Description:

Lafayette Marquis

The Marquis de Lafayette Bids Farewell to Congress after Triumphal Tour of the United States

 

[MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE]. The Connecticut Journal, January 5, 1785. New-Haven: Thomas Green and Samuel Green. 4 pp., 9.75" x 15.5"  Some edge chipping, but none involving text.

 

On December 9, 1784, Congress passed a series of resolutions regarding the Marquis de Lafayette. It appointed a committee of one from each state to take leave of him and to prepare a letter to the King of France expressing the American assessment of Lafayette. On December 11, John Jay, chair of the committee, and the other members met with the Marquis de Lafayette in the chambers of Congress in Trenton, New Jersey, and conveyed to him the Congressional resolutions. The Marquis de Lafayette responded with a brief speech.

 

Excerpts


“While it pleases the United States in Congress, so kindly to receive me, I want words to express the feelings of a heart which delights in their present situation, and the bestowed marks of their esteem. Since I joined the standard of liberty to this wished for hour of my congratulations, I have seen such glorious deeds performed and virtues displayed by the sons of America, that in the instant of my first concern for them, I had anticipated but a part of the love and regard which devote me to this rising empire.” (p3/c1)

 

“While on this solemn occasion I mention my obligations to Congress, the states, the people at large; permit me also, to remember the dear military companions, to whose services their country is so much indebted.” (p3/c1)

 

“May this immense temple of freedom ever stand a lesson to oppressors, an example to the oppressed, a sanctuary for the rights of mankind! and may these happy United States, attain that complete splendor and prosperity which will illustrate the blessings of their government, and for ages to come, rejoice the departed souls of its founders.” (p3/c1)

 

Historical Background


Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834) was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War. Commissioned a military officer in France at age 13 and married at 16, Lafayette traveled to North America in the summer of 1777, seeking glory in the American cause in the Revolutionary War. Congress commissioned him a major general in July 1777 on his agreement to serve without pay.

 

Lafayette met General George Washington in August 1777 and became a member of the general’s staff. Wounded at the Battle of Brandywine, Lafayette led troops until January 1779, when he returned to France to raise French support for the American effort. He returned to America in April 1780 with the promise of a French army to aid the Americans. He commanded troops in Virginia in 1781, leading to the siege of Yorktown and the surrender of British forces under Lord Cornwallis. Lafayette again returned to France in December 1781 to seek additional French naval support and took part in the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

 

Lafayette visited the new United States from August to December 1784, taking a tour that included nine of the states and enjoying an enthusiastic welcome wherever he went. In mid-December, before sailing for France, Lafayette visited Congress, temporarily meeting in Trenton, New Jersey. There, on December 11, a committee of Congress formally presented him with an address, to which he replied. On December 13, he left Trenton for New York City, arriving there two days later. He sailed for France from New York aboard La Nymphe on December 21.

 

Additional Content


This issue also includes “Remarks concerning the Savages of North-America” by Benjamin Franklin (p1/c1-3); an article “On Public Debts” by Richard Price (p2/c1-2); a message from President John Dickinson of Pennsylvania to the General Assembly regarding Thomas Paine (p2/c3); along with several notices and advertisements.

 

The Connecticut Journal (1775-1809) was a weekly newspaper published in New Haven by brothers Thomas Green (1735-1812) and Samuel Green (1743-1799) of a distinguished family of printers and editors. The Green family founded or had an early part in the first five newspapers published in Connecticut. The Connecticut Journal continued the Connecticut Journal and New-Haven Post-Boy (1767-1775), also published by the Greens. The newspaper strongly supported the Patriot cause in the American Revolution. There were slight changes in its name until 1809, when it became the Connecticut Journal and Advertiser.

 

 



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