Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-03

The Fourth of July brings from all
good Americans the famous exclama'
ton. Lafayette, we are here.-
here in America, where we might not
have established the republic but for
Lafayette's aid and the French assist
ance which he brought about. Eive
Lafayette.
1t was romantic and glorious part
which the 19-year-old major general
rendered to the American revolution
lists, but the part he took in liberating
his own country from the tyranny OF
Louis XVI was no less distinguished.
France, at the time of the Revolution.
was sharply divided between the privi-
legged classes and the masses of peo-
pie. and it is impossible to consider
the French az represented only by the
ruling class. The same is true today;
there Is more than one French peo-
ple-the governing class and the gen
eral mass.
Lafayette. we are here in spite
of the fact that our first war. after
your great services. was with your
France. And even prior to that war
another Frenchman, Minister Genet,
had made himself so intolerable by
his ignoring the Federal Government
and enlisting men in our territory to
fight England on behalf of France. that
President Washington demanded his
immediate recall.
1t was a legacy of the Washington
administration that President Adams
fell heir to--the trouble with the
French directory, which demanded a
loan of a large sum, in order to finance
their war with England, and also bra
zenly demanded a bride of $24O,000
for the five members of the directory.
The penalty of refusal was to be that
French cruisers would ravage our
coasts.
That brought Pinckneys famous de-
fiance. Millions for defense, but not
one cent for tribute"
The directory had decreed that any
American found on board a hostile
ship. even IL placed there by impress
ment, should be hanged as a pirate.
England at that time had already be-
gun exercising her alleged right of
search" by virtue of which she
stopped our vessels upon the high
seas and impressed any American
sailors she liked-a practice which led
to our war of 1912. Actual hostilities
between French and American ships
followed, and Gen. Washington was
recalled from Mount Vernon to take
command of an army of 10000 men.
Yet the directory was the. revolu-
tionary government after the fall of
the BaStiue and the beheading of the
monaIchs. hence it represented the
liberty-loving French. This bit of his
tory demonstrates that 1t is impos-
sible to hold a people responsible for
the foreign policies of their govern
ment. Lafayette was still the leader
Of the people in the days of the di.
rectory. but he could not control the
hostile and corrupt policies Of those in
power. Years after he visited Amer.
lea and was lionized for his great
service and faithfulness to liberty.
Six years after the end of the re-
cent World War many American
Legionnaires visited France to see
again the revastated region of the bat
tie lines. Here Is an incident as told
by one Of them:
One Of our Legion delegates, who
had been a member Of the 136th U. S.
Artillery, recalled that just after the
battle Of st. Mihiel his regiment had
been billeted in that village Bussy la
Cote, near Bar le Duc), and that they
had left their regimental flag in the
village church. Making a detour, we
drove up the hill to the village, and
were happy to discover the Stars and
Stripes hanging over the altar. We
had scarcely entered the church when
the cobbled street was gathering with
the wooden shoes of the peasants and
children, who gathered excitedly
around the church door chattering
about les Amer1cains' Among them,
hurriedly removing her apron as she
ran, was an old lady, 70 years old as
she afterward told us, who plays the
organ in the church. She trembled
with emotion to see the Americans
after six long years, embraced most
of us and. with tears in her eyes. told
us that every Sunday since the battle
Of st. Mihiel she had played The Star
Spangled Banner at the mass. 1t is
nalr sancfuS, she said and we ALWAYS