To Benjamin Franklin from Silas Deane, 22 May 1781
From Silas Deane
ALS: American Philosophical Society
Paris 22d. May 1781
Dear sir
I am at last determined on sending my Son to an Academy near Brussels, for a short Time, & having an Opportunity for his going in a few Days pray You to give him a Passport, for which he has the honor to wait on You, & to take his leave.8
I am with The highest respect Dear sir Your most Obedt & Very humle servt
S Deane
Addressed: A Monsieur / Monsieur Franklin / Ministere Plenipote. / des Etats Unis de / L’Amerique Septe. / Passy.
Notation: S. Deane. 22 May 1781
8. Deane was dissatisfied with the education his sixteen-year-old son Jesse (XXV, 646) was receiving in France: Deane Papers, IV, 303. We have not located his passport but he was in the Austrian Netherlands in mid-June. His father planned a trip to Ghent, but it was delayed; he was still in Paris in early July: Deane Papers, IV, 393–4, 418, 446.