Emperor. It was, on the contrary, the wish of Napoleon, that young
Lafayette would send in his resignation, and retire from the army. When
this was made known to him, he observed, "that as long as his country was
involved in war, he should not disgrace himself by a resignation; and that
he should be ashamed to think of it, while his companions were daily
exposing themselves to danger. It was true, he was an American citizen, but
he was first of all a Frenchman and a loyal Frenchman."

G. W. Lafayette was much esteemed by the officers who knew him, of all
ranks; and they frequently solicited his promotion; but the Emperor
disregarded alike the merits of the youthful hero and the entreaties of his
military friends. He continued in the army until the treaty of Tilsit.

To a man of his great sensibility and warmth of affection, the severest
affliction which Lafayette has been called to endure, great and various as
have been his sufferings, now awaited him. His amiable, his attached and
devoted wife was torn from him, in his retreat, within a few years after
his return to France; when he more than ever, perhaps, needed her company
and solace, to fortify his mind under the multiplied disappointments from
the world.

She had never enjoyed perfect health after her imprisonment at Olmutz. But
possessed of uncommon fortitude and imbued with religious sentiments, she
was still instrumental in promoting the happiness of her husband and
family. Her patience, her equanimity, her sweetness of temper never forsook
her. But her constitution was broken, and a sudden paralysis deprived her
of her physical strength and almost of speech. At the urgent request of her
husband, though with reluctance, she was conveyed to Paris for medical
assistance; but it proved in vain. She died in December 1807.