Section II, 1920 [85] Trans. R.S.C. 



Some Unpublished Documents Relating to Fleury Mesplet 

 By R. W. McLachlan, F.R.S.C. 



(Read May Meeting, 1920) 



The Archives of the Court House of Montreal, are to the student 

 of Canadian History an undeveloped gold mine, in which many a nugget 

 of historical fact may be unearthed. So far the surface has only been 

 scratched. Thus it was that Mr. E. Z. Massicotte, the archivist in 

 chief, in looking over the records of Peter Lukin, Notary, found a 

 document relating to Mesplet, and, knowing that I had written a 

 communication on this subject, which appeared in the proceedings 

 of this Society, in which were given all the documents on the subject 

 then known to me, he called my attention to it.^ 



This document, which is dated the 29th of August, 1792, when 

 divested of its redundency of legal verbiage, may be read as follows: — 

 John Jacob Astor of the City of New York, merchant, and Fleury 

 Mesplet of Montreal, Printer, agreed, that the said Astor, should 

 collect a claim of Fleury Mesplet, upon the Congress of the United 

 States, for £3,543 12 0, Pennsylvania currency less the sum of 400 

 Spanish dollars already paid, and to enable Astor to make this collec- 

 tion, Mesplet had a power of attorney drawn up by the same Notary, 

 which he handed to Astor. 



By this document they further agreed that Astor was to receive 

 half the amount collected, but nothing for legal, travelling or other 

 expenses, whether he was able to collect anything or not. 



This document was also countersigned by Alexander Henry, the 

 well-known fur merchant of Montreal, as bondsman. It also stipu- 

 lated that Mesplet was to give no power of attorney to any one 

 else, to collect this amount from the Congress, during nine months 

 for which the agreement was signed. 



That Astor was unsuccessful in this effort is proved by a document 

 annexed to the agreement, signed by the same Notary which states 

 that "the power of attorney .... and also other papers he has 

 furnished him, to endeavor to obtain his claim upon the Congress 



^ "Fleury Mesplet, the First Printer of Montreal," Transactions of The Royal 

 Society of Canada, 1906, 2nd series, vol. 12, sec. 11, p. 197. 



