“I entreat you to send me both long and frequent letters. You are not sufficiently conscious of the joy with which I shall receive them. Embrace, most tenderly, my Henriette; may I add, embrace our children! The father of those poor children is a wanderer, but he is, nevertheless, a good, honest man, a good father, warmly attached to his family, and a good husband also, for he loves his wife most tenderly. The night is far advanced, the heat intense, and I am devoured by mosquitoes; but the best countries, as you perceive, have their inconveniences. Adieu, my love, adieu.”
Again La Fayette writes to his wife from Petersburg, Va., July 17, 1777:—
“I am now eight days’ journey from Philadelphia, in the beautiful state of Virginia. All fatigue is over, and I fear that my martial labors will be very light if it be true that General Howe has left New York, to go I know not whither. But all the accounts I receive are so uncertain that I cannot form any fixed opinion until I reach my destination.
“You must have learned the particulars of the beginning of my journey. You know that I set out in a brilliant manner, in a carriage, and I must now tell you that we are all on horseback,—having broken the carriage according to my usual praiseworthy custom,—and I expect soon to write to you that we have arrived on foot. The journey is somewhat fatiguing; but, although several of my comrades have suffered a great deal, I have scarcely, myself, been conscious of fatigue. The captain, who takes charge of this letter, will perhaps pay you a visit. I beg you, in that case, to receive him with great kindness.
“The farther I advance to the north, the better pleased I am with the country and its inhabitants. There is no attention or kindness that I do not receive, although many scarcely know who I am. But I will write all this to you more in detail from Philadelphia.”
As soon as La Fayette arrived in Philadelphia, he presented himself before Congress, then in session. The moment was inauspicious. Mr. Deane had given so many foreigners the same promises, that Congress found itself in a very embarrassing situation. Many of these foreigners were brave men, and true, who had come to America with philanthropic motives, but others were mere adventurers, and Congress therefore received the young Marquis de La Fayette with coldness and indifference, which he illy deserved, and which in the light of after events proved a mortifying mistake. La Fayette laid his stipulations with Mr. Deane before Congress, but, with surprise and chagrin, he was informed by the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs that there was little hope that his request would be granted.
Imagine the feelings of the noble young marquis of nineteen. He had sacrificed home, family, friends, and fortune, to give his aid to this struggling nation, and his immense personal sacrifices were thus insultingly thrown into his face. What blindness in Congress! What heroic magnanimity in La Fayette! Pride and patriotism battled in his sensitive soul. But unselfish patriotism conquered, and never does he appear more truly great than at this moment. Seizing a pen, he writes to Congress this brief but immortal note:—
“After the sacrifices I have made, I have a right to exact two favors: one is, to serve at my own expense; the other is, to serve as a volunteer.”
Astonished at such unprecedented generosity, and conscious[conscious] of their mistake in classing the young marquis with other foreigners, who were actuated by selfish avarice and love of adventure, Congress accordingly passed the following preamble and resolution on the 31st of July, 1777:—
“Whereas, the Marquis de La Fayette, out of his great zeal in the cause of liberty in which the United States are engaged, has left his family and connections, and, at his own expense, come over to offer his service to the United States, without pension or particular allowance, and is anxious to risk his life in our cause;