Another correspondent of the London papers pays La Fayette the following compliment:—
“Amidst various admirable plans and measures, I must direct your attention above all to a proposition of abolishing the punishment of death. La Fayette gave a distinguishing proof of the real nature of his spirit by seconding, in a time of revolution, the abolishment of this penalty. He is no dealer in men’s lives—no hunter after blood. He saved Louis XVI. from the fury of a mob, Charles X. from destruction, the state from anarchy; and now he would even protect from ignominious death the authors of those fatal ordinances which have produced the shedding of so much blood, and left so many to mourn over the loss of husband, father, and friend. France is erecting to La Fayette a splendid monument: but posterity will do more; our grandchildren will call him the saviour of the liberties of France.”
In the Chamber of Deputies, on the 21st of August, a proposition being submitted to abolish the punishment of death (on which no decision had been made), General La Fayette rose and said:—
“I conceive, differing with my honorable colleague, that the abolition of the penalty of death is a principle, or rather a sentiment, that ought to be at once examined. It is no new idea that is now laid before you—the abolition of this penalty has been called for at every period; it was demanded by some highly respectable members of the Constituent Assembly, by Adrian Duport; it was demanded by the father of our honorable friend, the author of the commentary on Montesquieu. How deeply have we all to regret that it had not been abolished ages back! It is in the present day loudly called for in the United States of America. From this, gentlemen, you will perceive that many have formed a decided opinion upon the subject. For my own part, I shall demand the abolition of the penalty of death until I am convinced that human judgment is infallible. What frightful use of this penalty was made during our former revolution. The reflection fills my soul with horror! No man, I believe, ever made use of it during those disastrous times, without afterwards wishing it were possible he could redeem with his own blood the condemnations in which he had joined. But our present revolution has a character of generosity as well as of patriotism, and it would adorn its commencement were we to consummate this act of humanity. I, therefore, vote for its being taken into consideration.”
Extract of a letter from Paris, dated Aug. 10, to the editor of the Boston Sentinel:—
“General La Fayette can now be ranked with Washington without exaggeration. His late conduct has capped the climax of his glory. Few people at present realize the degree to which he is entitled to our admiration. When, on the first day of the contest, I was told that he had come to Paris from La Grange to accept the dangerous post of leader of the armed people, I could hardly credit the news. Who could then have divined the issue? And had it not proved successful, think of the terrible consequence to the old veteran. To escape to America with his life was the utmost he could have hoped in such an event. But he not only accepted the command, but did not fear to appear on horseback in military dress, in various parts of Paris, in prosecution of his arduous undertaking.
“But his fearless devotion to the cause of liberty constitutes the smallest part of his claim to our admiration. It is his magnanimity, his wonderful disinterestedness, and the purity of his patriotism that rank him with Washington. It must be recollected that he is an avowed republican, that he has always desired a republic for France. And yet the new king, Louis Philippe, is indebted to him personally for his crown. Yes, I am confident of this extraordinary fact. It is not generally known that a republic would certainly have been established, of which La Fayette might have been at the head, had it not been for his noble and disinterested preference of his country to himself. But he reflected that a republic, at this crisis, would be at the risk of foreign or civil war, or both. He was not afraid of either. He knew that he and the people could maintain a republic against both foreign and domestic foes.
“But he knew, also, that the Duke of Orleans would make a ‘republican king,’ and at the same time not endanger the public tranquillity. The magnanimous La Fayette then did not hesitate to give the duke his support, without which he never could have reigned. This I gather, not from newspapers, but from the state of the public mind expressed in innumerable ways, and particularly when the people came so near stopping the deliberations of the Chamber of Deputies the other day, and when nobody could calm them but La Fayette. People now cry about the streets medals of La Fayette, père des Français.”
From the London Morning Chronicle.
“In answer to a communication as to the light in which the French people would view the subscriptions for the sufferers at Paris, the following letter has been received:—