The Sun.
London, England, 1825-10-10 00:00:00

a long absent parent by their children, the men and women of
the present age ; and a rising generation, the hope of future
time, in numbers surpassing the whole population of that day.
When you fought at the head and by the side of their fore=
father, have vied with -the scanty remnants of that hour of
trial in acclamations of joy at beholding the face. of him whom
they feel to be the common benefactor of all. You have heard
the mingled voices of the past, the present, and the future age,
joining in one universal chorus of delight at your approach;
and the shouts of unbidden thousands, which greeted your land-
ing on the soil of freedom, have followed every step of your
way, and•still resound, like the rushing of-many waters, from
every. corner of oar land. You are now about to return to the
country of your birth, of your ancestors, of your posterity.—
The Executive Government of the Union, stimulated by the
same feeling which had prompted the Congress to the designa-
tion of a national ship for your accommodation in coming hither
has, destined the first service of a frigate, recently launched at
this metropolis, to the less welcome, but equally distinguished
trust, of conveying you home. The name of the ship has added
one more memorial us distant regions and to future ages, of-a.
stream already memorable, at once its the story of your suffer.
ings and of our independence. The ship is now prepared for
your reception, and equipped for sea. From the inotnent of her
departure, the prayers of millionti will ascend to Heaven that her
passage may be prosperous, and your return to the bosom of
your family as propitious to your happiness as your visit to this
scene of your youthful glory has been to that of the American
people. Go, then, our beloved friend, return to the land of bril.
liant genius, of generous sentiment, of heroic valour—to that
beautiful France, thenursing mother of the twelftliLoeis and the
fourth Henry, to the native soil of Bayard and-Coligni, of Tu-
renne and Catinat, of Fenelon and D'Aguesseast. In that il.
lustrious catalogue of names which she claims as her children,
and with honest pride holds up to the admiration of other
nations, the name of La Fayette has already for centuries been
enrolled.. And it shall henceforth burnish into brighter fame,-
for if, in after days, a Frenchman shall be called to vindicate
the character of his nation by that of one individual, during
the age in which we live, the blood of lofty patriotism shall
mantle in his cheek, the fire of conscious virtue shall sparkle
in his eye, and he shall pronounce the name of La Fayette.
Yet we, too, and our chileren, in life and 'after death, shall
claim you for out own. You are our, by that more than pa-
triotic self-devotion with which you flew to the aid of our
fathers at the crisis of their fate. Ours by that long series of
Years in which you have cherished us heyour regard. Ours by
that unshaken sentiment of gratitude for your services which is
a precious portion of our inheritance. Ours by that tie of love,
stronger than death, which has linked your name, for the end-
less ages of time, with the name of Washington. - .
" At the painful moment of parting from you, we take com-
fort in the thought, that wherever you may be, to the last pul-
sation of your heart, our country will be ever present to your
affections ' - and a cheering consolation assures us 'that we are
not called to sorrow most of all, that we shall see your face no
more. We shall indulge the pleasing anticipation of beholding
our friend again. In the mean time, speaking in the name of
the whole people of the United States, and at a loss only for
language to give utterance to that feeling of attachment with
which the heart of the nation beats, as the heart of one man—
I bid you a reluctant and affectionate farewell."
To which General La Fayette made the following an-
swer:—
" Amidst all my obligations to the general government, and
particularly to you, Sir, its respectable chief magistrate, I have
most thankfully to acknowledge the opportunity given me at
this solemn and painful moment, to present the , people of the
United States with a parting tribute of profound inexpressible
gratitude. To have beeh, in the infant and critical days of
these States, adopted by them as a favourite Son, to have par-
ticipated in the toils and perils of our unspotted struggle for
independence, freedom, and equal rights, and in the foundation
of the American era of a new social order, which has already
pervaded this, and must, for the dignity and happiness of man-
kind, successively pervade every part of the other hemisphere,
to have received at. every stage of the revolution, and during
forty years after that period, from the people el. the United
States, and their representatives at home and abroad, continual
marks of their confidence and kindness has been the earide, the
encouragement, the support of a long and eventful life. But
how could I find words to acknowledge that series.of welcomee,
those unbounded and universal displays of -public affection,
which have marked each step, each hour, of a twelvemoneh's
progress through the twenty-four States, and which, while
they overwhelm my heart . with grateful delight, have
Most satisfactorily evinced the concurrence of the people in
the kind testimonies, in the immense favours bestowed on me
by the several branches of their Representatives in every part,
and at the central seat of the Confederacy. Yet, gratifications
-still higher awaited me; in the wonders of creation and im-
provement' that have met my enchanted eye, in the unparal-
leled and self-felt happiness ofehe people, in their rapid pro-
sperity and insured security, public and private, in a practice
of good order, the appendage of true freedom, and a national
good sense, the final arbiter of . all difficulties, I have had
proudly to recognize a result of the republican principles for
which we have. fought, and a glorious demonstration to the
most timid and prejudiced minds, of the superiority over de-
grading aristocracy or despotism, of popular institutions
founded on the -plain rights of man, and where the local
rights of every section are preserved under a constitutional
bond of union.: The cherishing of that union between the
States, as it has been. the farewell entreaty of our great paternal
Washington, and will ever have the dying prayer of every
American patriot, so it has become the sacred pledge of the
emancipation of the world, an object in which lam happy to
observe that the American people, while they give the ani-
mating example of successful Gee institutions, in return for an
evil, entailed upon them by Europe, and of which a liberal and
enlightened sense is every where more and inure generally felt,
show themselves every day more anxipusly interested. And pow,
Sir, how can I do justice to my deep and lively feeiingi, for the
assurances most peculiarly valued of Your esteem and friendship,
for your so very kind references to old times, to my beloved as-
sociates, to the vicissitudes of my lite, for your affecting picture
of the blessings poured by the several generations of the Ame-
rican people on the remaining days of a delighted, veteran, for
your affectionate remarks on this sad hour of separation,.on the
country of my-birth, full, I can say, of American sympathies,
on the hope so necessary to me of my seeing again the country
that has deigned near half a century ago to call me hers ? f
shall content myself, retaining from superfluous repetitions,
at once before you, Sir, and this respected circle, to proclaim
my cordial confirmation of every one of the sentiments which
I have had daily opportunities publicly to utter, from the time
when your venerable predecessor, my old brother in arms
and friend, transmitted to me the honourable invitation of
Congress, to this day when you, my dear Sir, whose friendly
connection with me dates from your earliest youth, are going to
consign me to the protection, across the Atlantic, of the heroic 1
national flag on board the splendid ship, the name of which has:
been not the least flattering and kind among the numberless
favours conferred upon me. God bless "you, Sir, and you all
who surround .us. God bless the American people, each of
their. States, and the Federal Government.. Accept this pa-
triotic farewell of an overflowing heart; such will be its last
throb when it ceases to beat."
As the last sentence was pronounced, the General advanced,
and, while the tears poured over his venerable cheek, again took
the President in his arms—he retired a few paces back, but, over-
come by his feelings, again returned, and uttering, in broken
accents, "God bless you!" fell once more on the neck of Mr.
Adams. It *as a scene 'at once solemn and moving, as the
sighs and stealing tears of Many who witnessed it bore testimo-
ny. Hating recovered his self-possession, the General stretched
out his hands, and was in a moment surrounded by the gret tinge
of the whole assembly, who pressed upon him, each eager to
seize, perhaps for the last time, that beloved hand which was
opened so freely for our aid, when aid was so precious, and which
grasped, with firm and undeviating hold,' the steel which so
bravely helped to achieve our deliverance. The expression
which now beamed from the face of this exalted man was of
the finest and most touching; kind. The hero was lost in the
father and the friend e dignity melted into, subdued affections
and the friend of Washington seemed to linger with a mourn-
ful delight among the :sons of his adopted country. A con-
siderable period was then occupied in conversing with va-
rious individuals, while refreshments were presented to the
company.
The moment of departure at length arrived, and having
once more pressed the hand of Mr. Adams, be entered the
barouche,
.accompanied by, the Secretaries of State, of die
Treasury, and of the Navy.
• The carriage of the General, preceded by the cavalry, the
marine corps', and Captain Edward's rifle-corps, and followed
by the carriages, containing the corporate authorities of the
cities of the district, and numerous military and high civil
officers of thes government, moved forward, followed by the
remaining military companies. In taking.up the escort, the
whole column moved through the court in front of the presi-
dent's mansion, and paid him the passing salute as he stood in
front to receive it. The whole scene—the peals of artillery,
toe animating 'sounds of numerous military bands, the presence
of the vast concourse of people, and the occasion that assem-
bled them, altogether produced emotions not easily described,
but which every American will readily conceive.
On reaching the bank of the Potomac; near where the Mount
Vernon steam-vessel was in waiting, all the carriages in the
procession, except the General's, wheeled off, and the citizens
in them assembled on foot around that of the General. The
whole military body then pasied him in review, as he stood in
the barouche of the President, attended by the Secretaries of
State, of the Treasury, and of 'the Navy. After .the review,
the General proceeded to the steam-vessel, tinder a salute of
artillery, surrounded by as many citizens, all eager to catch
the last
look,
o'clock, this great; and good, and extraordinary man trod, for
as could press on the large wharf; and at four