“Both the address of the speaker of the House, and the reply of General La Fayette, were listened to with the most intense and admiring attention. As soon as the general had concluded his reply, Mr. Mitchell moved that the House should adjourn. After the adjournment, the speaker left his chair, and advancing to General La Fayette, offered his personal congratulations, while shaking him warmly by the hand. The members of the House were then introduced individually to their honored guest, by the speaker, and after some time spent in receiving and shaking hands with those who pressed forward to claim the honor of thus welcoming personally the distinguished guest of the nation, General La Fayette retired, bearing with him the admiring devotion and profoundest love of the people of his adopted country.”
Regarding an incident which occurred during La Fayette’s last journey in America, the Niles Register says:—
“To preserve, in some small degree, an account of the feelings which the arrival of our venerable friend has elicited, we have noticed a few of the exhibitions of it that have taken place, but every narrative of them falls far short of the reality of what has happened. The people are wild with joy, and the gratitude and love of all persons, of every age, sex, and condition, seems hardly to be restrained within the bounds of propriety—as if it would cause many to forget what was due to themselves and the general, whom they delight to honor. At one place they failed so far in self-respect as to contend with horses for the privilege of drawing the Revolutionary chief in his carriage! It is hoped that the general will not be thus insulted again—for insulted he must be, when he sees the sovereigns of this great and glorious country aiming at the most magnificent destinies, converted into asses or other beasts of burden. It is his desire to be treated like a man, not as a titled knave or brainless dandy. Let him be hugged to the heart of all who can approach him, so far as not to endanger his health, and incur the risk of ‘killing him with kindness’—let the trumpet to the cannon speak, the cannon to the heavens, and the ardent prayers of free millions ascend to the throne of the Omnipotent, that blessings may be heaped upon him; but, in all this, let us remember that we are men like unto himself and republicans.”
Among the many interesting incidents of La Fayette’s tour in America given by his secretary, M. Levasseur, in a work entitled “La Fayette in America,” we have space for only three or four. M. Levasseur thus recounts an incident of their visit to Ex-President Monroe:—
“General La Fayette was daily making preparations for his return to Europe, but before leaving the soil of America he was anxious to revisit some of his old friends in Virginia, and especially he desired to see him who, as chief magistrate, had received him at the seat of government, and who, now retired to private life, continued in cultivating his moderate patrimonial estate, to give his fellow-citizens an example of every virtue. The general mentioned his wish to President Adams, who immediately offered to accompany him in the visit, saying that ‘he would gladly avail himself of such an occasion to go and offer to his predecessor his tribute of respect and attachment.’
“On the 6th of August, accordingly, we started for Oak-hill, the residence of Mr. Monroe, thirty-seven miles from Washington. Mr. Adams took the general in his carriage, together with George La Fayette and one of his friends; I followed in a tilbury with a son of the President, and thus, without suite or escort, we left the city.
“At the bridge over the Potomac we stopped to pay toll—the toll-gatherer, after counting the number of persons and horses, received from the President the sum required and we went on; scarcely, however, had we proceeded a few steps when we heard behind us a voice, saying, ‘Mr. President, Mr. President, you have paid me a shilling short!’ and immediately the toll-gatherer came running up with the money in his hand, explaining how the mistake arose. The President heard him attentively, went over the calculation with him, and finding that the man was right, put his hand out to pay him, when all at once the toll-gatherer recognized General La Fayette in the carriage, and forthwith insisted upon returning the amount of his toll, saying, ‘All bridges and all gates are free to the Guest of the Nation.’
“Mr. Adams, however, observed that on this occasion the general was not travelling officially nor as the Guest of the Nation, but simply as an individual and a friend of the President, which character gave him no title to exemption. This reasoning struck the toll-gatherer as just: he took the money and withdrew. Thus during the whole course of his travels in the United States the general was once only subject to the customary tolls, and that was precisely on the occasion when he was accompanied by the chief magistrate of the nation—a circumstance which in any other country would probably have insured him the privilege of exemption.”
Regarding this incident a writer remarks:—
“We do not know how this simple narrative may strike others, but to us it affords a more remarkable illustration of the simplicity and real equality resulting from our institutions than the most elaborate argument could do.”