From Ferdinand Desrivières
ALS: American Philosophical Society
<Paris, April 22, 1778, in French: I am a man, and French; no
wonder, then, that I am concerned with the Americans’ cause.
At the start of their quarrel I wrote the Minister of Marine that
I could take three to four hundred men to Canada without
evoking British protests, but I was not listened to. Some ten
months ago I printed a small pamphlet in which, by expatiating
on England’s evil colonial policy and the unworthy trade
of some German princes in their subjects’ blood, I tried to stir
the sympathy for a people fighting to be free. The work,
although it evoked some favorable response, was confiscated
last September; the copies have not been returned to me.
You perhaps ask why I am not in the American army? My
principles until now have stood in the way; bearing arms in a
cause not endorsed by one’s country makes one a mercenary
murderer. The present alliance rids me of my scruples, and I
ask for service of any kind under the banner of Congress. I do
not worry about recompense. Generals like yours will appreciate
a soldier, and for years I have striven to show myself one
by my actions and my writings. The latter have been praised
by experts, and the most glorious praise came from Voltaire in
1767. His letter was headed by some verse that modesty prevents
my quoting. Such noble words would have furthered my
fortune, except that envy would have kept them from being
heard; running a man down costs less than rewarding him. I
am not complaining. I will gladly shed my blood for my prince,
and I respect those in authority under him; they must judge by
what they hear, without determining what is true or false, and
I value myself too much to bother about the false.
Let me repeat the assurances of respect that I gave you publicly
in the Journal de politique et de littérature of the 15th of this
month.>
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