Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1835-01-24
HON. John QUINCY ADAMs'S EULoGY
ON LAFAYETTE.

the Hon. John Quincy Adams on Gen. Lara
vette, delivered recently at Washington. Inc
subioined extract contains the close oi inc
address. The whole is, as might be expec'eu'
instructive and eloquent.
Sucb. Leeislators of the North American con-
Tolerate Union, was the life Of Gilbert Moher
de LAFAYETTE. and the record Of his lille is the de-
Iineation of his character. Consider him as one
human being of one thousand millions, MS CO.
temporaries on the surface OF the terraqueous
globe. Among that thousand millions seer
for an object of comparison Win Num- assunie
for the standard, all the virtues which exalt the
character of man above that of the brute crea'
ton; take the ideal man, little lower than tue
angels; mark the qualities Of the mind and heart
which entitle him TO this station OF pre-emlnence
in the scale Of created beings, ana enquire WIZ
that lived in the eighteenth and nineteentD cen
turtles of the Christian ezra, combined IN hinlseu
so many OF those qualities, so little aiioyea T.I
those which belong to that earthly vesture OF de-
cav in which the immortal spirits enclosed, as
Lafayette.
pronounce him one of the first men, of his age,
and YOU have not yet done him justice. Try
him bv that test to which he sought IN vain 10
stimulate the vulgar andsefish spirit OF Napoie-
lon; class him among the men VINO, 10 cohP"Ie
and seat themselves. must take in the compass
of all ages; turn back your eyes upon the re-
cords of time; summon from the creation OIL the
world to this day, the mighty dead OF every age
and every clime-and where, among the laoe
of merely mortal men, should one be founo,
who as the benefactor of his KIND, snail ciaill
TO take precedence of Lafayette!
There have doubtless been, in all ages, men
whose discoveries or inventions, in the world oil
matter or ofmnd, have opened new avenues 10
the dominion of man over the material creation;
have increased his means or his faculties OF en-
ioyment; have raised him in nearer approxima-
ton to that higher happier condition, the ooect
of his hopes and aspirations in his present state
of existence -,
| LAFAYETTE discovered no new principle of poll
tics or of morals He invented nothing in SCI
ence. He disclosed no new phenomenon IN the
! laws of nature. Born and educated in the hlgh-
est order of fuedal nobility, under the most ap-
solute Monarchy ofEurope, in possession OF On
affiuent fortune, and master Of himself and OF all
his capabilities at the moment OF attaining man
hood. the principle OF republican lnstlce anu o,
social equality took possession oil his heart ana
mind, as fby inspiration from above. He de-
voted himself his life, his fortune, his heredlta-
! nv honors. his towering ambition, his splendid
hopes, all to the cause of liberty. He came to
! another hemisphere to defend her. he became
one of the most effective champions oil our lnde-
pendence but, that once achieved, he turned TO
! his own country, and thenceforward took no
mart in the controversies which have divided u.s.
In the events of our Revolution, and in the forms
of policy which we have adopted for the estaD-
/ lishment and perpetuation of our freedom, La
fayette found the most perfect form OF govern
ment. He wished to add nothing to IT, he
would gladly have distracted nothing from IT,
Instead of the imaginary Republic of Plato, or
the Utopia, of Sir Thomas More, he took prac-
tcal existing model in actual operation here
and never attempted or wished more than TO
apply it faithfully to his own country.
| 1t was not given TO Moses to enter the promis-
ed land; but he saw it from The summit OF Plsgah.
II was not given to Lafayette to witness the con-
summation of his wishes in the establishment Of
Republic, and the extinction of all hereditary
rule in France. His principles were in advance
of the age and hemisphere in which he lived
| A Bourbon still reigns on the throne OF France,
and il is not for us to scrutniZe the title by whlch
he regns The principles of elective and here
dtary power, blended in reluctant union in his
person. like the red and white roses OF ork and
Lancaster, may postpone to aftertime the last
conflict to which they must ultimately come
The life Of Patriarch was not long enough Tor
the development ofhis whole political SYSTEM
Its final accomplishment is in the womb OF Time
The anticipation of this events the more GER
tain from the consideration that all the principles
| for which Lafayette commended were practical
He never INDUCED himself in wild and fanciful
speculations. The principle of hereditary pow
er was in his opinion, the bane OF republican
liberty in Europe. Unable to eXtinguish 1t in
the revolution Of 1880, so far as concerned the
Chief Magstracy Of the Nation, Lafayette had
the satisfaction of seeing it abolished with re-
ference to the Peerage. An hereditary Crown
stripped of the support which it may derive from
an hereditary Peerage, however compatible
with Asiatic despotsm, is an anomaly in the his
tory of the Christian world, and in the theory OF
free Government. There is no argument pro-
ducible against the existence of an hereditary
Peerage, but applies with aggravated weight
against the transmission from sire to son, of an
hereditary Crown. The prejudices and pas
sions OF the people OF France rejected the princi-
pie Of inherited power, in every station OF pub
lie trust excepting the first and highest of them
all; but there they chung TO it, as did the lsrae-
lites of old to the savory deities of Egypt.
This is not the time or the place for disqui-
sition upon the comparative merits as system
of government, of a Republic, and Mon
archy surrounded by republican Institutions
Upon this subject there is among us no diversi-
ty of opinion; and if it should take the peo-
pie of France another half century of internal
and external war, of dazzling and delusive glo-
ries; ofunparalled triumphs. humiliatng revers-
es, and bitter dsappointments to settle it to their
satisfaction, the ultimate result can only bring
them 10 the point where we have stood from the