The following incident is related, illustrative of La Fayette’s generosity:—
“On the occasion of his last visit to America, General La Fayette having learned that the family of his old aide-de-camp, Colonel Neville, was in difficulties, before he embarked for France drew a bill of exchange in their favor, on the President of the United States, for the sum of four thousand dollars, and addressed it to the children of M. Neville. It may be easily conceived that the latter declined making use of it; but they keep it as a precious document which reflects equal honor on the memory of their father and on the noble generosity of La Fayette.”
La Fayette’s ambition was not a selfish desire to rise above others, to achieve personal fame; but to do good, by the performance of noble actions and important services in behalf of humanity. He thus defines his own impulses in a letter to the Bailli de Ploën: “An irresistible passion that would induce me to believe in innate ideas and the truth of prophecy, has decided my career. I have always loved liberty with the enthusiasm which actuates the religious man, with the passion of a lover, and with the conviction of a geometrician. On leaving college, where nothing had displeased me more than a state of dependence, I viewed the greatness and the littleness of the court with contempt, the frivolities of society with pity, the minute pedantry of the army with disgust, and oppression of every sort with indignation. The attraction of the American Revolution drew me suddenly to my proper place; I felt myself tranquil only when sailing between the continent whose powers I had braved, and the place where, although our arrival and our ultimate success were problematical, I could, at the age of nineteen, take refuge in the alternative of conquering or perishing in the cause to which I had devoted myself.”
La Fayette valued reputation and prized glory, but was indifferent to the personal power resulting from them. Being asked who, in his opinion, was the greatest man of his age, he replied: “In my idea, General Washington is the greatest man; for I look upon him as the most virtuous.”
M. Cloquet says of La Fayette’s equitable disposition:—
“I doubt if La Fayette was ever in a passion; at least I have no recollection of having seen him lose his temper, even under circumstances that might have occasioned or excused one of those violent movements of the soul which few men are able to master. When any circumstance annoyed him, he became taciturn, his forehead and eyebrows slightly contracted, and a shade of sadness was visible on his countenance; but these moments of uneasiness rather than of ill humor were not of long duration, and his features soon recovered their serenity. One day one of his friends had uttered, from the tribune of the Lower Chamber, certain opinions which he repelled as utterly at variance with his principles. The only phrase in which he expressed his dissatisfaction was, ‘Well, well, he lacks common sense.’ These words he pronounced in a firm tone of voice, though evidently with much emotion.”
That which was right was always the rule of La Fayette’s conduct; the inspirations of his heart and the voice of his conscience regulated his life. “Fais ce que dois, advienne que pourra” was his motto. His moral faculties exercised complete control over his physical powers; it was said of him, “He was an intelligence served by organs.” His calmness was only increased by an increase of danger, and the most imminent peril seemed but to inspire him with redoubled courage.
His surgeon, M. Cloquet, gives this instance of his marvellous powers of physical endurance:—
“During his last illness he acquainted us with the nature of the medical treatment which he had undergone in 1803 for a fracture of the thigh, occasioned by a fall on a slippery pavement. Deschamp and Boyer, whose memory I respect, and whom I am proud to have had for my masters, were summoned in their professional capacity to his assistance. The fractured limb was inclosed in a machine which kept it in a constant state of tension; and, as La Fayette had promised those skilful surgeons to support the pain with patience as long as they might judge it necessary for his cure, he uttered not a single complaint for the fifteen or twenty days during which the apparatus was applied. When it was removed, the surgeons were unable to conceal the annoyance they felt at the effect produced by the bandages. Deschamp turned pale; Boyer was stupefied; the upper bandages had, by their pressure, cut deeply into the muscles of the inside of the thigh, and laid bare the femoral artery: the action of the lower ones had been less violent, but they had produced a mortification of the skin at the back part of the foot and laid bare the tendons of the toes. In consequence of La Fayette’s stoical fortitude, the vigilance of his surgeons was completely at fault. Deep scars bore evidence of the truth of one of his observations to us, uttered, however, in confidence, through an apprehension of injuring, not the interests, but the memory of two individuals for whom he felt gratitude, although their exertions on his behalf had been unsuccessful. A length of time elapsed before he recovered from the lamentable consequences which resulted from his medical treatment, and which were followed by an almost complete anchylosis and lameness of the hip-joint.”
La Fayette’s frankness of nature was proverbial. An intimate friend of the family, Madame Dupaty, said of him:—