La Fayette’s letter, bearing its weighty message, was sent in a fast-sailing vessel appropriately named The Triumph. This ship arrived in Philadelphia on the 23d of March, 1783, bringing to Congress the intelligence of the treaty of peace. Testimonials in honor of La Fayette were passed by Congress, and Washington wrote to him these words of commendation:—
“It is easier for you to conceive, than for me to express, the sensibility of my heart at the communication of your letter of the 5th of February, from Cadiz. It is to these communications we are indebted for the only account yet received of a general pacification. My mind, upon the receipt of this intelligence, was instantly assailed by a thousand ideas, all of them contending for pre-eminence; but, believe me, my dear friend, none could supplant or ever will eradicate that gratitude which has arisen from a lively sense of the conduct of your nation, and to my obligations to many of its illustrious characters (of whom, without flattery, I place you at the head), and from my admiration of your august sovereign, who, at the same time that he stands confessed the father of his own people, and the defender of American rights, has given the most exalted example of moderation in treating with his enemies.
“The armament which was preparing at Cadiz, and in which you were to have acted a distinguished part, would have carried such conviction with it, that it is not to be wondered at that Great Britain should have been impressed with the force of such reasoning. To this cause, I am persuaded, the peace is to be ascribed. Your going to Madrid from thence, instead of coming immediately to this country, is another instance, my dear Marquis, of your zeal for the American cause, and lays a fresh claim to the gratitude of her sons, who will at all times receive you with open arms.”
American independence having been secured, La Fayette now interested himself in advancing the commercial influence of America in France. The whale fishery was an important American industry; and La Fayette, by persevering efforts, secured a total exemption of duties on sixteen thousand quintals of oil, to be furnished by merchants of Boston to the contractor-general for lighting the cities of Paris and Versailles. Regarding this he modestly wrote: “I worked very hard to bring even as much as this about, and am happy at having at last obtained a point which may be agreeable to New England and the people of Boston. I wish they may, at large, know I did not neglect their affairs; and although this is a kind of private bargain, yet as it amounts to a value of about eight hundred thousand French livres, and government has been prevailed upon to take off all duties, it must be considered a matter of no little importance.”
From the quiet retreat of Mount Vernon, Washington wrote to the marquis, and renewed his previous invitation to visit him when peace should have been accomplished. The weary warrior thus pictures his retired life:—
“At length I have become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac; and under the shadow of my own vine and fig-tree, free from the bustle of the camp and the busy scenes of public life, I am solacing myself with those tranquil enjoyments of which the soldier, who is ever in pursuit of fame; the statesman, whose watchful days and sleepless nights are spent in devising schemes to promote the welfare of his own, perhaps the ruin of other countries (as if this globe was insufficient for us all); and the courtier, who is always watching the countenance of his prince, in the hope of catching a gracious smile, can have very little conception. I have not only retired from all public employments, but am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view the solitary walk and tread the paths of private life with heart-felt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined to be pleased with all; and this, my dear friend, being the order of my march, I will move gently down the stream of life until I sleep with my fathers.”
Again La Fayette turned his face toward the New Land of Liberty. He arrived in New York in August, 1784, where he was received with distinguished honors, and his journey to Philadelphia and Baltimore was a succession of triumphs. Bells echoed from mountain-peak to hill-top, cannon boomed their thunders of welcome, and old Revolutionary soldiers gathered around their honored comrade with admiring respect. But he hastened to the alluring heights of Mount Vernon, where his beloved chief and general impatiently awaited his arrival. Twelve days of delight he spent with Washington in that picturesque retreat.
Triumph after triumph yet awaited the nation’s guest, the now illustrious but still youthful Marquis de La Fayette; loved better in America as the valiant major-general than as the gentleman of rank. But amid all the cities that strove to do him honor, Boston, this time, outstripped them all. His ovation there occurred on the anniversary of the surrender of Cornwallis, and the governor of the state, the president the Senate, and the speaker of the House of Representatives assembled in the great hall where thousands awaited to do him honor. The apartment was brilliantly and appropriately ornamented, and emblems of the thirteen states of the Union floated from arch and pillar. After dinner thirteen patriotic toasts were drunk, followed each by thirteen guns stationed in the square without. As the name of Washington was spoken, and La Fayette arose to reply, a curtain behind the marquis was mysteriously lifted, revealing a noble portrait of the great general encircled with laurels and decorated with the entwined flags of America and France. La Fayette, surprised and moved, regarded those loved features with evident emotion, and his silent admiration was at length broken by a voice exclaiming, “Long live Washington!” And the cry was quickly taken up, and from all the people rose a shout of vociferous applause, “Long live Washington!”
LAFAYETTE’S ROOM AT MOUNT VERNON.