LA FAYETTE (Gilbert Du Motier de). Autograph letter signed t - Lot 77

LA FAYETTE (Gilbert Du Motier de). Autograph letter signed to Romain Joseph de Brigode. MONTGOMERY (ALABAMA), March 4, 1825. One p. 1/4 in-4, address on spine with black wax seal with his initials "L F." preserved in two parts; tears to address leaf due to opening without affecting text. A RARE AND MAGNIFICENT RECORD OF HIS TRIUMPHANT TOUR OF THE UNITED STATES. At the request of President James Monroe, the Marquis de La Fayette came to the United States as a "guest of the nation". From August 1824 to September 1825, he visited all twenty-four of the country's states. Considered the French hero of Independence, even though Rochambeau had died in 1807, the Marquis de La Fayette was able to experience the immense popularity he enjoyed: he received all manner of gifts, while towns, streets and schools were renamed in his honor. The future diplomat Auguste Levasseur, who accompanied the marquis, published an account of the trip in 1826. "I reply to both Célestine and you, my dear friend, having but a moment in the midst of our rapid course, the much-desired aim of which is to bring us closer before the end of the summer to all that would weep with our common losses if we were not necessarily separated by an immense space. You know what M[a]d[am]e d'Hénin was to me, what the excellent M[a]d[am]e de Tracy was to both our families. [Adélaïde Félicité Étiennette de Guinot de Monconseil, princesse d'Hénin-Liétard, a close friend of the Marquis de La Fayette and former dame du Palais to Marie-Antoinette, died in August 1824; daughter of the Comte de Tracy, whose philosophical writings influenced Thomas Jefferson, Françoise Émilie Destutt de Tracy was the mother-in-law of Georges Washington de La Fayette, son of the Marquis, and had died in December 1823; in addition, the Marquis de La Fayette's father-in-law, Jean-Paul Louis François de Noailles, had died in October 1824.] Good friends and good citizens have also perished since our departure, and here, since our arrival, several men worthy of our regrets have died, among them two respectable comrades-in-arms. So it is that IN THE TURBILLON OF MOST TOUCHING GOODS, OF VERY LIVELY ENJOYMENTS, my happiness has been disturbed by great calamities and other subjects of regret. It's been nearly eight months, my dear friends, that every day of an active life, and every step of a great expanse of country have been marked by everything that can flatter and touch the heart; THE PUBLIC AND INDIVIDUAL PROSPERITY OF THE UNITED STATES, THE RAPIDITY AND IMPORTANCE OF IMPROVEMENTS AND CREATIONS would be a problem as insoluble as it seems surprising, if the solution were not simply found IN THE REAL PRACTICE OF FREE INSTITUTIONS CONSERVATED BY PATRIOTISM AND GOVERNED BY GOOD SENSE. All of this is done very cheaply, if you except the passage of the national guest, and elsewhere one pays dearly, as I said the other day, for arbitrariness, privileges and hassles... I HAVE JUST PASSED FROM THE STATE OF GEORGIA INTO THE NEW STATE OF ALABAMA [admitted to the Union in 1819] CROSSING FOR FOUR DAYS A CONTREE STILL HABITED BY INDIANS, AND THEY HAVE ALSO TAKEN PART IN THE RECEPTIONS OF WHICH I HAVE THE HAPPINESS TO BE THE OBJECT : WE HAVE FOUND HERE TWO BEAUTIFUL STEAMERS THAT HAVE BEEN SENT TO TAKE US TO MOBILE, FROM WHERE WE WILL GO TO [LA NOUVELLE-] ORLEANS TO SAIL UP THE MISSISSIPPI AND OHIO RIVERS, AND VISIT ALL THE WESTERN STATES. We will then return to Boston, where I am expected on June 17 for the laying of the foundation stone of the BUNKERS HILL MONUMENT [commemorating the battle of Bunkers Hill, held on June 17, 1775 between the American patriots and the English in Charleston, opposite Boston]. Farewell, my dear friends. A thousand regards to your brother [Count Louis-Marie-Joseph de Brigode, Peer of France]. I embrace Georgine and Gabrielle, whose names I am delighted to find in the American gazettes..." A MEMBER OF THE MARQUIS DE LA FAYETTE'S FAMILY, ROMAIN JOSEPH DE BRIGODE (1775-1854) was married to one of the latter's granddaughters, Célestine de Faÿ de La Tour-Maubourg. He began his career as an auditor at the Conseil d'État and a member of the Corps législatif under the Empire, then served as a deputy for the Nord region from 1815 to 1837, sitting with the constitutional left to which La Fayette also belonged.