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JOHN HANCOCK (1737-1793) American Revolutionary politician and first signer of the Declaration of Independence, President of the Continental Congress and two-time Governor of Massachusetts. BOSTON GREETS THE VICTORIOUS FRENCH OFFICERS Important content A.D.S. with initials "J H", 1p. 4to., Council Chamber, Boston, Feb 10, 1783, the text of a printed notice or address given by Hancock before the combined chambers of the House of Representatives and the Senate of Massachusetts, during his tenure as Governor of Massachusetts. In part: "...The several Resolves of the general court, authorizing the Gentlemen Selectmen of the Town of Boston, to prepare accommodations suitable to the bank of the officers of the French army upon their arrival in Boston, have with great attention and punctuality been attended to by the selectmen ... [we have] the satisfaction to inform you that the General of the Army the Count de Viomenil assured me, that he with the other general and subordinate officers were accommodated in a manner very agreeable , & that he with the other officers were perfectly satisfied, & had a grateful sense of the ready & polite attention that was paid them..." He goes on to request that the expenses accrued in housing these French officers, a sum of five hundred pounds, be repaid by the Council. Hancock signs at the conclusion with his initials, "J H". This document, dated days after the cessation of hostilities between the United States and Great Britain, attests to the spirit of cooperation and thankfulness which existed between the Americans and their French allies at that time. By comparison, the quartering of British troops in private residences had been one of the primary grievances underlying the Revolution. The address has been professionally mended where it had split horizontally along its original folds, and it is docketed on the verso. Very good. Descended in the family of Dorothy Quincy, Hancock''s wife.