From Benjamin Franklin to John Laurens, 21 May 1781
To John Laurens
LS:6 American Philosophical Society; AL (draft): Library of Congress
Passy May 21. 1781.
Dear Sir,
I sent you Yesterday some Letters whi[ch] came here for you since your Departure.
Mr. Necker is no longer in Place. M. Joly de Fleury succeeds him.7
I am again applied to for the Expences on the Alliance. Be so good as to draw an Order on me for what you think proper to pay of Gourlade and Moylands Acct.
I repeat my Wishes for your prosperous Voyage, and am with great Esteem Dear Sir, Your most obedient [and] most humble Ser[vant]
B Franklin
Honble Col. Lawrens
Addressed: A Monsieur / Monsieur le Col. Lawrens / chez M. Bersolle / Negt. / à Brest
Notation: Dr. Franklin Passy 21st May 1781
6. In WTF’s hand.
7. Jean-François Joly de Fleury, seigneur de La Valette (1718–1802) assumed the duties as Finance Minister (Ministre d’état et des finances) on this date, Necker having been forced to resign two days earlier: J.F. Bosher, French Finances 1770–1795: From Business to Bureaucracy (Cambridge, Eng., 1970), pp. 47, 166, 172; John Hardman, French Politics 1774–1789: From the Accession of Louis XVI to the Fall of the Bastille (London and New York, 1995), pp. 59–62.