He immediately fitted out a vessel at his own expense--freighted it with munitions of war and clothing--received letters of high commendation from the American commissioners to the Congress of their bleeding country and embarked secretly for the land of the pilgrim fathers in the winter of 1777. He then looked forward with anxious solicitude to that happy day when he should aid in unfurling the banner of freedom--in planting deep the tree of liberty in a soil congenial to its growth and take by the hand those bold and daring sages and heroes who had thrown the stars and stripes to the breeze in defiance of despotism--resolved on freedom or death. Nothing short of a deep, strong, inherent devotion to liberal principles could have induced La Fayette to leave his native country under the existing circumstances and peril everything in behalf of strangers. In vain we search history for a benevolence so broad and disinterested. Call it ambition if you please. Would to God the same laudable ambition reigned triumphant in the breast of every human being. We should then see tyrants trembling--thrones crumbling--crowns falling--fetters bursting and the grand jubilee of FREEDOM celebrated amidst the expiring groans of monarchy--the chaotic ruins of tyranny. Call it a thirst for glory. Would to God that all who have figured largely on the grand theatre of public action could have the same glory emblazoned on the escutcheon of their names. A purer, fairer sheet of biography would then meet the eyes of the present and generations to come.