AMEBIC A' S DEBT TO FRANCE 381 



stafif model of tlie proposed statue was made the occasion 

 of great rejoicing and tlie manifestation of friendship 

 between the sister republics. Paul Way laud Eartlett, 

 an American sculptor, was commissioned to design the 

 statue, and most effectively he has executed his work. 



While Lafayette was by no means the only Frenchman 

 who served in the Rebellion, his is the conspicuous name, 

 as his was the most consecrated spirit, and it is not nec- 

 essary to particularize concerning others. They were all 

 brave and competent men, who were astonished at the 

 quality of manhood they found in the little-trained and 

 half-equipped colonials, every one of whom had imbibed 

 the spii-it of indej)endence, and was able to fight on his 

 own initiative when necessary, instead of being military 

 puppets like the ordinary European soldier. 



It is one of the strange ijrovidences of history that the 

 nation which thrust forth its Protestant citizens and thus 

 weakened itself immeasurably among the world powers, 

 should have been the means of materially assisting in the 

 establishment of the greatest Protestant nation and one 

 of the foremost world powers. Roman Catholicism could 

 drive out of France her best people, but it could not 

 plant successful and permanent colonies in America, nor 

 long keep advantages momentarily gained. Nor is the 

 day far distant, if the signs of the times count for any- 

 thing, when France will read the lessons of her own his- 

 tory, and secure her own future by becoming a land 

 where religious liberty shall be as dearly prized as in our 

 own. That will mean a Protestant nation as the only 

 progressive one. 



While the noble Lafayette, who rendered such ines- Lafayette a 

 timable service to the cause of American liberty, was not fhVpr^ot°e^t°/ 

 of Huguenot blood or creed, he was nevertheless in sym- *°^® 

 pathy with the cause of religious liberty, and became its 

 advocate at a critical period. WTien he had returned to 

 France, crowned with the laurels he had won in the 

 American struggle for independence, and imbued with 



