Lafayette Remembers the French Revolution With An Old Colleague, and Encourages Him to Travel to America

In the years after the War of 1812, the United States expanded west, created a strong economy, and offered great opportunity. Europe watched this success with interest, and came to see the U.S. as a laboratory for democracy. This interest was particularly keen in France, and in 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville arrived in America to travel and research for his famous work, “Democracy in America”. But he was not the only Frenchman contemplating a trip to America.

Isidore Guillet had been an interpreter for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the old regime, and at the time of the French Revolution shared experiences with Lafayette, who was commander of the Paris National Guard, with both of them hoping France would follow the American example and become a democracy. Years later, in 1826, he wrote Lafayette saying he and his son Isidore Jr. were planning a trip to America to do research for a book, and asking for recommendations. Two names he sought reference to were U.S. Supreme Court justice Joseph Story and Stephen Longfellow, a former Congressman and father of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Guillet also suggested that he come visit Lafayette.

Autograph letter signed, La Grange, November 29, 1826, to Guillet, in which Lafayette obliged his old friend and colleague. “It is with great pleasure, sir, that I recall our old correspondence from the time of the Revolution. The memories of the “Baroche de Paris” will always be dear to me. I am pleased to hear that you have retained these sentiments and that your son shares them. You will find in the United States all the resources you need to complete the object of your voyage. If you feel you will need a few letters from me, they are indeed at your service. We will provide them at your next visit to the Grange. Messieurs Story and Longfellow are not new acquaintances to me. I saw at the homes of their parents before returning to France. Mr. Story has come here many times, and both men know well that we are always happy, both me and my children, to receive them. But I notice that you have fixed Tuesday the 4th for your trip. There is every appearance at this point that I will be obliged to leave the Grange Monday for a 2-day affair in Paris. I will only remain there as necessary because of the worrying sickness in which my son has found himself for 7 weeks. It is necessary that you, both you and my two young friends, either before this time or at the end of the following week.”

While there is no record that Guillet the father ever came to the U.S., Isidore Jr. arrived in New York on August 27, 1827, aboard the ship Montana. Likely based on references from Lafayette, in New York he was introduced into society. There he met and proposed to the heiress Elizabeth Eden, whose guardian was Aaron Burr. The two married, which was not at all to Burr’s liking, as he thereby lost control of her estate.