The Elbert County tribune., 1919-06-27


MANNER or Its observance in the years to come.
''le Fourth of July will presumably have much
VI france In 1t. now that the ties between the
nations formed In the Revolution have been
strengthened and cemented anew. And as the
personihcaton of France stands Lafayette.
Lafayette we have come" said Pershng at
the Great Frenchman's tomb. And in a sentence
ne told the whole story of debt to Franco
ana 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 g.
l7o7. In the chnteau of Chavaniac Auvergne
France. He married In 1774 and entered the
French army. In 1778. In Metz he heard the
duke of Gloucester, brother of George Ill., tell
the story of the Declaration of Independence and
the struggle of the Americans Then and there
he 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.
NOn the other hand were the certainty of hard
ship. the risk Of denth and the prospect of no
rcward save perhaps the grateful memory of
people who had nothing but gratitude to bestow
In America there nothing to beckon him
hut people whose ill-fed and ill-supplied troops
had sustained defeat. whose chief cities were in
the possession of the enemy. whose treasury was
bankrupt and whose prospects that their
leaders would ascend the scnffold 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 colonists had inherited
from their English ancestors.
But there was In the heart of this young and
high-born French nobleman sentiment which
had ruled him from his earliest boyhood-a sim
cere. profound and inspiring love of liberty, a
deep respect for the rights of men, compelling
admiration for people who in spite Of the most
formidable odds, possessed the hardhood and the
vaor to take up arms in defense of their free
dom.
The voices of and of luxury and of ambI-
tion that tempted Lafayette to remain in his own
native land were drowned in his by the
voice of Liberty, calling from far-on shore So
he voluntarily left all the delights and the honors
of the most luxurious and the most polished
capital In the civilized world to cast in his lot
with the handful of merchants, farmers hunters
and fsher-fok who were wagiDg for the
rights and the liberties which had been guaran
teed to their forefathers and to them by the
Great Charter and which had been denied to
them by the German king who then sat the
throne of Great Britain.
He offered his services to America. His king
forbade his going md the American commission
ers not able to furnish him transportation.
EvadIng the officers sent to arrest him. he es-
and number Of French officers embarked from
Spanish port vessel which he had pur-
chased and after stormy voyage landed the
shores OF South Carolina. A journey. of 300 miles
horseback. occupying month. brought the
young crusader to the city of Philadelphia. where
he presented his request to the American
gress there assembled. At first he met with a
rool reception In consideration. however. of the
Importance of his rank and family connections
and. because of his modest offer to
volunteer at his charges, he was looked
spon with more favor and by resolution Of
congress he granted the complimentary rank
OF major general in the army. Washington re-
ceved him with the greatest kindness, gave him
a place on his staff. and from that time forth
treated him as son. The friendship then began
was treasured by the young Frencfunan as the
most precious memory OF his public life.
There were giants In those days; examRlss
Washington. Hamilton, Franklin. But 6 sd
fayette his friend De Val said:
s~rhere in the most wonderful man Of this or
..v a,aaer seee He graduated from collage. has