AMEBIC A' S DEBT TO FRANCE 379 



his memory by Americans. ''Wlieii we visit the grave 

 of Lafayette in the remote and obscure little burying 

 ground of the Dames Blanches, in the eastern fringe of 

 Paris," he says, "we ai-e reminded of the sad, dark 

 years that came later in his life, and the unpretentious 

 tomb of his wife, close beside her husband's, tells of her 

 heroic shai'e in his sufferings." 



II 



Soon after Lafayette's return to France, the Eevolution 

 broke forth, and he took an active part in it. But he 

 was too republican to suit the aristocrats and too moder- 

 ate to suit the revolutionists. Denounced by the Jacobins, 

 he was obliged to flee from France, but was captured by 

 the Austrians, and confined in the damp, dark dungeons 

 of Olmutz. Meanwhile in Paris the Reign of Terror was 

 running its course. Among its victims was Madame de Heroism of 

 Lafayette, who was thrown into prison, partly because La^flyTtte*^* 

 she was the daughter of the Duke d' Ayen, partly because 

 she refused to disown her husband. Still more terrible 

 was the fate of her mother and sister, who perished under 

 the guillotine. The scene of their execution is not far • 

 from the spot where Lafayette lies buried. 



After the downfall and death of Robespierre, Madame 

 de Lafayette was released and soon succeeded in finding 

 her husband's Austrian prison. Refused permission to 

 see him unless she shared his captivity, she accepted 

 heroically these harsh terms. The damp, unwholesome 

 dungeon soon seriously affected her health, but as she 

 could only escape at the cost of separation from her hus- 

 band, she declined to leave, preferring to sacrifice her 

 life. When the devoted pair had endured five years 

 of imprisonment, Napoleon secured their release, but 

 Madame de Lafayette was liberated only in time to die a 

 free woman. In 1815 Louis XVIII granted to the 

 families of the victims of the Revolution the right to be 

 buried near their martyred relatives. Thus the little 



