Be pleased to present my dutiful respects to the Congress, and believe me to be, with great and sincere esteem and respect, &c.
B. FRANKLIN.
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO B. FRANKLIN.
Philadelphia, November 24th, 1781.
Sir,
Major General du Portail will have the honor to present this. Congress, in consideration of their long and faithful services in this country, have granted permission to him and Colonels de Laumoy and de Gourion, to revisit their friends in Europe for the winter.
As the merit of these gentlemen has procured for them particular marks of the esteem of Congress, they wish them to be distinguished by the notice of their sovereign, and for that purpose have directed that they be recommended to you, and that you be requested to present them at Court, in such a manner as will bespeak for them the attention they justly merit.
Congress are persuaded that this task will be particularly agreeable to you, as they are indebted to your care for the useful services of these gentlemen, and as nothing is more acceptable to a man of real merit, than to be made the means of displaying it in others.
This is the third letter I have had the honor to write to you since my entering upon office, and you will find it numbered in the margin accordingly. I beg you will be pleased to number all your letters to me in the same manner, that I may know those which by any means may be prevented from coming to hand.