129 / 239
128
243
[
LAFAYETTE
, Gilbert du Motier, marquis de]
Lettre autographe signée de Moses Bissel
Canandaigua, 7 juin 1825
1 p. in-4, marges irrégulières
EXEMPLAIRE DE LAFAYETTE. REMARQUABLE LETTRE D’UN VÉTÉRAN DE
BUNKER HILL.
I HAVE “NOTHING TO BESTOW AS I DO NOT RECEIVE A PENTION AND AM ABOVE
75 YEARS OF AGE AND WAS IN SIGHT OF BUNKER HILL BATTLE”.
LAFAYETTE’S COPY. LETTER OF A BUNKER HILL VETERAN
Moses Bissell, un vétéran de Bunker Hill, écrit à Lafayette : “Dear General I have nothing Else
to offer But my Prayers and Best wishes and Regards for your Health and Prosperity for your
Self and family I am so very Poor and needy I have nothing Else to Bestow as I do not Receive a
Pention and am above 75 years of age and was in Sight of Bunker Hill Battle where I am informed
You mean to be on the 17
th
of this Being the 50
th
anniversary Since that Great and Glorious Event
and the first Prelude of our National Glory”
The author of this particularly touching letter is listed among those who served in
the Revolution in the
Record of Service of Connecticut Men
(1889). It is not hard to
imagine that it was just such letters as this that helped persuade Lafayette to give
absolute priority to attendance at the Bunker Hill ceremony.
5 000 / 7 000
€
244
[
LAFAYETTE,
Gilbert du Motier, marquis de]
Document signé par Paul Willard, Clerc du Sénat
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 11 juin 1825
2 pp. in-4
EXEMPLAIRE DE LAFAYETTE. INVITATION DU SÉNAT DU MASSACHUSETTS : “THE
GOVERNMENT WILL CONVENE TO MEET HIM IN THE HALL OF THE HOUSES OF
REPRESENTATIVES”
Promulgation officielle, certifiée par le
Clerk
, transmise à Lafayette, de la résolution
prise par la
House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
:
“Resolved, That should the distinguished guest of the nation visit the Metropolis
during the present session, the several branches of the Government will convene
to meet him in the Hall of the House of Representatives and that His Excellency the
Governor be requested to address him on the occasion, and to tender to him the
hospitality of the Commonwealth”. This reception took place on 16 June :
“The day after our arrival, in accordance with an invitation that had been given him, the general
went to the Capitol, where the new governor, Mr Lincoln, the senate, house of representatives,
and civil authorities of Boston, had united to receive and compliment him. After we had taken
our places in this assembly, the governor rose, and in the name of the state of Massachusetts,
congratulated the guest of the nation on the happy termination of his long journey. As soon as
the general had made his reply, the members of the two houses left their places, and crowded
round him to offer him an individual expression of their feelings, and sincere congratulations were
showered upon him from the galleries, which were filled with a great number of ladies anxious to
see him once again” (Levasseur,
Lafayette in America
, II, pp. 201-202).
500 / 800
€