de Bonneville's husband, Nicholas, was a close friend of Paine in Paris, and had originally intended to come to America with Paine and his family.

But, as the publisher of a highly Radical paper--the _Bien Informe_--De Bonneville was under espionage, and when the time came he was not permitted to leave France.

He confided his wife and children to his friend, and they set sail with his promise to follow later.

He did follow, when he could--Washington Irving tells of chatting with him in Battery Park--but it was too late for him to see the man who had proved himself so true a friend to him and his.
The older De Bonneville boy was Benjamin, known affectionately by his parents and Paine as "Bebia." He was destined to become distinguished in the Civil War--Gen.

Benjamin de Bonneville, of high military and patriotic honours.
I said we couldn't keep to Greenwich--we have travelled to France and back again already! You may find the house if you care to look for it--the very same house kept by Mrs.Ryder, where Thomas Paine lived more than a century ago.
So humble and shabby it is you might pass it by with no more notice than you would pass a humble and shabby wayfarer.