WASHINGTON, _December 4, 1834_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a communication addressed to me by M. George
Washington Lafayette, accompanying a copy of the Declaration of
Independence engraved on copper, which his illustrious father bequeathed
to Congress to be placed in their library as a last tribute of respect,
patriotic love, and affection for his adopted country.
I have a mournful satisfaction in transmitting this precious bequest of
that great and good man who through a long life, under many vicissitudes
and in both hemispheres, sustained the principles of civil liberty
asserted in that memorable Declaration, and who from his youth to the
last moment of his life cherished for our beloved country the most
generous attachment.