he province of Louisiana, just after its purchase
from France, was rejected by Lafayette, who continued in his
retirement through the time of the empire and after the first
restoration of the Bourbons, till the return from Elba, in March,
1815, of Napoleon, who used every exertion to conciliate him and win
his support. All these overtures he declined, but, on the other
hand, accepted an election to the popular branch of the Legislature,
of which he was chosen vice-president. After the battle of Waterloo,
on June 18th, Napoleon returned to Paris and proposed to his council
the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies and the assumption of
absolutely dictatorial power; a desperate project which was
frustrated only by the alertness, vigor, and energy of Lafayette,
whose eloquent appeals induced the Legislature to compel the final
abdication of the emperor, under the alternative threat of
forfeiture and expulsion. Five commissioners, with Lafayette at the
head, appointed by the chambers, proceeded to the head-quarters of
the allied sovereigns, at Haguenau, to treat for peace; but, while
negotiations were pending, the foreign armies pushed on toward the
capital, and he returned on July 3d, to find that Paris had
capitulated and was at the mercy of the conquerors, who dictated
their own terms, forcibly dissolved the Corps Legislatif, and
replaced Louis XVIII. on the throne. Lafayette retired to Lagrange,
but was again elected, in 1817, a deputy, in spite of the strenuous
opposition of the Government, and exerted his influence in favor of
liberal measures, though with indifferent success. In 1824, on the
invitation of President Monroe, he revisited this country, travelled
through every State, was received with the highest honors by
Congress (which voted him $200,000 and a township of land for his
services), by legislatures, by colleges, by corporations of cities,
by societies of all kinds by his surviving comrades of the
revolution, and by the whole nation; took part in the laying of the
corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monument June 17, 1825, and sailed
for home in September, on the United States frigate Brandywine,
which had been put at his disposal by the Government. Soon after his
return to France he was re-elected to the Corps Legislatif, and
served as a member for most of the remainder of his life. The stupid
tyranny of King Charles X. having caused an outbreak of the
Parisians in July, 1830, Lafayette unhesitatingly espous