Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1919-07-03

III IS OBSERVANCE. but WudlefeF IL
tlhauRH% of its observance In the years to come,
'xae Fourth of July will presumably have much
az France in ii, now that the ties between the
Tfat%oas formed In the Revolution have been
strengthened and cemented anew. And as the
Disqualification of France stands Lafayette.
Lafayette. we have comet said Pershing at
Hsae Grest Frenchmanis tomb. And in a sentence
ae aaEHa the whole story of cur debt to France
and gave our promise of its payment. What
Sas Stsszt debt to France that we have paid? The
-sfoEy eG Lafayette fs the answer.
Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves Gilbert Motler,
-AfarEuIs de Lafayette, was born September 6,
T9J7, I'm the chateau OF Charaniac, Auvergne,
EEance- Ae married in 1774 and entered the
Erenc3p army. In 1776, in Metz, he heard the
duke af GlOucester, brother of George III, tell
saae sEtrg of the Declaration of Independence and
tie sdETggie of tine Americans. Then and there
sSe deasrrnined to go to the assistance Of the
Americans in their eight for freedom.
10 Lafayette there was every enticement to
eTeussM1 in his native France. He was the pos
essessa- CT high rank. He had wealth. No military
eax ciree post within the gift of the French throne
YVES beyond his reasonable ambition. And all the
pleasures and the delights of a polished, witty
gnad EtGxNrlons court we're at his feet.
On she other hand were the certainty of hard
s2fifzr The risk of denth and the prospect Of no
r reHsarVs save perhaps the grateful memory Of a
MDeOp2e cSAo had nothing but gratitude to bestow.
+ In America there was nothing to beckon him
but q people whose ilEfed and ill-supplied troops
ErEA Sustained defeat. whose chief cities were in
ftsSs unases5lon OF the enemy, whose treasury was
bankrupt and whose prospects were that their
GasdsssS eE0uld ascend the scaffold and their
masses be subjected to the brutal control of a
T71zEG Nho knew little of and sympathized less
y With Tnuse conceptions Of freedom and those i'm
fa1saunxfaS rights which the colonists had inherited
sruEa Sglxear English ancestors.
Buy there was in the heart Of this young and
N!1igfrfsEn French n0bieman a sentiment which
had rHEed him from his earliest boyhood-a sim
cSz4, ~esnofound and inspiring love of liberty, a
Hee= respect for the rights Of men, a compelling
wznITaEf0n for n people who, in spite of the most
s@1rtnstSEE7e odds, possessed the hardihOOd and the
vafssr rs take up arms In defense of their free
..foTH-
'lha S1fces of ease and OF luxury and of ambi-
y~TE0n fhat tempted Lafayette to remain in his own
xsefva Land were drowned IN his ears by the
vRaacs aE Liberty, calling from a far-off shore. So
Ike vcauztarily left all the delights and the honors
: ar tEe most luxurious and the most polished
. czpitsE In the civilized world to cast in his lot
v.Fgeef, .tb. handful of merchants, farmers, hunters
and G$nyT-fOlk who were waging war for the
rsrsyfs and the liberties which had been guaran-
6aef 90 their forefafhers and to them by the
Great Charter, and which had been denied to
sss1gzn 0y the German king who then sat on the
ystr1ue nf Great Britain
q rae offered his services to America. His king
goriraeE. his going and the American commission
.@rs ep,rSe not able to furnish him transportation.
2 @sSaSifng the officers sent to arrest him, he es-
cr=apes8 i'm disguise, and In company with De Kalb
anna ID urniher Of French officers embarked from
I'm Syamish port ON a vessel which he had pur-
~~ssasarL and after a stormy voyage landed on the
sHereH oil South Carolina A journey Of 300 miles
an horseback, occupying a month. brought the
-sySsstgus crusader to the city of Philadelphia, where
ralie wresarted his request to the American con
y-ress Where assembled. AT first he met with Q
accof reception. In consideration, however, OF Tho
.rrup0rfance OF his rank and family connections
,1qJ nsezanse OF hs modest offer to serve as &
.,rCionuaesr at his own charges, he was looked
v,ryan with more favor. and by q resolution o.
Nr,UxreSs ne was granted the complimentary ran!
sSe srsJsr general In the army. Washington re
SsssseM a1m with the greatest kindness, gave hin
"A 1Esre on mis- staff, and dron that time fort
sresos1 aim as a son The friendship then begal
,vvET tn=asured by the yovng Frenchnan as tn
,-ao-f mrscaous memory OF eis public life.
Tncrvs s4pere giants n those days; examples
4yrmaaxseron. Hamilton. grankiin. But Of La
szrsueecs hfa friend De Val said:
-~rnxre a tho most wonderful man OF this Q
.u.ay crlar age. He graduated from college, ha
LM - 49, HEL H