The fame of Bolivar’s exploits in combating for the liberty and independence of the South American republics, at this time resounded through the United States, whose citizens applauded with transport his republican patriotism, which then was free from all suspicion. Mr. Custis, the adopted son of Washington, whose ardent spirit is ever ready to sympathise with all that is great and generous, conceived the thought of presenting to the Liberator, as a testimonial of his admiration, a fine portrait of General Washington, and a medal of pure gold, which had been decreed to the great citizen by the American nation, at the festival of independence. He thought that these presents, although sufficiently precious on account of their origin, would acquire a still greater value by passing through the hands of the veteran of liberty in the two worlds, and General Lafayette consented with pleasure to the request made him to be the organ of communication. On the 2d of September these presents were placed in the hands of M. Villenilla, member of the Colombian Legation, with a letter for Bolivar, from Lafayette.
On the 6th of September, the anniversary of Lafayette’s birth, the president gave a grand dinner, to which all the public officers, and numerous distinguished persons then in Washington, were invited. The company had already assembled and were about to sit down to table, when the arrival of a deputation from the city of New York was announced, which came to present to General Lafayette, on behalf of the city council, a book containing an account of all the transactions and events occurring during his stay in that city. This magnificent volume, removed from its case, and exhibited to the company, excited general admiration. It is in fact a masterpiece that may be compared with the most beautiful and rich of those manuscripts which formed the glory and reputation of libraries before the discovery of printing. It contained fifty pages, each ornamented with vignettes designed and painted with the greatest skill; views and portraits perfectly executed, completed this work, of which the writing was done by Mr. Bragg, and the paintings by Messrs. Burton, Inman, and Cummings. The view of the Capitol at Washington, of the City Hall of New York, and the portraits of Washington, Lafayette, and Hamilton, left nothing to be desired; and in order that this beautiful work should be altogether national, it was upon American paper, and bound by Mr. Foster of New York with admirable richness and elegance.
General Lafayette gratefully accepted this fine present, to which the president and his cabinet gave additional value by placing their signatures in it. Although a large company partook of this dinner, and it was intended to celebrate Lafayette’s birth-day, it was very serious, I may say, almost sad. We were all too much pre-occupied by the approaching journey to be joyous: we already felt, by anticipation, the sorrowfulness of separation. Towards the conclusion of the repast, the president, contrary to diplomatic custom, which forbids toasts at his table, arose and proposed the following: “To the 22d of February and 6th of September, birthdays of Washington and Lafayette.” Profoundly affected to find his name thus associated with Washington, the general expressed his thanks to the president, and gave this toast, “To the fourth of July, the birth-day of liberty in both hemispheres.”
At last the day which we ardently wished for, and whose approach, however, filled us with profound sadness, the day which would begin to convey us towards our country, but must, at the same time, separate us from a nation which had so many claims to our admiration and affection, the day of our departure, the 7th of September, dawned radiantly. The workshops were deserted, the stores were left unopened, and the people crowded around the president’s mansion, while the militia were drawn up in a line on the road the nation’s guest was to move to the shore. The municipality collected about the general to offer him the last homage and regrets of their fellow citizens.
At eleven o’clock he left his apartment, slowly passed through the crowd which silently pressed after him, and entered the principal vestibule of the presidential dwelling, where the president, surrounded by his cabinet, various public officers, and principal citizens, had waited for him a few minutes. He took his place in the centre of the circle which was formed on his approach; the doors were open, in order that the people who were assembled without might observe what took place, and the slight murmur of regrets which were heard at first among the crowd, was succeeded by a solemn and profound silence; the president, then visibly agitated by emotion, addressed him as follows, in the name of the American nation and government:—
“General Lafayette—It has been the good fortune of many of my distinguished fellow-citizens, during the course of the year now elapsed, upon your arrival at their respective places of abode, to greet you with the welcome of the nation. The less pleasing task now devolves upon me, on bidding you, in the name of the nation, adieu.
“It were no longer seasonable, and would be superfluous, to recapitulate the remarkable incidents of your early life—incidents which associated your name, fortunes and reputation, in imperishable connection with the independence and history of the North American Union.
“The part which you performed at that important juncture was marked with characters so peculiar, that, realizing the fairest fable of antiquity, its parallel could scarcely be found in the authentic records of human history.
“You deliberately and perseveringly preferred toil, danger, the endurance of every hardship, and the privation of every comfort, in defence of a holy cause, to inglorious ease, and the allurements of rank, affluence, and unrestrained youth, at the most splendid and fascinating court of Europe.
“That this choice was not less wise than magnanimous, the sanction of half a century, and the gratulations of unnumbered voices, all unable to express the gratitude of the heart with which your visit to this hemisphere has been welcomed, afford ample demonstration.