[75] June, 1785. Two of the Berthier brothers had taken part, as we saw,
in the expedition. The one alluded to here is the younger,
César-Gabriel, not the older, Louis-Alexandre, who became Prince de
Wagram. Both are described in their "états de service," preserved among
the Rochambeau papers, as expert draftsmen. The notice concerning the
younger, who was a captain of dragoons, reads: "Il s'est fait remarquer
ainsi que son frère par son talent à dessiner et lever des plans."
[76] Concerning this correspondence, as continued during the French
Revolution, see below, pp. 245 ff.
[77] December 29, 1782.
[78] A lithographed portrait mentions the later-day titles and dignities
of: "I.C. Louis, Baron de Closen, Maréchal de Camp, chambellan et
chevalier des ordres français pour le Mérite et de la Légion d'honneur,
ainsi que de celui de Cincinnatus des Etats Unis de l'Amérique
Septentrionale." Reproduced by C.W. Bowen, who first drew attention to
this journal, _Century Magazine_, February, 1907. Closen died in 1830,
aged seventy-five.
[79] Which was done in a letter giving as a reason "that, whenever the
two crowns should come to treat, his Most Christian Majesty would show
how much the engagements he might enter into were to be relied on, by
his exact observance of those he had already had with his present
allies." Quoted, as "a sentence which I much liked," by Franklin,
writing to John Adams, April 13, 1782.