Ohio History Journal

TRIBUTES TO LAFAYETTE.

It is certainly not strange that when America entered the

World War thoughts of Lafayette should be in the minds of

the khaki-clad boys as they marched to the camps and battle

fields. Our literature bears eloquent testimony to the fact that

the American people at no time have forgotten Lafayette and

his services in the Revolution. From the triumph of the Amer-

ican cause at Yorktown down to the famous declaration of

General Pershing at the tomb of Lafayette, there have been

manifestations of America's never failing gratitude.

Daniel Webster at the laying of the corner stone of Bunker

Hill Monument in 1825 on which occasion Lafayette was pres-

ent; President John Quincy Adams in his farewell address;

Edward Everett and Charles Sumner in famous lectures;

Chauncey M. Depew at the unveiling of Bartholdi's statue of

Liberty enlightening the world; Ambassador Porter, Archbishop

Ireland and others in Paris on July 4, 1900, at the unveiling of

an equestrian statue of Lafayette presented chiefly by the school

children of America. all paid eloquent tribute to the "friend of

freedom in Europe and America." The celebration of "Lafayette

Day" in 1898 by the school children and the contribution of their

pennies for the erection of this statue doubtless prepared the

youth of America to enter the World War in the spirit of

Lafayette.

We here present a few extracts from the large field of

tribute:

Fortunate man! With what measure of devotion will you

not thank God for the circumstances of your extraordinary life!

You are connected with both hemispheres and with two gener-

ations. Heaven saw fit to ordain that the electric spark of

liberty should be conducted through you, from the New World

to the Old; and we, who are now here to perform this duty of

patriotism, have all of us long ago received it in charge from

our fathers to cherish your name and your virtues.-Danie'

Webster at the laying of the corner stone of Bunker Hill

Monument.

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268      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

You are ours by that more than patriotic self-devotion with

which you flew to the aid of our fathers at the crisis of their

fate; ours by that long series of years in which you have cher-

ished us in your regard; ours by that unshaken sentiment of

gratitude for your services which is a precious portion of our

inheritance; ours by that tie of love, stronger than death, which

has linked your name, for the countless ages of time, with the

name of Washington.- President John Quincy Adams, in fare-

well address to Lafayette.

The strong and universal sentiment found expression in

familiar words, repeated everywhere:

"We bow not the neck,

We bend not the knee,

But our hearts, Lafayette,

We surrender to thee."

It belongs to the glory of Lafayette that he inspired this

sentiment, and it belongs to the glory of our country to have

felt it.- Charles Sumner in speaking of the visit of Lafayette

to America.

As the centuries roll by, and in the fullness of time the

rays of liberty's torch are the beacon lights of the world, the

central niches in the earth's Pantheon of Freedom will be filled

by the figures of Washington and Lafayette. The story of this

young French noble's life is the history of the time which made

possible this statue, and his spirit is the very soul of this cele-

bration. - Chauncey M. Depew at the unveiling of the Bartholdi

statue of Liberty.

It is a fitting occasion upon which to solemnly dedicate a

monument in honor of a hero of two continents, the immortal

Lafayette. * * * He needs no eulogist. His services attest

his worth. He honored the age in which he lived and future

generations will be illumed by the brightness of his fame.-

Ambassador Horace Porter at the unveiling of an equestrian

statue of Lafayette in Paris July 4, 1900.

As long as the starry banner shall float, so long shall the

name of Lafayette be loved and honored beyond the sea, - so

long also shall the country that gave him birth, whose spirit and

chivalry he personified, be loved and honored in the United

States of America. - Archbishop Ireland at unveiling of eques-

trian statue of Lafayette in Paris July 4, 1900.

The children of America, assembled in their various study

rooms, gave in a single day the funds necessary to insure the

success of this monument. *  *  *  On that day a tribute was

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Tributes To Lafayette.              269

 

paid to Lafayette unparalleled in the annals of civilization.-

Robert J. Thompson at the unveiling of equestrian statue of

Lafayette in Paris July 4, 1900.

In person Lafayette was tall and powerfully built, with

broad shoulders, deep chest, and a tendency in later life toward

corpulence. His features were large and strongly marked. He

had much dignity of manner and was ordinarily quiet and self-

possessed. Perhaps the best testimony to his purity of char-

acter is the fact that his bitterest detractors, in the absence of

any other available charge, are in the habit of insisting upon his

vanity. Among all the eminent Frenchmen of the revolutionary

period, he was perhaps the only one in whose career there was

nothing to be really ashamed of. His traits of character were

solid rather than brilliant; and he was too thoroughly imbued

with American ideas to identify himself with any one of the

violent movements originating in the French revolution of 1789.

His love of constitutional liberty was too strong for him to co-

operate either with Bourbons or with Jacobins or with Bona-

partists; and from all three quarters attempts have been made

to detract from his rightful fame.-- Appleton's Encyclopedia of

American Biography.

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