#1796

Embroidered Linen "Merveilleuse" Gown, French, 1796-1800

Jack the Ripper (Stage 1) from Fate/Grand Order

"I cannot show anyone the second or third ascensions without getting some weird looks, so first one it is."

Bis dahin wird sich auch wohl das politische Unheil mehr aufgeklärt haben; Thüringen und Sachsen hat, so scheint es, Frist sich zu besinnen, und das ist schon viel Glück.

I was going through my collection of letters and documents and found quite a nice arrangement of opinions from La Fayette’s contemporaries and people that knew him personally. There are the good ones, the bad ones and the mixed. As a sidenote, this is intended as short snippets and overall impressions of the varying opinions people had about La Fayette. I think it goes without saying that these snippets can not account for opinions that changed with time and events, for more nuanced opinions or for the differentiation between something that was expressed in a private versus an official document.

With that being said, I hope you all might enjoy what is to come and wish you all a merry advent season!

24 Days of La Fayette: Day 1 – George Washington

We start this season off with a letter written by George Washington, then President of the United Staes of America, to Francis II, then Holy Romam Emperor on May 15, 1796.

“George Washington to Francis II (Holy Roman Emperor), 15 May 1796,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-20-02-0107. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 20, 1 April–21 September 1796, ed. David R. Hoth and William M. Ferraro. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019, pp. 142–143.] (last accessed 01/12/2025).

There are without a doubt more expressive letters, both in general and from Washington in particular. He wrote many letters in his life to and about La Fayette where he voiced his adoration for the Marquis in almost flowery language. There are also many incidents where La Fayette had liberty to act with Washington in a manner that others were not permitted. So why this letter? The context is important here. Washington, while being President, and upon insistence that he speaks for his fellow citizens, writes essentially as a private individual. This letter was predated by a lengthy debate back and forth where Washington had to decide if La Fayette was worth writing this letter, if his private feeling could be allowed to overrule the need to act exclusively as a representative of the United States. In the end, and after much advising, Washington wrote not only this letter, but, on January 15, 1794, a similar letter to Frederick II, then King of Prussia.

“George Washington to Frederick William II of Prussia, 15 January 1794,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-15-02-0058. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 15, 1 January–30 April 1794, ed. Christine Sternberg Patrick. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, pp. 75–77.] (last accessed 01/12/2025).

Sampler map of the world by schoolgirl Eliza Thompson, silk embroidery on cotton foundation, British, 1796.