what was going on in the
outside world; that he was now a complete nonentity, a being known
only by a number, and that no person in Europe knew where he was nor
ever should know until his death.

Lafayette's misery was turned to a still darker hue by the fact that
he felt the gravest alarm for the welfare of Madame de Lafayette. As
he was being carted from prison to prison, on his way eastward toward
that final destination in the mountain fortress, the news that was
smuggled to him by secret and mysterious bearers was not of a kind to
bring peace to his mind. He heard of the extremes to which the
revolutionary frenzy was carrying the Parisian people; he heard that
the king and queen and various members of their family had been
proscribed, denounced, and sentenced to death by a committee miscalled
a "Committee of Public Safety," and that the nobility were being
ruthlessly sacrificed. Saddest of all this for him was the news that
his wife, that woman of heroic character, of marvelous spiritual
charm, and of liberal and philanthropic mind, had been imprisoned and
was in danger of perishing on the scaffold. This word--and nothing
more! The darkness of life behind walls seven feet thick was not
lightened for many a long month by any further news in regard to
Adrienne. The thoughts of Lafayette in his prison were as sad as can
be imagined.

As months and years passed on, Lafayette may be forgiven if he
sometimes thought that he had been wholly forgotten. But it was not
so. It was not an easy matter to liberate a man whose very existence
was a menace to every throne. The kings had him completely in their
power--they wished to keep him out of sight.

It goes without saying that to President Washington the imprisonment
of his young friend, to whom he was bound by strong and vital bonds of
gratitude and friendship, was a source of genuine anguish. But what
could he do? As Lafayette said, America was far away and the politics
of Europe were tortuous. In them Washington had no part and no
influence; and he could not go to war for he had no equipment for any
such exploit.

He did, however, put in train many schemes designed to influence others
to aid his loyal friend. He used the greatest secrecy; the correspondence
as it is preserved refers only to "our friend" and to "the one you
know," so that if the letters were lost, no one could possibly divine
what was being done. The President sent letters to the representatives of
the