“You are now about to return to the country of your birth—­of your ancestors—­of your posterity.  The executive Government of the Union, stimulated by the same feeling which had prompted the Congress to the designation of a national ship for your accommodation in coming hither, has destined the first service of a frigate, recently launched at this metropolis, to the less welcome, but equally distinguished trust, of conveying you home.  The name of the ship has added one more memorial to distant regions and to future ages, of a stream already memorable at once in the story of your sufferings and of our independence.

“The ship is now prepared for your reception, and equipped for sea.  From the moment of her departure, the prayers of millions will ascend to heaven, that her passage may be prosperous, and your return to the bosom of your family as propitious to your happiness as your visit to this scene of your youthful glory has been to that of the American people.

“Go then, our beloved friend:  return to the land of brilliant genius, of generous sentiments, of heroic valor; to that beautiful France, the nursing mother of the twelfth Louis, and the fourth Henry; to the native soil of Bayard and Coligne, of Turenne and Catinat, of Fenelon and D’Aguesseau!  In that illustrious catalogue of names, which she claims as of her children, and with honest pride holds up to the admiration of other nations, the name of la Fayette has already for centuries been enrolled.  And it shall henceforth burnish into brighter fame:  for, if in after days, a Frenchman shall be called to indicate the character of his nation by that of one individual, during the age in which we live, the blood of lofty patriotism shall mantle in his cheek, the fire of conscious virtue shall sparkle in his eye, and he shall pronounce the name of la Fayette.  Yet we, too, and our children in life, and after death, shall claim you for our own.  You are ours, by that more than patriotic self-devotion with which you flew to the aid of our fathers at the crisis of their fate:  ours by that long series of years in which you have cherished us in your regard:  ours by that unshaken sentiment of gratitude for your services, which is a precious portion of our inheritance:  ours by that tie of love, stronger then death, which has linked your name, for the endless ages of time, with the name of Washington.

“At the painful moment of parting from you, we take comfort in the thought, that wherever you may be, to the last pulsation of your heart, our country will ever be present to your affections; and a cheering consolation assures us that we are not called to sorrow, most of all, that we shall see your face no more.  We shall indulge the pleasing anticipation of beholding our friend again.  In the mean time, speaking in the name of the whole people of the United States, and at a loss only for language to give utterance to that feeling of attachment with which the heart of the nation beats, as beats the heart of one man—­I bid you a reluctant and affectionate farewell!!