During this time the corner stone had been prepared; and, before placing it, the grand chaplain, Mr. Carter, pronounced the prayer with a loud voice.
After this prayer, which was heard in religious silence, the grand master ordered the secretary of the committee to prepare the different objects which were to be placed in the foundation as memorials of the event. These were several medals with the portraits of the nation’s guest, of Washington, of General Greene, and Franklin; some pieces of money of the United States, struck at different periods, and also some paper money of the state of Georgia; some engravings, among which were the portraits of General Charles Pinckney, and Doctor Kollock, and all the details relative to the ceremony; lastly, a medal, on which were these words: “The corner stone of this monument, to the memory of General Nathaniel Greene, was laid by General Lafayette, at the request of the citizens of Savannah, the 21st of March, 1825.”
The stone was then lowered, amid strains of funeral music, to the bottom of the excavation. The general then descended to the stone, and struck it three times with a mallet; all the brethren came successively to render their duties, and the grand priest of the royal chapter of Georgia came, with the censor in his hand, to bless the corner stone. When all these ceremonies were ended, the grand master remitted to the principal architect all the objects requisite to be employed in the completion of the monument, charging him by all the ties which bound companions in masonry to acquit himself of his duty, in a manner honourable to his workmen and himself.
With these, and other ceremonies common on these occasions, the stone was then sealed while the music played a national air. The whole was terminated by a triple volley discharged by the United States’ troops.
The procession then marched back in the same order as before, and repaired to Chippeway place, where the ceremony was repeated in laying the corner stone of the monument of Pulaski.
Before returning to his lodgings, General Lafayette went to Brigadier-general Harden’s to assist at a presentation of colours embroidered by Mrs. Harden, and presented by her to the first regiment of the Georgia militia. On these colours, very richly worked, was the portrait of General Lafayette, and several inscriptions recalling various glorious epochs of the revolution. The burst of enthusiasm on receiving them extended alike to the officers and soldiers, who swore that under these colours, presented by beauty, and consecrated by Lafayette, they would ever be assured of vanquishing the enemies of liberty and their country.
Some hours after, notwithstanding the pressing entreaties of the citizens, and above all, the ladies, who had prepared a ball for the same evening, the general, pressed by time and his numerous engagements, was obliged to quit Savannah, and we embarked on board the steam-boat Alatamaha with the governor of Georgia, and the committee of arrangement, to visit Augusta, which is situated a hundred and eighty miles from the mouth of the river Savannah.
We found at Savannah a young man whose name and destiny were calculated to inspire us with a lively interest; this was Achille Murat, son of Joachim Murat, ex-king of Naples. On the earliest news of the arrival of General Lafayette in Georgia, he precipitately quitted Florida, where he has become a planter, and came to add his homage and felicitations to those of the Americans, whom he now regarded as his countrymen. Two days passed in his company, excited an esteem for his character and understanding, not to be withheld by any who may have the same opportunity of knowing him. Scarcely twenty-four years of age, he has had sufficient energy of mind to derive great advantages from an event which many others, in his place, would have regarded as an irreparable misfortune. Deprived of the hope of wearing the crown promised by his birth, he transported to the United States the trifling remains of his fortune, and sufficiently wise to appreciate the benefits of the liberty here enjoyed, he has become a naturalized citizen of the United States. Far from imitating so many fallen kings, who never learn how to console themselves for the loss of their former power, Achille Murat has become a cultivator, has preserved his name without any title, and by his frank, and altogether republican manners, has rapidly conciliated the regard of all who know him. He possesses a cultivated mind, and a heart filled with the most noble and generous emotions. For the memory of his father he cherishes a profound and melancholy veneration. Mr. George Lafayette, having cited in conversation some traits of that brilliant and chivalric bravery which Murat so eminently possessed, he appeared to be much affected by it; and, some moments after, when alone with me, he said with warm emotion, “Mr. George has caused me a great happiness; he has spoken well of my father to me.”
The conversation turning upon European politics, he explained himself with great freedom on the subject of the holy alliance, and, in general, upon every kind of despotism. I could not avoid saying to him, in pleasantry, that it was a very extraordinary circumstance to hear such discourse from the mouth of an hereditary prince. “Hereditary prince,” replied he with vivacity, “I have found the means to be more than such a thing—I am a freeman!” One circumstance, however, caused me pain and surprise, which was, that Achille Murat, free to choose his residence in the United States, should come to establish himself exactly in the country afflicted by slavery. This choice could only appear to me reasonable for a man who had decided to labour all in his power for the gradual emancipation of the blacks, and to give to his neighbours an example of justice and humanity, in preparing his slaves for liberty; but, I believe, this noble project has not entered into the thoughts of our young republican, who, to judge by some peculiarities of his conversation, seems but too well prepared to adopt the principles of some of his new fellow citizens as to the slavery of the blacks. Is it then, thus, that the original sin of royalty must always show the tip of its ear?[[6]]
Savannah is the most important city of the state of Georgia. It is situated on the right bank of Savannah river, and about seventeen miles from its mouth. Its large and straight streets cross at right angles, and are planted on each side with a row of delightful trees, called the Pride of India, and for which the inhabitants of the south have a marked predilection. Although elevated forty feet above the level of the river, the situation of Savannah is unhealthy; an autumn seldom passes without the yellow fever making cruel ravages. Commerce is notwithstanding very active there; its port, which can admit vessels drawing forty feet, annually exports more than six millions of dollars worth of cotton. Its population is 7523 inhabitants, divided thus: 3,557 white individuals, 582 free people of colour, and 3,075 slaves. The number of persons employed in the manufactories nearly equals that of those occupied in commerce, which is about six hundred.