The Commissioners to Sartine, 16 May 1778

The Commissioners to Sartine

[Passy 16 May 1778] 1

Sir

Messrs. Basmarine, Raimbeaux and Co.2 having represented to Us, that they have applied to Government for a Frigate, to be employed in Defence of their Commerce to and from America, and in making Reprisals for the Losses they have lately Sustained by our Enemies. We the Commissioners of the united States of North America, hereby request, that Such a Frigate may be granted them: and in that Case, We are ready to give a Commission and Letter of Marque to Such Frigate, upon Messrs. Basmarine & Cos. giving Bond to Us, for the regular Behaviour of Such Frigate according to the Laws of Nations, and the Usage of the united States.

We have the Honour to be, with great Respect, your Excellencys most &c.

signed F. L. and A.

LbC (Adams Papers).

1. Date supplied from Sartine’s reply of 3 June (below).

2. Récule de Basmarin et Raimbeaux was a leading mercantile firm at Bordeaux and heavily involved in the American trade. JA had dined with the two partners at Bordeaux on 2 April (JA, Diary and Autobiography description begins Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. description ends , 2:294, note 1; 4:36).

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Source Project: Adams Papers
Title: The Commissioners to Sartine, 16 May 1778
Authors: First Joint Commission at Paris
Adams, John
Recipient: Sartine, Antoine Raymond Jean Gualbert Gabriel de
Date: 16 May 1778

Reference

Cite as: “The Commissioners to Sartine, 16 May 1778,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-06-02-0090. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 6, March–August 1778, ed. Robert J. Taylor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983, p. 123.]