Memoirs of General Lafayette

蕖
Memoirs of General Lafayette

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of General Lafayette, by Lafayette Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
Title: Memoirs of General Lafayette
Author: Lafayette
Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7449] [This file was first posted on May 2, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: US-ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, MEMOIRS OF GENERAL LAFAYETTE ***

Stan Goodman, Marvin A. Hodges, Charles Franks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team

MEMOIRS OF GENERAL LAFAYETTE
WITH AN ACCOUNT
OF HIS
VISIT TO AMERICA,
AND OF HIS RECEPTION BY THE
PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES;
FROM HIS ARRIVAL, AUGUST 15TH,
TO THE
CELEBRATION AT YORKTOWN,
OCTOBER 19TH, 1824

by Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier,
MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE

[Illustration: Lafayette]

_DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS--To wit_:
_District Clerk's Office_.
Be it remembered, that on the 2d day of November, A.D. 1824, in the forty-ninth year of the independence of the United States of America, E.G. House, of the said district, has deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words following, to wit--Memoirs of General Lafayette, with an account of his visit to America; and of his reception by the people, of the United States, from his arrival, Aug. 15. to the celebration at Yorktown, Oct 19, 1824.
In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States entitled, "an act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned:" and also to an act entitled "an act supplementary to an act, entitled an act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving and etching historical, and other prints."
JNO. W. DAVIS, _Clerk of the Dist. of Mass_.

ADVERTISEMENT,
BY THE EDITOR.
* * * * *
It is a poor apology to offer for any defect or omission in a work intended for the information of the public, that it was prepared in haste. Yet in the present case it can be offered with truth. The Editor of this volume knew nothing of the plan, until it had been some time proposed, and many subscribers obtained. The gentleman by whom it was first intended to have been prepared, was suddenly taken away, without writing, or even collecting any thing for the volume. It was undertaken with reluctance, as it was known the public would he impatient for the work, and as the publisher was also desirous it should be prepared in a few weeks. It is only fifty days since the task was begun. It is believed, however, that several documents, not yet published, will be found in this volume; and that many events and incidents are preserved, which would otherwise have been lost to the public.
Everything relating to the life and character of this extraordinary man, is certainly worthy of remembrance by the benevolent and intelligent through the civilized world, and especially by Americans, to whom he has rendered the most essential services. The endeavour has been to avoid panegyric; though in this case, a plain statement of facts may be construed, by those ignorant of the life of Lafayette, into a disposition to bestow extravagant praise.
It has been a source of much satisfaction to the Editor, to find so many proofs of consistency and of principle, as well as of zeal in the cause of rational liberty, which the life of this heroic and disinterested personage affords. And if he shall appear in this hasty memoir, as the ardent, undeviating, and sincere friend of civil freedom and of the rights of man, it will be because he justly merits such a high character.
In the account of his reception by the people of this country, in various places, during his present visit, it may be thought that we have been too particular. It was promised, however, in the proposals for the volume, that such relation would be given. It is believed that it will be found to be