New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-06-26

harness Of pack-thread wherewith to duec' a""
control the national wild bull.
La Fayctte thought il possible TO take away 'ne
| royal power, 20 abolish all the ranks that ouO
tressed the throne, TO make Of royalty mere "e
head, and yet 70 secure and 10 MAINTAIN cone"Vu
| tionsl monarchy. Mirabeau, on entirely diiie'e".
grounds, thought 40 TOO. But Mirabenu did not
live TO see the fhtlity Of his hypothesis whereas
! La Fayettc survived to the full fruition OF tne
| Revoutlon-and, doubtless, to be very much dis-
appointed with it, He was optimist, OF course
| but even had he been far more sangulne in"n
the thought must in his later years. have recurreu
10 and troubled him. that he owed his escape iro'n
the rnurdcrous hands Of his co-revolutionlsts 10
the enmity Of o foreign Power, the walls OF
whose dungeon fortress had alone STOOD between
| him and the guillotine. But before matters hau
come TO this dismal point he did his duty nun
fully as it appeared 10 him. As the Revolution
developed his position became continually no'e
difficult His political principles made gun oc,
tween him and the court. His military comn''h"
forced close relations between him ana niein'
When massacre began In Paris, and he founo 'S
| authority defed and his power ineffective ne IT,
signed his command. but again and again aiio"eu
himself TO be persuaded into rcsuming IT,
At Versailles he did good service. NJ baruouH
vindicates his memory against the reproach oil
having neglected his duty. gone 70 sleep, ana so
given the mob opportunity TO break INTO "e
Chateau The evidence In support OF La fayettcS
fidelity to his duty is unmpeachable, and ought 10
settle that Islander forever; but calumny dnes
hard Yet it may still be thought by some that
the Marquis lacked the firmness-if one WILL "'e
heaviness of hand-neccssary in dealing WIN SUCH
problems. Suppose, for example. that on THIS 'er-
sailles occasion Lafayette had employed the
method of Napoleon on the 18th Brumalre
Should il be said that he did employ that method
on the occasion Of the so-caed Massacre OF tie
Field Of Mars, it might be answered that he dlu
not then carry his aggressive measures lar enough
In such circumstances killing a few rioters only
inhames the rest and that is what happened Oh
the Field of Mars. Whether even Napoleon couiu
have checked the violence of the Revolution at
this stage is of course only matter for CONJECTURE
At all events. La Fayctte could not do so, and at
Length lie thought it better that ne should cease
futile efforts at Paris and take command OF an
army in the field and oppose the foreign enemy
Yet he soon discovered that the domestic
enemy was the moro dangerous of the two. The
factions were rapidly forgetting everything but
their Owr ambitions and hatTeds. The interests
of the country wero ignored Intrigue and con
spiracy were rife The armies Of the Nation were
paralyzed on the frontier General disaster I'M
pended II was az this juncturc that La fayctte
performed the noblest and finest action OF MS
career Taking his life in his hands, he hurried
TO Paris appeared before the Assembly, and az
its bar denounced in vigorous and impressive
language the formidable factions OF the Jacobns
and Girondins and after having impcached them
In fiery terms demanded their abolition. Prob
ably there was not another man in Franco M me
time-certainly there was occupying a posi-
ton analogous TO that OF La Fayettc-who wonld
thus have bearded the lion in his dem The
patriotic effort was without effect. and one won
der. how il happened that La Faycttc allowed
to return to his command. Probably the faction
aries were still to certain extent under tic
influence of his past popularity, though TIE throat
Of France already firmly encrced by their
strangling fingers that they might have venturcd
upon anything.
They FASTENED to dispatch commissioners OF the
revolutionary type 10 his camp. In the meantime
La Fayette had been sounding his troops. only to
discover that their loyalty 10 the Constitution bal
been seriously tempered with by the Jacobin EN-
issarics. lie dared trust them no longer, but rs
last stroke of defiance he ordered the three com
missioners to I've arrested and them realizing that
he was incabie Of helping his country further.
he fled across the frontier-tO exchange the shadow
Of the euilotne for the gloom Of military prison.
NJ Bardoux has done his work with equal care
and spirit. Without straining tie natural signlf-
canoe Of tie evidence. he has made every point
tell leqitmately. The result is that one rises from
his book with heightened appreciation Of La
Fayettes qualities, and with a feeling that he
may be much better entitled 10 the epithet great
than history has hitherto been willing to admit.