ws: first came one of
Lafayette's companions in hussar uniform; next, Lafayette's carriage--a
clumsy contrivance which was a sort of covered sofa on four springs; at
the side one of his servants rode as a squire. The Baron de Kalb
occupied the carriage with Lafayette. Two colonels, Lafayette's
counselors, rode in a second carriage; the third was for the aids, the
fourth for the luggage, and the rear was brought up by a negro on
horseback. By the time they had traveled four days, the bad roads had
reduced the carriages to splinters, the horses gave out, and buying
others took all the ready money. After that the party traveled on foot,
often sleeping in the woods. They were almost dead with hunger; they were
exhausted with the heat; several were suffering from fever. After thirty
days of this discouraging travel, they at last reached Philadelphia.

No campaign in Europe, declared de Buysson, could have been more
difficult than this journey; but, he said, they were encouraged by the
bright prospects of the reception they would surely have when they
reached Philadelphia. All were animated by the same spirit, he said,
and added, "The enthusiasm of Lafayette would have incited all the
rest of us if any one had been less courageous than he."

But the reception of these wayworn strangers at the seat of government
proved to be rather dubious. It appeared that at this time Congress
was being bothered by many applications from foreigners who demanded
high rank in the American army. The Committee of Foreign Affairs,
being practical men of business, looked askance at men who traveled
three thousand miles to help an unknown people; they did not wholly
believe in the disinterested motives of the strangers; and they
allowed Lafayette and his French officers to trail from office to
office, presenting their credentials to inattentive ears.

Finally that sense of power which always buoyed Lafayette's spirit in
critical moments came to his rescue. He determined to gain a hearing.
He wrote to Congress a letter in which he said:

"After the sacrifices that I have made in this cause, I have the right
to ask two favors at your hands; one is that I may serve without pay,
at my own expense; and the other is that I may be allowed to serve at
first as a volunteer."

Congress was clear-sighted enough to recognize in this letter a spirit
quite different from that which had seemed to actuate some of the
foreign aspirants for glory. And by this t