From the close of the American war for independence to the beginning of the French Revolution a period of six years elapsed, during which France suffered much from the exhaustion of her resources in aiding the Americans.  La Fayette lived at Paris, openly professing republicanism, which was then the surest passport to the favor both of the people and the court.  The queen of France herself favored the republican party, though without understanding its object or tendencies.  La Fayette naturally became the organ and spokesman of those who desired a reform in the government.  He recommended, even in the palace of the king, a restoration of civil rights to the Protestants; the suppression of the heavy and odious tax on salt; the reform of the criminal courts; and he denounced the waste of public money on princes and court favorites.

The Assembly of the Notables convened in 1787 to consider the state of the kingdom.  La Fayette was its most distinguished and trusted member, and it was he who demanded a convocation of the representatives of all the departments of France, for the purpose of devising a permanent remedy for the evils under which France was suffering.

“What, sir,” said one of the royal princes to La Fayette, “do you really demand the assembling of a general congress of France?”

“Yes, my Lord,” replied La Fayette, “and more than that.”

Despite the opposition of the court, this memorable congress met in Paris in 1789, and La Fayette represented in it the nobility of his province.  It was he who presented the “Declaration of Rights,” drawn upon the model of those with which he had been familiar in America, and it was finally adopted.  It was he, also, who made the ministers of the crown responsible for their acts, and for the consequences of their acts.

When this National Assembly was declared permanent, La Fayette was elected its vice-president, and it was in that character that, after the taking of the Bastile, he went to the scene, at the head of a deputation of sixty members, to congratulate the people upon their triumph.  The next day, a city guard was organized to preserve the peace of Paris, and the question arose in the assembly who should command it.  The president arose and pointed to the bust of La Fayette, presented by the State of Virginia to the city of Paris.  The hint was sufficient, and La Fayette was elected to the post by acclamation.  He called his citizen soldiers by the name of National Guards, and he distinguished them by a tri-colored cockade, and all Paris immediately fluttered with tri-colored ribbons and badges.