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.

GENERAL LAFAYETTE. 491
with their numerous offspring, and the whole mass of citizens,
all with one acclaim welcomed the man whom their united
hearts delight to honour. The same military parades, civic feasts,
cordial and affectionate addresses, triumphal arches, splendid
balls, and soldiers tears, that showed the joys of kindred souls,
greeted the arrival of Lafayette in every place he visited,
throughout this extensive route, from Washington to Charleston, to New-Orleans, to St. Louis, to Cincinnati, to Pittsburg,
to Buffalo, to Albany, and to Boston, a distance of more than
4000 miles.
These were not the momentary triumphs of a conqueror,
who returns flushed with some recent victory:; but the triumphs of the hearts of other generations, who rise up to bless
the patriot hero of their country, who took their fathers by the
hand, led them to victory and glory; and when he had given
them an exalted rank arrong the nations of the earth, stepped
aside, and left them to pursue their enjoyments of freedom,
happiness, and honour. Again, after a lapse of nearly fifty
years, he comes, at the united voice of more than 10,000,000
of people, as free, as happy, and as independent, as the nature
of man can possibly become, to receive the welcome plaudits
of the nation.
More than'3000 miles of'the western tour of General Lafayette were a pathless desert when he last visited America;
now they can proudly boast of nine, new and valuable states,
covered with rich and flourishing cities, towns, and villages;
possessing a free, a virtuous, and an intelligent population;
richly enjoying all that is essential to the happiness of man.
Throughout this vast interior, the forests have bowed to the
axe of the wood-man, cities, towns, and villages, roads, canals,
manufactures, commerce, and the arts and sciences, have risen
into being, as by the wand of the magician';. and the all-propelling power of steam has greatly facilitated the social and
commercial intercourse throughout the vast circuit of this western route.
The changes throughout the eastern or Atlantic tour, In a
period of forty or fifty years, far surpass every thing of the
kind, either in ancient or modern story, and must have been
almost incredible to the patriot hero; but the changes of the
west are far greater, and must have appeared to him like so
much of the section of a new creation. The sublime realities
of this whole scene, when taken collectively,'surpass the