Lafayette In America.
The Times, 1824-10-16T00:00:00

We have hitherto copied only a few details from the papers of the iJnited ,States, respedtcig the movements of the old revolution General, antI the enthusiastic manner in which he is every where received. The followingr summary aecount of these movements, from the National Intelli- gencer (the Government paper of America), will not, ther,iZoro be deemed superfluous. There seems to be but one feeling in the Uaiotl, with respect to the treatment of the Nation's guest." Whatever after this mnay be said or thought of the character of -the Ainerican people, hos- pitality andI gratitude will not be denied to exist amuong their virtues. There is another view of this visit more pleasing still to a patriotic Ansericani. The good old Ge- neral--a Fienchman and a foreigner-is of course nothing to the great body of the people, but as the assertor of their political indepeiidence, aTd the friend of their first great President: every testimony of afrbetion and gratitude lavished upon him, therefore, is a symptom of attachment to their free institutions, and love to their country. WASHINGTON, TurESDAY, AUG. 31. We have copied at large the account of the reception of the na- tion's guest at Boaton, wvith whlich we hope our readers will all be delightedl. In addition to the particulars given by the Boston pa- pers, aletter to the editors of the re-v York Statesmaizgives a lively description of the scene :_ The enthusiasm expressed," it says, "by the irmmense con- course, at the moment of the General's entering Boston, was greater than I have ever witnessed. Some leaped up, clapping their hands in an ecstacy of joy, and others burst into tears. My sensations were such as had never before been experienced. It seemed more like a dream of romance than a reality. From a window we lookedi down upon the multitude, extending along the road as far as the eye could reach, all inter.t,on expressing their respect and gratitude to a public benefactor. The remembrance of his achievements-of his eminent services-of hiis devotion to the cause of liberty-and of the vicissitudes of fortune in his eventful life, rushed upon the mind, and gave etVect to the burst of enthusiasm and admiration from a free, enlightened, and gratefuil people. A higher or a holier cordplinment was never perhaps paid to any man in any age." Several affecting incidents of the day are mentioned in the letter, among which is the following:- , "As Lafayette passed the house of the late Johln Hancock, the Mayor said to him,' There sits the widow of your deceased friend.' He immediately caught her eye, and in the most enthusiastic man- ner pressed his hand upon his heart. She burst into tears, and ex- claimed 'I have now lived long enough.' It is computed that from seventy to an hundred thousand persons witncssed the entry of the General intD the city of Boston. Were we to copy all the details whicil the papers furnish us of the welcomes given and honours paid to General Lafayette, where- ever he moves, we should have room for nothing elac. We must content ourselves with copying those which are the most striking. WVe have before us long and interesting accounts of his receptbin at New London, in the state of Connecticut, and Providence, in the state of Rhode-Island, where the gratulations were as heart-felt, and the incidents as touching, as have occurred any where. The foilow- ing, at Providence, for instance, deserves to be quoted :_ * As those in the rear of the procession descended Christian-hill, the forward view rwas uncommonly fine. The long procession ex- tending to the bridge, and there apparently lost in an immense sea of hcads; and the reflection that the multitude who had assembled, and the impulses which animated them, were all devoted to one man, and that man a private individual, a foreigner, coming among us with a claim upon our gratitude, which the intervention of 40 years, instead of diminishing, seemed to have been collecting in our reservoir of feeling, was calculated to excite emotions which it is as impossible to describc as to forget. On arriving in front of the State-house, the General alighted, and was received ina peculiarly interesting manner. The poplar avenue leading to the building was lined on each side with nearly200 Misses arrayed in white, protected by a file of soldiers on eaGh side and holdihg in their hands bunches of flowers, which (as the Gene- ral proceeded up the avenue, supported by the Governor's Aids) they strewed in his path, at the same time waving their white hand- kerchiefs. " On reaching the landing of the stairs, the General turneti towarrl the multitude, and at the same moment, the veteran Captain Stephe. Olney (who served under the General repeatedly, and was the first to force the enemy's works at Yorktown. in which lie was secondled, at another point, almost simultaneously by Lafayette) approached the General, who instantly recognized his old companinn in arms, and embraced and kissed him ia the most earnest and affectionate manner. A thrill went through the whole assembly, and scarcely a dry eye was to be found among the spectators, while the shouts of the multitude, at first suppressed, and then uttered in a manner tempered by the scene, evinced the deep feeling and proud associa- tinnc it h:-d .->;-1 1 LAFAYET'PE IN AMERICA.