3. That request (unlocated) had been granted by Sept. 13; see BF’s letter of that date to WTF, above.

4. In a request of his own to Vergennes, written the same day, JW uses the same justification. Having already distributed to his creditors all he has in Europe, he has now offered them all he has in the world. His creditors wish to meet with him in Paris, but he needs a safe conduct pass in order to attend. He asks the favor on behalf of those French merchants. AAE.

5. During his stay in Passy, JW assembled documents relating to his business affairs and had BF attest them. We list here the attestations, or fragments of same, that have been located and bear BF’s signature and seal. Oct. 8, 1784: DS in L’Air de Lamotte’s hand, attestation of the signature of Lorient magistrate Godin; fragment of DS in L’Air de Lamotte’s hand, comprising the final sentence, signature, and traces of the seal (both at the Hist. Soc. of Pa.). Oct. 11, 1784: DS in BFB’s hand, statement certifying copies of three letters from Capt. Hugh Hill to JW (Private Collection). Oct. 16, 1784: DS in JW’s hand, certification of Pierre-Frederic Van Heynen’s oath, sworn before BF, that his copy of a financial account was accurate (Robert L. Walsh, Washington, D.C., on deposit at Princeton University). Oct. 28, 1784: DS in Van Heynen’s hand, certification of Van Heynen’s oath, sworn before BF, that the copy of the foregoing account of the Buccaneer with Williams, Moore & Co. was accurate (University of Pa. Library).

On March 7, 1785, L’Air de Lamotte wrote two certifications in French that BF signed. One was on the final page of an official copy of a mortgage that Gabriel Johonnot gave to JW on March 13, 1782; BF certified that the magistrate’s signature was authentic (Hist. Soc. of Pa.). The other was the final sheet of a now-missing document; the signature of magistrate Gullot de Lileau is at the top of the sheet and, below it, BF’s certification of the signature (New York Public Library).