Benjamin Franklin Papers
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https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-43-02-0014

To Benjamin Franklin from the Comtesse de Beauharnais, 20 August 1784

From the Comtesse de Beauharnais7

ALS: American Philosophical Society

le 20 aoust 1784

Permettéz, Monsieur, que je vous envoie ce memoire en faveur d’un infortuné digne a tous egards de votre compassion?8 Vous y verrés qu’une chute qu’il a faite l’hiver dernier le met hors detat de continuér ses travaux; votre coeur genereux et sensible qui previent les besoins des malheureux qui les devine meme me repond que celui cy vous interessera, oui Monsieur en vos vertus minspirent la confiance de vous le dire, si vous vouliéz avoir la bonté de joindre quelques louis a ceux qu’il a deja recus, vous prolongeriéz son existence et cest a vous benir quil emploiroit le reste de sa vie. Vous seréz peut etre surpris, Monsieur, de la demande que jose vous faire n’ayant pas l’honneur detre connue de vous, mais lillustre Monsieur franklin precedé par la renommée a droit a ma priere puisqu’elle est un juste hommage, éh qui peut aimér plus a faire e bien que le premiér philosophe de nos jours, que le pere des infortunés et que celui sur la phisionomie respectable duquel on lit que le pauvre nira point chéz luy sans revenir heureux.9 Combien jattache de prix a loccasion [de?] luy offrir les sentiments dadmiration avec lesquels jay l’honneur detre Monsieur Votre tres humble et tres obeissante servante

LA CTESSE DE BEAUHARNOIS

Notation: La Csse. de Beauharnois 20 Août 1784.

[Note numbering follows the Franklin Papers source.]

7Identified in XXX, 387n, when in 1779 Bailly had wanted to introduce her to BF. From what she writes in the present letter, it does not seem as though they had met.

8The enclosure was a June 27 letter from J. Thiriot, a former tutor who had suffered a crippling accident; it is summarized in XLII, 30–1. Her delay in forwarding it remains unexplained.

9Thiriot seems to have received some amount of charity from BF by Sept. 1, when he sent a poetic tribute to “le Caton de son âge,” declaring himself a beneficiary of BF’s kindness. Before hearing from BF, however, he had written to a sieur de La Salle that the sage’s failure to respond could only be due to the comtesse’s omission of her address. He asked La Salle to convey the address to BF himself, or else through “Mlle Chaumont.” La Salle chose the latter option, forwarding Thiriot’s request, as well as the address, with an undated note. Whichever of the three unmarried Chaumont daughters received this request, she dutifully presented the correspondence to its intended recipient. All these documents are at the APS.

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