4344. LAFAYETTE (Marquis de), Dishonored.—[further continued].
There has been a little
foundation for the reports and fears relative to
the Marquis de Lafayette. He has from the
beginning taken openly part with those who
demand a constitution; and there was a moment
that we apprehended the Bastile; but
they ventured on nothing more than to take
from him a temporary service on which he
had been ordered; and this, more to save appearances
for their own authority than anything
else; for at the very moment they pretended
that they had put him into disgrace, they
were constantly conferring and communicating
with him. Since this, he has stood on safe
ground, and is viewed as among the foremost of
the Patriots.—
To James Madison. Washington ed. ii, 563.
Ford ed., v, 64.
(P.
1789)
