From — Gloro
als: American Philosophical Society
<Hennebon, near Lorient, January 10, 1777, in French: I have
served the Compagnie des Indes since 1752, and was returning
from China in 1776 when my ship put in at Ascension
Island to revictual and take on turtles. There I encountered a
Mr. Benjamin Salter, out of St. Eustatius from Bermuda, waiting
to make purchases from passing vessels. I made friends
with him and sold him all I had brought with me, receiving
two bills of exchange. The larger one, on a London merchant
named William Cawthorne, was protested; Cawthorne was in
debtors’ prison and denied knowledge of the business. Salter
knew that I faced ruin if not paid, and I trusted him so much
that I never learned his address. I have since heard of a rich
Philadelphia merchant of that name; can you give me information,
any means by which I may collect? Please do not let
the ship’s owners hear of my misadventure; they do not like
such private business, although it is the only way that the
underpaid can survive.>
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