Virginia Delegates to George Washington, 8 January 1782
Virginia Delegates to George Washington
Philadelphia Jany. 8. 1782.
Dear sir
Your excellency will, I hope, readily believe, that I most cheerfully obey the commands of my brethren in the delegation, to transmit to you the vote of the Virginia assembly, expressing their sentiments of your conduct and exertions at York.1 We cannot pass by this favorable opportunity of declaring to your excellency, the thorough coincidence of our feelings with theirs.
Shall we beg the favor of you to forward the inclosure to the Marquis. Its contents are honorary in a great degree; but I fear, there is something very unusual in presenting a gentleman with a bust of himself.2 I have the honor to be Dear sir with the sincerest respect and esteem yr. exclly’s obliged and obt. serv:
Edm: Randolph.
RC (ViU). Written and signed by Randolph. Docketed by Tench Tilghman. Enclosures not found.
1. The Virginia House of Delegates on 17 Dec. 1781 unanimously adopted a resolution thanking General Washington “for his late glorious services at Yorktown” and assuring him that “the conspicuous merit and exalted virtue, which his character uniformly exhibits, will ever excite the warmest love and gratitude of his countrymen” ( , Oct. 1781, p. 42). Washington replied on 8 Jan. 1782 to the House, and on 5 Feb. to the Senate, which had passed a separate resolution on 8 Jan. 1782 ( , XXIII, 435, 484–85).
2. By resolutions of 17 and 18 Dec. 1781 the House and Senate of Virginia thanked Lafayette for his military service in that state and authorized a marble bust of the Marquis to be made in Paris, where it would be presented to him “as a lasting monument of his merit, and of their gratitude” ( , Oct. 1781, pp. 43, 46; , III, 302, 303 n. 6). In his reply to Randolph on 8 Jan. Washington agreed with Randolph’s comment by writing, “I am not a judge of the Etiquette upon these occasions, but it really does seem odd to me to present a man with his own likeness” ( , XXIII, 435 and n. 65).