To Benjamin Franklin from Moses Young, 26 June 1782
From Moses Young
ALS: American Philosophical Society
London 26th June 1782.
Sir
The bearer of this letter is Mr. Cephas Dawes a Gentleman of a very respectable family in Pennsylvania, he was settled as a Merchant in the West Indies previous to the commencement of the war, and is a warm friend to the cause of America, which I hope will be my apology for taking this liberty with Your Excellency. Mr. Dawes will Carry with him some of the latest Newspapers.5
I have the honor to be, With the highest veneration & respect Your Excellency’s Most humble And most devoted Servant
Moses Young
His Excellency Benjamin Franklin Esquire
Addressed: His Excellency / Benjamin Franklin Esquire / Minister Plenepotentiary from the United States / of America at the Court of France / Passy
Notation: Young Mr. Moses—26 June 1782.
5. Dawes was in Paris by July 19, when he visited BF. The next day, writing from the Hôtel Luxembourg, rue des Petits Augustins, Dawes acknowledged that visit and sent BF another newspaper that he had just discovered in his trunk (APS). BF issued him a passport on July 24 for travel to Ostend: XXXVI, 380. Dawes may be the merchant of that name who lived at 138 Water Street, Philadelphia, in 1785, next to the prominent Quaker merchant Abijah Dawes: [John] Macpherson, Macpherson’s Directory, for the City and Suburbs of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1785), p. 33; Elaine F. Crane, ed., The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker (3 vols., Boston, 1991), III, 2133.