the enemy,
annoying him with several attacks between the point of his debarkation
and a small stream, the Brandywine, behind which the American army,
greatly inferior in number, and composed almost wholly of militia, had
just taken their position. Chads-Ford was in front of their encampment,
where it was contemplated to give them battle, but General Howe leaving
a body of troops on the opposite side of the stream, in order to cover
his manœuvre, marched forward to pass another ford on the right of the
Americans. This movement was so much the more difficult to reconnoitre,
as the banks of the stream were densely grown with wood, and, by a
singular fatality, the two parallel roads leading to the two fords were
called by the same name, so that the reports received by Washington from
his scouts, though apparently contradictory, were nevertheless true.
This confusion of names threw the American general into a most painful
anxiety; he hesitated too long on the course he was to pursue, and lost
a most precious moment which might have given him the victory. Had he
been able to procure definite intelligence of the movements of the
enemy, he would have passed the ford before him, and most certainly
would have defeated the British division which remained at Chads-Ford,
commanded by Knyphauzen, and then falling suddenly on the body under
General Howe, surprising him by an attack in flank, would almost
inevitably have succeeded in a complete defeat of the English army; but
the occasion passed rapidly, and the firing of muskets on his right soon
apprized Washington of the danger of his situation. Happily he had
established a position behind the second ford, of three brigades,
commanded by Sullivan and Sterling. These three brigades sustained the
attack with vigour, and for a short time arrested the British by a
deadly fire: but their line being attacked both right and left, by
superior forces, the wings gave way. The centre continued its position
firmly, in defiance of the shower of broken brass that was poured in
upon them. But this centre itself at last began to yield, and was about
to beat a retreat, when young Lafayette, notwithstanding his rank of
brevet-major, was yet serving as a simple volunteer near the
commander-in-chief, dismounted from his horse, and went, sword in hand,
to place himself at the head of a company of grenadiers, who, reanimated
by this noble effort, maintained themselves firmly for a few moments.
Soon, however, Lafayette received a shot below the knee, and was obliged
to retire with his grenadiers; but he had already reaped the reward of
his devotedness, for he had procured the opportunity for Washington to
join the division of General Greene, and of recommencing the action in a
second line. Here the fight raged on either side with obstinate
perseverance, and the astonishing spectacle was exhibited of militia
rallying after a first check, and fronting with firm step an enemy
superior in numbers and in discipline. The event of this second contest
was yet doubtful, when suddenly Washington learned that the pass of
Chads-Ford was forced, and that Knyphauzen was about to fall on his left
flank; he immediately resolved to secure a retreat to Chester, where he
arrived with his army the same evening.
The battle was lost, but the British had paid dear for their victory,
and the moral force of the Americans was augmented even by their defeat.
In this day’s engagement Lafayette had sealed with his blood his
alliance with the principles for which he had crossed the ocean, and
forever secured to himself the gratitude of a nation amongst whom
generous and noble sentiments outlive the ravages of time.
It was once more to evince their gratitude for their long tried friend,
that the revolutionary soldiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia had now
assembled with their sons to conduct Lafayette to the field of the
battle of Brandywine. We left Chester on the 26th of July, with a
retinue, at the head of which appeared the two oldest revolutionary
officers of the neighbouring counties, Colonel M’Lean and Captain
Anderson. Numerous bodies of militia had preceded us, and were already
gone to take their position at the ancient encampment of the American
army, where may yet be discovered traces of one of the redoubts. It was
about noon when we arrived on the borders of the Brandywine, along which
we were to travel to the point at which, as we had been informed, the
army had passed. But on approaching the stream, General Lafayette cast a
glance on the surrounding country and said, “It cannot be here that we
passed in 1777, it must be a little higher up the stream.” It was in
fact ascertained that the passage had been effected just above the spot
we occupied. This accuracy of observation and vivid recollection excited
in a high degree the admiration of the numerous witnesses.
At Chads-Ford the general learned that one of his companions in arms,
Gideon Gilpin, under whose roof he had passed the night before the
battle, was now confined to bed by age and infirmity, and despaired of
being able to join his fellow citizens in their testimony of respect to
the general: he went to visit the aged soldier, whom he found surrounded
by his family. Gideon Gilpin, notwithstanding his extreme weakness,
recognized him on his entrance, and proved by tears of grateful and
tender recollection how much this visit tended to the comfort and
soothing of his last moments.
On arriving at the field of battle, General Lafayette recognised
successively, and pointed out to us himself, all the principal points on
which the two armies had manœuvred and fought on the 11th of September
1777; nor did his recollection wander a single moment. Being arrived at
the spot where the first attack was made, and where he had been wounded,
he paused a moment; his ancient companions pressed around his carriage,
and the militia passed before him, amid the loudest acclamations and the
cry a thousand times re-echoed, “long live Lafayette.” During the whole
of this scene, of profound emotion on his part, and which his modesty
induced him frequently to attempt to abridge, he spoke to those around
him of nothing but the presence of mind evinced by Washington on the
fatal day of the 11th September, and of the courage manifested by the
officers and soldiers in supporting him. But in vain he recalled the
names of the most illustrious chiefs, and attributed to them all the
glory of having saved the army: the reply he received was by pointing
him to the soil on which he had spilled his blood, and the sight of this
indestructible monument exalted to the highest degree the gratitude of
the crowd of spectators who accompanied him. In prolonging our excursion
along the route by which the British had conducted their first attack,
we arrived at the house of Mr. Samuel Jones. It had been for a short
time occupied by General Howe during the battle, and yet retains traces
of the well directed fire of the American artillery. After the elegant
collation with which we were entertained by Mrs. Jones, we had presented
to us various implements and remains of arms found on the field of
battle; and we returned with these precious reliques to West Chester,
where we concluded the day in the enjoyment of festivities prepared by
the inhabitants.
In the multiplied recitals I have made of the public rejoicings at which
I assisted, during my stay in the United States, it was impossible not
to be struck with the constant association of religious ideas and
patriotic sentiments which so strongly characterise the citizens of this
republic: but what is not less remarkable is, that their religion, free
of practical minutiæ, seems as much an uniform sentiment as their love
of liberty resembles an uniform faith. With them a political orator
never terminates a prepared address without an invocation, or grateful
recognition of divine power; and a minister of the gospel on taking the
pulpit commences, by recalling to the notice of his auditors their
duties as citizens, and their peculiar privileges in living under the
wise institutions of their country. It may also be remarked, that this
union of political morals and theology influences all the actions of the
Americans with a gravity and deep conviction, the charm and tendency of
which are wholly inexpressible. How could any one listen to these simple
and touching invocations without being deeply affected, and without
uniting in their humble and pious acknowledgements? We were about being
seated at the hospitable board prepared by the citizens of West Chester
at the National Hotel, when the president of the day remarked that a
minister of the church was in the company, and invited him to ask a
blessing on the assemblage, which was done in the most affecting manner
by the Rev. William Latta.
A committee of the citizens of Lancaster having been deputed to escort
General Lafayette from West Chester, he committed himself to their care
on the 27th, after taking leave of a great number of the soldiers of
1776, who could not receive the last adieu of the aged general without
testifying their emotion with tears.
I have already, I believe, mentioned the remarkable fact, that at the
south, as at the north, and from the east to the west of the United
States, we had met with men of different manners and languages,
submitting for the general good to the same democratic government;
living in harmony, in the enjoyment of domestic happiness and of public
prosperity, under the shield of the same institutions. Having made this
observation, we naturally concluded that neither great wealth nor
diverse habits of the people of this country, are obstacles to the
establishment and the administration of republican government, which is
founded on an equal appreciation of the interests and rights of all.
Nothing perhaps more strongly confirmed General Lafayette in this
opinion, than a view of the city and county of Lancaster, where are
found men from all parts of America and Europe, and of almost every
diversity of religious faith, yet all attached to the wise and excellent
institutions by which they are governed.
I shall not describe the festivities with which the citizens of
Lancaster entertained the man, who, whilst they received him as a guest,
they most warmly claimed as their friend, though they were not inferior
either in elegance or cordiality to those of the largest cities of the
Union. I shall not, however, pass over in silence, events which by their
nature serve to explain the unity of sentiments and principles which
characterise all classes of the American people. I shall, therefore,
relate the proceedings of the clergy of every denomination in the city
and vicinity, who, at the intelligence of the arrival of the general,
spontaneously collected to unite their patriotic felicitations with
those of the other citizens. Their congratulations were conveyed by the
dean on their behalf, without distinction of sect. If the address were
to be given at length, it would give additional weight to the opinion I
have already advanced respecting the American clergy: but it will
suffice, I trust, to relate a portion of the general’s reply, in which
this opinion is expressed with a strength and precision which leave no
doubt of his convictions.
“I accept,” replied he, “with sincere gratitude the proofs of kindness
and regard which the clergy of this city and vicinity have voluntarily
accorded to me, and which you, sir, have expressed in so impressive a
manner. In my happy sojourn in this country, I have often had occasion
to remark the veneration which the clergy of every denomination inspire,
whose individual members, apostles of the rights of man, are the
immediate functionaries of a religion founded on the principles of
liberty and equality, and on the principle of elections by the people of
evangelical ministers.”
On quitting Lancaster, we travelled to Port Deposit, on the shore of the
Susquehanna, where we were met by a deputation from Baltimore, with whom
we embarked, destined for this latter city. On our way we visited
Havre-de-Grace, a small town situated on the Susquehanna, at its
entrance into the Chesapeake. Here we remained several hours, and then
continued our voyage favoured by fine weather, our way being beguiled
also by the pleasures we enjoyed on board. From the deck of our vessel,
we beheld expanded to our view the delightful vallies and the rich hills
of Maryland: the companions of our voyage, pressing around Lafayette,
and designating to him the fields in which, during their struggle for
liberty, he had fought to obtain it: and at short distances on the
shores, groups of the inhabitants attracted by the sounds of national
airs which echoed from our deck, testified, by incessant acclamations,
the delight occasioned by the presence of the adopted son and benefactor
of their country.
The sun had left the horizon some time ere we arrived at the mouth of
the Patapsco, and it was not till midnight that we touched the wharf at
Baltimore. Though at that advanced and unseasonable hour, a large number
of persons were in waiting for the appearance of our vessel, and on
disembarking General Lafayette found himself surrounded by a crowd of
friends. At the moment of placing his foot on shore, an immense burst of
light suddenly illuminated the port, and looking to the southern quarter
of the city we saw volumes of flame rising almost to the clouds.
Instantly the hollow cry of “fire, fire,” resounded in every street.
Anxious to offer the first assistance, we left the general in care of
two members of the committee, who conducted him directly to the hotel
provided for him, and we ran at our utmost speed toward the scene of
conflagration, but we discovered that we had been outstripped by four
engines, which on our arrival were already in full operation. Other
engines arrived from all quarters, directed by young men, volunteers in
this patriotic employment, and commenced their operations with such
promptness and activity, that, although the fire had originated in a
frame building occupied as a store, the flames were very soon subdued,
and indeed wholly extinguished. We found ourselves involuntarily amidst
the inactive crowd of spectators, and returned to our lodgings at two
o’clock in the morning, filled with admiration of the spontaneous
exertions as well as the zeal and ability of the young firemen of
Baltimore.