[LAFAYETTE, Gilbert du Motier, marquis de]. Lettre signée par Robert Y. Hayne, Richard M. Johnson, E.H. Wills, J. Hamilton, Jr, Stephen Van Rensselaer et Duncan McArthur Washington City, 25 décembre 1824 1 p., in-4, traces d’humidité, encre pâlie
Estimation :
1500 / 2000
Adjudication :
Invendu
Description
EXEMPLAIRE DE LAFAYETTE : INVITATION À DÎNER POUR LE 1er JANVIER PAR CINQ ÉLUS “DEPUTED BY OUR COLLEAGUES AND ASSOCIATES OF BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS". LAFAYETTE DINE AVEC JAMES MONROE Lettre signée par cinq membres du Congrès et adressée à Lafayette : “We have been deputed by our Colleagues and Associates of both Houses of Congress, to solicit the honor of your Company at dinner, at 5 P.M on the first day of January next, at Williamson’s Hotel. We are instructed to assure you, that we could not have allowed you to leave the Seat of Government, without this testimony (however imperfect) of our warm personal regard" Among the Congressional signatories are Robert Young Hayne (1791-1839), Senator for South Carolina and an advocate of state rights, especially as regards the retention of slavery, Richard Mentor Johnson (1780 or 81-1850) who represented Kentucky in both the House and Senate, winning national fame as supposed killer of the Shawnee leader Tecumseh for which he was to be selected as Van Buren’s Vice President, Stephen Van Rensselaer (1764-1839), one of New York’s richest landowners who, during Lafayette’s visit, cast the Congressional vote that gave Adams rather than Jackson the presidency, and Duncan McArthur (1772-1839), Representative for Ohio. Levasseur records : “The first of January was fixed upon by the two houses, for a grand dinner to General Lafayette. The representatives of the people wished to consecrate American hospitality, by seating the guest of the nation at a table at which the whole nation could be represented by them. Mr Gailliard, president pro tempore of the Senate, and Mr Clay, Speaker of the House of Representatives, presided at the dinner. Mr Gailliard had General Lafayette on his left, and Mr Monroe the president of the United States on his right ; who, overlooking on this occasion the rule he had made of never attending any public dinner, had accepted the invitation... The hall was decorated with great splendour, and the guests were animated by a feeling of union, which demonstrated how completely they considered this ceremony as a family festival" (Lafayette in America, II, pp. 28-29).
