To Benjamin Franklin from William Alexander, 9 May 1777
From William Alexander
ALS: American Philosophical Society
Dijon 9 May 1777
Dear Sir
I cannot refuse to the earnest application of a very respectable friend here, to trouble you with this Line of Introduction of Monsr. Le Comte de Fontette Sommery Chevalier d’Honneur of the Parliament Here.7 His office implies a Gentleman of Distinction, and His Personal Character Corresponds to it. The nature of His business I can Say nothing about, and shall be Glad that It prove agreeable to you, so as to prove my apology for this trouble, which knowing how much you are oppressd by visitors, I have given you with great reluctance. I am with the most sincere Attachment Dear Sir Your most obedient humble Servant
W: Alexander
Ben Franklin Esqre
Notation: Alexander Dijon 9 May 77
7. Claude-Marie de Fontette-Sommery (born 1745) had been in the French army since 1763. If he was looking for a berth in the American, as seems likely, he did not get it; he served later under d’Estaing in the Caribbean, and after that in the Spanish theater. Bodinier.