“Gentlemen, when I received such touching proofs of affection, too much was done for me and too little for the _law_. I am convinced how well my comrades love _me_, but I am still ignorant to what degree they cherish the principles on which liberty is founded. Deign to make known to the National Guard this sincere avowal of my sentiments. To command them, it is necessary that I should feel certain that they unanimously believe that the fate of the constitution depends upon the execution of law, the only sovereign of a free people; that individual liberty, the security of each man’s home, religious liberty, and respect for legitimate authority, are duties as sacred to them as to myself. We require not only courage and vigilance, but unanimity, in these principles; and I thought, and still think, that the constitution will be better served by my resignation, on the grounds I have given, than by my acquiescence in the request with which you have deigned to honor me.” The National Guards were already assembled, impatiently awaiting La Fayette’s answer; and upon receiving this decision, they immediately passed the following resolution:— “The National Assembly has decreed that the public forces should be obedient, and a portion of the Parisian army has shown itself essentially disobedient. General La Fayette has only ceased to command that army because they have ceased to obey law. He requires a complete submission to the law, not a servile attachment to his person. Let the battalions assemble. Let each citizen-soldier swear on his word and honor to obey the law. Let those who refuse be excluded from the National Guards. Let the wish of the army, thus regenerated, be carried to General La Fayette, and he will conceive it his duty to resume command.” After some hesitation La Fayette resolved to resume his command, and withdrew his resignation. His desires were only for the public good. When urged by the municipality of Paris to accept some remuneration for his services, he unselfishly replied:— “My private fortune secures me from want. It has outlasted two revolutions; and should it survive a third, through the complaisance of the people, it shall belong to them alone.” Mirabeau said of La Fayette: “There is one man in the state who, from his position, is exposed to the hazard of all events; to whom successes can offer no compensation for reverses; and who is, in some manner, answerable for the repose, we may even say the safety, of the public,—and that man is La Fayette.” But La Fayette was not superhuman. His arm could not turn backward the awful Juggernaut of the oncoming revolution. The corruption and oppression of past centuries could not be wiped out by the untarnished purity of life and principles of this self-sacrificing Knight of Liberty. And beneath the bloody wheels of the huge Juggernaut of license,—law, liberty, and La Fayette were all to be ruthlessly sacrificed.