resented so
distinguished a family and gave so great promise for a future career.
Eighteen years before he had seen this boy's father fall in battle, so
he had a special interest in him. He now included young Lafayette
among the guests at the dinner.

It appears that the Duke of Gloucester had just received letters from
England telling about the revolt of the American colonies against the
British government--about their prejudice in the little matter of a
tax on tea, and about the strong measures to be taken by the English
ministry to crush the rebellion. As the Duke of Gloucester was not on
very good terms with his brother, King George, he told the story with
somewhat vindictive glee.

This was probably the first that Lafayette had heard of American
independence. Instantly his sympathy was touched to the quick. All the
warlike and chivalric sentiments that he had inherited, all that had
been carefully instilled by family tradition and by education, rose at
once to the highest intensity. To the long and eager conversations
that followed the news brought by the guest of the evening, Lafayette
eagerly listened, and afterwards requested the duke to explain the
situation more fully. His curiosity was deeply excited, his heart was
at once enlisted. The idea of a people fighting against oppression
stirred his imagination. From what he learned from the duke, the cause
appealed to his sense of justice; it seemed the noblest that could be
offered to the judgment of man. Before he left the table he had
determined in his own mind to go to America and offer himself to the
people who were struggling for freedom and independence.

From that moment his purpose was fixed. To realize his design he must
go at once to Paris. Arriving there, he confided his plan to his two
friends, the Viscount de Noailles and the Count de Segur, inviting
them to share his project. Noailles had just turned nineteen, and
Segur was twenty-two; Lafayette was eighteen. But the youngest
differed from the others in one respect; he had already come into his
fortune, and controlled an income of about two thousand livres, an
amount that in purchasing power represented a fortune such as few
young men in any country or at any time have commanded. The others
could contribute nothing to Lafayette's plans but cordial sympathy.
They did indeed go so far as to consult their parents, expressing
their desire to join in Lafayette's chivalrous adventure, but their
parents