New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1919-06-27

manner or Its observance in the years to come.
'ne fourth Of July Will presumably have much
:" france In 1t, now that the ties between the
hatohs formed In the Revolution have been
s'ehsthehed and cemented anew. And as the
personlfication Of France stands Lafayette.
Lafayette. we have come - said Pershlng at
the Great Frenchman's tomb. And in a sentence
ne 'oid The whole story of our debt to France
am" gave our promise of Its payment. What
WAS that debt to France that we have paid? The
story Of Lafayette is the answer.
Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves Gilbert Motier.
Marquis de Lafayette. was born September Q,
I'o'' In the chateau OF Chavaniac, Auvergne,
france. He married in IVA and entered the
French army. In 1776. in Metz, he heard the
duke of Gloucester, brother Of George III, tell
the story Of the Declaration of Independence and
the struggle of the Americans. Then and there
ne determined to go to the assistance Of the
Americans in their fight for freedom.
To Lafayette there was every enticement to
remain In his native France. He was the pos.
SCISSOR of high rank. He had wealth. No military
or civic post within the gift Of the French throne
was beyond his reasoras.c .,nLitiSn. AND Iii tfN
pleasures and the delights of a polished, witty
and luxurious court were at his feet.
On the other hand were the certainty of hard.
ship, the risk of death and the prospect of no
reward save perhaps the grateful memory of a
people who had nothing but gratitude to bestow.
In America there was nothing to beckon him
but a people whose ill-fed and ill-ssuplied troops
had sustained defeat, whose chief c.t.ss were In
the possession Of the enemy. whose treasury was
bankrupt and whose prospects were that their
leaders would ascend the scaffold and their
masses be subjected to the brutal control Of a
king who knew little of and sympathized less
with those conceptions of freedom and those I'm
memorial rights which the colonlsts had inherited
from their English ancestors.
But there was In the heart Of this young and
French nobleman n sentiment which
had ruled him from his earliest boyhood-a sin.
cere, profound and inspiring love Of liberty, a
deep respect for the rights of men, a compelling
admiration for a people who. in spite of the most
odds, possessed the hardihood and the
valor to take up arms in defense Of their free
dom.
The voices of ease and of luxury and of ambi-
lion that tempted Lafayette to remain In his own
native land were drowned in his ears by the
voice of Liberty, calling from a far-on shore. SO
he voluntarily left all the delights and the honors
IF the most luxurious and the most polished
capital In the civilized world to cast In his lot
with the handful Of merchants, farmers, hunters
md fsher-folk who were waglng war for the
tights and the liberties which had been guaran-
eed to their forefathers and TO. them by the
Great Charter. and which had been denied to
w th' LILLE $3.50, h''. AN Ca ~,
hrone of Great Britain.
He offered his services to America. His king
iorbade his going and the American commission
RS were not able to furnish him transportation.
Evading the officers sent to arrest him. he es-
,aped In disguise, and In company with De Kalb
md a number of French officers embarked from
Spanish port on a vessel which he had pur-
hased. and after a stormy voyage landed on the
hores of South Carolina. A journey of 900 miles
m horseback, occupying a month, brought the
Dung crusader to the city Of Philadelphia. where
e presented his request to the American con-
,ress there assembled. At first he met with a
DOL reception. In consideration, however. Of the
of his rank and family connections,
nd because of his modest offer to serve as q
~olunteer at his own charges. he was looked
pom with more favor, and by a resolution Of
ongres. he was granted the complimentary rank
4 ina or general in the army. Washington re
eived him with the greatest kindness. gave him
place on his staff. and from that time forth
reated him as a son. The friendship then began
fas treasured by the young Frenchman as the
precious memory of his public life.
There were giants In those days; examples:
Washington, Hamilton. Franklin. But Of La
ayette his friend DE Val said:
'"There Is the most wonderful man Of this or
ny other age. He graduated from college. has