To Benjamin Franklin from William Bingham, 7 August 1777
From William Bingham
ALS: American Philosophical Society
St Pierre M[ar]t[ini]que August 7th 1777
Dear Sir,
The Gentleman who will have the Honor of delivering you this Letter is Monsr. de Karsaint, who commands one of his Majesty’s Armed Vessels that has been Some time past Stationed in these Seas. He is a particular Friend of the General’s and of mine and has Strongly importuned me for a Letter of Introduction to you.8 Particular Circumstances would not permit me to refuse him. I hope you will excuse the Liberty I take and thereby confer a favor on Dear Sir Your obedient humble Servant
Wm Bingham
Notation: W. Bingham Aug 7 77. St Pierre.
8. The bearer was Armand-Gui-Simon de Coetnempren, comte de Kersaint (1742–93), scion of a prominent naval family, who commanded a corvette that had been on patrol off Martinique since the previous autumn: Archives de la marine, B4 CXXVII, CXXXIV, passim. He was subsequently active in, and a victim of, the French Revolution: Larousse, Dictionnaire universel. The General was the marquis de Bouillé, d’Argout’s successor, whose confidence Bingham had quickly won: Robert C. Alberts, The Golden Voyage. The Life and Times of William Bingham ... (Boston, 1969), p. 59.