51. JEAN-BAPTISTE DE ROCHAMBEAU (1725 - 1807) French Marshall who commanded French forces sent to aid the Americans in the Revolutionary War. With Washington, he was essential in the defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Fine content A.L.S. 2pp. 8vo. [Paris], Apr. 22, 1790 with integral address leaf filled out in his hand, in French concerning the status of the clergy in the new French Republic. He writes, in full: "The questions you ask me, Sir, seem to me to have been answered by the explanations in the text issued by the Constitutional Committee, a printed copy of which I sent to you through Mr. Lancoigne. It seems to me that only the aging [?] clergy should be excluded from the rights of active citizenship. With respect to the reserve in the alt storehouse, it seems to me they are excluded by the decrees, since the committee was favorably disposed only toward the salt diggers [?]. You must have noted from the explanations of the committee that each primary assembly section, or each primary section of the same canton is to name its number of deputies in proportion to his population and that there is to be no other census than the report of the poll of the primary assembly which will have finished first". Rochambeau was active in the Revolution, commanding the Armée du Nord. He was, however, arrested during the Terror, and only the death of Robespierre saved him from the guillotine. Provenance: Carnegie Book Shop, 1954; Collection of Henry Luhrs. Light folds, else fine condition. $700-900