Or dare the hottest of the fight, are toils
That suit th' impetuous bearing of his youth;
Yet like the gray-hair'd veteran he can shun
The field of peril. Still before my eyes
I place his bright example, for I love
His lofty courage, and his prudent thought.
Gifted like him, a warrior has no age."

[During the American war a general officer in the service of the United
States advanced with a score of men under the English batteries to
reconnoitre their position. His aide-de-camp, struck by a ball, fell at
his side. The officers and orderly dragoons fled precipitately. The
general, though under the fire of the cannon, approached the wounded man
to see whether any help could be afforded him. Finding the wound had been
mortal, he slowly rejoined the group which had got out of the reach of the
cannon. This instance of courage and humanity took place at the battle of
Monmouth. General Clinton, who commanded the English troops, knew that the
Marquis de La Fayette generally rode a white horse; it was upon a white
horse that the general officer who retired so slowly was mounted; Clinton
desired the gunners not to fire. This noble forbearance probably saved M.
de La Fayette's life, for he it was. At that time he was but twenty-two
years of age.--"Historical Anecdotes of the Reign of Louis XVI."]

These lines had been applauded and encored at the French theatre;
everybody's head was turned. There was no class of persons that did not
heartily approve of the support given openly by the French Government to
the cause of American independence. The constitution planned for the new
nation was digested at Paris, and while liberty, equality, and the rights
of man were commented upon by the Condorcets, Baillys, Mirabeaus, etc.,
the minister Segur published the King's edict, which, by repealing that of