LAFAYETTE'S MEMOIRS AND CORRESPONDENCE.

AN amiable man in private life, a consistent and well-intentioned politician in public, and acting a remarkable and conspicuous part in historical events of magnitude and importance, LAFAY- ETTE, after all, was only a star of the second class. He originated nothing ; be headed nothing ; and of himself he accomplished nothing. It seemed necessary to his nature to be under some- body ; and though no one, when he detected their objects, could persuade or force him to assist in wrong-doing, yet he never seemed to have sufficient intellectual power to influence the cha- racter of events in which he was engaged ; they were always coloured by others. Under WASHINGTON, he was of course em- ployed in nothing inconsistent with the soundest policy, the austerest virtue, or the purest public-spirit ; and the glorious ter- mination of that contest threw a halo round his name which lasted . for his lifetime, and yet survives. But ever after, be was unsuc- cessful. The French Revolutionists first made use of him, and then drove him away. Between LAFAYETTE and the Allied Sovereigns on the one hand, or BONAPARTE on the other, there could be no sympathy. The Emperor of Austria put him in prison ; the Emperor of the French (lid little more than tolerate hint; and Louts PHILIP cheated the "Patriarch of Revolutions." Placed, by his own reputation and the force of circumstances, for a few hours at the head of a roused nation, he gave a very conspicuous instance of his incapacity to act alone, by unconsciously betraying the people into the hands of their enemy. " France," exclaimed the companion of WASHINGTON, " has need of a throne sur- rounded by Republican institutions." "It is only," said the crafty Duke of ORLEANS to the gaping crowds of Paris, " a National Guard going to visit his old General." And, tickled by phrases of this kind, the " old General " was outgeneralled. We are not going to discuss what he might, could, should, or ought to have done; we merely say that, the virtual and almost absolute head of France, he parted with his powers to LOUIS PHILIP, who established a government the very reverse of what LAFAYETTE expected, and by the means with which be himself furnished him. This is not a very popular estimate of LAFAYETTE; nor does it seem to correspond very well with the extent of his reputation. For his fame, however, he was indebted to the peculiarity, if it may not be called the originality of his conduct, rather than to any great achievements or extensive capacity. Born of a race distinguished even amongst the old French noblesse; married in his seventeenth year into a family richer, more elevated, and not less noble than his own ; an officer in the army when the army was preserved for the high aristocracy ; and designed by his friends for a courtier in the polished court of the absolute Bourbons,— MARIE-PA UL-JOSEPH•ROCH-YVES•GILBERT DE MOTIER, Mar- quis ns LAFAYETTE, inspired by dreams of classical liberty, deter- mined, ere the age of twenty, to " add the aid of his banner" to the cause of freedom in America. Concealing his designs from his family, and intriguing with the Revolutionary agents, he en- gaged a ship to carry him to the United States. Detected and threatened by his Government, he battled their officers, defied their power, and reached Americo, the first genuine aristocrat of chivalry who had ever really and honestly embarked in the cause of the people. His actual military services were more than re- spectable: and probably it was for war, if for any thing, that he possessed an original and independent mind ; for at Barren Hill, when the English had surrounded him with three armies, the least of them numerically equal to his own, LAFAYETTE, by a feigned attack upon one, and showing; false heads of columns to another, took advantage of their pause to file oft' his detachment, and reach the only ford by which he could escape; and in Virginia, he laid the plan of the blockade, which compelled CORNWALLIS to surrender at York-town. But these were merely accessories and supports; it was a moral influence that gained him his renown. The Republicans probably were not displeased to have a Marquis amongst them ; the vulgar, who did not know, or could not credit, that he had narrowly escaped the Bastile, were encouraged in the idea that the Court of Versailles could not be so hostile to America as they professed ; all men were astonished at the boldness, and, according to their principles, angry or delighted with the enthusiasm of a young noble, who could abandon the pleasures of a voluptuous court, and, what was more, the prejudices of is birth and rank, in order to engage in a war of uncommon hardships and perils, from an honest love of freedom. When France declared in favour of the United States, and their struggles were successfully terminated, LA- TATErrE was regarded with the profoundest respect and love in America, whilst in the vain and frivolous court of France he became a fashionable idol, As " liberty," " the people," and such Me terms, were always in his mouth, and as the French Revolu- tion followed the American, the majority confounded the two con- sequent*, into cause and effect; and Laravarra had the reputa- tion of partly achieving the one, and chiefly originating the other, Within the lasttwenty years, acute investigators have traced each event to far deeper sources than the actions of any individual, or individuals; but with the world at large, LAFAYETTE for nearly half a century lived on the credit of two revolutions. Time will strip him of this fame; but it cannot injure the merit of his moral daring, or of his unspotted integrity and good intentions.

To the admirers of such a man,—and, existing almost every- where, they are very numerous in the country of his birth and alit of his adoption,—every memorial has a value and an interest, until

they violate the rule of ne quid nimis. And this, we suspect, the present Memoirs, Correspondence, and Manuscripts, are very

likely to do. The three large volumes already published and now before us, only embrace about fifteen years of LArs.szerre's life, from 1777, when he first embarked for America, to 1792. Their contents mainly consist of public or private letters, written by or to him ; despatches, and other official documents ; the whole arranged according to the order of time, and thus separated as it were into did. tinct epochs. Each period is introduced by a brief biographical notice of the hero for the time in question, so as to render the documents that follow intelligible. These notices are mostly the production of

LAFAYETTE himself; but the only one that requires any particular

notice, is the first; which is rather flippant, or at least French, but contains a pleasant and sufficient account of his early days till

his first arrival in America. His family, who elite and publish these volumes, have also added explanatory notes, and where they deemed it necessary, have inserted narratives or descriptions-1n the text.

It might be sufficient to describe, without criticizing, such an extensive and motley assemblage of documents. We may observe, however, that the letters and official papers are mostly distin- guished for reality ; the public despatches possessing clearness and comparative brevity ; and the lighter, even the notes of compli- ment, displaying the grace of manner of the old regime. As

long as he has to describe individual subjects, no matter whether large or small, LAFAYETTE is equal to his task. It is only when

he begins to generalize, that his want of strength and grasp are visible; and then, when he approaches historical speculation, he seems not greatly beyond a twaddler. For the general reader, a selection from the documents would have amply sufficed ; and it is questionable whether that was wanted. To the inquirer into the history of the periods treated of, the volumes may possess considerable value; but even this is doubtful. The subjects have already occupied many pens; and after all, dates, obscure events, and minute details, are of much less importance to a great histo- rian, than it is the fashion just now to represent.

We take a few extracts, not as specimens of the book, but as dis- playinc,m the nature of colonial warfare, and the tremendous diffi- culties through which the descendants ot' Englishmen successfully

struggled when provoked by tyranny, though a tyranny more io spirit than in effect. If history could instruct a future genera- tion, our humanity should pause before we involved the Cana- dians in such horrors; our prudence before we roused them to bear any thing save a disgraceful submission, rendered the more galling in their case from the character of their tormentors. The Americans had at least the King and Imperial Parliament for opponents : the Canadians complain of a host of servile colonial adventurers, who are only raised above themselves by luck and lordly favour.

COLONIAL WARFARE.

In spite of the declaration of independence of the New States, every thing there bore the appearance of a civil war. The names of Whig and Tory distin- guished the Republicans and Royalists : the English army was still called the regular troops ; the British Sovereign was always designated by the name of Me King. Provinces, towns, and families, were divided by the violence of patty-spirit brothers, officers in the two opposing armies, meeting by chance in their father's house, have seized their arms to fight with each other. Whilst, in all the rancour of their pride, the English committed horrid acts of licence and cruelty,—whilst discipline dragged in her train those venal Germans who knew only how to kill, burn, and pillage,—in that seine army were seen regi- ments of Americans, who, trampling under foot their brethren, assisted in en- slaving their wasted country. Each canton contained a still greater number, whose sole object was to injure the friends of liberty, and give information to those of despotism. To these inveterate Tories must be added the number of those whom fear, private interest, or religion, rendered adverse to the war. If the Presbyterians, the children of Cromwell and Fairfax, detested Royalty, the Lutherans, who hall sprung from it, were divided among themselves : the Quakers hated slaughter, but served willingly as guides to the Royal troops. Insurrections were by no means uncommon : near the enemy's stations, farmers often shot each other ; robbers were even encouraged. The Republican chiefs were exposed to great dangers when they travelled through the country; it was always necessary for them to declare that they should pass the night in one house, then take possession of another, barricade themselves in it, and only sleep with their arms by their side. In the midst of these troubles, M. de La- fayette was no longer considered as a stranger ; never was any adoption more complete than his own : and whilst, in the councils of war, be trembled when he considered that his voice (at twenty years of age) might decide the fate of two worlds, he was also initiated in those deliberations in which, by reassuring the Whigs, intimidating the Tories, supporting an ideal money, and redoubling their firmness in the hour of adversity, the American chiefs conducted that re- volution through so many obstacles.

DIFFICULTIES OF THE AMERICANS IN 1778.

Notwithstanding the success in the North, the situation of the Americans had never been more critical than at the present moment. A paper money, without any certain foundation, and unmixed with any specie, was -both coun- terfeited by the enemy and discredited by their partisans. They feared to esta- blish taxes, and had still less the power of levying them. The people, who had risen against the taxation of England, were astonished at paying still heavier taxes now; and the Government was without any power to enforce them. On the other side, New York and Philadelphia were overstocked with gold and various merchandises ; the threatened penalty of death could not stop a com- munication that was but too easy. To refuse the payment of taxes, to depits. elate the paper currency, and feed the enemy, was a certain method of attaining wealth : privations and misery were only experienced by good citizens. Each proclamation of the English was supported by their seductions, their riches, and the intrigues of the Tories. Whilst it numerous garrison lived sumptu- ously at New York, some hundreds of men, ill-clothed and ill-fed, wandered upon the shores of the Hudson. The army of Philadelphia, freshly recruited from Europe, abundantly supplied with every thing they could require, con- sisted of eighteen thousand men: that of Valley Forge was successively re- duced to five thousand men; and two marches on the fine Lancaster road, (en which road also was a chain of magazines,) by establishing the Eng- lish in the rear of their right flank, would have rendered their position untenable ; from which, however, they had no means of retiring. The unfor- tunate soldiers were in want of every thing; they had neither mats, hats, shirts, nor shoes; their feet and legs froze till they became black, and it was often ne- cessary to amputate them. From want of money, they could neither obtain provisions nor any means of transport; the colonels were often reduced to two rations, and sometimes even to one. The army frequently remained whole days without provisions ; and the patient endurance of both soldiers and officers was a miracle which each moment served to renew. But the sight of their misery prevented new engagements : it was almost impossible to levy recruits ; it was

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easy to desert into the interior of the country. The sacred fire of liberty was not extinguished, it is true, and the majority of the citizens detested British tyranny; but the triumph of the North and the tranquillity of the South had lulled to sleep two-thirds of the continent. The remaining part was harassed by two armies; and, throughout this revolution, the greatest difficulty was that, in order to conceal misfortunes from the enemy, it was necessary to con- ceal them from the nation also; that by awakening the one, information was likewise given to the other; and that fatal blows would have been struck upon the weakest points before democratic tardiness could have been roused to sup- port them