Rome Free Academy - De O Wain Sta Yearbook (Rome, NY)

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18 Tue Senior In 1778 Lafayette, thinking, perhaps, that he asked native could do most good in France, leave of Congress to return to his land. His petition was granted, but he was taken ill with a fever which delayed his journey for over two months, and not until the 12th of February, 1779, did he finally arrive at Paris, where he was obliged to remain in confinement for a week to propitiate the king. How much influence he may have had in securing for the United States the assistance of France, it is impossible to determine, but it is cer- tain that whatever power he may have had was exerted in that direction. In 1780 Lafayette returned to America, and sought Washington in his headquar- ters at Tappan, where he received the command of a corps of two thousand light infantry. It is not necessary to touch on all his praiseworthy exploits in the course of the war, but one point which illustrates the nobility of his character must not be overlooked. When Arnold was carrying on a cruel and brutal warfare in Virginia, His men were chiefly of New England birth Lafayette was sent to check him. and feared the southern climate, yet when their beloved leader, appealing to their honor, offered to discharge any who were unwilling to remain, not one would leave him. At allegiance by borrowing ten thousand dol- Baltimore he rewarded their Jars to furnish them with suitable summer garments. In 1784, the Americans having secured their independence and his services being no longer required, Lafayette again set sail for home. The next year he spent Fi r a few years his life was a rather unevent- abroad traveling through Germany. ful one, and then, we find him plung ed in the dark tion. and disastrous French revolu- At the outbreak of the revolution he was commander of the National Guards. ANNUAL. [It has been said that at this time he the Mirabeau their cordial co operation might have con- was most man in all powerful France, the that most able man, and ferred lasting benefits on their country. Mirabeau, however, was as unscrupulous as he was able, and with such a person Lafayette could never work in unison. It is well perhaps to mention here that some historians blame him for his part in that Let no the French revolution, but I leave matter for the French to decide. true American ever cast a shadow over the fair name of Lafayette; and let it be said that if he erred, it was but on the side of liberty for a people who were not prepared to receive it. In the vear 1791 Lafayette resigned his command and went into retirement, but he had hardly become accustomed to the life, when he was called to With fifty thousand men quiet home lead an army. he was sent to the French frontier. Two officers, both distinguished in the seven- years’ war, were given a command equal to his own and also sent to the frontier. They were discouraged with the undis- ciplined, demoralized troops, but he took a different view of the case, and under his was finally Mean- Biron and Dillon, with careful training his army brought to some degree of order. while, Generals separate divisions, had come in contact with the Austrians and both divisions had suffered a humiliating and crushing defeat. While occurring on the border, the Jacobins had the began the Reign of Terror, a period of these disastrous events were secured control in Paris, and now such madness, rapacity and cruelty that it The Jacobins knew Lafayette to be one of their has never had a parallel in history. worst enemies and sought to win him over to their side, but they sought in vain. The army turned against him, and realiz- ing that his life was in danger he at-

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Tae Sentor ANNUAL. 17 D. A. R. Prize Essay. This essay was written by Mildred Cov- entry, ‘04, and received first prize, a ten dollar gold piece, in the annual competi- tion of High School students held by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Lafayette. On the sixth of September, 1757, to Marie Louise, daughter of the Marquis de la Riviere, and Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette, a child, destined to become a hero on two was historical continents, born. Passing over the early childhood of the young marquis, we find him at the age of eleven attending the College of Louis-le-Grand at Paris. Two years later he inherited a very large fortune through the death of his mother and grandfather. Soon after he received a lieutenant’s com- mission in the royal musketeers, a body maintained for the protection of the king. This was due mainly to the influence of Queen Marie Leczinska, in whose train he had served as a page. At the age of seventeen he was married to Anastasia Adrienne, daughter of the Duke d’Ayen, afterward Duke de Noailles, a powerful and wealthy French nobleman. Lafayette first heard of the Declaration of Independence while attending a dinner Duke of present, and from whom he obtained his at which the Gloucester was information. This was in 1776 while act- ing as the captain of artillery in a regi- ment stationed at Metz. Inspired by that love of liberty, which characterized his whole life, he resolved to give up his pleasant home, his young wife whom he dearly loved, his fortune, his prospects, brilliant though they were—yes, even life itself if necessary, fora land which he had never seen, a people whom he had never met, a country, which if conquered, as every one had reason to expect, would be held powerless in the firm grasp of the deadly en emy of France. Where in all the annals of history can we find another sacrifice so strange, so unselfish, so noble ? Some men have given up their homes, some their wives, some their fortunes, but not without hopes of honor, of wealth or of None of He was freedom for their native land. these things influenced Lafayette. moved by that sympathy alone which a great and liberty-loving soul must always feel for the weak and the oppressed; a sympathy which caused him to brave the displeasures not only of his family but of his king, and avoiding the officers sent to detain him, to embark for America April 26, 1777, in a vessel built at his own ex- pense. He arrived at Georgetown, South Caro- lina, on the 14th of June. panied by the Baron de Kalb and eleven officers. A riding brought him to Philadelphia, where He was accom- other month of horseback Congress was in session. At first he was received rather coldly, but the offer of a young and wealthy Frenchman to serve as a volunteer without pay in a foreign army was a matter not to be overlooked, and he was finally appointed major general. This being merely an honorary title, he served on Washington’s staff in the office of vol- unteer aide. This resulted in a firm and lasting friendship between the two men. Lafayette first comes into prominence at the battle of Brandywine, where he dis- played great bravery, and was wounded so seriously as to incapacitate him for service for two months. He was finally nursed back to life and health by the gentle Moravians of Bethlehem. We next find him at Gloucester Point, where with a handful of men he defeated a large force o f Hessians.

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THE tempted to go to the neutral territory of Holland. He and by was captured by the Aus- trians them turned over to the Prussians, who imprisoned him first at Wesel and later at Magdebourg. Here his honor was again put to the test, as he was told that made easier if he his imprisonment would be would give valuable in- formation to the enemy. ‘This he refused to do, and in consequence his imprison- ment was made as unbearable as possible. For almost a vear he was confined in a damp, mouldy cell, eight feet long and six wide, where little light of any kind was to be had and never any sunlight. At length their disgraceful course, returned the Prussians, ashamed of Lafay- ette to the Austrians, who transferred him to the unhealthy dungeons of Olmutz Here friend of man thousands had this firm America, this whom honored, was told that he would never again see any- thing but the four walls of his dungeon. He was designated by a number and his guards were not allowed to speak to him. The attempts of friends to rescue him proved futile, and for five years he en- dured torture of mind and body in that wretched prison, the last twenty-two weeks being rendered somewhat more bearable by the presence of his wife and daughters. In 1797 Bonaparte broke the Austrian power and France demanded her exiles. Lafayette, being free, found an asylum in Holland where by letters he was kept in- formed of both in France affairs and America. Holland France and went into re- After remaining two years in he returned to tirement at Lagrange where he spent sev- eral years in collecting his shattered re- sources and trying to satisfy his creditors. In 1808 he suffered a severe blow in the death had remained unchanged through stormy of his wife, whose faith and love SENIOR ANNUAL. 19 years of war and danger, imprisonment and exile In 1824 President of the nation, gave Monroe, in the name Lafayette a cordial in- vitation to visit America, and placed a warship at his command. He accepted the invitation but declined the warship, and taking passage in an American mer- chantman, he reached Staten Island on l5th of Augnst. He twenty-four the visited each of the states, and every town and city, every hill and valley, every lake “Welcome! The nation as one Waving banners heralded his coming by day and river resounded with Welcome! person and Lafayette!” arose to do him honor watch fires and torches by night. At one place the band played ‘Where can one better be than in the bosom of his fam- ily ?” at another, “See, the conquering hero comes!” Amid all this excitement and splendor, Lafayette did not forget to pay a visit to the tomb of Washington at Mount Vernon, and there, this man, calin in battle, dig- nified under all circumstances, patient through long years of imprisonment, bowed his head and wept—wept, not fora victorious general, not for the president of a powerful country, not for a nation’s but friend who had passed away. hero, for a kind and warm hearted The frigate the battle, conveyed “Brandywine,” named after ; Lafayette back to his native land, where he arrived October 5, 1825. The had taught the French a lesson, and Lafayette was gladly welcomed back to France. He passed quietly away on the 20th of May, 1834, and was buried in the ceme- tery of Picpus, where his wife already lay sleeping. Europe and America vied with each other in honoring the illustrious dead. Such is the history of a Frenchman whose name ought to thrillin every Amer- ican heart, whose praise ought to be on every American tongue, such is the story of the great, the good, the noble Lafayette. Americans