There, of course, his enterprise was near being finally stopped; but watching his opportunity, and assisted by one or two of his friends, he disguised himself as a courier, with his face blacked, and false hair, and rode on ordering post-horses, for a carriage, which he had caused to follow him at a suitable distance for this very purpose, and thus fairly passed the frontiers of the two kingdoms, only three or four hours before his pursuers reached them. He soon arrived at his port, where his vessel was waiting for him. His family, however, still followed him, with solicitations to return, which he never received; and the society of the court and capital, according to Madame du Deffand's account of it, was in no common state of excitement on the occasion.

Something of the same sort happened in London. "We talk chiefly," says Gibbon, in a letter dated April 12, 1777, "of the Marquis de Lafayette, who was here a few weeks ago. He is about twenty; with a hundred and thirty thousand livres a year, the nephew of Noailles, who is ambassador here. He is gone to join the Americans. The court appear to be angry with him."

Immediately on arriving the second time at Passage, the wind being fair, he embarked. The usual course for French vessels attempting to trade with our colonies at that period, was, to sail for the West Indies, and then coming up along our coast, enter where they could. But this course would have exposed Lafayette to the naval commanders of his own nation, and he had almost as much reason to dread them, as to dread the British cruisers. When, therefore, they were outside of the Canary Islands, Lafayette required his captain, to lay their course directly for the United States. The captain refused, alleging, that if they should be taken, by a British force and carried into Halifax, the French government would never reclaim them, and they could hope for nothing but a slow death in a dungeon or a prison-ship.

This was true, but Lafayette knew it before he made the requisition, He, therefore, insisted until the captain refused in the most positive manner. Lafayette then told him, that the ship was his own property, that he had made his own arrangements concerning it, and that if he, the captain, would not sail directly for the United States, he should be put in irons, and his command given to the next officer. The captain, of course, submitted, and Lafayette gave him a bond for forty thousand francs, in case of any accident. They, therefore, now made sail directly, for the southern portion of the

United States, and arrived unmolested at Charleston, S. C. on the 25th of April, 1777.

The sensation produced by his appearance in this country, was, of course, much greater than that produced in Europe by his departure. It still stands forth, as one of the most prominent and important circumstances in our revolutionary contest; and, as has often been said by one, who bore no small part in its trials and success, none but those who were then alive, can believe what an impulse it gave to the hopes of a population almost disheartened by a long series of disasters. And well it might; for it taught us, that in the first rank of the first nobility in Europe, men could still be found, who not only took an interest in our struggle, but were willing to share our sufferings; that our obscure and almost desperate contest for freedom in a remote quarter of the world, could yet find supporters among those, who were the most natural and powerful allies of a splendid despotism; that we were the objects of a regard and interest throughout the world, which would add to our own resources sufficient strength to carry us safely through to final success.

Immediately after his arrival, Lafayette received the offer of a command in our army, but declined it. Indeed, during the whole of his service with us, he seemed desirous to show, by his conduct, that he had come only to render disinterested assistance to our cause. He began, therefore, by clothing and equipping a body of men at Charleston, at his own expense; and then entered, as a volunteer, without pay, into our service. He lived in the family of the commander in chief, and won his full affection and confidence. He was appointed a Major General in our service, by a vote of Congress, on the 31st of July, 1777, and in September of the same year, was wounded at Brandywine. He was employed in 1778, in many parts of the country, as a Major General, and as the head of a separate division, and after having received the thanks of Congress for his important services, embarked at Boston, in January, 1779, for France, thinking he could assist us more ef fectually, for a time, in Europe than in America.

He

He arrived at Versailles, then the regular residence of the French court, on the 12th of February, and the same day had a long conference with Maurepas, the prime minister. was not permitted to see the king; and in a letter written at court the next day, we are told, that he received an order to visit none but his relations, as a form of censure for having deft France without permission; but this was an order that fell

very lightly on him, for he was connected by birth or marriage with almost every body at court, and every body else thronged to see him at his own hotel.

The treaty, which was concluded between America and France, at just about the same period, was, by Lafayette's personal exertions, made effective in our favour. He laboured unremittingly to induce his government to send us a fleet and troops; and it was not until he had gained this point, and ascertained that he should be speedily followed by Count Rochambeau, that he embarked to return. He reached the headquarters of the army, on the 11th of May, 1780, and there confidentially communicated the important intelligence to the commander-in-chief.

Immediately on his return from his furlough, he resumed his place in our service, with the same disinterested zeal he had shown on his first arrival. He received the separate command of a body of infantry, consisting of about two thousand men, and clothed and equipped it partly at his own expense, rendering it by unwearied exertions, constant sacrifices, and wise discipline, the best corps in the army. What he did for us, while at the head of this division, is known to all, who have read the history of their country.

His forced march to Virginia, in December 1780, raising two thousand guineas at Baltimore, on his own credit, to sup ply the pressing wants of his troops; his rescue of Richmond, which but for his great exertions, must have fallen into the enemys hands; his long trial of generalship with Cornwallis, who foolishly boasted in an intercepted letter, that "the boy could not escape him ;" and finally, the siege of Yorktown, the storming of the redoubt, and the surrender of the place, in October, 1781, are proofs of talent as a military commander, and devotion to the welfare of these States, for which he never has been repaid, and, in some respects, never can be.

He was, however, desirous to make yet greater exertions in our favour, and announced his project of revisiting France for the purpose. Congress had already repeatedly acknowledged his merits and services in formal votes. They now acknowledged them more formally than ever, by a resolution of November 23d, in which, besides all other expressions of approbation, they desire the foreign ministers of this government to confer with him, in their negotiations concerning our affairs; a mark of respect and deference, of which we know no other example.

LESSON LII.

Escape from Winter. PERCIVAL.

O, HAD I the wings of a swallow, I'd fly
Where the roses are blossoming all the year long ;
Where the landscape is always a feast to the eye,
And the bills of the warblers are ever in song;
O! then I would fly from the cold and the snow,
And hie to the land of the orange and vine,
And carol the winter away in the glow,

That rolls o'er the evergreen bowers of the line.

Indeed, I should gloomily steal o'er the deep,
Like the storm-loving petrel, that skims there, alone,
I would take me a dear little martin to keep
A sociable flight to the tropical zone;
How cheerily, wing by wing, over the sea,
We would fly from the dark clouds of winter away,
And forever our song and our twitter should be,
"To the land where the year is eternally gay."

We would nestle awhile in the jessamine bowers,
And take up our lodge in the crown of the palm,
And live, like the bee, on its fruits and its flowers,
That always are flowing with honey and balm;
And there we would stay, till the winter is o'er,
And April is chequered with sunshine and rain-
O! then we would fly from that far-distant shore
Over island and wave, to our country again.

How light we would skim, where the billows are rolled
Through clusters, that bend with the cane and the lime;
And break on the beaches in surges of gold,

When morning comes forth in her loveliest prime;
We would touch for a while, as we traversed the ocean,
At the islands that echoed to Waller and Moore,
And winnow our wings with an easier motion

Thro' the breath of the cedar, that blows from the shore.

And when we had rested our wings, and had fed
On the sweetness that comes from the juniper groves,
By the spirit of home and of infancy led,

We would hurry again to the land of our loves;

And when from the breast of the ocean would spring,
Far off in the distance, that dear native shore,
In the joy of our hearts we would cheerily sing,
"No land is so lovely, when winter is o'er."

LESSON LIII.

The elevated character of Woman.-CARTER.

THE influence of the female character is now felt and acknowledged in all the relations of life. I speak not now of those distinguished women, who instruct their age through the publick press. Nor of those whose devout strains we take upon our lips when we worship. But of a much larger class; of those whose influence is felt in the relations of neighbour, friend, daughter, wife, mother.

Who waits at the couch of the sick to administer tender charities while life lingers, or to perform the last acts of kind ness when death comes ? Where shall we look for those examples of friendship, that most adorn our nature; those abiding friendships, which trust even when betrayed, and survive all changes of fortune? Where shall we find the brightest illustrations of filial piety? Have you ever seen a daughter, herself, perhaps, timid and helpless, watching the decline of an aged parent, and holding out with heroick fortitude to anticipate his wishes, to administer to his wants, and to sustain his tottering steps to the very borders of the grave?

But in no relation does woman exercise so deep an influence, both immediately and prospectively, as in that of mother. To her is committed the immortal treasure of the infant mind. Upon her devolves the care of the first stages of that course of discipline, which is to form of a being, perhaps, the most frail and helpless in the world, the fearless ruler of animated creation, and the devout adorer of its great Crea

tor.

Her smiles call into exercise the first affections, that spring up in our hearts. She cherishes and expands the earliest germs of our intellects. She breathes over us her deepest devotions. She lifts our little hands, and teaches our little tongues to lisp in prayer. She watches over us, like a guardian angel, and protects us through all our helpless years when we know not of her cares and her anxieties on our