Marquis de Lafayette - Later Life

Later Life

Lafayette was unwilling to cooperate with Napoleon's government. In 1804, Napoleon was crowned Emperor after a plebiscite in which Lafayette did not participate. He remained relatively quiet, although he spoke publicly on Bastille Day events. After the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson asked if he would be interested in the governorship. Lafayette declined, citing personal problems and the desire to work for liberty in France. During a trip to Auvergne, Adrienne became ill, largely due to her time in prison. In 1807, she became delirious but recovered enough on Christmas Eve to gather the family around her bed and to say to Lafayette: "Je suis toute à vous" ("I am all yours"). She died the next day.

Read more about this topic:  Marquis De Lafayette

Famous quotes containing the word life:

    He is a strong man who can hold down his opinion. A man cannot utter two or three sentences, without disclosing to intelligent ears precisely where he stands in life and thought, namely, whether in the kingdom of the senses and the understanding, or, in that of ideas and imagination, in the realm of intuitions and duty.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    Above all, we cannot afford not to live in the present. He is blessed over all mortals who loses no moment of the passing life in remembering the past.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)