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66
141
[
LAFAYETTE,
Gilbert du Motier, marquis de]
Document manuscrit, signé par Daniel Brent, Clerc
Washington, 4 février 1824
1 page in-folio, abîmée, petite perte de papier
LAFAYETTE INVITÉ PAR LE CONGRÈS. “GRATEFUL AND
AFFECTIONATE ATTACHMENT STILL CHERISHED FOR
HIM BY THE GOVERNMENT OF PEOPLE OF THE UNITED
STATES”. LAFAYETTE’S COPY
Official promulgation submitted to Lafayette, certified by the
Chief Clerk of the Department of State.
“Resolution, in relation to an intended visit of the Marquis de Lafayette
to the United States”, par le Sénat et la Chambre des Représentants
en Congrès assemblés : “the President be requested to communicate
to him the assurances of grateful and affectionate attachment still
cherished for him by the Government and people of the United States
(...) a National Ship, with suitable accommodation be employed to
bring him to the United States”, en-tête : “[E]ighteenth Congress of
the United States At the first Session Begun and held at the City of
Washington in the Territory of Columbia on Monday the first day of
December one thousand eight hundred and twenty three”, signature :
“The foregoing is a true Copy, faithfully compared with the Roll in this
offi[ce] [...] Department of State, 7
th
Februar[y 1824], Daniel Brent”
Daniel Brent (1774-1841) was Chief Clerk at the Department
of State, who the previous May had put in hand Stone’s
facsimile of the Declaration of Independence. The damage to
this manuscript and damp-staining to about a dozen others
in the archive – clearly at one time all filed together – was
very possibly caused by Lafayette’s Ohio shipwreck midway
through his tour. President Monroe was to write to Lafayette on
24 February, informing him of this resolution :
“My dear General, I wrote you a letter about fifteen days since, by Mr
Brown, in which I expressed the wish to send to any port in France you
should point out, a frigate to convey you hither, in case you should be able
to visit the United State. Since then, Congress has passed a resolution on
this subject, in which the sincere attachment of the whole nation to you is
expressed, whose ardent desire is once more to see you amongst them”.
The original signed by President James Monroe and approved
at Washington on 4 February 1824, certified by the Chief Clerk
at the Department of State, Washington, 7 February 1824.
RÉFÉRENCES : Auguste Levasseur,
Lafayette in America in 1824 and
1825
, 1829, I, p.10
800 / 1 200
€
142
[
LAFAYETTE
, Gilbert du Motier, marquis de]
Lettre signée par Josiah Quincy, maire de Boston
Boston, 20 mars 1824
4 pp. in-folio, abîmé. Filigrane C Wilmott/ 1819’
L’INVITATION DU MAIRE DE BOSTON, FUTUR PRÉSIDENT
DE HARVARD (1829-1845), FAITE À LAFAYETTE ENCORE
EN FRANCE : “YOUR EARLY ZEAL AND SACRIFICES IN THE
CAUSE OF AMERICAN FREEDOM”. LAFAYETTE’S COPY
“you could find no where hearts more capable of appreciating your
early zeal and sacrifices in the cause of American Freedom”
Letter signed by Josiah Quincy, as Mayor of Boston, to Lafayette
in France, inviting him to his city. Lafayette replied to this letter,
stating : “Whatever port I first attain, I shall with the same
eagerness hasten to Boston, and present its beloved, revered
inhabitants, as I have the honor to offer it to the City Council and
to you, Sir (quoted by Marian Klamkin,
The Return of Lafayette :
1824-1825
, 1975, p.20). Quincy was to write again on 17 August
and Lafayette made his triumphal entry into Boston on the 24
th
(cf. infra). The author of this letter, Josiah Quincy (1772-1864),
was an early political ally of John Adams and had been elected
Mayor of Boston in 1823, a post to which he was to be re-
elected five times. He is perhaps best-known as the historian of
Harvard, of which he was President from 1829 to 1845
300 / 500
€
143
LAFAYETTE,
Gilbert du Motier, marquis de
Copie autographe signée de la lettre adressée au maire de Boston
Paris, 26 mai 1824
1/2 page in-folio, traces d’humidité, avec la mention autographe
“copy” en haut à gauche
LAFAYETTE REFUSE LE NAVIRE DE GUERRE OFFERT PAR
LE GOUVERNEMENT ET PRÉFÈRE PARTIR AU PLUS VITE.
EXEMPLAIRE DE LAFAYETTE
LAFAYETTE REFUSES THE WARSHIP OFFERED BY THE
GOVERNMENT AND PREFERS TO LEAVE AS SOON AS
POSSIBLE. LAFAYETTE’S COPY
“Amidst the new and big marks of Benevolence the people of the United
States and their representatives have lately deigned to confer upon me,
I am proud and happy to recognise the particular sentiments of the
Citizens of Boston which have blessed and delighted the five years of
my public carrier and the grateful sense of which has ever since been
to me a most valued reward and support. I joyfully anticipate the day,
not very remote, thank God, when I may revisit the Glorious cradle of
American, and future I hope, of universal liberty. Your so honorable and
gratifying invitation would have been directly complied with in the case
to which you are pleased to allude. But while I profoundly feel the Honor
intended by the offer of a National ship, I hope I will incur no blame by
the determination I have taken to embark as soon as it is in my power
on board a private vessel. Whatever I first attain, I shall with the same
eagerness hasten to Boston and (...) his beloved revered inhabitants,
as I have now the Honor to offer it to the Citizen Council and to you,
Sir, with the Homage of my affectionate gratitude and devoted respect”
3 000 / 5 000
€