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 LAFAYETTE. 205
the square; it was entirely occupied by soldiers of the national guard, drawn up in most excellent order, who had
been gradually introduced by the marquis, and by this means,
without tumult or trouble, expelled their opponents."
On the eighth of September, 1789, Lafayette proposed to
the meeting of the commune of Paris, to send a deputation
to the national assembly, then sitting at Versailles, to demand an immediate reform of the criminal jurisprudence, as
far, at least, as respected its most prominent abuses; to require that the accused should have the assistance of counsel; that the proceedings of the examination should be public; that the witnesses should be publicly confronted with
the accused; and that the documents employed against him
should be freely communicated. —Even this step, althoulgh
urged by all the influence of Lafayette, was not taken without considerable hesitation, so little was public opinion formed, at that time, on this important point. It was, however,
with these advantages that the baron de Bezensal and M. de
Favras met their trial; and already were the benefits of the
change duly appreciated. The fact that, amid all the tumults and jealousies of a revolution, the only person put to
deathfor political offences from this period to the tenth of
August, 1792, that is to say, before the proscription of the
author of the fact, will stand as an imperishable monument
to the memory of Lafayette.-At that time the use of torture
still subsisted: the king had indexed abolished only the rack
before trial; but punishments, such as straining on the wheel,
and torments similar to those which, during three days, were
inflicted on Damiens, were, in certain cases, still admitted.
Urged by the influence of Lafayette and his party, the constituent assembly abolished even the name of these judicial
barbarities. M. de Lafayette, from the time that he was
placed at the head of the armed force of Paris, declared to
the magistrates of that city, that he could not take upon himself to arrest any one, unless the accused were to be provi* History of the French Revolution, i p. 116.