“La Fayette.”
At the celebration of the commencement of the Ohio and Baltimore Railroad, which occurred on the 4th of July, 1828, a pair of handsome morocco slippers, and a pair of beautiful white satin shoes were made by the cordwainers during the procession. The morocco slippers were presented to the venerable Carroll, on the ground; and the white satin shoes were subsequently transmitted to General La Fayette, together with the badges worn by the association. This compliment received the following reply:—
“Lagrange, Sept. 11, 1828.
“Gentlemen: With affectionate feelings of pleasure, I have received your kind letter, the badge bearing a likeness of our matchless Washington, and of my excellent friend, the surviving signer of independence, the ensigns of your association as they were worn by your worthy president, and an elegant pair of ladies’ white satin slippers, which were manufactured in the procession. For those gratifying marks of your remembrance and friendship, I beg you to accept my most grateful thanks. The anniversary of American independence, the commencement of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, have been happy associations. So I have seen, as it were, the commencement of your city in the first years of the Revolutionary struggle, of which this very day is one of the (1777) anniversaries, that of the battle of Brandywine; and it has been lately to me a matter of proud delight to witness the immense progress of Baltimore, a great and rapid increase of which we may now more than ever anticipate. Its happy effects upon every sort of trade and industry cannot be doubted, and I offer you the cordial congratulation and good wishes of your sincere and obliged friend,[friend,]
“La Fayette.”
The general also transmitted the following to the book-binders of the city, and to the editors of the American:—
“Lagrange, Sept. 11, 1828.
“To the book-binders of Baltimore.
“Gentlemen: With a lively sense of gratitude, I have received your kind letter, and a copy of the apron and badge which on the late celebration, doubly dear to an American heart, were worn by the book-binders of Baltimore. Testimonies of your remembrance and affection are at all times highly gratifying to me, nor could they prove more welcome than on this momentous occasion, when the anniversary day of independence is hailed in common with the commencement of one of its most promising results, amidst the immense progress of every kind that has taken place since it has first been my happy lot to be admitted as a soldier of the United States, and particularly as a citizen of Maryland. I am proud to have been enabled to show specimens of American book-binding which every day excite European admiration. I beg you, gentlemen, to accept the respectful acknowledgments and affectionate good wishes of a veteran who would have been happy, in the procession, to have followed his venerable friend, the surviving signer of the glorious declaration; and to have expressed to you, on that great day, the sentiments of his deep gratitude and warm attachment.
La Fayette.”