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. 239
constable of all the armed men in the kingdom; which was,
probably, a greater number than had ever before been in any
kingdom in the world. At this time he occupied a most important station indeed; the eyes of the whole world were
fixed upon him. Having the military command over six
millions of men, and holding in his hands the power of the
monarchy, a boundless influence, and a devoted army might
have carried him successfully to the highest grade of power.
In a word, on him reposed the destinies of France. This
was the crisis of his reputation; and from his course at that
time, his friends and enemies imbibed their opinions of his
character. There was but one course for Lafayette to pursue, and that was the support of liberty, of constitutional monarchy, and of public tranquillity; and he always held, as it
were, a magnanimous neutrality between the different parties, when their projects went beyond the laws of justice and
moderation. After mass was celebrated by M. de Talleyrand,
then bishop of Autun, M. de Lafayette dismounted from his
white charger, and approached the king to receive his orders,
who delivered to him the form of the oath prescribed for the
national troops. "Is it not Tacitus who remarks," says a
writer of that period, " speaking of Agricola, that nothing
heightens the brilliancy of a throne more than to see bending before it, the person of a man who possesses a bold and
noble soul, and who, although yet in his youth, can boast of
many triumphs?" M. de Lafayette, as the representative of
the nation, took the oath first, at the altar which had been
erected in the midst of the arena. When he left the foot of
the throne, where he had for some time stood, and moved
toward the altar, the trumpets began to sound, and while he
ascended its steps, a vast band of martial music continued to
play. Every eye of the immense mass was turned on him;
every hand was raised to join in the oath he uttered. It was,
no doubt, one of the most magnificent and solemn ceremonies
the world ever saw; and, perhaps, no man ever enjoyed the
sincere confidence of an entire people more complexly than