hen
proceeded to point out some of those perils and excesses into which
liberty might fall at her first outset.

This letter was received by the national guard with an enthusiasm rather
feigned than sincere. They wished to strike a last blow against the
factious by adhering to the principles of their general, and voted to
him a sword forged from the bolts of the Bastille, and a marble statue
of Washington. La Fayette hastened to enjoy this premature triumph, and
resigned the dictatorship at the moment when a dictatorship was most
necessary to his country. On his retirement to his estates in Auvergne,
he received the deputation of the national guard, who brought him the
_proces verbal_ of the debate. "You behold me once more amidst the
scenes where I was born," said he; "I shall not again quit them, save to
defend and confirm our new-formed liberty should it be menaced."

The different opinions of parties followed him in his retirement. "Now,"
said the _Journal de la Revolution_, "that the hero of two worlds has
played out his part at Paris, we are curious to know if the ex-general
has done more harm than good to the Revolution. In order to solve the
problem, let us examine his acts. We shall first see that the founder of
American liberty does not dare comply with the wishes of the people in
Europe, until he had asked permission from the monarch. We shall see
that he grew pale at the sight of the Parisian army on its road to
Versailles--alike deceiving the people and the king; to the one he said,
'I deliver the king into your power,' to the other, 'I bring you my
army.' We should have seen him return to Paris, dragging in his train
those brave citizens who were alone guilty of having sought to destroy
the keep of Vincennes as they had destroyed the Bastille, their hands
bound behind their backs. We see him on he morrow of the _journee des
poignards_, touch the hands of those whom he had denounced to public
indignation the yesterday. And now we behold him quit the cause of
liberty, by a decree which he himself had secretly solicited, and
disappear for a moment in Auvergne to re-appear on our frontiers. Yet he
has done us some service, let us acknowledge it. We owe to him to have
accustomed our national guards to go through the civic and religious
ceremonies; to bear the fatigue of the morning drill in the Champs
Elysees; to take patriotic oaths and to give suppers. Let us then bid
him adieu! La Fayette, to consummate the