“Farewell, my dear General. I hope your French friend will ever be dear to you. I hope I shall soon see you again, and tell you myself with what emotion I now leave the coast you inhabit, and with what affection and respect I am forever, my dear General, your respectful and sincere friend,
La Fayette.”
But notwithstanding the face of the young marquis was thus set homeward, it was not all smooth sailing. Terrible storms tossed the little vessel to and fro, and for a time it seemed as though the huge waves would engulf the frigate. The main top-mast was blown away, the vessel rolled upon the heavy swells, apparently at the mercy of the tempest, while the dashing billows broke over the dismantled craft, which was soon half filled with water, and seemed doomed to destruction.
But the darkness of the stormy night was followed by the radiance of a calm and lovely morning. The golden sunshine flooded the surface of the ocean, and the Alliance sailed safely on her homeward way. But storms were not the only dangers which beset the path of La Fayette. A mutinous plot was formed among the sailors, and only the promptness and energy of the marquis, in ordering the arrest of thirty-one of the mutineers, and placing them in irons, so awed the others that tranquillity was secured.
With what inexpressible eagerness La Fayette must have turned to watch the first glimpse of his beloved land—that land where dwelt his idolized wife and little babe whose eyes had never yet rested on its father’s face.
His fame had gone before him, and his name was known and spoken with pride and honor in every city and hamlet of his native country. La Fayette landed at Brest in February.
His daughter thus describes her mother’s ecstasy at this longed-for meeting:—
“The intensity of my mother’s joy was beyond all expression.
“This happiness was soon disturbed by fresh alarms which prevented her enjoying in peace my father’s return. A projected invasion of England detained him a long time on the coast. During his stay in France he was continually employed in preparing fresh enterprises. My mother’s health was shaken at once by past anxieties and by the dread of future dangers. On the 24th of December, 1779, my brother was born.”
This brother of Virginie La Fayette was named George Washington La Fayette, in honor of his father’s revered friend. The expedition against England was, however, abandoned; and La Fayette turned his attention to forwarding the interests of America, by soliciting for her army assistance in men, money, and clothing. So earnest was his zeal that he offered to pledge his entire fortune in the cause of the Republic. He wrote as follows to President Laurens:—