The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1919-07-04


Aer OF Its observance in the years to come
u,e Fourth of July will presumably have much
VI france In it, now that the ties between the
'sliohs FORMED in the Revolution have been
strengthened and cemented anew. And as the
personlncation of France stands Lafayette.
Lafayette have come - said Pershing at
inc Great Frenchmans tomb. And in sentence
ne told the whole story of debt TO France
ana gave our promise of it's 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, born September 6,
ifof In the chateau of Chavaniac Auvergne,
france He married in 1774 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 reasonable ambition And all the
pleasures and the delights of polished, witty
and luxurious court at his feet.
On the other hand 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 nothing TO beckon him
but people whose ilfed and ill-supplied troops
the possession of the enemy, whose treasury was
bankrupt and whose prospects that their
leaders would ascend the scaffold and their
masses be subjected to the brutal control of
king who knew little of and sympathized less
with those conceptions of freedom and those i'm
memorial rights which the coonists had inherited
from their English ancestors.
But there in the heart of this young and
high-born French nobleman sentiment which
had ruled him from his earliest boyhood-a sin
rere, profound and inspiring love of liberty a
1eep respect for the rights of men, compelling
for people who, in spite of the most
formidable odds possessed the hardihood and the
1aor to take up arms in defense of their free
iom.
The voices of ease and of luxury and Of ambi-
ion that tempted Lafayette to remain in his own
lative land were drowned IN his ears by the
oice of Liberty calling from faroff shore. So
e voluntarily left all the delights and the honors
f the most luxurious and the most polished
apital in the civilized world to cast in his lot
Nth the handful of merchants, farmers, hunters
lights and the liberties which had been guaran-
eed their forefathers and to them by the
treat Charter and which had been denied to
hem by the German king who then sat the
lrone of Great Britain
He offered his services to America. His king
,rbade his going and the American commission
IS not able to furnish him transportation.
Evadlng the officers sent to arrest him. he es-
aped in disguise. and in company with De kalh
nd a number of French officers embarked from
Spanish port on vessel which he had pur-
,ased, and after stormy voyage landed on the
lores of South Carolina. A journey of 800 miles
horseback, occupying month, brought the
,ung crusader to the city of Philadelphia, where
, presented his request to the American con-
ess there assembled. AT first he met with
ol reception. In consideration, however, of the
lportance of his rank and family connections
ID because of his modest offer to serve as
Iunteer his charges, he was looked
ION with favor, and by resolution OF
ncress he was granted the complimentary rank
major general in the army. Washington re-
Ived him with the greatest kindness, gave him
place or his staff. and from that time forth
lated him as a son. The friendship then began
IS treasured by the young Frenchinan as the
,st precious memory Of his public life..
There were giants in those days. examples:
4 hin9ton, Hamilton. Franklin. But of La
vette his friend De Val said:
-rhere IL the most wonderful man Of this
J othex age He graduated from college. has