"SIR,
"When, in the name of the people and government of this State, your Excellency is pleased so kindly to welcome an American veteran, I am proud to share the honors and enjoyments of such a reception with my revolutionary companions and brother soldiers. Sir, I am delighted with what I see, I am oppressed with what I feel; but I depend upon you, as an old friend, to do justice to my sentiments."
Afterwards, a great number of gentlemen were introduced to Lafayette, in the Senate Chamber; of whom were the Judges and other public officers of the United States, of the State and of the City; members of the society of Cincinnati, with their venerable and distinguished President, Hon. John Brooks, late Governor of the Commonwealth. Lafayette recognized his old military and personal friend, at the first sight, and embraced him with great cordiality and affection. Some other veterans of the revolutionary army, who were present, he also recollected; and discovered strong emotions as they approached him and took his hand. Indeed, he was so eager to meet them, that he very generally first seized them, and clung to them with all the affection of a brother. The scene was inexpressibly affecting. There was not a heart untouched—not a cheek unmoistened by the falling tear. To weep then was not weakness; it was proof of gratitude and of a generous feeling, which is an honor to human nature.
By particular request, and to gratify the wishes of the people collected in front of the State House, General Lafayette appeared in the colonnade of this superb edifice, where he was greeted with loud and continued cheers. He was then conducted by the committee of arrangements, to the residence provided for him at the head of Park Street. A public dinner was given by the city authorities, in honor of their noble guest; and the invitation was extended to Senators and members of Congress, the Governor and Ex-Governor of the Commonwealth, judicial and other public characters.
A committee of the society of Cincinnati Called upon General Lafayette at the residence of the Governor, in Roxbury, and before his entrance into Boston. They were anxious to offer him their congratulations at the earliest moment; and to bid him welcome to the land they had unitedly struggled to defend. And a few days after his arrival, the whole society waited on him, when their President made the following address:—
"SIR,
"The Society of Cincinnati of the State of Massachusetts seize the earliest moment after your arrival in this city, of extending to you the hand of friendship and affection. We offer you our most cordial congratulations on your safe arrival again, after the lapse of forty years, on the shores of our favored country, once the theatre of our united toils, privations, and combats with a powerful foe, but now the peaceful domain of a great, a free, and independent people. We hail you, sir, in unison with the millions of our fellow citizens; most respectfully hail you as a Statesman, as a Philanthropist, and as the early, inflexible, and devoted friend, not only of our beloved country, but of the sacred principles of civil liberty and human rights. But we greet you under more tender and hallowed associations; in the endearing relation of a brother-soldier, who, in the ardor of youth commenced in the field with us your career of glory, in the holy cause of Liberty and American Independence.
"But here recollections crowd upon our minds too powerful for utterance. Words would but mock the deep emotions of our hearts should we attempt to express them, in contemplating the character, attributes, and services of the parental Chief, under whose auspices we trod together the field of honor. To the profound veneration and love for his memory that penetrates your bosom, we refer you as to a transcript of our own. It would be vain to imagine the joy that would swell the great mind of Washington, were he still living to recognize with our nation, the generous disinterestedness, the glowing ardor, the personal sacrifices, and the gallant achievements of his much loved Fayette. But it is equally vain to endeavor on this occasion, to exclude such interesting reflections from the mind, or to deny it the melancholy pleasure of lingering on the solemn reality, that not a single individual of the General Staff of the army of the American Revolution now survives to participate in the joy that your presence in the United States has awakened.
"To us it is peculiarly grateful that you are permitted after a lapse of so long a period, to witness the consummation of the principles of our revolution. You will perceive, sir, that the hopes and predictions of the wise and good men who were your particular associates in the arduous struggle, have been fulfilled and surpassed. You will behold a great people united in their principles of jurisprudence, cemented together by the strong ties of mutual interests and happy under the fostering influence of a free and energetic government.
"You will, therefore, allow us to reiterate our felicitations on your safe arrival among us, and to welcome you once more to the good land which your youthful valor contributed to elevate and distinguish.