During 1829 General La Fayette made a tour through some of the French provinces, and his reception by the people appears to have rivalled the enthusiasm displayed in his honor in the United States. One London paper says:—
“Never was a king so feasted and treated as this venerable remnant of the Revolution has been. In every quarter he has been received with shouts of triumph and congratulatory addresses, which, while they have been complimentary to him, have generally, also, been made the vehicle for strong philippics against the new order of things. From Grenoble to Lyons the road was thronged by continual crowds of people who came to testify their regard for the principles which had guided his political conduct, and the esteem which they entertained towards himself personally.” g The Times observes: “The old general, from his early services in the cause of liberty,—from his immense sacrifices for his country,—from his intrepid consistency of character during a political career of forty years, during which the world turned around him or changed its principles several times, while he remained unchanged, is deservedly an object of great esteem and admiration. But why is he brought forward, or why does he make himself prominent on this occasion, type as he is of the Revolution? And why, when he does appear, is he so enthusiastically received? For no other reason but because the king has made choice of what is considered a counter-revolutionary cabinet, and because the people are desirous of evincing their adherence to the free institutions which they think at present threatened, by testifying their grateful admiration for one of the founders and champions of their freedom. Every shout of applause thus uttered for General La Fayette is a shout of defiance against the ministers; and every libation poured to his health is a kind offering to the memory of past struggles for liberty. The repetition of such scenes would have been thought impossible about two months ago.”
The following description of General La Fayette’s reception at Lyons is taken from an extract of a letter dated Paris, Sept. 16, 1829:—
“General La Fayette has paid a visit this summer to his birthplace in Auvergne, and has been received on his passage in a manner worthy of his noble virtues, public as well as private. From his arrival at Chavaniac until his entry at Lyons, in every town and village through which he passed, he has witnessed the spontaneous homage of the patriotism of their inhabitants. The population of villages far distant from the road he travelled precipitated themselves before him on his passage, and the inhabitants of the cities through which he passed presented themselves en masse to welcome him within their walls. In spite of the orders sent by the ministry at Paris to the departmental authorities, to endeavor to suppress as much as was in their power the preparations made to receive the general, his triumphal march since he left La Grange, from the borders of the river Manche, to the foot of the Alps, has no other example in history, excepting his visit to the United States. Escorted from city to city by large cavalcades of horsemen, through arches of triumph prepared for the occasion on the high roads, saluted continually with enthusiasm by assembled multitudes, the thoughts of the veteran defender of liberty were often diverted to his brilliant reception in a distant hemisphere, whose liberties are as dear to him as those of his native country.”
The Précurseur and Journal of Commerce of Lyons says:—
“The general arrived from Vienne on Friday, the 4th of September, escorted by one hundred and fifty horsemen. His arrival had been impatiently expected by the inhabitants of Lyons, and on reaching St. Synphoria, the deputation named to receive him were found waiting with a large cavalcade of horsemen and carriages, and a numerous assemblage of people who accompanied him to Lyons. At St. Synphoria the general descended from his carriage and was addressed by M. Prunelle, president of the deputation, who welcomed him on the part of the inhabitants of Lyons to this city; to which the general replied, in retracing the kindness with which he had been received at his last visit to that city before the Revolution in 1789, and expressing his gratitude for the flattering manner in which he was again received. He then ascended into an open barouche drawn by four horses, and conducted by two postilions, which were placed at his disposition by the deputation, and the procession proceeded to Lyons in the following order:—
“1st. A detachment of 400 horsemen, composed of young men from Vienne and Lyons.
“2d. The carriage with the deputation from the latter city.
“3d. The barouche containing the general, Mr. George La Fayette, and the president, M. Prunelle, surrounded by a cohort of citizens on foot.
“4th. The private carriages of the general, containing the Misses La Fayette, Mr. Adolphe Perrier, Mr. Bradford, United States consul, and the Count de Lasteyrie.