Recipient: Williams, Jonathan
Passy, 13 April 1778. printed
: JA, Diary and Autobiography
. The Commissioners informed Williams, Benjamin Franklin's greatnephew and American
commercial agent at Nantes (see sketch in Diary and Autobiography
), that because their funds were low Williams was to expend no further monies and
that he was to close his accounts “for the present.” The Commissioners enclosed a
copy of an agreement with Mr. Mercier, but reported that no record of an agreement
between Silas Deane and Monthieu could be found.
The Commissioners were probably answering Williams' letter of 31 March (Cal. Franklin Papers, A.P.S.
, 1:386). The effort to end Williams' activities and settle his accounts dragged into
August, involving him in a bitter dispute with Arthur Lee that led to a complete break
between the two men. See Williams to the Commissioners, 18
April; the Commissioners to Williams, 25 May
(calendared); Arthur Lee to JA
, 5 July
, 7 Aug.
; and Benjamin Franklin and JA
to Ferdinand Grand, [10 July]