LB, CtHi.

Benjamin Franklin wrote GW from Passy, France, on 6 May: “The Bearer Mr Grieve, goes to Virginia, with an Intention of settling there, where he has also some Business in which you are concern’d. I beg leave to present him to your Exlleny as a Gentleman of Character, & who has long distinguished himself in England as a firm Friend to the Cause of America. I purpose writing to you fully by Col: Laurens, who will leave Paris in a few days” (L[S], DLC:GW; ADf, DLC: Benjamin Franklin Papers; LB, DLC: Benjamin Franklin Papers). For Lt. Col. John Laurens’s movements, see his letter to GW, 11 April, and n.5.

George Greive (Grieve; 1748–1809), a political agitator from northern England with financial troubles, swore to support the United States (see Greive’s oath dated 29 April 1781 in Franklin Papers description begins William B. Willcox et al., eds. The Papers of Benjamin Franklin. 42 vols. to date. New Haven, 1959–. description ends , 34:581–82). Greive came in contact with GW when he undertook settlement of the extensive land claims in northern Virginia of Charles Bennett, fourth Earl of Tankerville, a matter that involved the complex Colvill estate for which GW served as executor (see GW to Greive, 18 March 1782, CSmH; see also GW to Tankerville, 20 Jan. 1784, and n.1 to that document, in Papers, Confederation Series description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1992–97. description ends 1:64–66). Greive later left Virginia and supported the French Revolution but fled France after Robespierre’s execution in late July 1794. Not long after moving to Alexandria, Va., in 1796, Greive returned to Europe and eventually settled in Belgium. For his work as a translator, see Chastellux, Travels in North America, 1:29–35.