Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1851-07-17
Unpublished Letters of the Mar
quis La Fayette and Thomas
Paine.

On Saturday, says the Albany Journal oflast
week, friend handed US two autograph letters,
one from La Fayette and the other from Thmas
Paine, addressed to Governor George Clinton,
in the years 1850 and 1895. Believing that
these letters have not been published, we take
the liberty of giving them to our readers.
General La Fayette, when this letter was
written was about % years old, He had eros
sed the Atlantic as a volunteer, aud by his gal
antry and wisdom won for himself the rank of
General, and the confidence and friendship of
the American army and the American congress.
-Eue. Post.
LIGHT CAMP, near Fort Lee, Agust 29th 1880.
Dear Sir-Had we got in this part any intel
ligence worth mentioning to you, would have
sooner done myself the honor of writing you
letter, thereby keeping up that correspondence
in which find particular honor and pleasure
But the poor news that may have come to hand
were all coming from eastern quarters, and were
therefore, perfectly known to you before they
could have reached our camp; for our part we
have but little contributed to the entertainment
of newspaper readers. But had Mr.. Clinton
persisted in his offensive operations against
Rhode Island, think that, here and there, he
would have met with double stroke, the re-un-
ion of which would have proved fatal 10 Great
Britain and then | would have enjoyed the pleas
ure of taking my friend, Governor Clinton, by
the hand, in the good city of New-York.
| was then, my dear sir at Rhode Island,
where have been made perfectly happy by
thousands striking proofs of growing and ev-
erlasting amity between two nations whom |
love, and whose alliance Is become natural.---
The inhabitants of New York are perfectly sat-
isfed with the French, and the Torys themselves
who are numerous in that place, don't know how
to account for the behavior of those men who m
their grandmothers and the British Gazeteers
had represented to them under the shape OF ev-
erything that is bad.
You. nv dear sir, as an enemy to Britain,
friend to the alliance, and one who will glory IN
ANYTHING that does honor to America, you would
have been pleased with the spirit which brought
forth the militia to the support of their allies.
I do assure you, and noticed it to the French
with peculiar sense of pride, that their exer-
tions were greater on the occasion, than they
would have been had their own troops called
for their assistance which, think is glorious
proof Of the generosity and liberality of the
American nation.
On the news of our army's marching towards
New York, hastened back to my colors, which
I would have firmly joined for the grand stroke
that was intended by our heroic general
By the Alliance we hear that thirty-two Brit
ish ships we're off Brest and thirty seven men
were gone from Cadiz to fight them, and after
wards form junction with the Brest fleet, while
a second division, which was all ready and EN-
barked, would be sent over to America. Tha
frgate, it is said, has been dispatched for me, but
as they have not yet come to hand, l know moth
| ing more particular than common reports, By