A complete history of the Marquis de Lafayette, major-general in the American army in the war of the revolution. Embracing an account of his tour through the United States, to the time of his departure, September, 1825. By an officer in the late army.

MARQUIS DE JLAI'AYzi,;T'iZ,A
ginning to feel the sacred impulse of' liberty,;!t- was
stretching and unfolding her half-fledged wings, doubting
her powers, dreading her adversary, and waveri' ig between
submission and despair. She was in tile infatnlcy of her
strength, when Lafayette, anrimated with the glorious cause,
left all the luxuries and indulgences of holme, to cross the
Atlantic, and offer himself to the Americans as a chanmpion
and a friend. Animated by the ecithusia sm which generous
minds are accustomed to feel for great enterpris]es, he espoused their cause with a partiality comrnon to almrost all
the men of that time, and particularly to the French. Hle
considered it not only just, but exalted ancd sacred: th!e affection he bore it was the more ardent, as independen;tly of
the candour of his character, he was of that age in which
good appears not only good, but faiir, and lain not only loves,
but is enamoured."
When the destinies of America were tottering on the
brink of destruction; when a triumphant enemy was overwhelming the Jerseys with deeds of desolation; when even
the firmness of Washington was shaken, the young and gallant Lafayette resolved to cast his bread upon the waters,
and mingle in a conflict which appeared almost desperate
in the eyes of united Europe. lie espoused the cause of
this country, when it had not a single acting advocate beyond
the waters of the Atlantic. At that period, the representations in France relative to the state of American affairs,
were most deplorable, and sufficient to repress the most determined zeal. The army of Washington was represented
as a mere rabble, flying before thirty thousand British regulars: nor was this far from the reality. The route and carnage at Brooklyn, and the consequent evacuation of LongIsland, had given, indeed, a gloomy aspect to the affairs of
America. The continental troops had heretofore manifested
a great degree of intrepidity, from a confidence arising from
the persuasion of their superiority over the enemy. The
* Trotter's Life of Fox, p. 186. Botta's War Independ. book viii.