USA > Tennessee > Old times in Tennessee, with historical, personal, and political scraps and sketches > Part 40
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There were three thousand five hundred captives in Bicetres. The phrensy of the intoxicated mob was daily on the increase. They battered down the doors of the prison, and for five days the slaughter continued, until not only the three thousand five hundred were slain, but it is estimated that upwards of ten thou- sand were massacred during these fearful days. Their mangled bodies were hastened to the catacombs, there to putrify. These scenes were enacted throughout Paris and the departments of France. The Jacobins now turned upon the Girondists, and in speeches and placards denounced them as enemies of the repub- lic. M. Roland, the Minister of the Interior, a patriot of extra- ordinary talent and an idol of the people, addressed the National Assembly and proclaimed the true principle, that every free gov- ernment was to be controlled by law, and that the right of an impartial trial should be guaranteed to all; and, with all the powers of his eloquence, urged the Assembly to put a stop to mob law, and restore order and give protection to the innocent. The Girondists, headed by Verginaud, sustained the Minister.
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Thereupon the Jacobins became greatly incensed. Their mob, gathered from the purliens and haunts of vice and corruption, surrounded the house in which the National Assembly was held, and occupied the doors and windows of the building, and men- aced the Republicans with death; shortly after which, Danton, Robespierre, and Marat entered the Assembly, and the mob cheered them. When Verginand and Brissot and other Girond- ists passed, daggers were brandished and angry menaces hurled after them.
The King underwent the farce of a trial before the Deputies. Robespierre and his companions called their myrmidons to rally, and they came from their dens and hiding places in vast num- bers, with arms and cannon, blocking up the way to the Assem- bly, and as the Deputies appeared daggers were brandished in their faces, threatening them as well as the King with death. Robespierre moved, and the motion was carried, that each Dep- uty, as his name was called, should occupy the tribune and an- nounce his vote. Thus, from fear of immediate death to them- selves, the Deputies opposed to extreme measures voted that the King should die, and he was guillotined, as was his accomplished wife, Maria Antoinette. Thus, in the name of liberty and pop- ular rights, there arose upon the ruins of the French monarchy the most atrocious destroyer that has ever cursed a people. The revolutionary tribunal was now in full operation, and it was determined by the leaders that the Girondists should be as- sassinated, whether found in public places or in their private dwellings. Many of the Girondists sought safety in absenting themselves from their homes. In the Assembly the decree of accusation was proposed and carried. Afterward, the Assembly adjourned and embraced the filthy mob who led captive the Girondists. The great patriot and first orator of France, Vir- ginaud, headed the captives, who were conducted to prison. So was Madam Roland, the most talented and noble woman of Paris, the wife of the Minister of the Interior, who had made his escape. From the prison the great statesman and orator, Virginaud, was, with his companions, carried in a cart to the place of execution. The last words of Virginand to his son. ten years old, just before his head fell into the basket, were, "My child," taking him in his arms, "look well at me. When you
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are a man you can say that you saw Virginaud, the founder of the republic, at the most glorious period, and in the most splendid costume he ever wore, that in which he suffered unmerited perse- cution, and in which he prepared to die for liberty." In his cell he wrote in letters of blood, "Death is preferable to dishonor." They were led from prison singing the Marseilles hymn, and as they monuted the scaffold, each joined in the singing. Their heads fell into the basket one by one, Virginaud being the last to suffer. When the sentence of death was pronounced against Vallieres, he stabbed himself to the heart, in the presence of the tribunal that condemned him, with a poinard which he had con- cealed about his person. His dead body was carried to the guil- lotine and his head severed from his lifeless carcass.
The Jacobins were more clamorous than ever for blood. They strove to tear LaFayette from his dungeon, that they might tri- umph in his death, but they failed to secure their victim. They pursued the Girondists who had made their escape with blood- hounds, and all were captured and executed except Peition and Basset. Their fate is still a mystery. Never, in the history of the depravity and villainy of man, was such outrageous treat- ment inflicted on woman, as the beautiful and talented, the pure and patriotic Madam Roland received at the hands of the Jaco- bins. Her only offense was that she was the wife of M. Roland, the founder of the republic. Although warned of the danger of assassination, she refused to seek safety in flight. When arraigned before the Tribunal, she made her great defense, the most fear- less, pointed, sarcastic, and powerful ever delivered before an en- lightened assembly. It is equal to the master-piece of elo- quence by the patriot Emmet, who was basely condemned and suffered death. Her case is one of the most remarkable in his- tory. In her we find the highest type of heroism and talent, combined with all that is pure and lovely in woman. while the Tribunal which condemed her was one of the most debased and corrupt that has ever disgraced the earth. She fearlessly pre- pared for her execution. Dressed in white, with a calm look and firm step, she ascended the elevated platform, and surveying the vast concourse of people, and bowing to the collesal statue of Liberty, she exelaimed, "O liberty ! liberty! how many crimes are committed in thy name!" She then surrendered herself to
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the executioner, and in a few moments her head was severed from her body. Thus died one of the noblest women that ever trod the earth. Her husband, after his flight, sought a retreat amid the Alps. A courier passing gave him the sad intelligence of the fate of his wife. It broke his noble spirit; the world had no further charms for him, and he placed the hilt of his sword against a tree and fell upon its point. Thus died the great founder of the French Republic.
I will not harrow up your feelings by a further recital of the soul-sickening details of this bloodiest episode in the history of France. It is some relief to know that finally retributive justice overtook Robespierre and Danton, and that their heads fell into the same basket which had received so many of those of eminent men and citizens sacrificed by them. Billaud Varennes de- nounced the tyranny of Robespierre in the Tribune, July 28, 1794. Cries of "Down with the tyrant!" resounded through the hall; and so great was the abhorrence of the Convention of this wicked minister, that he was immediately ordered to the place of execution and suffered death, no man deeming himself safe while Robespierre lived. Marat met his merited death by the dagger of Charlotte Cordav.
In March, 1824, President Monroe, in behalf of our Govern- ment, invited LaFayette to revisit the United States, after a lapse of forty years, as the guest of the nation. He accepted the in- vitation, and, accompanied by his son, George Washington La- Fayette, arrived at New York in a government vessel in the summer of that year. He was received amidst the acclamations of a grateful people. Those who served in the Revolution-and there were many who fought with him-received him with open arms and clasped him to their breasts. Nor were the younger members of the community less enthusiastic in their demonstra- tions over the noble old patriot. Business of all kinds was sus- pended, and a grateful people vied with each other in love, ad- miration, and gratitude for him who had poured out his blood as freely as he did his treasure to secure liberty and free govern- ment for the inhabitants of America. It was an ovation worthy the great hero that he was. He visited every State in the Union. and his progress through the country was a triumphal march. He electrified a whole continent, and wherever he made his ap-
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pearance crowds of people gathered around to give him a genuine American welcome. He expected kindness, but not the enthusi- asm that greeted him everywhere. He expected to embrace sur- viving friends, his old companions in arms, but not to arouse a whole nation of freemen to bid him welcome again to the coun- try for which he had so nobly fought. It was such an ovation as few men on earth have received. "To the survivors of the Revolution," says Benton, "it was the return of a brother; to the new generation, born since that time, it was the apparition of an historical character, familiar from the cradle; and combining all the titles to love, admiration, gratitude, enthusiasm, which could act upon the heart and the imagination of the young and the ardent. He visited every State in the Union, doubled in number since, as the friend and pupil of Washington, he had spilt his blood and lavished his fortune for their independence. His progress through the States was a triumphal procession, such as no Roman ever led up-a procession not through a city, but over a continent-followed, not by captives in chains of iron, but by a nation in the bonds of affection. To him it was an un- expected and overpowering reception. His modest estimate of himself had not allowed him to suppose that he was to electrify a continent. He expected kindness, but not enthusiasm. He ex- pected to meet surviving friends, not to rouse a young genera- tion. As he approached the harbor of New York, he made in- quiry of some acquaintance to know whether he could find a hack to convey him to a hotel. Illustrious man, and modest as illustrious! Little did he know that all America was on foot to receive him; to take possession of him the moment he touched her soil; to fetch and to carry him; to feast and applaud him; to make him the guest of cities, States, and the nation, as long as he could be detained. Many were the happy meetings which he had with old comrades, survivors for near half a century of their early hardships and dangers; and most grateful to his heart it was to see them, exceptions to the maxim which denies to the beginners of revolutions the good fortune to conclude them, and to see his old comrades not only conclude the one they began, but live to enjoy its fruits and honors, Three of his old asso- ciates he found ex-Presidents (Adams, Jefferson, and Madison), enjoying the respect and affection of their country, after having
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reached its highest honors. Another, and the last that time would admit to the Presidency (Mr. Monroe), then in the Presi- dential chair, and inviting him to the land of his adoption. Many of his early associates seen in the two houses of Congress; many in the State governments, and many more in all the walks of private life, patriarchal sires, respected for their characters and venerated for their patriotic services. It was a grateful specta- cle, and the more impressive from the calamitous fate which he had seen attend so many of the revolutionary patriots of the Old World. But the enthusiasm of the young generation aston- ished and excited him, and gave him a new view of himself-a future glimpse of himself-and such as he would be seen in after ages. Before them, he was in the presence of posterity; and in their applause and admiration he saw his own future place in history, passing down to the latest time as one of the most per- feet and beautiful characters which one of the most eventful periods of the world has produced. Mr. Clay, as Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the organ of their congratula- tions to LaFayette (when he was received in the hall of the House), very felicitously seized the idea of his present confron- tation with posterity, and adorned and amplified it with the graces of oratory. He said, 'The vain wish has been sometimes indulged that Providence would allow the patriot, after death, to return to his country, and to contemplate the intermediate changes which had taken place; to view the forests felled, the cities built, the mountains leveled, the canals cut, the highways opened, the progress of the arts, the advancement of learning, and the in- crease of population. General, your present visit to the United States is the realization of the consoling object of that wish hith- erto vain. You are in the midst of posterity! Everywhere you must have been struck with the great changes, physical and moral, which have occurred since you left us. Even this very city, bearing a venerated name, alike endearing to you and to us, has since emerged from the forest which then covered its site. In one respect you behold us unaltered, and that is, in the senti- ment of continued devotion to liberty, and of ardent affection and profound gratitude to your departed friend, the father of his country, and to your illustrious associates in the field and in the cabinet, for the multiplied blessings which surround us, and for
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the very privilege of addressing you, which I now have.' He was received in both houses of Congress with equal honor, but the houses did not limit themselves to honors-they added sub- stantial rewards for long past services and sacrifices. The in- gratitude of republics is the theme of any declaimer; it required a Tacitus to say that gratitude was the death of republics, and the birth of monarchies, and it belongs to the people of the United States to exhibit an exception to that profound remark (as they do to so many other lessons of history), and show a young republic that knows how to be grateful without being un- wise, and is able to pay the debt of gratitude without giving its liberties in the discharge of the obligation." When the proposi- tion was pending before Congress to recompense LaFayette for long past services and sacrifices, Mr. Hayne, of South Carolina, in the Senate, showed from history (not from LaFayette) his ad- vances, losses, and sacrifices in our cause. He had expended for the American service, in six years, from 1777 to 1783, the sum of 700,000 francs ($140,000), "and under what circumstances ?-- a foreigner, owing us nothing, and throwing his fortune into the scale with his life, to be lavished in our cause. He left the en- joyments of rank and fortune, and the endearments of his family, to come and serve in our almost destitute armies, and without pay. He equipped and armed a regiment for our service, and freighted a vessel to us, loaded with arms and munitions. It was not until the year 1794, when almost ruined by the French Revolution, and by his efforts in the cause of liberty, that he would receive the naked pay, without interest, of a general officer for the time he had served with us."
Tennessee was among the foremost States to do honor to the nation's guest. Gov. William Carroll, one of the heroes of the war of 1812, and the companion and right arm of the great mili- tary chieftain and statesman, Gen. Andrew Jackson, invited La- Fayette to honor Tennessee with a visit. The invitation was accepted, and La Fayette arrived in Nashville on the 4th of May, 1825, having come by steamer down the Chio and up the Cum- berland. During his stay here he was the guest of Gen. Jackson, at the Hermitage. The boat did not stop at Nashville, but went on up to the Hermitage. Upon the acceptance of the invitation by LaFayette, Gov. Carroll issued a proclamation inviting the
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militia organizations of the State to assemble at Nashville to assist in paying a fitting tribute of respect to the gallant old soldier who had aided in so conspienous a manner in gaining the liberty and free government we enjoyed. About four thousand men, armed and equipped, and commanded by proper officers, responded to the invitation of the Governor, and encamped in South Nashville, which was then a broad common. Gen. Jackson and Gov. Car- roll visited our camps frequently, and renewed their acquaintance with companions in the Indian wars and that of 1812. It was a most enjoyable- scene to witness the meeting of these veterans, many of whom had not seen each other for years, and hear them fight 'over their battles or go upon their toilsome and hazardous. marches to surprise and capture an Indian camp. About twenty- five thousand people, embracing the beauty and chivalry of the State, assembled at Nashville on the 4th of May, to welcome the nation's guest, and right royally did they extend to him the old- fashioned hospitality of Tennessee. The windows in every house on the prominent thoroughfares were beautified with lovely wo- men, waiving their handkerchiefs in honor of Lafayette as he and his escort passed. Triumphal arches, decorated with flowers, were erected over every important street, bearing the legend, " Welcome to LaFayette," while the star-spangled banner floated from the public buildings and many private residences. The military were drawn up in a semi-circle on the Public Square .. And then LaFayette, accompanied by Gen. Jackson, Gov. Carroll, and Dr. Philip Lindsley, appeared in an open carriage, drawn by six blooded grays, and in the procession were thirteen lovely maidens, representing the thirteen States that achieved their in- dependence. The eyes of twenty-five thousand people now rested upon LaFayette, and those fair women and gallant men gave him a most cordial and enthusiastic reception. To Dr. Lindsley was assigned the duty of welcoming La Layette to the capital of Ten- nessee, and he did it in a handsome manner. Lal'ayette responded in a modest and appropriate manner. These ceremonies over, the procession marched to the Female Academy, which was most tastefully decorated, where the beautiful Miss Grundy, afterwards Mrs. John M. Bass, received the guest in an eloquent address, to. which LaFayette made a felicitous response. Thence the proces- sion marched to the Nashville Inn, where LaFayette was intro-
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duced to thousands of Tennessee's fairest daughters and most gallant sons; the band meantime playing Auld Lang Syne and other favorite airs of that period. The charming manner in which the music was rendered, coupled with the occasion, is yet deeply and vividly impressed upon my mind. LaFayette was a square, stout, well-proportioned man, about five feet six inches high, with a large head, hazel eyes, sallow complexion, a large, fleshy nose, large mouth, broad forehead, bristly, sandy hair, long, oval jaws, that came together like a vise, indicating firmness and constancy, and large ears. There was nothing in him of the volatile, fidgety movement which we usually associate with the Frenchman. He was calm, self-possessed, and dignified in his manner and inter- course, which amounted to an assurance that he was a great and good man -- a philanthropist in the truest sense. The military were drawn up in two " open columns," and Gen. Jackson taking the arm of LaFayette conducted him through the lines from one end to the other, shaking hands with and receiving the congratu- lations of the citizen soldiery. Among the latter was an old comrade in arms of La Fayette, Maj. Blackmore, my wife's father, who had fought with him at Brandywine, where both were wounded. They met and embraced, and many a tear was shed over this affecting scene. A ball was given at night in honor of La Fayette, which was largely attended by the elite of the city and surrounding country, headed by Gen. Jackson, Gov. Carroll, and other prominent citizens. The dance was opened by Gen. Jack- son and the beautiful Miss McNairy. It was difficult to tell which most to admire, the beauty and sylph-like grace of Miss McNairy, or the stately step and courtly manners of Gen. Jackson.
LaFayette then again became the guest of the Hermitage during his stay in Tennessee, and upon his departure he presented Gen. Jackson the pistols given him by Gen. Washington, as the most worthy man to bear them. La Fayette then proceeded on his way to visit other States, and for many months the United States seemed one grand festive hall.
An incident occurred shortly after the departure of La Fayette which sent a thrill of horror and grief to every heart. LaFayette and suit left Nashville in a steamer bound for Cincinnati. A few days subsequently the mail brought news that the steamer had struck a snag in the Ohio river and had sunk, and that La Fayette
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had been drowned. The next mail, however, brought the joyful tidings that, although the steamer was lost, LaFayette had been rescued. This news was hailed with unusual demonstrations of joy by the thousands who had made the acquaintance of the brave old Frenchman.
In 1803, the Congress granted to LaFayette 11,520 acres of land in what was then called the Territory of Orleans, in consid- eration of his services in the war of the revolution, but by some inadvertence a portion of the same was afterwards granted to the corporation of New Orleans, and by that city sold to parties who settled upon and improved the lots into which the land had been divided. LaFayette was advised to bring forward his claim ; and eminent lawyers assured him it was perfectly legal. He showed his magnanimity in this, as in every act of his life. He promptly directed his agent to relinquish all claim to the land, observing, " I cannot consent even to inquire into the validity of my title. It was gratuitously bestowed by Congress, and it is for them to say what was given. I cannot for a moment think of entering into litigation with any public body in the United States." On this tract, so generously and delicately relinquished, the most valuable part of the city of New Orleans is built, and is now worth millions of dollars. Having relinquished his entry, he located the warrant upon lands which were entirely worthless.
Before his return to his native France, Congress, with great unanimity, and with the general concurrence of the American people, voted La Fayette two hundred thousand dollars in money, and twenty-four thousand acres of fertile land in Florida. Loaded with bonors, and with every feeling of his heart gratified in the noble reception he had met in the country of his adoption, La Fay- ette returned to the country of his birth in the summer of 1826, "still as the guest of the United States and under its flag. He was carried back in a national ship of war, the new frigate Bran- dywine-a delicate compliment (in the name and selection of the ship) from the new President, Mr. John Quincey Adams, La Fay- ette having wet with his blood the sanguinary battle-field which takes its name from the little stream which gave it first to the field and then to the frigate. Mr. Monroe, then a subaltern in the service of the United States, was wounded also in the battle of the Brandywine. How honorable to themselves and to the
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American people, that nearly fifty years afterwards, they should again appear together, and in exalted stations; one as President, inviting the other to the great republic, and signing the acts of Congress which testified a nation's gratitude ; the other a patriot, hero, tried in the revolutions of two countries, and resplendent in the glory of virtuous and consistent fame."
The names of Washington and LaFayette are kept green in the memory of a grateful people, and will electrify the generations yet to come. In the shock of battle, their names will nerve the souls of men to deeds of prowess and glory, and in the day of triumph, the memory of their great virtues will exert a wonderful influence in curbing the evil passions of all who struggle for liberty. The light of their glorious career will forever illumine the path that leads the weak and oppressed to freedom, strength, and boundless prosperity.
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XXV.
EAST TENNESSEE'S GREAT PREACHERS -- A NOTED FAMILY AND A DOG-LAW CHARGE BY ONE OF THEM.
SIXTY YEARS ago Gideon S. Blackburn, Isaac Anderson, and Frederick A. Ross, flourished in East Tennessee, and justly ac- quired the fame of being the most eloquent pulpit orators of the South. Blackburn's eloquence, as Gen. Jackson's Chaplain, in- flamed the hearts and nerved the arms of the Tennessee volun- teers who carried the victorious flag of our country through the great campaigns of Jackson. I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Blackburn only once, when he addressed some three thousand people in the grove near Gallatin, Tennessee, about the year 1821. He then impressed my young mind that he was the most power- ful and eloquent minister I had ever heard. I have heard many of the pulpit orators that have arisen since then, and my first im- pression has not been diminished, but deepened by the accumu- lation of years. His name is enrolled high in the temple of fame. Few of the American orators have showed themselves his equal -- none his superior. These three ministers were the East Tennes- see marble columns of the Presbyterian Church, taken from its finest quarries. All of them now rest under the clod of the val- ley except the Rev. Frederick A. Ross, who still survives his great works. He lives at Huntsville, Ala., aged about ninety years, beloved and honored by the many generations through which his useful life has passed.
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