VOLTAIRE François-Marie Arouet de (1694-1778) - Lot 133

VOLTAIRE François-Marie Arouet de (1694-1778) L.S. dictated to his secretary, [addressed to Louis-Gaspard Fabry], Ferney December 25, 1775. 2 pp. small in-4. Very interesting letter about the edict issued by Minister Turgot, freeing the Pays de Gex from the grip of the Ferme Générale. The addressee is most probably his friend and neighbor, Louis-Gaspard Fabry (1720-1791), subdelegate of the Intendance and mayor of Gex. He sends him a letter received from M. Turgot concerning the application of the edict: "You will see that I insisted until the last moment with great vigor, on the reduction of the thirty thousand livres, and you will see that the fermiers généraux did not count as we did. If you had been so kind as to inform me of the last deliberation sent to Mr de Bacquencourt [Intendant of the Pays de Gex], I would not since have made useless representations to Mr the Comptroller General and Mr Trudaine. [...] I had been assured that Messrs de Genève were making us a gift of salt, and this is not true. [...] But if it were true that Lagros and company could indeed supply us with salt at a low price and pay our thirty thousand pounds, it seems to me that the province would have made a very good deal. Time is short. We have to make arrangements [...]".