sisters, would be there
together. The combined family formed a perfect little academy of its
own; and just to live at La Grange was an education in itself. The
walls were covered with pictures and memorabilia, to know which would
mean to understand European and American history for a century past. A
picture of Washington had the place of honor. The Declaration of
Independence and the Declaration of Rights were hung side by side. A
miniature of Francis Kinloch Huger in a frame of massive gold was
among the treasures. Dress swords, gifts of many kinds, symbols of
honors, and rich historical records decorated the whole house. Even
the name of the estate, La Grange, was American, for it was so called
in honor of the Manhattan Island home of his friend Alexander
Hamilton.

[Illustration: THE CHILDREN'S STATUE OF LAFAYETTE.
This spirited statue, by the sculptor Paul Wayland Bartlett,
was a gift to France from five millions of American school
children. (See page 201.)]

There was one room in the chateau at La Grange that was more sacred
than any other; it was the room in which Madame de Lafayette had died.
This chamber was never entered except on the anniversary of her death,
and then by her husband alone, who cherished her memory tenderly and
faithfully as long as he lived.

Many wonderful visitors came to La Grange, and in later years to the
Paris home of the Lafayettes. There were Irish guests to tell tales of
romance; there were Poles to plead the cause of their country;
misguided American Indians were sometimes stranded there; Arabs from
Algeria; negro officers in uniform from the French West Indies--all
people who had the passion for freedom in their hearts naturally and
inevitably gravitated to Lafayette. His house was a modern Babel, for
all languages of the world were spoken there.

And Americans! So many Americans came along the Rosay Road that little
boys learned the trick of meeting any foreign-looking persons who
spoke bad French, and announced themselves as guides of all the
"Messieurs Americains"; they would capture the portmanteau, swing it
up to a strong shoulder, and then set out for the chateau at the
regular jog trot of a well-trained porter.

One of these American guests was the grandson of General Nathanael
Greene with whom Lafayette had had cordial relations during the
Virginia campaign. In the year 1828 this grandson visited La Grange
and wrote an account full of delightful, intim