Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-08-31

assisted MIR. Jefferson i'm his league apainet In,
p,ra'icai band so long the shame and scouree of
Europe. Called to the Assembly of the Nota-
pies, IN 1887, La Fayette was the first 10 r.,;so
his voice for the suppression of Letters de coc5n,
ano OF state prisons; to obtain favorable de-
cree Tor the French protestauts and to proDosc
Natonal Assembly to Frauce! s'O,aoi -, said
'he t'inid courtier, the count ID + E** what
you make tte motion of the statcs-geperal ?
yette "
The part which Gen. La Fayette took in the
hrSt revolution was too conspicuous TO REQUIRE
at Tue present day minute detail Actnated
exclusively by the love of his country, his mo-
yves and conduct have, hswever, been alike ca
Illuminated by the emigrants and the Jacobins:
,owhose selishness and personality his example
anu MS influence were equally opposed. g. while
the family of Louis XVI. rejected his protIered
assistance, IN distrust of his exertions in the
cause OF freedom, he was already marked out for
destruction by the clubs for his strenuous at
| 'achnent to constitutional monarchy Tie
spirit by which he was governed cannot be bet
| ter displayed, than in his reply TO the eaoor on
thusiasm ofthe mob when, i'm the dav of his
highest popularity, the ever memorable IAth dav
oil july, he exclaimed to those who pressed
round him, Z" Love the friends of the people but
remember submission to the laws, and enthusi
asm for Liberty.n
| Who, the march of the revolution was inter-
|
OF faction, and the fury of democracy. La
fayet'e exposed Enthusiastically to the colossal
| and dlsorganHlng power of the Jacobins he ex
claimed - may the reign of the clubs (annibiIa
ted ny you) give place 10 the reign of the law.n
But his genius and his sentiments no longer be-
longcd To that day of blood. Denounced nv
by the Jacobins and brought to trial bv their
Vaccinations, has conduct placed him above
The reach OF their calumnies, and Re was acouit
TED. when, however, the sanguinary law of
prescription Illuminated against him. he dis
damned to degrade himself by an useless defence
Accompanied by his friend Maubourg, of whom
he himself observes, (.shis union with me is
as old as our Iives,") and by hissaid-de-camp.
| alexandcr Lameth, he quilted the polluted ter
ritory of his country.
| The object of tue patriot fmgitves was to nain
either the neutral states of Holland or England:
and they had already arrived beyond the from
uers oil France, when they were taken by a
/ corps oil Austrian troops, and delivered Owe to
the power ofthe coalition Sent successiyeIv
as prisoners OF war to the fortresscs of Luxen-
pourg, NeIel, hfag,iebOurg, and Olmutz their
PATRIOTISM was punished by priyations and har,i-
ships, which exceeded the rigor of inuuisitoriol
severity. La Fayettc was soon separated from
the companions Of bis fight; and worn out by
suiferlngs and prosecutions, he was diving in the
dungeons OF Wczel, when a ray of hope was Of
Tered to his despair by Frederick William who
proposed as the purchase of his liberty, that he
should furnish plan against France ungrate-
ial France in which cause he then suffered.
The energy of his reply, (said MIR. Fox, speak
ing of this eyent,) evinced his high disdain ot
this shameful proposal. G No, neyer.n was tbe
, reply; never (says Mr. Foxy could such peril
/. dy approach that heart, which never for one
moment ceased TO nourlsh the sacred fire oil
patriotism, the purest and most rclieiousn
AT length the moment of liberation arrived. q
liberation, for which La Fayette was more indebt-
n limo of
compatriot generosity national repentance.
IL was upon his own responsibility, that Bona
parte made the surrender of La Favette Man
bourg, and Burean de Puzzy, (Lameth had pre-
vlous'y been delivered, through the interpositi-
on OF his mother, an article in The treaty which
he dictated to AUSTRIA at Leoben I'm this
clause the directory were so far from particina
ing, tha they then refused to reverse the ont
iawry OF those, whom theirgeneral had thus res
tored TO liberty.
Returned to his country, he remained steady
4 to those principles which had guided him fhro,
ite--which had led him TO the deserts of Aine
flca,-whch had inspired him in the conflicts
oil revolutionary Francc,-had shielded him
from The corruptions of Courts, and consoled
him in the dungeons of captivity. When be
discovered that his opinion of the character and
views OF Bonaparte i'll founded that he
| who had generously unlocked his own chains
S was already engaged in wearing shackles for
S MS country, he broke Off all intercourse with
D his deiivercr, refused The share offered TO him
public affairs, declined the senatorial dirnity
anxIously pressed on his acceptance, and by his
bold restrictive vote against the consulsbip for
liic, snapped forever the tie which, under the
= paramount influence ofgratitude, hal for mo-
{ ment bound him to man, whose views differed
, so widely from his own.
General La Fayctte had early in life, sacri-
iced large part Of his fortune to the popular
cause; and II was in the name of that cause he
was deprived of nearly all that his prodigalitv
had permitted him To- reserve. He had refused
} enouments and restitutons in t,Yoheuspheres
but the territories of the Duchess of NoaiIIes
who was gullotined by Robesperre were res
tored to her son-in.law, which placed him, ON
his return to France, at the head of property
at least competent to his desires.
General La Fayette had married the daurh
ter of the illustrous house OF Noajllcs: and the
history of female virtue and female heroism pre-
1 scnts nothing more rare in excellence, than the
lie and character Of Madame La Fayette-
such characters, says Charles Foxn speaking
oil tfis admirable pair, ''should flourish i'm the
annals OF the world and live TO posterity, when
! Kings and the crowns they wear must have
mouldered in the dust.n
While La Fayette, rescued by fight from, the
seattold IN France, iDcarccratcd in the dunre-
ons OF Olmutz, his devoted wife, uncertain even
OF his existence, and saved herself by the death
OF hooespIerre, from the guilotine where so
many OF her family had persisted, sent her Young
ana Only son to the care and protection of Gen