At a recent wedding, I reconnected with some dear college friends. One of them, the illustrious Bartels, has married a French woman, Emilie. After chatting for a while it struck me, I need help translating De Clieu's original letter.
A librarian had kindly scanned De Clieu's original article in 1700s French and sent it to me. I performed a rough Google translate on it so get the basic meaning of De Clieu's words. His letter validated some of the "non-fiction" that has been written about De Clieu, and left much of what is said about De Clieu totally unsubstantiated (for instance, De Clieu makes no mention of pirates).
I am publishing this letter in the back of Coffee Smuggler for the history buffs in my audience, because it was very hard to come by.
As I chatted with Emilie, it struck me, I need help! Emilie generously agreed to help me with my translation and has delivered on her promise. She researched old French words and produced an excellent translation for Coffee Smuggler. Thanks Emilie for helping bring a forgotten piece of history back to life!