波士顿的拉斐特将军

吉尔伯特·杜·莫蒂埃(玛丽-约瑟夫·保罗·伊夫·罗奇·吉尔伯特·杜·莫蒂埃), 拉斐特侯爵, arrived in Boston in August of 1824 at the beginning of his farewell tour through the twenty-four states of the union. He had been so young when he came to America as a volunteer in 1777—he was not yet twenty—that he was only sixty-seven when he returned almost fifty years later. 艺术家亨利·契弗·普拉特画的 看起来非常年轻的拉斐特 1825年，在他长达数月的旅行结束时. At the time of the general's visit (in America 拉斐特 usually was referred to by his military rank in the Revolution, 而不是通过他的贵族头衔), the founding generation was fading away and he was a living symbol of the fight for freedom both in the United States and in France. 有一种强烈的, 对乔治·华盛顿在世的“朋友”或“儿子”的感情依恋, 尽管他的史诗般的旅行表明这位将军仍然身体健康, the trip was widely understood to be a farewell to the nation and its cause that he had adopted in youth—and which, 反过来, 收养了他.

Boston—all of Massachusetts—turned itself upside down to welcome 拉斐特 who had made only three brief visits to the city during and after the Revolution. Massachusetts matched or surpassed the welcome provided to the general elsewhere in the country, except in one respect: the densely-settled Commonwealth had no place that was unincorporated territory or not long-attached to its name that could become "拉斐特,”“菲也特,或“费耶特维尔”——将军所到之处都会出现新的或重新命名的城镇. 菲也特, 位于前缅因州地区, 在1795年以将军的名字命名, 1820年成为新成立的缅因州的一部分. 波士顿勉强将街道重新命名以纪念这位将军, 拉费耶特大道, 还有他的乡村庄园, 农庄街.

波士顿为庆祝拉斐特的第一次成功举办了一系列活动和庆祝活动, 为期一周的访问, 1824年8月24日至31日, 还有各种各样的纪念品, 包括商业纪念品, 为了纪念这一时刻. 当拉斐特到达波士顿时，迎接他的是他的私人秘书, 奥古斯特·Levasseur, 被称为“共和党的胜利”.“在一辆由白马拉着的马车上, he was paraded through a ceremonial arch and along a street lined with smartly dressed militia companies and throngs of citizens to the State House. 他穿过了一个“巨大的草坪”(波士顿公园),500名小学生排成两排迎接他, 所有的装饰都是 拉斐特 “丝带”——印在白色缎带上的拉斐特肖像——系在腰带或腰带上. 这座城市还有很多其他纪念品, most containing an 图像 of the general: there were ceramics of all descriptions including platters, 盘子, and coffee pots; as well as flasks, 被子, 家具, 球迷, 针, 奖牌, 雕刻, 徽章和绶带 许多 designs; and, not least, gloves.

亲吻装饰着自己形象的手

白色小山羊皮手套, 每只手套的背面都用黑色墨水印着拉斐特将军的肖像, 出现在女士们的手上. An example in the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society shown here includes the hero's name "Le Genl. 他的形象下面是“老佛爷”，手腕上印着一个树叶装饰的花环. MHS手套里的一张纸条上写着:“像这样的手套在波士顿出售, during the visit of 拉斐特 to this country—and when he kissed the ladies hands he kissed his own face. 来自埃斯蒂斯和劳里亚现在使用的商店.“在19世纪晚期, the store of booksellers Estes and Lauriat stood on Washington Street in Boston across from the Old South Church—along the route that 拉斐特's procession took as he entered the city in 1824. Other accounts of 拉斐特's visit and the ubiquitous kidskin-gloved hands that greeted him everywhere say that 拉斐特 shrank back from kissing his own 图像, 但是，也许在他旅行的早期，这项任务的负担并没有变得繁重. 协会的手套似乎是法国制造的. 如果它是作为纪念品来到美国的, the turnaround had been extremely rapid; President Monroe had only informed 拉斐特 of an invitation from Congress to visit the United States in February 1824.

安娜·卡伯特旅馆

The 拉斐特 glove came to the Massachusetts Historical Society inserted in a scrapbook kept by Anna Sophia Cabot Lodge (1821-1900) part of the large collection of public, 个人, 还有她儿子整理的家庭文件, 参议员亨利·卡伯特·洛奇(1850-1924). 安娜·洛奇夫人. John Ellerton Lodge) used her scrapbook to document the lives and careers of her distinguished Cabot and Kirkland ancestors and relatives, 还有她儿子的早年生活, “卡伯特”小屋, 以及他早年的公共事业. 约翰·埃勒顿·洛奇死于1862年，一直到19世纪末, 安娜·洛奇是她儿子的政治推动者和顾问. 她在比肯街的家成了他在波士顿的基地. 不幸的是, there is nothing in the scrapbook to make it clear when and from whom she received her 拉斐特 glove. She would only have been three or four at the time of his visits and one or both visits may have been among her earliest memories. Levasseur records that in the tableau upon Boston Common at the time of 拉斐特's arrival in Boston:

一个最小的女孩来问候. 他们把她抱向将军的马车, 她把一顶多年生植物的花冠戴在他的头上, 拥抱着他，温柔地叫他父亲.

Perhaps little Anna Cabot felt a similar connection to this great event—or 拉斐特's return to Boston almost a year later.

最后告别波士顿

While 拉斐特's second visit to Boston (15-21 June 1825) also was marked by pomp and parade and ceremony, it was more subdued amidst 个人 sorrow (old friends from Revolutionary days had died since his earlier visit) and more focused on the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill on 17 June. 以共济会会员的身份, "Brother 拉斐特"--the only surviving general from the time of the Revolution—played a central role on that occasion in the symbolic laying of the cornerstone for the Bunker Hill Monument. 拉斐特 memorabilia still was on display and available for purchase as it would be again in 1834 when news came to America of 拉斐特's death. 再一次, 拉法耶特的纪念品出现在公众面前, 但他的形象经常被黑丝带覆盖.