The Procureur du Roi of this Place seeing my Servant Mark Anthony passing the street took it into his Head to order him to Prison because he is black; He has been two Years with me and is well known by everybody in the Town, yet is to day taken up on an Edict of 1777, which forbids any Negroes from the french Islands to be brought into the Kingdom, & those that are brought in are ordered to be kept in Custody ‘till sent out. But Mark is a free subject of the United States and has as much right to protection as I have, he was born & baptized in my Fathers Family, & having lived with my Father ’till the Age of twenty five he gave him a Certificate to insure him his Liberty in future, this Certificate mark shewd me on his Arrival & I translated it in french to have in Case of Need. I send you the Original & the Translation and I request you to reclaim him from the proper Minister, for which Purpose & to save you Trouble I have written a Letter the Direction of which I leave blank to be filled up as you think proper either to M. de Vergennes or M de Castries. If it is contrary to the Kings orders to permit a free american who is black to inhabit this Country I will give security to send mark out of the Kingdom in 6 months or as soon as I can, but the procureur du Roi threatens to send him to the West Indies & there have him sold as a slave. I hope Sir You will interest Yourself for this poor Fellow, for as we were in Infancy in the same Family I have more attachment to him than to any other Servant & should be very Sorry if he should lose his Liberty. I am ever with the highest Respect most dutifully & affectionately Yours.