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Books: Memoirs of General Lafayette

L >> Lafayette >> Memoirs of General Lafayette




In 1800 a new revolution took place in the French government. The Directors
were found to be incompetent to the support of order; cabals and factions
still existed, and confusion prevailed through the nation. General
Bonaparte, who had led the armies to victory in several campaigns, was
ambitious of the sole direction of public affairs. The executive power, by
the new constitution, was to be placed in three Consuls, of whom Napoleon
was elected chief. A Conservative Senate, so called, was to constitute a
part of the Legislature and to be joined with the Consuls also in providing
for the public welfare in cases of particular emergency. By the
constitutionalists and those opposed to the violent factions, by which
France had been long agitated and disgraced, this change was considered as
auspicious to the cause of rational liberty. They hoped that a more stable
government would be now formed, and that their country would enjoy a season
of repose. Lafayette seized this favorable moment to return to France,
after an absence of nearly eight years. His patriotic feelings had not
abated, though he had suffered so long and so intensely from the hatred of
those who directed the destinies of his country. His love of liberty was
not weakened, though many of his countrymen, with its sacred name on their
lips, had committed excesses almost without a parallel in the most despotic
governments. The First Consul incited Lafayette to take a seat in the
Conservative Senate; but he declined; by which he gave new proofs of his
disinterested and sincere attachment to the constitutional liberty and the
rights of the people. After several conversations with Bonaparte, he was
satisfied of the ambitious views of this military adventurer. He perceived
that the constitution was to serve as an apology for the exercise of
unlimited power in the First Consul; and that representatives and senators
were to be the humble ministers of his will. He saw that the constitution
did not emanate from the will of the people; and was not calculated to
secure and promote their welfare. Bonaparte also had discernment to learn,
that Lafayette was too sincere a friend to civil liberty and to the
interests of the people, to support his purposes, or to submit to his plans
of personal aggrandizement.

We shall have a more just estimation of the noble sentiments with which
Lafayette was animated, in declining the generous offers of the First
Consul, when it is considered, that, in addition to his self-banishment to
private life, he also refused an honorable salary of 7000 dollars, when the
estates which remained in his possession yielded only 2000 dollars. He had
a grant of land from the American Congress, in consideration of his
important services in the revolution, estimated to be worth 100,000
dollars. Before the revolution, his income was 50,000 dollars: but the most
valuable of his patrimonial property, as well as that which accrued to him
in consequence of his marriage, had been seized by the lawless robbers of
the revolution.

It was in conformity to the principles, which he had long professed and by
which he was constantly guided, that he soon after opposed the election of
Bonaparte as Consul for life. He would have consented, perhaps, to the
claims of the aspiring Napoleon to be the First Magistrate of France, under
a constitution, which expressly defined and restricted his power, and at
the same time provided a sufficient guaranty of the liberties of the
people.

On this occasion he wrote thus to the First Consul--"When a man, who is
deeply impressed with a sense of the gratitude he owes you, and who is too
ardent a lover of glory to be indifferent to yours, connects his suffrage
with conditional restrictions, those restrictions not only secure him from
suspicion, but prove amply, that no one will more gladly than himself
behold in you the chief magistrate for life, of a free and independent
republic.

"The eighteenth Brumaire saved France from destruction and I felt myself
reassured and recalled by the liberal declarations to which you have
connected the sanction of your honor. In your consular authority there was
afterwards discerned that salutary dictatorial prerogative, which under the
auspices of a genius like yours, accomplished such glorious purposes--yet
less glorious, let me add, than the restoration of liberty would prove.

"It is not possible, general, that you, the first among that order of
mankind, which surveys every age and every country, can desire that a
revolution, marked by an unexampled series of stupendous victories and
unheard of sufferings, shall give nothing to the world but a renovated
system of arbitrary government. The people of this country have been
acquainted with their rights too long, to forget them forever: but perhaps
they may recover and enjoy them better now than during the period of
revolutionary effervescence. And you, by the strength of your character and
the influence of public confidence, by the superiority of your talents,
your power, and your fortunes, in re-establishing the liberties of France,
can allay all agitations, calm all anxieties and subdue all dangers.

"When I wish, then, to see the career of your glory crowned by the honors
of perpetual magistracy, I but act in correspondence with my own private
sentiments, and am influenced exclusively by patriotic considerations. But
all my political and moral obligations, the principles which have governed
every action of my life, call on me to pause before I bestow on you my
suffrage, until I feel assured that your authority shall be erected on a
basis worthy of the nation and yourself.

"I confidently trust, general, that you will recognize here, as you have
done on all other occasions, a steady continuance of my political opinions,
combined with the sincerest prayers for your welfare, and the deepest sense
of all my obligations towards you."

Here closed all connexion between Lafayette and Bonaparte. The First Consul
not only avoided all intercourse with one so sincerely devoted to the cause
of liberty; but he treated him with that studied neglect, which was little
short of persecution. There was indeed nothing congenial either in the
character or principles of these two distinguished men. The one was aiming
at power by any means, without regard to the rights or happiness of his
fellow men; the other was anxious for the permanent establishment of a mild
government in his native country, for the true welfare and liberty of the
people; and was willing to make every sacrifice for the attainment of such
great objects.

The unfriendly feelings of Bonaparte were extended even to the younger
Lafayette. This patriotic youth, with much of the public spirit of his
noble father, engaged in the service of his country soon after his return
from America. He was an aid of the brave Grouchy, general of division; an
active, intelligent, meritorious officer, and distinguished on various
occasions. But he received neither advancement nor distinction from the
Emperor. It was, on the contrary, the wish of Napoleon, that young
Lafayette would send in his resignation, and retire from the army. When
this was made known to him, he observed, "that as long as his country was
involved in war, he should not disgrace himself by a resignation; and that
he should be ashamed to think of it, while his companions were daily
exposing themselves to danger. It was true, he was an American citizen, but
he was first of all a Frenchman and a loyal Frenchman."

G. W. Lafayette was much esteemed by the officers who knew him, of all
ranks; and they frequently solicited his promotion; but the Emperor
disregarded alike the merits of the youthful hero and the entreaties of his
military friends. He continued in the army until the treaty of Tilsit.

To a man of his great sensibility and warmth of affection, the severest
affliction which Lafayette has been called to endure, great and various as
have been his sufferings, now awaited him. His amiable, his attached and
devoted wife was torn from him, in his retreat, within a few years after
his return to France; when he more than ever, perhaps, needed her company
and solace, to fortify his mind under the multiplied disappointments from
the world.

She had never enjoyed perfect health after her imprisonment at Olmutz. But
possessed of uncommon fortitude and imbued with religious sentiments, she
was still instrumental in promoting the happiness of her husband and
family. Her patience, her equanimity, her sweetness of temper never forsook
her. But her constitution was broken, and a sudden paralysis deprived her
of her physical strength and almost of speech. At the urgent request of her
husband, though with reluctance, she was conveyed to Paris for medical
assistance; but it proved in vain. She died in December 1807.

While Madame de Lafayette was in the prison in Paris, though treated with
the greatest severity by Robespierre and his party, she had the consolation
of sharing in the sympathetic kindness and assistance of many individuals,
who were willing to expose themselves to the hatred of her cruel
persecutors for her relief. A gentleman from Boston, Joseph Russel, Esq.
then a resident in Paris, made great efforts for her liberation; although
by this generous interference he hazarded his own life. It was through his
friendly assistance, that her son G. W. Lafayette, then about fourteen
years of age, was conveyed to the United States, where he remained till the
discharge of his parents from the dungeons of Olmutz.

About this period, and soon after the death of his amiable wife, General
Lafayette received a severe fracture in one of his legs, by a fall, which
occasioned his confinement for nearly twelve months, and was the cause of
his present lameness. He had been transacting business with the minister of
the marine; and in going from the office to his carriage, a distance of two
hundred paces, late in the evening, after a heavy rain and sleet, which had
rendered it dangerous walking, he fell suddenly and broke a bone.

For six or seven years, till 1814, when Louis XVIII. returned to France to
mount the throne of the Bourbons, Lafayette resided at his chateau of La
Grange, an inactive spectator of the political changes which took place. No
doubt he had a sufficient apology for this inaction and voluntary retreat
from public affairs. He was too honest and too candid, too much an enemy to
the anarchy of the jacobin factions, and to the despotism of the Emperor,
to support either, or to be received into their confidence. He would
probably have been satisfied with the restoration of a Bourbon to the
throne, if the throne could be founded in a constitution, admitting the
representatives of the people to a share in legislation, and defining the
extent and the measure of the executive authority. He was animated by the
same principles and sentiments which governed him in the part he acted in
1789 and 1792: and although he might acquiesce in a different government,
either under the First Consul, or under Louis XVIII. he could not,
consistently, and therefore he chose not to forward their views by his own
personal influence and support. He was still calumniated by some agents of
the Bourbons, yet he declared, on the return of Bonaparte from Elba, to
gain the throne of France, "that in all measures, which should promote or
be consistent with the liberties of the people, he would aid the cause of
the legitimate heir of the crown." The views of Louis' friends and allies
were too arbitrary to lead them to expect his approbation and aid.

Louis XVIII. had not been long in France, before great discontent was
manifested among the citizens at the prospect of his being placed on the
throne of his brother. Napoleon and his friends took advantage of this
state of things: he left his retreat in the Island of Elba, and returned to
Paris. Louis was obliged to retire. Bonaparte, through his brother Joseph,
the ex-king of Spain, solicited of Lafayette to accept of a peerage. But he
promptly declined; but observed, "that if there should be a convocation of
a chamber of representatives," which he strenuously urged, "he would
consent to take a part in public affairs, should he be elected." His
independence and his want of faith in Napoleon, were preserved,
notwithstanding the urgent advances of the latter; and he resolutely
refused to go near him till after his final abdication. Yet even at this
time, Lafayette thought he might rely on "his cordial opposition to all
foreign invasion and influence, and to any family or party which should
avail itself of such assistance in order to attack the independence and the
liberties of France." Much as he distrusted the views of Bonaparte, and
desirous as he was of some explicit guaranty, from him and his supporters,
for the liberty of the French people, he would not unite with the Bourbons,
who were resolved to place Louis XVIII. firmly on the throne of his
ancestors, by any means in their power, and who had collected an army of
one million two hundred thousand foreigners to accomplish their object, at
the risque of a civil war, and a general slaughter, similar to that with
which the unprincipled, revolutionary Jacobins had before afflicted the
nation.

Lafayette was now elected a member of the chamber of deputies from his own
department, though he had protested against the articles of the
constitution of the empire, and of the additional act which conspired
against the _sovereignty_ of the people, and the rights of the citizens.
This was a strong proof of the sense the people had of his integrity and
his patriotism. After the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon returned to Paris,
in consternation, and undecided as to the course he would pursue on this
signal reverse of fortune. Some of his friends advised him again to
abdicate the office of Emperor, which he held by so precarious a tenure;
others suggested decisive and bold measures, with a view to fortify himself
in power, even in apposition to the will and wishes of the deputies. He
attempted to prorogue the chamber of representatives, and have himself
proclaimed perpetual dictator. Lafayette was then present in the chamber;
and with his usual independence and energy, made the following
observations.

"When, for the first time for many years, I raise my voice; which the old
friends of liberty will recognise again, I feel constrained to address you,
gentlemen, on the imminent danger of the country, which you alone are able
to prevent.

"Disastrous reports have been circulated and are now unhappily confirmed.
Now is the time to rally round the old tri-coloured standard of 1789, of
liberty, of equality, and of public order. It is this alone which we are
bound to defend against foreign pretensions and domestic factions. Allow a
veteran in this holy cause, who has always been an enemy to the baneful
spirit of dissension, to submit the following preliminary resolutions" of
which I hope you will admit the necessity.

"_First_. The Chamber of Representatives declare that the independence of
the nation is endangered.

"_Second_. The Chamber declare themselves in continued session--That every
attempt to prorogue the Chamber shall be considered high treason--That any
one guilty of such an attempt shall be deemed a traitor to his country, and
be instantly proceeded against as such.

"_Third_. The army of the line and the national guards, who have fought and
are still fighting for the independence of France, deserve the gratitude of
their Country.

"_Fourth_. The minister of the interior is directed to assemble the general
staff, the commandants and majors of the legion of the national guard of
Paris, to consult on the means of supplying them with arms, and to render
complete this citizen-guard; whose zeal and patriotism having been proved
for twenty-six years, offer a sure guaranty of the liberty, the property
and the tranquility of the capital, and of the inviolability of the
representatives of the nation.

"_Fifth_. The ministers of war, of foreign relations, of the interior and
of the police, are invited to attend the assembly immediately."

When the Emperor was informed that Lafayette was in the tribune, and
engaged in the discussions on the proposition of constituting him dictator
for life, he expressed great alarm and anxiety. He knew the sentiments of
Lafayette too well, not to feel assured of his opposition to such a
measure. For this consistent and zealous advocate for the rights of the
people had always been hostile to a chief magistrate, under any title, who
should possess absolute power; and contended for a constitution to limit
and define the executive authority. It was then that. Bonaparte exclaimed,
"Lafayette in the tribune!" and his great agitation betrayed the belief,
that his power was at an end. In this situation, his armies defeated, and
the representatives of the people opposed to his wishes of a _perpetual_
dictatorship, he gave formal notice of his purpose to abdicate the imperial
authority. Lafayette was at the head of the deputation appointed by the
chamber of representatives, to wait on the Emperor, to accept and thank him
for his abdication, A few days before this, when the deputies were accused
of being capricious and ungrateful, by a friend of Napoleon, Lafayette
observed, in reply, "go tell him that we can trust him no longer; we
ourselves will undertake the salvation of our country."

Although he opposed the ambitious views of Bonaparte, and boldly and
decidedly remonstrated against his intention of again assuming absolute
power, yet he moved in the chamber of Representatives, at this time, that
the liberty and person of the late Emperor Napoleon should be placed under
the protection of the French nation; expecting, probably, that the allied
princes of Europe, already in the vicinity of Paris with powerful armies,
would take his life, or cause him to be imprisoned.

Lafayette was one of the Commissioners appointed by the Chamber of Deputies
to propose to the allied powers a suspension of hostilities. His object was
to provide for the liberty of the people and to exact a promise of some
limitations and restrictions to the royal authority. But the friends and
supporters of the Bourbon dynasty, the hereditary princes of Europe, had a
powerful army in the suburbs of Paris, and they refused to make any terms
with the most moderate and honorable advocates of popular rights. Though
one tyrant was overthrown; another was to be _forced_ upon them: not
precisely an usurper indeed; but who, without a constitution for his guide,
and surrounded by men of arbitrary principles might be instrumental in
their oppression and degradation. When he returned to Paris, he found the
invading armies in possession of the city. Napoleon escaped, and _nominal_
tranquility was restored to the capital of France. But it was a tranquility
produced by a military force; and not that which is the effect of a wise
and energetic government founded in the will of the people. The doors of
the assembly were closed against the representatives of the people, by the
_gens d'armes_, the agents who restored the Bourbon dynasty. Many of the
deputies then assembled at the house of Lafayette; at whose instance they
repaired to the President's to record their testimony to this forced and
unjust exclusion, and to sign the _proces verbal_.

As he alike disapproved of Louis or Napoleon assuming the power of King or
Emperor, without a bill of rights securing the privileges of the people,
and a constitution as the rule and measure of executive acts, it was no
longer in his power to render service to his country is a public station:
nor did the favorites of Louis XVIII. invite him to take part in the
administration of government, which they proposed to establish. It may
appear surprising, on the first view of the subject, that the friends of a
monarch of the reputed mild character of Louis, who must wish the greatest
happiness of his subjects, should refuse to such men as Lafayette, all
share in the government; and at the same time, take into their employment
and confidence, many of the creatures of Bonaparte, who were destitute
alike of principle and patriotism. But it is often found to be the fact,
that the sincere and honest, who will not flatter, and do not approve all
the projects of an ambitious aspirant, or an arbitrary Prince, are less
courted, than those who have no settled principles, or one ever ready to
support the successful candidate for power.

Except the short and occasional engagements in political concerns, just
above related, Lafayette, after his return to France in the year 1800,
generally remained at his estate, about thirty miles from Paris. But though
retired from the more active scenes of public life, he enjoyed the
friendship of several eminent characters in his own country; and was
visited by all distinguished Americans, and many British statesmen and
scholars, whose business or amusement led them to travel through France. He
was always particularly desirous to learn the affairs of America, his
adopted country; and was careful to procure all the publications from the
United States. Besides literary pursuits, he was occasionally occupied in
attending to the cultivation and improvement of his family estate. Such has
frequently been the employment and solace of eminent men, when they have
retired from high public stations, in which their services and exactions
have met the mistaken censure or the neglect of the world. During several
of the first years of this retirement, he was blessed with the society of
an amiable and affectionate wife. And after her much lamented death, which
has been before noticed, he still enjoyed the pleasure of being surrounded
by his children and grand children, in whose education and improvement he
always took a truly paternal interest.

At the time the federal constitution was in discussion by conventions in
the several states, and when it first went into operation, Alexander
Hamilton, who was its zealous advocate, corresponded with Lafayette on the
subject. The letters have not been published; but it is probable they would
be highly interesting to the politician and statesman, and serve fully to
develop the views of both these eminent men on the science of civil
government. This was about the period of the commencement of the French
revolution. The particular extent of the change in the monarchical
government of France, contemplated by Lafayette, may appear by this
epistolary discussion. If not wholly confidential, it may be expected, that
the letters will be given to the American public.

His second daughter, Virginia, married Monsieur de Lasteyrie, a young
gentleman of eminent literary attainments; and who distinguished himself,
also, as an officer in the French army, during the reign of Napoleon;
particularly in the campaign of Jena, Eylau, Friedland, &c. But this brave
and meritorious officer shared, with his brother-in-law, G. W. Fayette, the
constant neglect and hatred of Bonaparte. G. W. Fayette was married to a
daughter of Count de Tracy, one of the party of moderates, or liberals, as
often denominated, and sometime a member of the conservative senate. The
son and sons-in-law of General Lafayette, reside at the same chateau with
their father; which is sufficiently spacious, not only for the respectable
accommodation of the four united families, the father, son and two
sons-in-law; but for the reception and occasional residence of family or
other particular friends, who often pass much time in this hospitable
mansion. Monsieur de Maubourg, an old and intimate friend of General
Lafayette, with his lady, usually spend the greater part of the year at the
chateau of La Grange. The son, and eldest daughter, who married Charles
Latour Maubourg, have each several children, who are peculiar objects of
affection and interest with their respected grandsire:

The following remarks of Madame de Stael, who personally knew much of
General Lafayette, [Footnote: She was also an intimate friend of Madame de
Lafayette. They were accused, in the days of suspicion and terror, of being
too much engaged in political affairs.] and who was well acquainted with
characters and events connected with the French revolution, are deemed
worthy of being presented to the reader of these hasty memoirs.

"M. de Lafayette, having fought from his early youth for the cause of
America, had early become imbued with the principles of liberty, which form
the basis of that government. If he made mistakes with regard to the French
revolution, we are to ascribe them all to his admiration of the American
institutions, and of Washington, the hero citizen, who guided the first
steps of that nation in the career of Independence. Lafayette, young,
affluent, of noble family, and beloved at home, relinquished all these
advantages at the age of nineteen, to serve beyond the ocean in the cause
of that liberty, the love of which has decided every action of his life.
Had he had the happiness to be a native of the United States, his conduct
would have been that of Washington: the same disinterestedness, the same
enthusiasm, the same perseverance in their opinions, distinguished each of
these generous friends of humanity. Had General Washington been, like the
Marquis de Lafayette, commander of the national guard of Paris, he also
might have found it impossible to control the course of circumstances; _he_
also might have seen his efforts baffled by the difficulty of being at once
faithful to his engagements to the king, and of establishing at the same
time, the liberty of his country.