Arthur MIDDELTON (1742-1787). Autograph manuscript, [Philadelphia, ca. 29 November 1781].

Two pages, 322 x 205mm. (rough left margin, light toning).

In the warm afterglow of the American victory at Yorktown, Middleton drafts an official letter of thanks from Congress to Louis XVI that will be delivered personally by the Marquis de Lafayette who was preparing to depart for France. Congress had tasked the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to draft a letter, but after Secretary Charles Thomson read the draft, Congress rejected it, forcing the delegates themselves to draft an alternative. Arthur Middleton, who had been recently exchanged as a prisoner of war, had arrived in Congress two months before, submitted the present draft: ""At a period so favourable to the Fortunes of America, & so glorious to the Arms of France, ... it is with heartfelt satisfaction that we present our Congratulations to a Monarch, whose wise Councils & generous support have so largely contributed to an Event illustrious in itself, & likely to be productive of the best of Consequences, the Establishment of the peace of Nations, & of the Independence of this Continent... We mean to convey to your Majesty our Sense of the Victory obtain'd by the Count de Grasse over the Enemy's Fleet on our Coast, & of the subsequent reduction of a considerable British Force in Virginia, & to express our Gratitude for the Aids in various ways extended to us by your powerfull hand in the Day of Difficulty — From the Benevolence & magnanimity which have hitherto interested your Majesty in the welfare of the United States, we are convinced that your feelings will be equally affected by our own, whose immediate advantages are the result of such fortunate Exertions —" Middleton's work, with revisions, was incorporated into the final version written by William Churchill Houston, in a letter three times the length of the present draft that notes Rochambeau's and Lafayette's contributions to the victory and alluding to the need for additional support to continue the war effort: "The distress occasioned to the common enemy by combined operations, will, we trust point out to both nations the utility of similar measures in the future…." (See Ford, ed., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. 21:1145-1146). Provenance: Sotheby's, New York, 31 October 1984, lot 148.