From Portland, the general would have been well pleased to continue his route to the extremity of the state of Maine, but time was wanting; he therefore retraced his steps towards Burlington, passing through Windsor, Woodstock, Montpelier, &c. Although Vermont is very mountainous, which rendered the road more difficult, we travelled with extreme rapidity, advancing almost all the time more than nine miles an hour, relays of horses having been well disposed by the inhabitants, in order that the general might not be retarded in his progress to New York. On the morning of the 28th, we arrived at Burlington, the beautiful situation of which, on the delightful shores of Lake Champlain, excited our admiration. Whilst we were viewing, with pleasure and astonishment, the beauties of nature spread before us, we heard the thunder of artillery, and an instant afterwards saw advancing towards us a body of militia, preceded by a crowd of citizens, who hastened in front of the national hotel. The good order of this body of troops, the bold and firm step of the men who composed it, answered perfectly to the reputation for bravery and patriotism which the inhabitants of Vermont had acquired in the revolutionary war, and in that of 1814. Every one knows, that it was the Vermonters who, in 1777, completed, by their presence, the embarrassment of the English General Burgoyne, who, at sight of their intrepid bands, presented his capitulation. Some days before his surrender, he wrote to the British minister: “The inhabitants of the New Hampshire[[17]] grants, a territory uninhabited and almost unknown during the last war, flock together by thousands, and accumulate upon my left like dense clouds” This letter had not yet been received in England when already the thunderbolts which these clouds enveloped had struck him. It was also the soldiers of Vermont, to the number of 800 only, who, led by General Starke, engaged, on the same day, two English detachments, took from them seven hundred prisoners, four pieces of artillery, and all their camp equipage. Finally, it was these intrepid Green Mountain boys who formed the troops which preserved Plattsburg from pillage by the English, on the 11th of September, 1814; and the raw crews, who, with vessels built in eighteen days, forced an enemy superior in number, to strike a flag which claimed the absolute empire of the sea.
The governor, who had met the general at Windsor, and who had travelled with him from that city, introduced him to the citizens and magistrates of Burlington, who received him with the most affectionate addresses. I shall not insert here, notwithstanding their eloquence, the numerous speeches addressed to him by the representatives of the different branches of the administration and government, nor his answers, in which he congratulated the state of Vermont on their enjoying so nobly the benefits of the new American social order, so superior to the least vicious institutions of Europe, and at having replaced European tolerance by religious liberty; privilege by right; a shadow of representation and an unequal compromise between the aristocratic families and the people, by a true representation by the principle of the sovereignty of the nation, and its self-government. But I cannot refrain from relating some of the patriotic remarks of these veterans, glorious and living monuments of the revolutionary war, who crowded around their old chief, the companion of former dangers, privations, and glory, and repeating with enthusiasm the names of the battles, in which he had aided them in achieving the independence of their country. Formed in column in the public square, to the number of more than a hundred, they listened at first in silence to the discourse addressed to the general by Mr. Griswold, president of the council; afterwards they advanced in their turn, conducted by one of their comrades, David Russel, whom they had chosen to be the organ of their sentiments, and who performed the office with that eloquence of heart which is inspired by love of country and of liberty. When the general had answered to the professions of attachment of his old companions in arms, they all in turn approached to shake hands with him, reminding him more particularly of the circumstances under which each had known him, or had fought by his side. One of them, Sergeant Day, showed him a sword, saying, “It is nearly half a century since I received this from your hands, general.” And I heard it said in the crowd, that notwithstanding his great age, Sergeant Day had not found this sword too heavy for his arm in 1814.
After the public dinner, which was concluded before night, the general visited the university, where he was invited to lay the corner stone of a new building intended to be added to the establishment, which an incendiary had destroyed a year before, and which the zeal of the inhabitants of Vermont for the diffusion of knowledge had entirely rebuilt in a few months. In the solidity and elegance of these buildings it was easy to see the hand of the people. The ceremony of laying the corner stone took place in presence of the pupils of the university, their professors, the magistrates of the city, and a great concourse of citizens, who saw with joy the restoration and enlargement of an institution destined to render more permanent the support of their wise institutions, by instructing and enlightening the rising generations. Mr. Willard Preston, president of the university, thanked General Lafayette for the evidence he had given of his interest in the education of the youth of Vermont, and we proceeded to the residence of Governor Van Ness, whose delightful dwelling and gardens arranged with exquisite taste, were still more charmingly embellished by an assemblage of ladies and gentlemen, who, during the whole evening, contended for the pleasure of approaching the nation’s guest, to express their sentiments of affection and gratitude for the services he had rendered to their country and forefathers; for, in the state of Vermont, as in all the rest of the Union, the females are not strangers either to the principles of government, or to the obligations of patriotism; their education, more liberal than in any part of Europe, places them in a condition more worthy the rank of thinking beings, as it is well known that in all the great events which have agitated the United States at different periods, the enthusiasm of the women powerfully seconded the energy of the magistrates, and the devotion of the warriors. One of the circumstances which contributed most to augment my attachment to the Americans during my stay among them, is the profound respect that they pay to females of every rank, and the tender care with which they protect this sex.
About midnight General Lafayette quitted the town of Burlington, carrying with him the good wishes and benedictions of the inhabitants, who accompanied him to the shore, where there were two steam-boats, the Phœnix and Congress, both having awnings, illuminated and ornamented with designs and transparencies. He went on board the Phœnix, which saluted him with thirteen guns on his embarkation, when the anchor was quickly weighed, amidst the loud farewells of the crowd who lined the shores. The Congress having on board a deputation from Vermont, and a large number of citizens, followed the Phœnix, and during the whole night we ploughed the waters, upon which Commodore M’Donough and his intrepid sailors covered themselves with glory on the 11th Sept. 1814. We should have been pleased, before leaving these places, to visit Plattsburg, where on the same day General M’Comb merited the gratitude of his country, by repulsing the veteran troops of Britain, with a handful of raw volunteers, who, at the first rumour of the invasion of their territory, had flocked around him; but the 4th of July was approaching, and rendered it necessary for us to hasten our progress.
The following day, June 30, about noon, we arrived at Whitehall, where General Lafayette disembarked under a canopy formed of two hundred flags of all nations, to the thunder of artillery, and between two lines of girls who scattered flowers over him as he passed. Whitehall is celebrated in the history of the revolutionary war. General Burgoyne boasted in parliament, at London, that those whom he called the rebels of America, were so incapable of resisting, that with five thousand regular troops he would march from Canada to Boston, where he would take up his winter quarters. He embarked in fact with his army on Lake Champlain, disembarked at Whitehall, and not far from the latter place, at Saratoga, he was compelled to capitulate, and passed, it is true, the winter at Boston, but as a prisoner of war. At the conclusion of the public dinner which the citizens of Whitehall gave to General Lafayette, he referred to this remarkable fact, by giving the following toast:—“Whitehall! May this town for ever enjoy the advantages resulting to her from the manner in which the English general’s prophecy was accomplished!”
We could remain but a short time with the inhabitants of Whitehall, who having furnished good carriages, and excellent horses, enabled us to pass rapidly over the eighty miles that separated us from Albany, where we were to embark for New York. After sunset we crossed Fish Creek, and stopped some minutes at the house of Mr. Schuyler, which is built on the precise spot where General Burgoyne delivered his sword to General Gates. At Whitehall we were told of the boast of the English general, and we now found ourselves on the field of battle which humbled his pride; we should have been exceedingly pleased to visit this theatre of one of the most glorious events of the revolution; but the night was too far advanced, and we were compelled to forego this pleasure. To make amends, as far as he could, Mr. Schuyler had the goodness to give us a very detailed account of the battle of Saratoga. “The ground,” he told us “has not undergone any change; the entrenchments, though considerably effaced by time, are nevertheless easy to be recognised.” In fact, the old patriots of that period can still show their children the path which the aid of General Gates took, when he carried the ultimatum to the English general, and the road by which the English army left their entrenchments to lay down their arms before rebels, who, almost without arms, and destitute of equipments, commenced so gloriously the acquisition of their independence. But these traces will one day disappear. Why not erect in the midst of them, a more durable monument, which shall remind future generations of the courage and patriotism of this glorious generation, which time will soon render extinct?
After a short time passed with the family of Mr. Schuyler, we left them, to sleep at a neighbouring town, and the next morning we continued our journey by a road which winds along the Hudson, sometimes to the right, at others on the left of the northern canal, which latter is constructed parallel to the river, and a short distance from its right shore; in crossing Fish Creek we re-entered the state of New York. We crossed the Hudson at Waterford; this spot is rendered remarkable by the junction of the northern with the western or great canal, which is just at the confluence of the rivers Mohawk and Hudson. On the 2d of July, we visited Lansinburgh, and returned to Troy, but without stopping any time. A steam-boat had been prepared for us at Albany; on board of which we went that evening, and at daylight we arrived at New York, where we disembarked almost unexpectedly.
Nevertheless, there was a great bustle, and a great number of strangers were observed in the streets; every moment vessels and carriages were arriving, followed by others which seemed to come from a greater distance. Detachments of militia from the neighbouring towns, inhabitants of the surrounding country, were constantly swelling the population of New York. Night did not interrupt these movements, the precursors of a great event. Accordingly at midnight, a discharge of artillery announced the commencement of a day ever glorious in the records of the history of the New World, and some hours afterwards the sun of the Fourth of July rose radiantly to illumine the 49th anniversary of the declaration of independence of a republic, whose great lessons will not be lost to the human race.
In the morning the militia were under arms, the streets, the public places, and the entrances to the churches, were thronged with people, and the air resounded with thanksgiving. At eight o’clock the officers and magistrates of New York and Brooklyn, with a number of citizens, visited General Lafayette, and invited him to lay the corner stone of a building for a mechanics’ library at Brooklyn. The general acceded with pleasure to the wishes of the magistrates, and proceeded to Brooklyn, where, assisted by some free masons of Long Island, he laid the corner stone of the edifice, in presence of a great concourse of citizens, arranged in front of whom the young mechanics loudly expressed their joy and gratitude; finally, he returned to New York, followed by companies of journeymen tailors, shoemakers, bakers, stone-masons, cutlers, coopers, riggers, &c., who, preceded by their banners, accompanied him to church, where he attended divine worship. The sermon, the subject of which was the solemnity of the day, was followed by the reading of the declaration of independence, which was listened to with profound attention. This declaration, a monument of fearlessness and wisdom, whose magic influence saved the colonies at a moment when, without money, munitions of war, or arms, they engaged in a formidable contest with the colossal power of Great Britain, affected the Americans even at the present day, after half a century, as if it were the moment when it was first proclaimed. Not only is it read every year on the fourth of July, in public, but also in many families. It is not uncommon to find the houses of the Americans ornamented with the declaration of independence, beautifully engraved with facsimiles of the signatures of the immortal signers attached to it, and splendidly framed. Even children know it by heart; it is commonly the first object upon which the youthful memory is exercised; it is their pleasing task to translate it into the different languages which they study; and when they recite it in the midst of a circle of their relations or friends, it is easy to perceive that they are penetrated, as were their fathers, with the incontestible truth of the principle, that “when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.”
I have often heard children of from ten to twelve years of age recite this extract in English and French, and it was never without deep emotion that they enumerated the oppressions and vexations exercised towards the American colonies by the mother country. It was easy to perceive that patriotism and liberty had taken deep roots in their young hearts, when they pronounced the pledge which terminates the concluding paragraph.