The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1855-07-14

general collecting agent for the Western States and Texas
assisted by H. J. THoHAs w RAMSAY, wLAn II. TnosAs,
THos NJ iAsrs, c. A. l.. WIssaAs, A. L. CnLDs, and Dr. VII
liam IRWIN Receipts Of either will be good
THE RETURN OF LAFAYETTE TO THE SCENES OF
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
The authors of the shameless prescriptions and preju
dces held together by certain feeble hopes for place
and power with all their etfrontery and holiness, have
waited til the of the relics of the sacred past had
been gathered their fathers before disclosing their
schemes Ulhappily for the however there is living
history Of the great deeds and the great actors of other
daysa record that cannot die In every American heart
there altar which the affections daily worship, and
matter how She dark clouds of prejudice and of passion
may sometimes obscure the mind still while gratitude
stands sentinel the heart the alienation win be
temporary as the avengng repentance will be lasting
We have often wondered how the midnight eonspirators
who assembled from the different States of the Union
Philadelphia in June last would have felt while plot
ting their dark and receptions In cowardly
secrecy had the door of their council hall been opened
that the disimbodied spirits of the revolutionary age
might pass in solemn procession before them Here
might be the polished rishman Montgomery, bleed
ing every pore for the country which these miserable
demagogues would deny to his countrymen; there the
gallant DE Kalb who died for the cause and prayed
fayee who, after having aided deliver the people Of
onehemsphere romoppresson died in the midst Of
of honorable service in the same work in another The
English Quaker Morris with all his Pennsylvania feel
ings would have startled see the fair city where his
descendants still reside polluted by such gang of in
CRATES. Alexander Hamilton would feel no doubt as if
the decay of our institutions indeed hand when
those who should defend them sought deny their bless
i... IL -.t.- -
the signers of the Declaration of independence have
grieved such spectacle the very spot where they
pledged their lives and fortunes and sacred the
of American liberty Button Gwinnett of England
Francis Lewis Of Ne,o South Wales James Smith of Ire
land George Taylor of Ireland Matthew Thornton of
land John Witherspoon of Scotland James Wilson,
Scotc oil members of that grave body would sadly have
realized the ngrattude Of republics when contemplating
outrage which, not content with insulting them and
dshonorng their memories, dsfyanehiscd the children u
heir jar-o9 fdthertands. Nor would the humliating
lesson end here The sight of country rescued from OPP
preson it but yesterday forgetting its braves
defenders in the very morning Of its athletic youth even
while it claims citizens the children and
OF these very defenders 1.-THE sight of country that has
grown great and prosperous alone by foreign aid in
time of war; but by foreign aid and generous immigration
in time of peace at this early period OF its progress
seeking to close the door of hope upon those who ARE
hunted like beasts of prey by despotic Kings-this
would be sorry sight, could it now be witnessed by
the sages and heroes whose names we have mentioned
happy for US they gone and pescn, realize
the ignominy which these organized prosecutions naic
upon our good wherever humanity has a FoohoId
or liberty friend
These reflections have been suggested by the following
thrilling sketch of the last visit OF General Lafayette "a
the United States taken from the second volume of Lord
Brougham's Eminent Statesmen We have here an
English nobleman carried by that spontaneous exhibit
ton of national joy and gratitude and speaking Of it as an
ovation such of the gorgeous pageants monarchy
could attempt parallel He records it an event foi
history to mark out and make immortal He holds it ur
to the shudderng rulers of decayng empires as demon
sraon Of popular veneration to their champions which
speaks volumes to them and to the big future which they
fear How read this beautiful and eloquent sketch
does not the flush Of indignation mantle our brow n,
the recollection of the shameless party that would oblit-
crate such chapter from the memory of man
Let US, however, do justice to our countrymen The
delusion of that Americansna which, like those
who sea the livery of Heaven only used to serve the
purposes of the real enemies of conntryhis desion
is rapidly passing away The heroes OF the past will
return to mingle with If they should nation Of
freemen would spurn their nsulters and pour their
gratitude. But the sober second thought of the people
will return; and when il its purer channels and
speaks its oden language shall look back to the know
nothing phrensy to the reign of John Adams
and wish that this page might be boted from the volume
that tells alike Of our glory and shame:
In order to perceive the extent Of the affection which
Lafayette had inspired into the American people,
transport ourselves from the earliest TO the latest
his life and contemplate certainly the touching spccta
Gle of national feelings and the most honorable both
ties which is anywhere to be in the varied page
history Half century after the Of Independence had
first carried him the Atlantic the soldier Of liberty
many cmes the martyr to principles that had made him
familiar with the dungeon than with the palace d
which he born inmate grown gray in the service
of mankind crossed the to revisit the
his earlier battles the objects Of his youthful ardor the
mains of his ancient friendships In country torn with
thousand factions the of party nstantaneous
hushed From twelve millions Of people the OF JOY
and graduation burst forth, repeated through the
countless cities that stsd their vast territory echoe
their unbounded savannahs and through their eternal
1t the gratitude Of the whole nation craven
their hearts in characters that could be eaced
ted with their blood from parent child and seeking
vent mpetuous and uncontrolled wherever its object the
general, benefactor and friend, appeared Nothing
the miracle which should have restored Washington
the grave could have drawn forth such rapturons
such universal expression of respect esteem, and aec
ton the temperance among them Of his avori,e