GRIMM (Friedrich-Melchior). 2 letters signed as representati - Lot 178

GRIMM (Friedrich-Melchior). 2 letters signed as representative of the free city of Frankfurt in France, addressed to Johann Daniel Olenschlager, member of the city council. Paris, 1760. 15pp. in-4, envelopes preserved. 600 / 800 € The French armies were occupying Hesse for the fourth time, and had also entered Frankfurt am Main (a free city of the Empire in the heart of Hesse), which had remained neutral in the conflict. As chargé d'affaires for the city of Frankfurt, Friedrich-Melchior Grimm had to use his connections, notably with the Duc de Choiseul, to try and mitigate the exorbitant French demands for requisitions (forage, wood, cars). Here he explains the situation and his own actions: the Court, believing the Duc de Broglie's campaign to be a failure, thought the army would come and take up its winter quarters on the Main; Grimm worked to make friends in the ministerial offices, but the "gens d'affaires" recriminated against the city of Frankfurt, which was accused of profiting financially from the war and not contributing to the extent of its wealth; above all, "the deplorable state of the kingdom's finances" would necessarily lead the French authorities to pass on the burden of expenditure to those who had to house the armies for the winter. Grimm, at the suggestion of François Marie Gayot de Bellombre, the Intendant of the King's armies, suggested not obstructing completely, but giving in generously on fodder, so as to be able to oppose other requests.