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Posted on behalf of Goncalo Fonseca: 
 
Jacques Turgot refers to the phrase "laissez-nous faire", as the reply of  M. Le Gendre to
Colbert. You can find this in Turgot's  "Éloge de Vincent de Gournay" (Mercure, August,
1759).  However, he does not give us much info about the surrounding circumstances.  The
full paragraph is as follows:
 
"Il faut dire encore que ce prétendu système de M. de Gournay a cela de particulier, que
les principes généreux en sont a peu pres adoptes par tout le monde; que, de tout temps,
le voeu du commerce chez toutes le nations a été renfermé dans ces deux mots: liberté et
protection, et sourtout liberté.  On sait le mot de M. Le Gendre a M. Colbert: laissez-
nous faire.  M. de Gournay ne différait souvent des gens qui le traitaient d'homme à
systèmes, qu'en ce qu'il se refusait, avec la rigidité d'un esprit juste et d'un coeur
droit, aux exceptions qu'ils admettaient en faveur de leur intérêt." (Turgot, 1759).
 
Notice that this is in the first person plural ("let us do") 
 
However, it is common (in the modern day), to attribute the phrase itself to Vincent de
Gournay himself. In particular, I've seen the longer phrase, "laissez faire, laissez
passer, le monde va de lui meme", claimed to be a direct quotation from Gournay, but I've
never seen an actual reference as to where or when Gournay said that (one unreliable
reference claims it came from a speech by Gournay in late 1758, but did not identify the
speech).
 
The first time I saw the phrase actually attributed to Gournay himself (rather than
LeGendre) was in the Claude-Camille-François, Comte d'Albon's "Éloge Historique de M.
Quesnay" (Nouvelles Ephémérides Économiques, May, 1775), where he writes (after relating
of the encounter between Quesnay and Gournay):
 
"M. de Gournay étoit arrivé à ce résultat pratique, par une route différente : personne,
disoit-il, ne fait si bien ce qui est utile au commerce que ceux qui le font; il ne faut
donc point leur imposer des réglements. Personne n'est si intéressé à savoir si une
entreprise de commerce, si un établissement de fabrique, si l'exercice d'une profession
lui sera profitable ou non, que celui qui veut le tenter ; il ne faut donc ni
corporations, ni jurandes, ni privileges exclusifs. Personne ne peut être sûr de tirer le
plus grand profit de son travail, s'il n'est pas libre de le faire comme il l'entend, &
s'il est soumis à une inquisition & à des formalites gênantes. Tout impôt sur le travail
ou sur le voiturage, entraîne des inquisitions & des gênes qui dérangent le commerce,
découragent &ruinent les Commerçants ; il faut donc affranchir leurs travaux de ces impôts
qui en interceptent le succès... Laissez les faire & laissez-les passer." (Comte d'Albon,
op.cit. p.136-7).
 
It seems evident to me this is paraphrasing rather than a direct quotation from Gournay.
(notice that now it is in the third person plural, "let them do, let them pass")
 
However, I've seen allegations that it was all an invention of DuPont de Nemours, who,
misinterpreting Turgot's anecdote, not only enlarged the phrase but mistakenly attributed
it to Gournay himself (rather than Le Gendre).
 
I believe the first time Dupont de Nemours ever referred to Gournay was in a "Notice
Abregée" to the January 1769 edition of the Ephémérides du Citoyen.  Unfortunately, I have
not been able to obtain a copy of this, so I cannot quote what he said there.  I suspect
very strongly that that may very well have been the first time that the "laissez-faire"
phrase was attributed to Gournay himself (notice that that would be before d'Albon's
piece).
 
Dupont certainly attributes it later.  In the Dupont-edited Oeuvres de Turgot (1808-11),
DuPont inserts an editorial note right before Turgot's Eloge, noting that Gournay was
"l'auteur de la celebre formule de Laissez-faire et laissez-passer" (DuPont de Nemours,
Oeuvres de Turgot, Vol. I, p.257 (Daire ed.))
 
 
(notice that now it is imperative, "let do and let pass" for the first time; notice the
hyphen remains).
 
 
DuPont repeats the allegation a couple of pages later: 
 
"Il [Gournay] en concluit qu'il ne fallait jamais ranconner ni reglementer le commerce.
Il en tira cet axiom: Laissez faire et laissez passer"  (Dupont de Nemours, Oeuvres de
Turgot, Vol. I, p.259)
 
(notice the absence of the hyphen here). 
 
Once again, no reference as to where or when Gournay said it. DuPont certainly could not
have heard it from Gournay himself, as the two men never met (I am not sure about
d'Albon).
 
One unkind interpretation has it that DuPont heard the Colbert-LeGendre anecdote from
Turgot (who, in turn, probably heard it from Gournay). Then, later, by poor memory (or a
desire to embellish), DuPont forgot the context and "accidentally" put the words in
Gournay's mouth.  And once DuPont claimed Gournay said it, it just went into the economics
folklore and nobody ever double-checked.
 
A kinder (and perhaps likelier) interpretation is that Gournay did take the LeGendre
response to heart and went around citing it for himself -- an idiosyncrancy which, if
true, DuPont would surely have heard about from Turgot.
 
I am not sure about the attribution of the laissez-fare phrase to the Marquis d'Argenson.
As in the Gournay case, I've heard it rumored, but have not actually found where he said
it. Curiously, in DuPont's editorial notes (ibid, Vol. I, p.258),  the maxim he ascribes
to d'Argenson is "Pas trop gouverner".
 
As a final note, notice that all cases, the -ez ending is always used, never -er.  The
hyphen is included in almost all instances.
 
I hope this is helpful.  If you (or anybody else) has any more concrete evidence of the
origins of the phrase, I would welcome it heartily.
 
[NOTE: A second message from Fonseca follows.]: 
 
Oh, on re-reading the quotations, it occurred to me that there is yet a third possible
hypothesis: namely, that neither the Comte d'Albon nor DuPont de Nemours ever meant to
allege that Gournay actually verbalized the slogan "laissez-faire".  Rather, employing a
loose meaning of "l'auteur", they merely suggested that that formula was THEIR summary of
Gournay's economic views. In this case, the true originators of the phrase "laissez-faire,
laissez-passer" are (bar Le Gendre) DuPont de Nemours and/or d"Albon and the
(mis)attribution of the phrase to Gournay rests on the shoulders of later historians and
economists.
  
However, this hypothesis seems unlikely to me, and I'd rather stick to my earlier ones. 
  
Goncalo Fonseca 
 
 
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