PARIS, February 18, 1787.
SIR,--I am now to acknowledge the receipt of the letter with which you
have been pleased to honor me, together with the report on the
inauguration of the bust of the Major General the Marquis de La
Fayette. I availed myself of an opportunity which offered in the
moment, of transmitting them to the State of Virginia, with a faithful
representation of the favor with which the Prevôt des Marchands et
Echevins de Paris received their proposition, the zeal with which it
was pursued, and the dignity of its ultimate execution. Knowing the
attachment of my country to the character which was the subject of that
transaction, and the price they will set on the attentions of the
magistracy of Paris, I am safe in assuring you that they will feel
themselves infinitely obliged on this occasion.
The interest you are pleased to take in the happiness of our infant
States, your judicious admonitions as to the means of preserving it,
and the terms in which you particularly honor some of their members,
require my personal thanks, which I humbly offer, with all those
sentiments of homage and respect with which I have the honor to be,
Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.