France has lost her most distinguished patriot. LAFAYETTE, whose health
had been rapidly declining for some time, expired on Tuesday morning, at his residence in Paris, in his seventy-seventh year. During his last illness, every attention was paid to him by the leading men of the country, and the Chamber of Deputies sent specially to inquire concerning his health. The funeral, which took place on Thursday, was attended by nearly all the members of both Chambers, and the string of carriages was headed by those of the Ring and the Royal Family! The procession was the most nume- rous ever known in Paris : it was arranged by the Ministers, who took the whole ceremony under their own care. A strong body of troops was in attendance, but not the least disposition to create dis- turbance was evinced. No business of any importance was trans- acted at the Bourse, and the entire city seemed in mourning. The funeral service was read at the Church of Assumption, and the corpse was interred in the family cemetery at Picpus, where the Marchioness Lseaverra was buried.
The respect which all parties thus united to pay to the memory of the deceased patriot, was well deserved; for LAFAYETTE was a gallant, disinterested, and enthusiastic lover of liberty in the worst times. No man has left behind him a purer political repu- tation. His mistakes—and they were numerous, and the conse- quences of them disastrous—arose from a too credulous reliance on the virtue of mankind. He certainly was not remarkable for sagacity or foresight. It is justly observed by the Times, that . . . . . . " the deceased General had not those qualities which carry xnen in triumph through the wear and tear of civil confficts,—where all the resources of sagacity, dexterity, and promptitude of decision under adverse and unlooked for circumstances, are hourly called into play. Lafayette could move confidently along a level road, terminated by a visible aud definitive object ; but the depths and intricacies of a complex and continued revolutionary struggle bewildered him, lie could not fathom nor emerge from therm Hence he was ex- tin,guished as an actor during the first scene of the tragedy ; and the same upright and conscientious spirit which drove him hito exile under the Jacobin demo- cracy, condemned him to obscurity under the despotism of Napoleon."
In private life, LAFAYETTE was most estimable. He was liberal, humane, and courteous ; and the same scrupulous integrity which distinguished his public conduct, was visible in all his thoughts and actions as a private citizen.
In another part of this journal, will be found an elaborate and eloquent encomium on his character, by 0. P. Q. It opens finely, and would have been thought beautiful, if the author had known where to stop. It should be borne in mind, however, that senti- ments and modes of expression which appear exaggerated to us, are not seen in that light in France; where funeral orations and gages are frequently delivered in a similar style.
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