The Story of How a Young Frenchman Fought for Liberty in America and How America Now Fights for Liberty in France By RUPERT S. HOLLAND Author of “Historic Boyhoods,” “The Knights of the Golden Spur,” etc. Colophon PHILADELPHIA GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1918, by George W. Jacobs & Company All rights reserved Printed in U. S. A. To Those Men of the Great Republic Who Have Answered The Call of Lafayette, Lover of Liberty...

In 1777 the young Marquis de Lafayette, only nineteen years old, came from France to the aid of the Thirteen Colonies of North America because he heard their cry for liberty ringing across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1917 the United States of America drew the sword in defense of the sacred principle of liberty for which the country of Lafayette was fighting. The debt of gratitude had never been forgotten; the ideals of the gallant Frenchman and of the young Republic of the Western World were the same

The little heir’s father, Michel-Louis, Marquis de Lafayette, had been killed while leading a charge at the head of his regiment of French Grenadiers in the battle of Hastenbeck, one of the battles of what was known as the Seven Years’ War in Europe, which took place at about the same time as the French and Indian War in America. Although only twenty-four years old Michel-Louis de Lafayette was already a colonel and a knight of the order of Saint Louis and had shown himself a true descendant of

The Duke talked and Lafayette listened. The Duke spoke admiringly of the pluck of the American farmers, but pointed out that it was impossible for the colonists to win against regular troops unless experienced officers and leaders should help them. “They are poor, they are ill led,” said the Duke, “they have no gentlemen-soldiers to show them how to fight, and the king my brother is determined to bring them into subjection by harsh and forcible methods if need be. But my letters say that the Ame

It might have been the end with another man, but not with Lafayette. He rode back to Bordeaux, and there found that much of the outcry raised against him was due to the wiles of his obstinate father-in-law, the Duke d’Ayen. It was true that the English Ambassador had protested to King Louis’ ministers, but there was no real danger of Lafayette’s sailing disturbing the relations between England and France. New letters told Lafayette that his wife was well and happy, though she missed him. The thr

“Is he an officer in the American army?” De Kalb called back. The negro said that he was, and added that there was a pilot on the upper end of North Island, and then volunteered to show the men in the yawl where the pilot lived and also to take them to the house of the Major. Lafayette thought it would be best to find Major Huger at once; but the tide was falling fast, and when the rowers, unused to these shoals, tried to follow the negroes in the oyster-boat, they discovered that they were in d

Hancock was impressed; perhaps they had made a mistake in treating this Marquis de Lafayette in such cavalier fashion. So he sent another member of Congress to see the young Frenchman and instructed him to treat Lafayette with the greatest courtesy. And the result of this interview was that Hancock’s emissary was quickly convinced of Lafayette’s absolute honesty of purpose and intense desire to help the United States. Having reached this conclusion Hancock decided to make amends and do the honor

All those hardships Lafayette also shared, setting his men an example of patience and fortitude that did much to help them through the rigorous winter, and winning again and again the praise of his commander for his devotion. In the meantime some men of influence, known as the “Conway Cabal,” from the name of one of the leaders, plotted to force Washington from the chief command, and put General Greene in his place. They wanted to use Lafayette as a catspaw, and decided that the first step was t

Immediately the officers seized their swords, and, rushing on deck, called the Americans and Frenchmen together. The thirty-three mutineers, taken by surprise, were captured and clapped into irons, and the rest of the crew sailed the Alliance into the French harbor of Brest a week later. Here Lafayette was welcomed with delight. The young fellow who had run away to sea in the Victory was returning like a hero in a war-ship of the new American republic. In triumph he landed at Brest, and as he hu

He took his leave of Washington, the man he admired more than any other in the world, and the commander-in-chief, who looked on the young Frenchman as if the latter was his own son, said in his dignified fashion, “I owe it to your friendship and to my affectionate regard for you, my dear marquis, not to let you leave this country without carrying with you fresh marks of my attachment to you and new expressions of the high sense I entertain of your military conduct and other important services in

The Assembly was made up almost entirely of men of the highest rank, who failed to appreciate the distresses of the country. Lafayette was known to hold very liberal views, he was constantly talking of the American Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and at first a part of the court opposed his membership in the Assembly. He was given his seat there, however, and with one or two others tried to convince the council of the need of reforming the laws. But the nobles would not listen. The

During the winter of 1789-90 Lafayette was busy trying to keep order in Paris and drilling the Guard. He sent the Duke of Orleans, who had been stirring up the worst elements to dethrone Louis XVI. and make him king instead, in exile from the country. Violent bread riots broke out and mobs tried to pillage the convents, but Lafayette and his Guards prevented much damage being done. It took all his tact and perseverance to handle these soldiers under his command; they were quick-tempered and rest

Lafayette, a Prussian Prisoner The prison at Wesel was mean and unhealthy, and the cells so small and cold and damp that the prisoners suffered greatly. Yet to every protest of Lafayette the only answer vouchsafed was that he should have better treatment if he would tell his captors the military plans of the army of France. His reply was always the same, an indignant refusal. The Jacobins had declared him a traitor to the government of the Commune, but he never repaid them by any treachery. The

Under the Directory Lafayette had been an exile, forbidden to enter French territory. But with Napoleon in power conditions changed. Lafayette felt the greatest gratitude to the man who had freed him from Olmutz, he had the deepest admiration for the general who had won so many brilliant victories for France, and he was disposed to believe that Napoleon really intended to secure liberty for the country. When he heard of Napoleon’s return from Egypt he wrote to his wife, who was in France at the

His visit carried him far and wide through the United States. From New York he went by way of New Haven and Providence to Boston, from there to Portsmouth by the old colonial road through Salem, Ipswich, and Newburyport. From there he returned to New York by Lexington, Worcester, Hartford, and the Connecticut River. The steamer James Kent took him to the old familiar scenes on the banks of the Hudson, reminding him of the day when he and Washington had ridden to the house of Benedict Arnold. Sta

“Much better, sire,” answered a deputy. “Ah! I am very glad of it!” said the King. “That is a man whom I like much, and who has rendered services to our family that I do not forget. We have always encountered each other, although moving in opposite directions; we were born in the same year; we learned to ride on horseback together at the Versailles riding-school, and he belonged to my bureau in the Assembly of the Notables. I take a great deal of interest in him.” King Charles and his friends, h

The republic fought several wars. That with Mexico settled boundary disputes. The Civil War between the North and the South resulted in the abolition of slavery and made the country a united whole, no State having a right to secede from the rest. The war with Spain freed Cuba and other Spanish possessions in the western hemisphere. But none of these wars changed the system of government of the country. The United States was still the great republic during all the eventful happenings of the Ninet