To Benjamin Franklin from Ernst Frederik von Walterstorff, 13 April 1783
From Ernst Frederik von Walterstorff3
AL: American Philosophical Society
Sunday morning April 13th [1783]
Mr. de Walterstorff is very sorry he cannot have the honour of dining to-day with Dr. Franklin, owing to his being previously engaged; but will have the pleasure of waiting on Dr. Franklin sometime this forenoon, if possibly he can.4
3. Walterstorff (1755–1820), currently chamberlain of the king of Denmark, had met BF during a visit to Paris in 1782: BF to Livingston, April 15, below. His long career involved service in both Europe and the Danish West Indies. He was appointed a high court judge in St. Croix in 1780, and was named vice-governor of the island in 1785. He went on to serve as Danish minister in Stockholm (1797), London (1801), Paris (1810), and The Hague (1815): Dansk Biografisk Leksikon (16 vols., Copenhagen, 1979–84); Repertorium der diplomatischen Vertreter, III, 45, 46, 50, 55.
4. Walterstorff bore news from the Danish court that the king wanted to conclude a treaty of amity and commerce with the United States; see BF’s April 15 letters to Livingston and Rosencrone.