Title: Election Results in Philadelphia County, 1764 [1–3 October 1764]
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

The county elections for members of the Assembly and for local officers took place on Monday, Oct. 1, 1764, and those for representatives from the city on the following day. Both parties put up full tickets for election to the Assembly. The “Old Ticket” (representing what was often called the Quaker Party) supported for county representatives Isaac Norris, Joseph Richardson, Joseph Fox, John Hughes, Joseph Galloway, Rowland Evans, Plunket Fleeson, and Benjamin Franklin, and for city representatives Franklin and, apparently, Samuel Rhoads. Franklin was thus a candidate for election in both the county and the city, an arrangement permissible under the rules. The “New Ticket” (drawn up by supporters of the Proprietors and other opponents of the petition to the King) was printed in full in the Supplement to the Pennsylvania Journal, Sept. 27, 1764. It included for representatives from the county, Isaac Norris, Joseph Richardson, John Dickinson, Amos Strettell, Henry Keppele, Frederick Antes, Henry Harrison, and Henry Pawling, and from the city, Thomas Willing (the outgoing mayor) and George Bryan.
Comparison of these lists shows that two men were nominated on both county slates: Norris, the respected speaker and long-time spokesman for the Quaker faction in the Assembly, who had nevertheless expressed grave misgivings over the proposal to change the form of government; and Richardson, who had likewise been hesitant about the petition but appears not to have stood by the minority opponents in the Assembly on the final votes. Probably neither faction wished to insult Norris by leaving him off its list, while both hoped that Richardson would support them in the months to come. There was therefore a total of fourteen candidates for the eight seats.
Election day in Philadelphia was strenuous. The fullest surviving account of what occurred is in a letter from Charles Pettit, a merchant of Trenton and Philadelphia, to his brother-in-law, Joseph Reed, the later Revolutionary statesman, then a student at the Middle Temple in London. Under date of Nov. 3, 1764, Pettit wrote in part: “The poll was opened about 9 in the morning, the 1st of October, and the steps so crowded, till between 11 and 12 at night, that at no time a person could get up in less than a quarter of an hour from his entrance at the bottom, for they could go no faster than the whole column moved. About 3 in the morning, the advocates for the new ticket moved for a close, but (O! fatal mistake!) the old hands kept it open, as they had a reserve of the aged and lame, which could not come in the crowd, and were called up and brought out in chairs and litters, &c., and some who needed no help, between 3 and 6 o’clock, about 200 voters. As both sides took care to have spies all night, the alarm was given to the new ticket men; horsemen and footmen were immediately dispatched to Germantown, &c., and by 9 or 10 o’clock they began to pour in, so that after the move for a close, 7 or 800 votes were procured; about 500 or near it of which were for the new ticket, and they did not close till 3 in the afternoon, and it took them till 1 next day to count them off.
“The new ticket carried all but Harrison and Antis, and Fox and Hughes came in their room; but it is surprising that from upwards of 3900 votes, they shou’d be so near each other. Mr. Willing and Mr. Bryan were elected Burgesses by a majority of upwards of 100 votes, tho’ the whole number was but about 1300. Mr. Franklin died like a philosopher. But Mr. Galloway agonized in Death, like a Mortal Deist, who has no Hopes of a Future Existence. … A number of squibs, quarters, and half sheets, were thrown among the populace on the day of election, some so copious as to aim at the general dispute, and others, more confined, to Mr. Dickinson and Mr. Galloway, with now and then a skit at the Doctor, but these had little or no effect.”

No tabulation of the votes in the city election has been found, and Pettit’s statement above of the plurality by which Willing and Bryan won the two city seats is the best approximation of the figures which has been located. For the Philadelphia County election, on the other hand, there survives among Franklin’s papers a single sheet in his hand giving the totals for all candidates except those for county commissioner. This paper is printed in full below.
Each elector was entitled to vote for eight representatives, though he might vote for fewer if he wished. Analysis of Franklin’s tabulation shows that 30,911 votes were cast for the office of assemblyman from the county. Since Norris, running on both tickets, received 3874 votes, it is certain that the total number of those who went to the polls was not less than that figure. Probably he was a unanimous, or nearly unanimous, choice. If everyone who voted for him had also voted for seven other candidates, then at least 27,118 votes would have been divided among the remaining thirteen nominees. Their actual total, however, was 27,037, or 81 votes less. It becomes apparent, therefore, that a few scattered individuals failed to record choices of as many candidates as they might have done. The vote for Norris, whether or not it was unanimous, confirms Pettit’s statement that “upwards of 3900” citizens of the county went to the polls in 1764—certainly a record-breaking figure.
The vote for Joseph Richardson, also running on both tickets, was 26 less than that for Norris. When his ballots are similarly deducted, there remain 23,189 to be divided among twelve other men, or an average of 1932 plus. The highest vote recorded among these twelve actively competing candidates was the 2030 cast for Dickinson; the lowest was the 1884 given to Fleeson. This difference of only 146 between high and low, when nearly 3900 voters were involved, attests to the general closeness of the election. It is clear, nevertheless, that the voters in Philadelphia County definitely favored the “New Ticket.” Aside from the two uncontested candidates named on both slates, the party favorable to the Proprietors elected four candidates to the Quaker Party’s two. And the “New Ticket” party added two more seats in the Assembly when both its candidates for the city seats won that election. Franklin himself suffered humiliation not only by having his arch-opponent Dickinson lead the list among all the real competitors in the county vote and by losing both elections himself, but by seeing his own name next to last on the entire county list.
Elsewhere the proprietary group was proportionately less successful. It re-elected its two supporters in Cumberland County, two in York, and one in Lancaster. It gained one certain vote in Northampton and a somewhat uncertain one in Bucks, but it made no other inroads. It came nowhere near to winning a majority of the seats in the entire House. During the October sitting of the new Assembly seven motions arose on matters connected in one way or another with the petition for a change in government or with the appointment of Franklin as co-agent with Jackson, which were sufficiently controversial as to lead to the recording in the minutes of each member’s vote. Speaker Norris, of course, did not vote on any of the three occasions before he resigned from the chair, October 24, and he seems not to have attended thereafter. The choice of Joseph Fox as Norris’ successor deprived the majority of one consistent vote. There were occasional absences or abstentions, and one member, Joseph Wright of Lancaster County, never appeared during this session. The total number of votes cast ranged between 30 and 32 and those cast by the proprietary supporters varied between 10 and 12. Richardson, elected without a contest, voted four times with the majority and three times with the minority. Peter Shepherd, a new member from Bucks County, voted once with the Quaker Party, then twice with the proprietary supporters, then—perhaps discouraged—disappeared from the session. Most curiously, Henry Pawling, one of the winning candidates on the “New Ticket,” voted consistently all seven times with the old guard majority. Proportionately the highest point the Proprietors’ supporters reached in this series of votes was on the last one, when they were defeated 18 to 12 with 6 elected members not voting. In their best showing, therefore, they had 40 percent of the votes cast. They gained considerable strength in the House by this election, but they were unable to change the official policy of the Assembly. Their major victory was a personal one: the elimination of Franklin and Galloway from the membership.

[October 1–3, 1764]

Assembly
County Assessors

Isaac Norris
3874
  Barnaby Barnes
  1212

Joseph Richardson
3848
  Jacob Umsted
1190

John Dickinson
2030
  John Bowman
1043

Joseph Fox
1963
  Andrew Bankson
1028

Henry Pawlin
1955
  Josh Stamper
927

Henry Keppele
1932
  Matthias Holston
557.

Amos Strettle
1930

John Hughes
1925

Henry Harrison
1921

Joseph Galloway
1918

Frederick Antis
1914

Rowland Evans
1911

Benjn. Franklin
1906
  1955

Plunkett Fleeson
1884
  1884

  71

Sheriffs

Wm Parr
1822

John Biddle
1769

Cor[oner]s

Caleb Cash
1822

John Luken
1800


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Rhode Island Assembly Committee, [8 October 1764]
From: Rhode Island Assembly Committee
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir,
[October 8, 1764]
We being appointed a Committee by the General Assembly of the Colony of Rhode-Island, to correspond, confer and consult with any Committee or Committees that are or shall be appointed by any of the British Colonies on the Continent, and in Concert with them, to prepare and form such Representations of the Condition of the Colonies, the Rights of the Inhabitants, and the Interests of Great-Britain, as connected with them, as may be most likely to be effectual to remove or alleviate the Burthens which the Colonists at present labour under, and to prevent new Ones being added.
The Impositions already laid on the Trade of these Colonies, must have very fatal Consequences. The Act in Embryo, for establishing Stamp Duties, if effected, will further drain the People, and strongly point out their Servitude: And the Resolution of the House of Commons (that they have a Right to tax the Colonies) if carried into Execution, will leave us nothing to call our own. How far the united Endeavours of all the Colonies might tend to prevent those Evils, cannot be determined; but certain it is worth their While to try every Means in their Power, to preserve every Thing they have worth preserving.
Zealous to do all we can, in a Business of so much Importance, more especially as the Colony that employs us seems heartily disposed to exert its utmost Efforts to preserve its Privileges inviolate, looking on this as the critical Conjuncture when they must be effectually defended, or finally lost; we have given you the Trouble of this Address, desiring to be informed whether your Colony hath taken these Matters under Consideration; and if it hath, what Methods have been thought of, as most conducive to bring them to a happy Issue.
If all the Colonies were disposed to enter with Spirit into the Defence of their Liberties; if some Method could be hit upon for collecting the Sentiments of each Colony, and for uniting and forming the Substance of them all into one common Defence of the whole; and this sent to England, and the several Agents directed to join together in pushing and pursuing it there, in the properest and most effectual Manner, it might be the most probable Method to produce the End aimed at.

However, as we do not pretend to prescribe Rules, but to receive Information, we hope to be excused for this Freedom, and that the Cause we are concerned in, and your Candour, will procure us your Pardon for this Trouble, given by, Sir, Your most obedient, and most humble Servants,
Stephen Hopkins,Daniel Jenikes,Nicholas Brown.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Richard Jackson, 11 October 1764
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Jackson, Richard

Dear Sir
Philada. Oct. 11. 1764
I have now only time to cover the enclos’d, and acquaint you that I am no longer in the Assembly. The Proprietary Party by great Industry against great Security carried the Election of this County and City by about 26 Votes against me and Mr. Galloway; the Voters near 4000. They carried (would you think it!) above 1000 Dutch from me, by printing part of my Paper sent to you 12 Years since on Peopling new Countries where I speak of the Palatine Boors herding together, which they explain’d that I call’d them a Herd of Hogs. This is quite a laughing Matter. But the Majority of the last Assembly remain, and will I believe still be for the Measure of Changing the Proprietary for a Royal Governor. I am, with great Respect Dear Sir, Your most humble Servant
B Franklin

I have received yours of July 18 and Aug 14. and shall write fully per next.

To / Richard Jackson Esqr / Inner Temple / London / via N York / per Packet
Endorsed: 11 Octr 64 Benjn. Franklin Esqr.


Title: Outgoing Philadelphia Mail, 1764–1767, 18 October 1764
From: Franklin, Peter,Foxcroft, Thomas
To:

October 18, 1764
Benjamin Franklin’s brother Peter was postmaster of Philadelphia from about the middle of October 1764 until his death on July 1, 1766. He was succeeded by Thomas Foxcroft, brother of the other joint deputy postmaster general. Both the Foxcrofts became Loyalists upon the outbreak of the American Revolution and ended their service in 1775.
As early as 1753 instructions to the local postmasters had required them not only to maintain exact accounts of their financial transactions but to keep detailed records of letters received from or dispatched to other offices in the colonies. Printed forms were supplied for the purpose. Form “B” provided columns in which to list each outgoing shipment of mail, showing the date, the number of pieces of each kind (single, double, and triple letters, and packets) sent to every destination on that day under each of the three categories of unpaid, prepaid, and free mail, and (for each of the first two categories) the total charge for the group of letters, reckoned in pennyweights and grains of silver.
A set of sixty-four of these completed forms, printed on both sides, survives from the Philadelphia Post Office among the Franklin papers. The entries are dated from Oct. 18, 1764, to Sept. 22, 1767, thus spanning the whole of Peter Franklin’s postmastership and the beginning of Thomas Foxcroft’s. There are several breaks in the series, four of them for periods of about a month apiece and one for six weeks; several sheets are badly torn, and, especially for the first part of the period, the ink was often so weak—or has faded so badly—that the writing is now virtually illegible. Nevertheless, the series is complete enough to permit one to form a reasonably clear idea of the amount and the destinations of the postal correspondence carried on by the people in the area served by the Philadelphia Post Office during the period.
To reprint in full the contents of these forms would serve little useful purpose. Instead, the records for four calendar months, distributed through the whole period, have been chosen and the total amount of mail of all categories sent from Philadelphia to every other post office has been tabulated for each of these months. Inadequacies in the records, as mentioned above, have necessarily played some part in the choice of months, but those selected are believed to be fairly representative of that time of year and of that year in general.
Examination of the tabulations printed below reveals several aspects of the colonial postal system in general, as well as of the Philadelphia operations in particular, during the years which followed closely upon the considerable personal attention the deputy postmasters general, Franklin and Foxcroft, had been giving the service in 1763 and 1764. Several new post offices, especially in the South, appeared at this time, and expanded routes became available, notably the new one to Pennsylvania towns west of Philadelphia. Perhaps most enlightening is the distribution of outgoing Philadelphia mail. It may come as something of a surprise to observe that almost half of all these letters and packets were going to New York City. Some of the New York total—it is impossible to say just how much—was sent there to be placed on board the monthly packet boats to England, but the correspondence between these two colonial cities themselves had become impressively heavy and clearly justified the increase in service to three times a week which had recently been provided. Boston led all other single communities in the colonies, receiving a little over 8 percent of Philadelphia’s mail. Correspondence with offices in adjoining provinces, as might be expected, was substantial. The New Jersey post offices, taken as a group, accounted for approximately 6 percent of the total, and those in Maryland, on both sides of the Chesapeake, drew just over 16 percent, probably evidence of the close economic relations of Philadelphia with that province.
The number of letters sent to any one place fluctuated considerably from one mail to the next and, as this tabulation shows, sometimes from month to month. No single entry, therefore, should be regarded as particularly significant—for example other months in 1764 and 1765 than the ones selected show at least a sprinkling of letters to Connecticut towns—but the statistics as a whole indicate with considerable fidelity the nature and distribution of Philadelphia’s outgoing mail during these years. While comparable records of mail arriving at the city in this period have not been found, it is reasonable to assume that the pattern was much the same.

Total Pieces of Mail

Destination
Dec.
March
Sept.
May

1764
1765
1766
1767

District Of Maine

Falmouth
—
—
2
—

New Hampshire

Portsmouth
—
6
6
6

Massachusetts

Boston
120
128
120
105

Marblehead
—
3
3
1

Newbury
—
5
5
1

Salem
—
4
4
2

Rhode Island

Newport
33
57
25
20

Providence
4
3
1
5

Connecticut

Guilford
—
—
—
1

Hartford
—
—
—
3

Middletown
—
—
—
3

New Haven
—
—
2
8

New London
—
—
5
11

Norwalk
—
—
—
5

Stamford
—
—
—
1

Stratford
—
—
—
2

Quebec

Montreal
3
—
8
6

Quebec
—
—
26
20

New York

Albany
—
7
7
11

New York
652
608
842
741

New Jersey

Brunswick
18
19
15
14

Burlington
12
10
15
5

Elizabethtown
12
10
17
12

Newark
—
—
1
3

Princeton
13
9
16
15

Trenton
17
13
17
21

Woodbridge
13
7
22
19

Pennsylvania

Bristol
—
—
—
3

Carlisle
22
4
—
—

Lancaster
73
37
140
65

Shippensburg
—
5
—
—

York
10
2
—
—

  Delaware

New Castle
28
1
31
9

Wilmington
4
—
9
2

Maryland

Annapolis
47
48
61
29

Baltimore
54
68
71
61

Cambridge
—
—
—
3

Charlestown
—
—
—
13

Chester [town]
34
10
34
6

Fredericktown
16
8
41
33

Joppa
—
—
2
2

Marlboro
11
6
14
17

Newtown
21
—
69
58

Talbot
—
—
20
34

Queenstown
—
—
7
—

Vienna
—
—
22
10

Virginia

Alexandria
35
12
23
5

Dumfries
—
—
—
3

Fredericksburg
1
8
18
18

Hanover
—
—
—
1

Hobb’s Hole
—
—
1
4

Norfolk
8
11
18
20

Richmond
—
—
—
3

Williamsburg
17
16
36
20

Yorktown
1
—
4
2

South Carolina

Charleston
—
  —
  12
  21

Totals
1279
1197
1806
1483

Total For These Four Months

5765


Title: Inhabitants of Philadelphia: Remonstrance against the Appointment of Benjamin Franklin as Agent, [26 October 1764]
From: Inhabitants of Philadelphia
To:

The new Assembly met on Monday, October 15, and elected Isaac Norris speaker once more. On the following Saturday, after taking final action on the instructions to Richard Jackson concerning the Sugar Act and the impending Stamp Act (above, p. 396 n), the House took up the matter of the petitions to the King for a change in government. On the question whether “further Directions respecting the said Petitions” should be sent to Jackson, “a considerable Debate ensued, in which a great Contrariety of Opinions” appeared among the members. At this point Speaker Norris received unanimous permission “to deliver his Sentiments on so interesting a Subject.” After expressing his thanks for this courtesy, Norris told his fellow members “that he was not for immediately recalling the Petitions,” but that, since he thought “the House had no Right to delegate their Powers to any Man, or Sett of Men whatever, to alter or change the Government, he was for putting an entire Prohibition on the Agent’s presenting the said Petitions, without further and express Orders from the House for that Purpose.”
Thereupon the House voted on three successive motions, all regarded as being so important and so controversial that the names of those voting on each were entered on the minutes. The first question was whether the petitions sent to Jackson should be recalled. Thirty-two members voted, and the proposal for recall was defeated, 22 to 10. The House then took up the question of directing Jackson not to present the petitions “until he receives further Orders for that Purpose from this House.” This proposal was defeated, 20 to 12, by the parliamentary device of moving the previous question. What appears to have been intended as a compromise motion was then brought to vote: Should the Committee of Correspondence direct Jackson to proceed on the matter of a change of government “with the utmost Caution” for securing to the inhabitants “all those Privileges, civil and religious” which they enjoyed under the existing constitution; and should the committee tell him that, if he thought the proposed change would endanger those privileges, he was “positively enjoined and required” to suspend all proceedings until he had reported back and received further directions? With the proprietary faction voting against it, this lengthy motion carried in the affirmative, 20 to 12.
The long and controversial Saturday sitting at which these votes took place again proved to be too much for Isaac Norris. On Monday he sent a message through the clerk that he was too ill to attend and asked the House to choose a new speaker. A bipartisan committee waited on him, but to no avail, and on Wednesday, October 24, the Assembly elected Joseph Fox to succeed Norris as speaker. As usual, a committee was directed to inform the governor, but it reported the next day that Penn had gone to Newcastle and was not expected back until the following week. The proprietary group thought it had an excuse to postpone all further action, and on the afternoon of the 25th moved that the Assembly adjourn for a fortnight. But the majority would have none of such a delay; by a vote of 19 to 12 the House declined to adjourn, even though the new speaker had not been confirmed.
The House thereupon resumed its business. Taking into consideration “that Matters of the highest Concern to the Rights of the Colonies in general, and of this Province in particular” were depending in England and would probably be brought to an issue in the next session of Parliament, the Assembly debated at considerable length whether, “to prevent any ill Consequences from Indisposition, or other Accident,” which might happen to Jackson, it ought to appoint “some proper Person” to join him as agent or, in case of Jackson’s death, to replace him. When this question was put, it passed by a vote of 20 to 11.
Everyone knew what “proper Person” the leaders of the majority had in mind, but Franklin’s name appears nowhere in the records of this series of debates and votes until the sitting of Friday morning, October 26, when the opponents of the proposal brought it into the open. Upon reassembling the House began consideration of the appointment of a second agent, “and, after some Time spent therein, a Remonstrance from a Number of the Inhabitants of the City of Philadelphia was presented to the House and read.” The original text of this “Remonstrance” has not been found, but its contents are so fully stated in the Votes and Proceedings that they are printed here from that source as being the earliest-known formal statement of some of the reasons for opposition to Franklin’s appointment. Comparison of this Remonstrance with the Protest signed by ten members of the Assembly (below, pp. 408–12) shows that this paper is more temperate in general tone and deals less directly and emphatically with the alleged personal deficiencies of Franklin as a candidate for the appointment. It was obviously intended to win the support of a wide segment of the public.

[October 26, 1764]
[A Remonstrance was presented and read, setting forth] That the Remonstrants being deeply concerned about the uncertain State of our inestimable Privileges, civil and religious, and the Danger to which they may be exposed by a Change of Government, and being extreamly desirous that Peace and Harmony should again be restored among the different Denominations in the Province, humbly entreat that the honourable House would be pleased to take into their serious Consideration, what may be most proper to accommodate the Differences that have so unhappily subsisted between the honourable Proprietaries and the good People of this Province; this they hope may be easily effected, as they understand the Proprietaries are heartily disposed to comply with such reasonable Demands, as will fully satisfy the Desires of the greatest Part of the People who signed the Petition for a Change of Government: That they therefore humbly represent, if the honourable House cannot think it proper absolutely to recal the Petitions sent Home for a Change of Government, that they would at least put it out of the Power of our Agent to present them at this unseasonable Conjuncture; for the Remonstrants cannot but be very anxiously concerned, that our invaluable Privileges, which are committed to the Guardianship and Protection of the House only, and which our Charter has put it out of their Power to alter or give up, should be exposed to any Hazard, by being left, in a great Measure, at the Discretion of any Agent or Agents; and more especially at a Time when the House are very sensible, that the Measures now proposed in England must, if executed, terminate in Consequences fatal to the Rights and Privileges of all the American colonies; and they humbly beg Leave to represent to the House, that their Fears are not a little excited by a Proposal which they understand is made to send Mr. Benjamin Franklin Home, as an Assistant Agent for this Province, as they are of Opinion that there are many weighty Reasons to determine the House to make Choice of some other Gentleman, if it is thought necessary and expedient to load this Province (already greatly burthened with public Debt) with the additional Expence of supporting another Agent: Because it is well known that Mr. Franklin has had a principal Hand in proposing and promoting the Petitions for a Change of Government, which now appear contrary to the Sentiments of more than three Fourths of the Province, and he may be justly supposed to have a fond Partiality for his own Schemes: Because it appears highly necessary to engage the Influence of our honourable Proprietaries to assist in preventing, if possible, any unnecessary Burthens being laid upon the Province, against whom Mr. Franklin entertains such a rooted Enmity, that they cannot take joint Council for the public Good: Because, especially as both Mr. Franklin and his Son hold Offices of considerable Profit and Honour under the Crown, the Remonstrants cannot expect that a Gentleman of his moderate Fortune will sacrifice his Interest for the Sake of the Province, which he must necessarily do, if he but seems to oppose the Measures of the Ministry, and which our present Circumstances require an Agent to do, with unshaken Resolution and Fidelity: That if, upon the whole, it is still thought necessary to employ another Agent, in a Matter wherein we may promise ourselves the Assistance of the honourable Proprietaries, and wherein the joint Interest of all the other Colonies will necessarily secure to us the Concurrence of all their Agents, the Remonstrants suggest that it would, in their humble Opinions, be less expensive, and better answer the Proposed End, to engage some Gentleman in England, of an independant Fortune, and Weight both with the Ministry and House of Commons: That as this Remonstrance has been delayed till the last, in Hopes that the honourable House would have withdrawn their Petition for a Change of Government (upon their Knowledge that at least Fifteen Thousand of their Constituents have signified their Disapprobation of this Measure, in Opposition to about Three Thousand Five Hundred who have appeared for it) the present Time will not allow many Hands to be got to this Representation; but if the House will give that Deliberation to this Affair, which its immense Importance requires, the Remonstrants are fully persuaded, that three Fourths of the whole Province will be found ready to petition the House not only against any Change of our present Government, but also against employing Mr. Franklin in particular as an Agent in our Affairs.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from James Parker, 27 October 1764
From: Parker, James
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Honoured Sir
Woodbridge. Octob 27. 1764.
Both yours of the 20th and 25th I received late last Night: I shall endeavour now to answer to both, as well as I can.
With Respect to Mr. Strahan: Tho’ I wrote to him a while ago, that I would see he was paid, if he would wait a little longer; I told him the Case and that I was in hopes to get it of Mr. Holt, but if he fail’d, I would at last see it paid: Mr. Holt tells me he had sent him since only one £16 Sterling. I think there remains about £170 still due: Mr. Holt is returned from New Haven, says he has brought all the Accounts scattered, but he will exert himself to get them settled: He says there is above 6 or £700 Lawful Money due to us at New Haven, much of it in good Hands, of which the greater Part will belong to me, if ever got in: Green having used all the ready Money, or otherways laid it out in purchasing his Materials: He Mr. Holt, has used great Part of his Dues, in purchasing that House, and some other Matters whilst poor I have received for the four year Green had it about £12 Proc. Things are in this Situation, Green sat up at Hartford, and the Debts uncollected in. I could sue Holt, but if I do, he is ruined: and perhaps I not a Farthing the better; He promises fair, and within this Year past, I continually am getting small Matter from him, towards supporting my Family, that so what little Money I get may the better go towards paying my Debts: By these Means, the only safe ones I can think of, I hope to get all paid. Now, as I have almost brought all my Debts into the Compass of yours and Mr. Strahan’s of which last the Allowance for the Office of Comptroller, I try chiefly to appropriate. Would it be disagreable to you to pay Mr. Strahan, and take all my Debts upon yourself, as I would chuse to pay you Interest rather than any other; tho’ Mr. Strahan has not yet demanded Interest, yet it is reasonable that he should either be paid or have Interest, which I had rather transfer to you. I fancy upon the Whole, what I shall have due from the Post-Office by the first of January next, will pay all Mr. Strahan’s Debt, and then there will be only the Bond I owe you, which going on Interest now, can remain till I can pay it, which I will exert all I can to do, when it may be wanted. If this Matter be practicable and agreeable to you, I shall be glad to have it carried into Execution as soon as possible. If you have any Money to spare in England: If not, I must try some other Method to get him paid: for I am as uneasy about it, as he can be.
You say you sent some of the Post-Office Instructions &c. There has none come to Hand yet. I shall set about making up all the small Books, and send them now to the several small Offices as soon as possible.
The Law relating to the Division Line I shall send you, but you will find but little in that to enlighten you: Mr. Alexander had some Things printed when I lived in New-York, pretty large, that might probably enlighten you a little. The opposite party also printed some Things, but I have not them, tho’ I printed most of them. Whether Lord Sterling could not supply you with them especially of his side, I can’t say: I believe, the Piece of the opposite side can be found in my Store Room in New York. Among the Papers left there is the parting Division between Weyman and I, as that was printed by Weyman a little before we parted. If you get the other, and find that necessary, when I go to New York again I will endeavour to find it.
Now with Respect to the Virginia Affair. If you should think it the best Method of securing that Matter to Mr. Hunter’s Son for me to go there, which is the only Thing that would induce me to go, I shall be willing, if Mr. Royle dies, but he is not dead yet. Otherways, I should rather chuse not to venture into new Places: If it would suit as well, for any other, and you can rely on their Integrity, I shall be quite as willing: I know at the Death of Mr. Hunter, Mrs. Holt was there, and great Interest was making for Mr. Holt, who was mighty desirous of going but when the Contents and Conditions of the Will came to be known, that was knock’d in the Head: Mr. Holt would now be very fond of going thither again, and perhaps that would be the most natural: but when you consider, that Mr. Holt has taken his Brother’s Son, who is Mrs. Holt’s Sister’s Son also, and Brother to Miss Betsey, and is bringing him up to the Trade, and he is a little older than Billy Hunter, whether he would not find Means to oust young Hunter, in Favour of his adopted Son: Besides, whether Mr. Holt’s Incapacity, Neglect or Design in not settling true Accounts, and paying young Hunter his Share, might not greatly injure Hunter, even if he surrendered up the Business. I don’t know One I would or could recommend prefereable to Mr. Holt; the present Race of young Printers seeming to me most of them, so abandoned to Liquor, as to deserve little Encouragement, besides their Honesty should be tried first. Another Objection against Holt, may be, your and others Opinion of his Honesty, or perhaps, his Incapacity to execute the Business well, for he does all now by the Help of other Hands, may not induce his Journeymen, to try to set up in Opposition, &c. Upon the Whole, with respect to myself, I could not form great Hopes of Advantage to myself, exclusive of doing Justice to Mr. Hunter. My own printing Business here, my Son could do very well with, as far as relates to the printing; but I could not even hope the Favour of your continuing him in my Office as Comptroller tho’ since his Marriage he is somewhat more settld yet he wants that Thought and Solidity necessary to attend it: In the Post-Office here only he might act: but the Profit of it, is very small, about 30s. per An. as Commissions, and it is in fact the worst Situation for one on the Continent, as 7 eighths of the Letters are for Amboy, to be sent thither, and perhaps twice going after for Pay before got once: I have many Times known it necessary to go to Amboy with 4 or 5 Shillings worth of Letters perhaps spend Six Hours Time, and get a Drink of 1s. 6d. and come home for the Profits of 1s. However, I never thought much of it, whilst I have the other Office, or whilst I had the Privilege of franking, &c. Nor can I suppose, if I went thither I could continue in the office. It is true it might suit tolerably better for those lower Offices, than to these: but it would be quite too very inconvenient for any this Way. Nor would I go, but upon some such Conditions as these, that I would not engage certainly for more than three years at first, in which Time, if it did not suit, by that Time another might be found out more to your Liking; and if I continued longer, to the Time Billy Hunter should be of Ability to carry it on himself, that I should return to my native Country, provided it pleased Heaven to spare me so long. Upon these Suppositions, if I can be of Service to Mr. Hunter’s Estate, and to your Liking and Desire, it is all I should think well of. As I have always thought it my Duty and Interest to do any Pleasure of yours, so I am quite resigned either to stay or go, as it shall seem best to you if Mr. Royle dies, upon these Principles you can proceed, according to your Pleasure: It is probable Mr. Royle may recover, and live long enough: if so, there is no Occasion.
I imagined Mr. Holt had wrote to you since he came home; for he told me, and said he would write to you, (and in which I told him I had nothing to say,) that in those Accounts that Mr. Green settled with the Post-Office, there were a great Number of Letters, brought by his Bye-Posts, entirely different and off from the Post-Roads, which as you would not allow him any Thing towards his Rider’s Pay, could not in Justice belong to the Post-Office; he said he had a List of the Letters, Places, and sums, where they came from &c. and I suppose he will yet write, tho’ he has been much hurried in getting his Almanack Materials &c.
Thus I have, I believe almost tired your Patience, therefore ’tis Time to conclude, with all Respects Your most obliged Servant
James Parker.
PS. The Winds are so exceeding high, these two or three Days, and is so to-day That I fear the Posts cannot cross the Rivers, &c.

Addressed: For / Benjamin Franklin, Esqr / Philadelphia
Endorsed: Parker


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Lewis Jones, 30 October 1764
From: Jones, Lewis
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Respected Sir
Woodbridge Oct. 30, 1764
Being informed by Mr. Parker that you was going to England next Monday, I take this Opportunity to beg the Favour of you to deliver the inclosed Letter to my Father or to Mr. Cummings, who will deliver it to him, I have several Times wrote to my Father, and to several of my Relations, but have never received any Answer from any of them, which makes me the rather trouble you as being sure it will go safe, Dear Sir, that you may have a good Passage and safe return is the Earnest Prayers, of Sir Your’s at Command
Lewis Jones

Addressed: For / Benjamin Franklin, Esqr; / at / Philadelphia.
Endorsed: Lewis Jones


Title: William Dunlap to Benjamin Franklin and John Foxcroft, [October? 1764]
From: Dunlap, William
To: Franklin, Benjamin,Foxcroft, John

This letter and the two that follow directly concern the settlement of accounts between the deputy postmasters general, Franklin and Foxcroft, and William Dunlap, postmaster at Philadelphia from 1757 until 1764, in which year he was replaced by Franklin’s brother, Peter. Since it is not known precisely when Peter Franklin took over the post office in Philadelphia, it is difficult to date the present series of letters, all of which appear to have been written after Dunlap left office. Dunlap’s expression in this letter of a desire for a “Clearance in full till July 6th.” suggests that this was the termination date of his appointment and that the letters might have been written shortly thereafter. The records of the Philadelphia post office show, however, that Dunlap carefully recorded the receipt of letters until Oct. 5, 1764, which appears to mean that he was serving as late as that day and makes an October dating likely. Supporting this conjecture is a reference in this first letter to the impatience to leave town of John Foxcroft, who can be placed in Philadelphia as late as Sept. 21, 1764. In any case the letters cannot have been written later than Nov. 7, 1764, the date of Franklin’s departure for England.
The state of Dunlap’s account is as confusing as the dating of the letters. A rendering of it in Franklin’s hand is published above, VII, 160–2, and it appears to show that by the summer of 1764 Dunlap owed the post office £1042 4s. 11½d., although in the letter below Dunlap indicates that he owes only about £300.

Gentlemen,
Monday Morning [October? 1764]
As Mr. Foxcroft is impatient to leave Town, and I find a Discussion of my Accounts, from their Length and my extreme Indisposition, will take up a considerable Time, I have thought it might not be improper to make you an Offer, which, as it far exceeds any Thing you have any Right to expect or get from me, it is probable you may accept of: I am possessed of a certain Tract of Land of upwards of two hundred Acres, Situate in Chester County in this Province, which I value at, and am told is realy Worth £500: This with Mr. Hunters Debt of £95. I am ready to make over to you on your giving me a Clearance in full till July 6th. last. This is all the visible Estate I have in the World, and is full £300 more than I think I shall be able to make appear you have any Pretence to, and is such as nothing but a Disire to get from under the Weight of your merciless Oppression, should induce me to make to the Injury of my Family and of my other Creditors: However if nothing will satiate your Resentment, but the Ruin of an helpless Family, I must apprize you that when it has had its full Swing, your Dividend of the Spoil, will fall vastly short of what I even am willing to allow you have any pretence to. I am Gentlemen, Your most humble Servant
W. Dunlap

Addressed: To / Messrs. Franklin & Foxcroft / Present


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from William Dunlap, [October? 1764]
From: Dunlap, William
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir
Monday [October? 1764]
As I see nothing will satiate your unbounded, cruel and merciless Resentment but the entire Destruction of a poor helpless Family, no Branch of whom, I will dare to say, ever Injur’d you in Thought, Word or Deed, I have no Favor to ask at the Hands of a Man who thursts for nothing short of my Hearts Blood: Whet your Poynard Sir, and it is ready for you: Your Cruelty has brought on me a Disorder, (and to your Treatment alone my Orphan beggard Children will impute it,) viz. a depressed broken Heart, and its sure Consequence a deep Consumption, which I am well assur’d no Medicines can possibly conquer, so that even should your tender Mercy withold you from the former, the latter will soon effect to your Hands: Under these Circumstances, I have only to beg that you would spare the Appelations which you are disposed to bestow upon me of Rogue, Rascal, &c. because (let me whisper it in your Ear, and indeed it shall never go farther) had the same indirect, ungenerous, Mean Methods been taken, (which I will assert was never before practised upon any Officer) in sifting and twisting your own Son’s Post-Office Accounts as there was with mine, he would have deserved in the highest Degree, the Worst Appelation you have yet thought proper to bestow upon me: This Sir, I will prove whenever you may please to call upon me to do so: I am Sir, the unhappy wretched
W Dunlap

Addressed: To / Dr. B. Franklin / Postmaster General / In / Philadelphia


Title: Benjamin Franklin and John Foxcroft to William Dunlap, [October? 1764]
From: Franklin, Benjamin,Foxcroft, John
To: Dunlap, William

Mr Dunlap,
[October? 1764]
We have read your extraordinary Letter upon which we shall make no other Observation but this, That it is not in our Power to give a Discharge for your whole Debt to the Post Office on your Payment of a Part; the Debt not being to us but to the Crown: and that If you do not immediately come to a Settlement with us, in which we are willing to give you all the Assistance we can, our Duty will oblige us to commence Suit against you, whereby the Accounts will be examined and settled by indifferent Men; which indeed will be more agreable to us than a private Settlement, that might give Colour or Room for the abusive Reflections after[ward?] upon us, which you already seem forward to make them on us without the least Regard to Truth, as if we desired to oppress you, tho’ we have really no Interest in getting a farthing more from you than you ought to pay. Your Charge against your Predecessor you are hereby immediately called upon to make good; which if you can do, as it will be a Merit with Regard to the Office, may entitle you the more to favour from, Your humble Servants
F and F.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Pennsylvania Assembly Committee of Correspondence, 1 November 1764
From: Pennsylvania Assembly Committee of Correspondence
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir
Philada. Novemr. 1st. 1764
The General Assembly of this Province, having appointed Us to be the Committee of Correspondence; And in Pursuance of their Resolves from time to time during their late Sitting; We have Caused to be made out and furnished divers Certified Copys of Resolves and Instructions to Richd. Jackson Esqr. then Sole Agent of this Province to be sent by Us [to] Mr. Jackson.
But as it appeared to the General Assembly, that matters of the highest Concern to the Colonies in General and to this Province in particular were depending in England &c: The House were pleased to Resolve that you should embark with all Convenient dispatch for Great Britain there to joyn with and assist the said Richd. Jackson Esqr. in the Agency of Representing, Soliciting and transacting the affairs of this Province for the Ensuing year; As will more fully Appear to you by a Certified Copy of the Resolves of the House for this purpose made out and signed by the Clark of the Assembly.
Needless therefore will it be for Us to add more on this Occasion then to referr you to the Several Copys of Resolves and Instructions here with Delivered to you for Mr. Jackson and to request that you will in every thing and measure Relative to the Colonies in General and this Province in particular, Aid Assist Joyn and Act in Concert with Mr. Jackson, and Strictly and attentively Observe the Directions of the House given him in every measure to be Prosecuted. We wish you a good Voiage &c.
To Benja. Franklin Esqr

Endorsed: Copy of the Committee of Correspondenc’s Letter Dd. Benja. Franklin EsqrNovr. 1st. 1764


Title: Pennsylvania Assembly Committee of Correspondence to Richard Jackson, 1 November 1764
From: Pennsylvania Assembly Committee of Correspondence
To: Jackson, Richard

Sir
Philada: November 1st. 1764.
The Present Assembly of this Province have been pleased to appoint us, together with the Speaker of the House to be the Committee of Correspondence for the ensuing Year. The late Assembly transmitted to you certain Petitions from the House and Divers Freemen of this Province to His Majesty relative to a Change of Government to be presented only upon Certainty first had that we should Incur no Danger of the Loss of the Priviledges Enjoy’d by the Freemen of this Province under our present Constitution, The present Assembly, hoping an Accommodation with our Proprietors may take place, and that he will in due Time make such Concessions as will fully satisfy the Assembly and Freemen of this Province have determined not to withdraw those Petitions to His Majesty, but have order’d the same to remain with you, and to be proceeded in, or not, by you with the Utmost Caution for securing our Priviledges in Case the Change should happen. We cannot add more Strength or Force of Words than are contained in the Resolve of the House, (Copy whereof Signed by the Clerk We herewith transmit to you) for your Conduct in this Matter, it being clearly the Sense of every Member of the House, and We doubt not of every Freeman in the Province, that a Change is not to be attempted, if you apprehend the least Danger of the Loss of any one Priviledge Civil or Religious we now Enjoy, should you discover any such Danger, We rest assured You will conform Yourself most Stricktly to the latter part of the Resolve, Wherein you are positively Enjoined to suspend the presenting those Petitions, Untill you shall have acquainted the Assembly therewith and received their further Direction. For altho’ we Reverence his Sacred Majesty, and his Government, And altho’ we are of Opinion Our Proprietors have insisted on some and Contended for other Matters which we have thought Unreasonable and Unjust, Yet as under our Charter and Laws the Freemen of this Province Do Enjoy Priviledges peculiar to itself and unknown in any Royal Government We shou’d chuse to continue the Struggle for our Rights with our Proprietors rather than by getting rid of that Struggle loose our Inestimable Priviledges.
The late Assembly were pleas’d to send you some Instructions for your Conduct, Relative to the late Act of Parliament which greatly affects the Trade of the Northern Colonies, and the Danger apprehended to our Rights as Englishmen, at the Approaching Sessions of Parliament.
The present Assembly have taken that matter also into their Consideration and have prepared some further Instructions thereupon, which they have order’d us to Sign and transmit to you, and which you will herewith receive, and doubt not the Hints therein given with the Arguments your own Mind will furnish on this Important Matter, will prove sufficient to avert the Impending Blow.
We have it further in Charge from the House to Request that all your Letters on Public Affairs may be addressed to the then Speaker Isaac Norris Esquire or to a Majority of the Committee of Correspondence in Order that the same may be laid before the House; which You’l please to observe.
We are further to acquaint you that the House taking into Consideration the Matters of high Concern to the Colonies in General and to this Province in particular Expected in Parliament at their next Session, and to prevent any ill Consequences that might arise in Case of your Indisposition have thought proper to appoint Benjamin Franklin Esqr: to join with and assist you in Representing Soliciting and transacting the Affairs of this Province for the ensuing Year, and have directed him to embark with all convenient Dispatch for Great Britain.
Mr. Franklin will deliver this with the Resolves and Instructions of the House to you, and doubt not from your known Abilities and Joint Endeavours, You will render to the Colonies in General and to this Province in particular the most Acceptable Services. We have only to add, that Mr. Norris our late Worthy Speaker, thro’ Indisposition, became unable to attend the Service of the House during their late sitting, and Joseph Fox Esqr was chosen in his stead and placed in the Chair Accordingly. Inclosed you have a Bill of Exchange for £106 6s. 4d. Sterling which we hope will meet with due Honour. We are Sir Your Real Friends and Very Humble Servants
Jos. Fox
  Jos. Richardson
  John Ross.
  Jon Hughes
To Richard Jackson Esqr.

Endorsed: Philada 1st. Novr. 1764Letter from the Committee of Correspondence


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Baynton and Wharton, 3 November 1764
From: Baynton and Wharton
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir
Philadelphia, Novemr, 3d 1764.
The Tracts of Land, Which We mention’d to You, last Spring, are situated as follows.

One of Them, “is on the East side of Lake Champlaine and on the North side of the River Messesque, including Twenty Thousand Acres.”
The Other Tract “is situated on the North side of the Bay of Chaleur adjoining the Bay, including the same Quantity, as the above.”
The Gentleman who gives us, the above Information, says, in his Letter of the 11th. of March Last that “the first mention’d Tract, lies in a rich fine Country, is of a good Soil, full of excellent Timber, such as White Oak, Walnut, Chesnut, Pine &c. is Situated on the Lake (Champlaine) and convenient for transporting any thing, to Quebec.”
With respect to the last described Tract, He writes us, That, “This is the best Cod Fishery in this Government. The Land is tolerably good, The Timber the same, But not comparable, to the former. The sooner You Petition their Lordships, the Better, as every Thing of this Kind, That is Valuable, will be taken up. Pray do not neglect the First Opportunity, in sending Your Petition Home, As you may depend, it will be of the greatest Importance.”
The foregoing is the Description, We have of those two Parcels of Land; Wherefore, We apprehend if Mr. Jackson, has not apply’d For Them, You will think with us, That the sooner You do it, the more probable, it is, You will Succeed. With Sincere Respect We are Sir, Your very Obedient humble Servants
Baynton & Wharton
To Benjamin Franklin Esqre.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to John Smith, 4 November 1764
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Smith, John

Dear Sir
Philada. Nov. 4. 1764
I received your very obliging Letter. I thank you cordially for your kind good Wishes. I hope my Conduct in England will be such as not to lessen the Esteem you honour me with; and that on my Return I shall have the Pleasure of finding you and my other Burlington Friends all well and happy. I am, with sincere Respect, and Affection, Dear Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant
B Franklin
John Smith Esqr

Endorsed: Novr: 4. 1764	Doct: B. Franklin


Title: Remarks on a Late Protest, 5 November 1764
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

Franklin’s farewell to Pennsylvania took the form of a reply to the Protest of the minority assemblymen against his appointment as an agent (above, pp. 408–12). In these Remarks he undertook to defend himself and the Assembly on the charges his opponents had made. Since so much of what they had said and so much of his response concerned himself personally, he followed the course, almost unprecedented in his writings for the general public, of using the first person singular throughout and of signing his name at the end. The pamphlet appears to have been published on November 7, 1764, the day he left Philadelphia to take ship for England. For William Smith’s anonymous answer to this paper, see below, pp. 486–516.

Philadelphia, Nov. 5, 1764.
Remarks on a Late ProtestAgainst the Appointment of Mr. Franklin an Agent for this Province.
I have generally passed over, with a silent Disregard, the nameless abusive Pieces that have been written against me; and tho’ this Paper, called a Protest, is signed by some respectable Names, I was, nevertheless, inclined to treat it with the same Indifference; but as the Assembly is therein reflected on upon my Account, it is thought more my Duty to make some Remarks upon it.
I would first observe then, that this Mode of Protesting by the Minority, with a String of Reasons against the Proceedings of the Majority of the House of Assembly, is quite new among us; the present is the second we have had of the kind, and both within a few Months. It is unknown to the Practice of the House of Commons, or of any House of Representatives in America, that I have heard of; and seems an affected Imitation of the Lords in Parliament, which can by no Means become Assembly-men of America. Hence appears the Absurdity of the Complaint, that the House refused the Protest an Entry on their Minutes. The Protesters know that they are not, by any Custom or Usage, intitled to such an Entry, and that the Practice here is not only useless in itself, but would be highly inconvenient to the House, since it would probably be thought necessary for the Majority also to enter their Reasons, to justify themselves to their Constituents, whereby the Minutes would be incumbered, and the Public Business obstructed. More especially will it be found inconvenient, if such Protests are made use of as a new Form of Libelling, as the Vehicles of personal Malice, and as Means of giving to private Abuse the Appearance of a Sanction, as public Acts. Your Protest, Gentlemen, was therefore properly refused; and since it is no Part of the Proceedings of Assembly, one may with the more Freedom examine it.
Your first Reason against my Appointment is, that you “believe me to the chief Author of the Measures pursued by the last Assembly, which have occasioned such Uneasiness and Distraction among the good People of this Province.” I shall not dispute my Share in those Measures; I hope they are such as will in time do Honour to all that were concerned in them. But you seem mistaken in the Order of Time: It was the Uneasiness and Distraction among the good People of the Province that occasioned the Measures; the Province was in Confusion before they were taken, and they were pursued in order to prevent such Uneasiness and Distraction for the future. Make one Step farther back, and you will find Proprietary Injustice supported by Proprietary Minions and Creatures, the original Cause of all our Uneasiness and Distractions.
Another of your Reasons is, “that I am, as you are informed, very unfavourably thought of by several of His Majesty’s Ministers.” I apprehend, Gentlemen, that your Informer is mistaken. He indeed has taken great Pains to give unfavourable Impressions of me, and perhaps may flatter himself, that it is impossible so much true Industry should be totally without Effect. His long Success in maiming or murdering all the Reputations that stand in his Way, which has been the dear Delight and constant Employment of his Life, may likewise have given him some just Ground for Confidence that he has, as they call it, done for me, among the rest. But, as I said before, I believe he is mistaken. For what have I done that they should think unfavourably of me? It cannot be my constantly and uniformly promoting the Measures of the Crown, ever since I had any Influence in the Province. It cannot, surely, be my promoting the Change from a Proprietary to a Royal Government. If indeed I had, by Speeches and Writings, endeavoured to make His Majesty’s Government universally odious in the Province. If I had harangued by the Week, to all Corners and Goers, on the pretended Injustice and Oppressions of Royal Government, and the Slavery of the People under it. If I had written traiterous Papers to this Purpose, and got them translated into other Languages, to give His Majesty’s foreign Subjects here those horrible Ideas of it. If I had declared, written and printed, that “the King’s little Finger we should find heavier than the Proprietor’s whole Loins,” with regard to our Liberties; then indeed might the Ministers be supposed to think unfavourably of me. But these are not Exploits for a Man who holds a profitable Office under the Crown, and can expect to hold it no longer than he behaves with the Fidelity and Duty that becomes every good Subject. They are only for Officers of Proprietary Appointment, who hold their Commissions during his, and not the King’s, Pleasure; and who, by dividing among themselves, and their Relations, Offices of many Thousands a Year, enjoyed by Proprietary Favour, feel where to place their Loyalty. I wish they were as good Subjects to His Majesty; and perhaps they may be so, when the Proprietary interferes no longer.
Another of your Reasons is, “that the Proposal of me for an Agent is extremely disagreeable to a very great Number of the most serious and reputable Inhabitants of the Province; and the Proof is, my having been rejected at the last Election, tho’ I had represented the City in Assembly for 14 Years.”
And do those of you, Gentlemen, reproach me with this, who among near Four Thousand Voters, had scarcely a Score more than I had? It seems then, that your Elections were very near being Rejections, and thereby furnishing the same Proof in your Case that you produce in mine, of your being likewise extremely disagreeable to a very great Number of the most serious and reputable People. Do you, honourable Sir, reproach me with this, who for almost twice 14 Years have been rejected (if not being chosen is to be rejected) by the same People, and unable, with all your Wealth and Connections, and the Influence they give you, to obtain an Election in the County where you reside, and the City where you were born, and are best known, have been obliged to accept a Seat from one of the out Counties, the remotest of the Province! It is known, Sir, to the Persons who proposed me, that I was first chosen against my Inclination, and against my Entreaties that I might be suffered to remain a private Man. In none of the 14 Elections you mention did I ever appear as a Candidate. I never did, directly or indirectly solicit any Man’s Vote. For six of the Years in which I was annually chosen, I was absent, residing in England; during all which Time, your secret and open Attacks upon my Character and Reputation were incessant; and yet you gained no Ground. And can you really, Gentlemen, find Matter of Triumph in this Rejection as you call it? A Moment’s Reflection on the Means by which it was obtained, must make you ashamed of it.
Not only my Duty to the Crown, in carrying the Post-Office Act more duly into Execution, was made use of to exasperate the Ignorant, as if I was encreasing my own Profits, by picking their Pockets; but my very Zeal in opposing the Murderers, and supporting the Authority of Government, and even my Humanity, with regard to the innocent Indians under our Protection, were mustered among my Offences, to stir up against me those religious Bigots, who are of all Savages the most brutish. Add to this the numberless Falshoods propagated as Truths, and the many Perjuries procured among the wretched Rabble brought to swear themselves intitled to a Vote; and yet so poor a Superiority obtained at all this Expence of Honour and Conscience! Can this, Gentlemen, be Matter of Triumph! Enjoy it then. Your Exultation, however, was short. Your Artifices did not prevail every where; nor your double Tickets, and whole Boxes of forged Votes. A great Majority of the new chosen Assembly were of the old Members, and remain uncorrupted. They still stand firm for the People, and will obtain Justice from the Proprietaries. But what does that avail to you who are in the Proprietary Interest? And what Comfort can it afford you, when by the Assembly’s Choice of an Agent, it appears that the same, to you obnoxious, Man, (notwithstanding all your venomous Invectives against him) still retains so great a Share of the public Confidence?
But “this Step, you say, gives you the more lively Affliction, as it is taken at the very Moment when you were informed by a Member of the House, that the Governor had assured him of his having received Instructions from the Proprietaries, to give his Assent to the Taxation of their Estates, in the same Manner that the Estates of other Persons are to be taxed; and also to confirm, for the public Use, the several Squares formerly claimed by the City.” O the Force of Friendship! the Power of Interest! What Politeness they infuse into a Writer, and what delicate Expressions they produce! The Dispute between the Proprietaries and us was about the Quantum, the Rate of their Taxation, and not about the Manner; but now, when all the World condemns them for requiring a partial Exemption of their Estates, and they are forced to submit to an honest Equality, ’tis called “assenting to be taxed in the same Manner with the People:” Their Restitution of five public Squares in the Plan of the City, which they had near forty Years unjustly and dishonourably seized and detained from us, directing their Surveyor to map Streets over them (in order to turn them into Lots) and their Officers to sell a Part of them; this their Disgorging is softly called confirming them for the public Use; and instead of the plain Words formerly given to the City, by the first Proprietary their Father, we have the cautious pretty Expression of “formerly claimed by the City.” Yes, not only formerly but always claimed, ever since they were promised and given to encourage the Settlers, and ever will be claimed till we are put in actual Possession of them. ’Tis pleasant, however, to see how lightly and tenderly you trip over these Matters, as if you trod upon Eggs. But that “Very Moment,” that precious Moment! why was it so long delayed? Why were those healing Instructions so long withheld and concealed from the People? They were, it seems, brought over by Mr. Allen.

   * Extract from a Letter, dated London, August 6, 1764, from David Barclay and Sons, to Messieurs James and Drinker.

   “We very much wish for William Allen’s happy Arrival on your Side, when we hope his Influence, added to the Power and Commissions the Proprietaries have invested him with, may prove effectual, in restoring Harmony and Tranquility among you, so much to be desired by every Well wisher to your Province. Pray be assured of our sincerest and best Wishes for the Success of this salutary Work, and that nothing in our Power, to contribute thereto, will ever be wanting.”

 Intelligence was received by various Hands from London, that Orders were sent by the Proprietaries, from which great Hopes were entertained of an Accommodation. Why was the Bringing and the Delivery of such Orders so long denied? The Reason is easily understood. Messieurs Barclays, Friends to both Proprietaries and People, wished for that Gentleman’s happy Arrival, hoping his Influence, added to the Power and Commissions the Proprietaries had vested him with, might prove effectual in restoring Harmony and Tranquility among us; but he, it seems, hoped his Influence might do the Business, without those Additions. There appeared on his Arrival some Prospect, from sundry Circumstances, of a Change to be made in the House by the approaching Election. The Proprietary Friends and Creatures knew the Heart of their Master, and how extreamly disagreeable to him that equal Taxation, that Restitution, and the other Concessions to be made for the Sake of a Reconciliation, must necessarily be. They hoped therefore to spare him all those Mortifications, and thereby secure a greater Portion of his Favour. Hence the Instructions were not produced to the last Assembly, though they arrived before the September Sitting, when the Governor was in Town, and actually did Business with the House. Nor to the new Assembly were they mentioned, till the “very Moment,” the fatal Moment, when the House were on the Point of chusing that wicked Adversary of the Proprietary to be an Agent for the Province in England.
But I have, you say, a “fixed Enmity to the Proprietaries,” and “you believe it will preclude all Accommodation of our Disputes with them, even on just and reasonable Terms.” And why do you think I have a fixed Enmity to the Proprietaries? I have never had any personal Difference with them. I am no Land-Jobber, and therefore have never had any Thing to do with their Land-Office or Officers; if I had, probably, like others, I might have been obliged to truckle to their Measures, or have had like Causes of Complaint. But our private Interests never clashed, and all their Resentment against me, and mine to them, has been on the public Account. Let them do Justice to the People of Pennsylvania, act honourably by the Citizens of Philadelphia, and become honest Men; my Enmity, if that’s of any Consequence, ceases from the “very Moment;” and, as soon as I possibly can, I promise to love, honour and respect them. In the mean Time, why do you “believe it will preclude all Accommodation with them on just and reasonable Terms?” Do you not boast that their gracious Condescensions are in the Hands of the Governor, and that “if this had been the usual Time for Business, his Honour would have sent them down in a Message to the House.” How then can my going to England prevent this Accommodation? The Governor can call the House when he pleases, and, one would think, that, at least in your Opinion my being out of the Way, would be a favourable Circumstance. For then, by “cultivating the Disposition shown by the Proprietaries, every reasonable Demand that can be made on the Part of the People might be obtained; in vigorously insisting on which, you promise to unite most earnestly with the rest of the House.” It seems then we have “reasonable Demands” to make, and as you call them a little higher, equitable Demands. This is much for Proprietary Minions to own; but you are all growing better, in Imitation of your Master, which is indeed very commendable. And if the Accommodation here should fail, I hope that though you dislike the Person a Majority of two to one in the House have thought fit to appoint an Agent, you will nevertheless, in Duty to your Country, continue the noble Resolution of uniting with the rest of the House, in vigorously insisting on that Equity and Justice, which such an Union will undoubtedly obtain for us.
I pass over the trivial Charge against the Assembly, that they “acted with unnecessary Haste in proceeding to this Appointment, without making a small Adjournment,” &c. and your affected Apprehensions of Danger from that Haste. The Necessity of Expedition on this Occasion is as obvious to every one out of Doors as it was to those within; and the Fears you mention are not, I fancy, considerable enough to break your Rest. I come then to your high Charge against me, “That I heretofore ventured, contrary to an Act of Assembly, to place the Public Money in the Stocks, whereby this Province suffered a Loss of £6000 and that Sum added to the £5000 granted for my Expences, makes the whole Cost of my former Voyage to England amount to Eleven Thousand Pounds!” How wisely was that Form in our Laws contrived, which when a Man is arraigned for his Life, requires the Evidence to speak the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth! The Reason is manifest. A Falshood may destroy the Innocent; so may Part of a Truth without the Whole; and a Mixture of Truth and Falshood may be full as pernicious. You, Mr. Chief Justice, and the other Justices among the Protesters, and you, Sir, who are a Counsellor at Law, must all of you be well acquainted with this excellent Form; and when you arraign’d my Reputation (dearer to me than Life) before the Assembly, and now at the respectable Tribunal of the Public, would it not have well become your Honours to have had some small Regard at least to the Spirit of that Form? You might have mentioned, that the Direction of the Act to lodge the Money in the Bank, subject to the Drafts of the Trustees of the Loan-Office here, was impracticable: that the Bank refused to receive it on those Terms, it being contrary to their settled Rules to take Charge of Money subject to the Orders of unknown People, living in distant Countries. You might have mentioned, that the House being informed of this, and having no immediate Call for the Money, did themselves adopt the Measure of placing it in the Stocks, which then were low; where it might on a Peace produce a considerable Profit, and in the mean time accumulate an Interest: That they even passed a Bill, directing the subsequent Sums granted by Parliament, to be placed with the former: That the Measure was prudent and safe; and that the Loss arose, not from placing the Money IN the Stocks, but from the imprudent and unnecessary DRAWING IT OUT at the very time when they were lowest, on some slight uncertain Rumours of a Peace concluded: That if the Assembly had let it remain another Year, instead of losing they would have gained Six Thousand Pounds; and that after all, since the Exchange at which they sold their Bills, was near Twenty per Cent, higher when they drew, than when the Stocks were purchased, the Loss was far from being so great as you represent it. All these Things you might have said, for they are, and you know them to be, Part of the whole Truth; but they would have spoiled your Accusation. The late Speaker of your honourable House, Mr. Norris, who has, I suppose, all my Letters to him, and Copies of his own to me, relating to that Transaction, can testify with how much Integrity and Clearness I managed the whole Affair. All the House were sensible of it, being from time to time fully acquainted with the Facts. If I had gone to Gaming in the Stocks with the Public Money, and through my Fault a Sum was lost, as your Protest would insinuate, why was I not censured and punished for it when I returned? You, honourable Sir (my Enemy of seven Years Standing) was then in the House. You were appointed on the Committee for examining my Accounts; you reported that you found them just, and signed that Report.

   *Report of the Committee on Benjamin Franklin’s Accounts.

   “In Obedience to the Order of the House, we have examined the Account of Benjamin Franklin, Esq; with the Vouchers to us produced in Support thereof, and do find the same Account to be just, and that he has expended, in the immediate Service of this Province, the Sum of Seven Hundred and Fourteen Pounds, Ten Shillings and Sevenpence, out of the Sum of Fifteen Hundred Pounds Sterling, to him remitted and paid, exclusive of any Allowance or Charge for his Support and Services for the Province.

John Morton,
Joseph Fox,

William Allen,
John Hughes,

February 19, 1763.
John Ross,
Samuel Rhoads,

John Moor.
John Wilkinson,

Isaac Pearson.

   “The House taking the foregoing Report of the Committee of Accounts into Considertion, and having spent some Time therein,

   “Resolved,

   “That the Sum of Five Hundred Pounds Sterling per Annum be allowed and given to Benjamin Franklin, Esq; late Agent for the Province of Pennsylvania at the Court of Great Britain, during his Absence of six Years from his Business and Connections, in the Service of the Public; and that the Thanks of this House be also given to the said Gentleman by Mr. Speaker, from the Chair, as well for the faithful Discharge of his Duty to this Province in particular, as for the many and important Services done America in general, during his Residence in Great-Britain.”

   Thursday, March 31, 1763.

   “Pursuant to a Resolve of the Nineteenth of last Month, that the Thanks of this House be given to Benjamin Franklin, Esq; for his many Services not only to the Province of Pennsylvania, but to America in general, during his late Agency at the Court of Great-Britain, the same were this Day accordingly given in Form from the Chair. To which Mr. Franklin, respectfully addressing himself to the Speaker, made Answer, That he was thankful to the House, for the very handsome and generous Allowance they had been pleased to make him for his Services; but that the Approbation of this House was, in his Estimation, far above every other kind of Recompence.” Votes, 1763.

 I never solicited the Employ of Agent: I made no Bargain for my future Service, when I was ordered to England by the Assembly; nor did they vote me any Salary. I lived there near six Years at my own Expence, and I made no Charge or Demand when I came home. You, Sir, of all others, was the very Member that proposed (for the Honour and Justice of the House) a Compensation to be made me of the Five Thousand Pounds you mention. Was it with an Intent to reproach me thus publicly for accepting it? I thanked the House for it then, and I thank you now for proposing it: Tho’ you, who have lived in England, can easily conceive, that besides the Prejudice to my private Affairs by my Absence, a Thousand Pounds more would not have reimbursed me. The Money voted was immediately paid me. But, If I had occasioned the Loss of Six Thousand Pounds to the Province, here was a fair Opportunity of securing easily the greatest Part of it; why was not the Five Thousand Pounds deducted, and the Remainder called for? The Reason is, This Accusation was not then invented. Permit me to add, that supposing the whole Eleven Thousand Pounds an Expence occasioned by my Voyage to England, yet the Taxation of the Proprietary Estate now established, will, when valued by Years Purchase, be found in time an Advantage to the Public, far exceeding that Expence. And if the Expence is at present a Burthen, the Odium of it ought to lie on those who, by their Injustice, made the Voyage necessary, and not on me, who only submitted to the Orders of the House, in undertaking it.
I am now to take Leave (perhaps a last Leave) of the Country I love, and in which I have spent the greatest Part of my Life. Esto Perpetua. I wish every kind of Prosperity to my Friends, and I forgive my Enemies.
B. Franklin.


Title: Power of Attorney to James Parker, 5 November 1764
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Parker, James

[November 5, 1764]
Know ALL Men by these presents That I Benjamin Franklin of the City of Philadelphia Printer being now about to depart for England and the Time of my Return uncertain and there being long Accounts of Partnership unsettled between David Hall of the same place Printer and myself which partnership is now near expiring and the Settlement of those Accounts, become for that Reason more immediately necessary. Therefore for the more expeditious and certain Settlement of the same I do hereby nominate and appoint my trusty and loving Friend James Parker Esqr. of Woodbridge in East New Jersey to be my lawful Attorney in my Behalf to examine all the Accounts kept of the said partnership by the said David Hall, with the Books Receipts and other Vouchers and to make a State of the same with all such Allowances, as to him my said Attorney shall seem equitable where distinct Accounts cannot be obtained; And when such State is so far compleated as then it may be to transmit the same to me in London for my perusal six Months at least before the Expiration of the partnership and also to value the Printing Presses Types and other Materials for printing belonging to me and now in the Use and Occupation of the said David Hall and which he has agreed to purchase of me at the Rate of such Valuation as shall be made by the said James Parker in my Behalf. And in Case I should not return to Philadelphia before the Expiration of the said partnership I do then hereby give and grant to my said Attorney full power to close the said Accounts, sell and deliver the said printing Materials to the said David Hall at the Valuation so as aforesaid by him to be made receive the Monies on the Whole to me arising for me and my Use, and make a final Ending of all Accounts between the said David Hall and myself, thereupon giving full Acquittances and Discharges in my Behalf which shall be of equal force and Validity as if made and given by me. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal the fifth Day of November in the fifth Year of his Majesty’s Reign Annoque Domini One thousand seven hundred and sixty four
B. Franklin (Seal)
Sealed and Delivered in the presence of Sarah Franklin Cha. Thomson

I Acknowledge to have agreed to pay for the printing Materials such Sum as they shall be valued at by the above named Mr. James Parker

Witness Cha: Thomson
  David Hall

Philadelphia ss. Be it Remembred that this fifth Day of November 1764 came Before me Thomas Lawrence Esqr.One of the Justices &ca. for the City of Philadelphia Charles Thomson of the said City Merchant and on his solemn Oath declared that he was present and saw the within named Benjamin Franklin sign seal and as his Act and Deed deliver the within written Instrument or Power of Attorney. And that he the said Deponent subscribed his Name as Witness thereto and saw Sarah Franklin the other Witness do the like. In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal the Day and Year aforesaid
Tho: Lawrence Mayr. (Seal)
Recorded the 12th. Novemr. 1764


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Samuel Eckerling, 5 November 1764
From: Eckerling, Samuel
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Esteemed Friend
Philadelphia, Novemr: 5th: 1764.
My Brethren Israel and Gabriel Eckerling were taken by the French and Indians from the Aligany Mountains in the Month of August 1757 and some Time after sent to Rochelle in France w[h] ere I am informed they died in the Hospital. I shall esteem it a particular Favour if you will enquire wether my Information be true or not.
Please to let me know by a few Lines directed to me to be left at Thomas Say’s in Philadelphia the Result of your Enquiry and all Charges that may accrue thereon shall be thankfully repaid by Your Affectionate Friend
Samuel Eckerling
To Benjamin Franklin

Addressed: To / Benjamin Franklin Esqr / in / Philadelphia
Endorsed: S. Eckerling concg. his Brothers


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Edmund Quincy, Junior, 5 November 1764
From: Quincy, Edmund Junior
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Worthy Sir
Boston Novr: 5th: 1764
I had not deferrd doing myself the Pleasure of writing you for some time past on the Subject I mentiond to you when here, but the Loss of my Wife, besides several Avocations has prevented, nor should I have troubled you now, but to inform you that I publish’d in Edes & Gills paper last Post Day a Letter from my Bro’ Huske to the Committee of Merchants here; a Gentleman has in this days paper Remark’d upon it in which he insinuates that as a person of Figure he describes &c. as the principal Author and Abetter of this mushroom Policy is intended for One in Philadelphia; since which I hear some Persons not acquainted supposd Mr. Huske pointed at You, I know it can be only guess Work, and I beg you to be assured He means a person now Residing in London whose treatise on the Subject I hope soon to receive and shall forward it You. Interim I have the Honor to be with perfect Esteem and Regard Sir your most Obedient Humble Servant
Edm: Quincy Jr
The Honble: Benjamin Franklin Esq


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Anthony Todd, 6 November 1764
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Todd, Anthony

Extract
Sir
Philadelphia Novr. 6. 1764
Col. Bouquet marched from Pittsburgh the 4th of October, with 1500 Men, down the Ohio, to attack the Shawana Towns; the Peace made by Col. Bradstreet at Presqu’isle not being confirmed. We have not since heard from either of those Armies. I am &c.
B Franklin

Endorsed: Philadelphia Novr 6. 1764 Extract of a Letter from Mr Franklin Deputy Postmaster General of North America to Anth Todd Esqr R 10th Decr. from Mr. Todd.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Richard Jackson, 7 November 1764
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Jackson, Richard

Dear Sir
Philada. Nov. 7. 1764
The new Assembly at their first Sitting approv’d and resolv’d to prosecute the Measures of the last, relative to the Change of Government; and supposing that my being in London during the insuing Sessions of Parliament may moreover be of some Use in our general American Affairs, have appointed me as an Assistant Agent with you for one Year, and directed me to proceed thither immediately. I accordingly embark this Day, and hope to be with you nearly as soon as this Letter. It will be the greatest of Pleasures to me to find you well, I can now only add, that I am, with sincerest Esteem, Dear Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant
B Franklin
Richd Jackson Esqr

Endorsed: 7 Novr. 64 Benjn. Franklin


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Sarah Franklin, 8 November 1764
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Franklin, Sarah

Three hundred friends and admirers accompanied Franklin from Philadelphia to Chester, where he embarked on the King of Prussia, Capt. James Robinson, on Nov. 7, 1764. As he boarded the ship, he “was saluted by a Number of Cannon, and the Huzza’s of the People; and an Anthem was sung … suitable to the Occasion.” The text of the anthem is said to have been composed in Philadelphia; it was, however, an adaptation (with the stanzas rearranged) of “God Save the King,” which had become popular during the Rebellion of 1745. A recent writer has called this version “the best literary expression of honor and respect for Franklin produced in the 1764 campaign.” It reads:

O LORD our GOD arise,
Scatter our Enemies,
And make them fall.
Confound their Loliticks,
Frustrate such Hylocrites,
Franklin, on Thee we fix,
GOD Save us all.
Thy Knowledge rich in Store,
On Lennsylvania lour,
Thou [sic] great Blessing:
Long to defend our Laws,
Still give us greater Cause,
To sing with Heart and Voice,
GEORGE and FRANKLIN
GOD Save Great GEORGE our King;
Lrosler agent Franklin:
Grant him Success:
Hark how the Vallies ring;
GOD Save our Gracious King,
From whom all Blessings slring,
Our Wrongs redress.

John Dickinson ridiculed the ceremonies attending Franklin’s departure as a “vainglorious Triumph actually puff’d off at his Embarkation, for which silly Pageantry, ship Guns were borrow’d in Philadelphia, and sent down to Chester—the use there made of them, with other vain Exultations are unworthy repetition.” Whatever Dickinson and other opponents thought of the demonstration, however, the departing Franklin must have been gratified at this expression of regard from his friends and political supporters.

My dear Sally,
Reedy Island Nov. 8. 17647 at Night.
We got down here just at Sunset, having taken in more live Stock at Newcastle with some other things we wanted. Our good Friends Mr. Galloway, Mr. Wharton, and Mr. James came with me in the Ship from Chester to Newcastle, and went ashore there. It was kind to favour me with their good Company as far as they could. The affectionate Leave taken of me by so many Friends at Chester was very endearing. God bless them, and all Pennsylvania.
My dear Child, the natural Prudence and goodness of heart that God has blessed you with, make it less necessary for me to be particular in giving you Advice; I shall therefore only say, that the more attentively dutiful and tender you are towards your good Mama, the more you will recommend your self to me; But why shou’d I mention me, when you have so much higher a Promise in the Commandment, that such a conduct will recommend you to the favour of God. You know I have many Enemies (all indeed on the Public Account, for I cannot recollect that I have in a private Capacity given just cause of offence to any one whatever) yet they are Enemies and very bitter ones, and you must expect their Enmity will extend in some degree to you, so that your slightest Indiscretions will be magnified into crimes, in order the more sensibly to wound and afflict me. It is therefore the more necessary for you to be extreamly circumspect in all your Behaviour that no Advantage may be given to their Malevolence. Go constantly to Church whoever preaches. The Acts of Devotion in the common Prayer Book, are your principal Business there; and if properly attended to, will do more towards mending the Heart than Sermons generally can do. For they were composed by Men of much greater Piety and Wisdom, than our common Composers of Sermons can pretend to be. And therefore I wish you wou’d never miss the Prayer Days. Yet I do not mean that you shou’d despise Sermons even of the Preachers you dislike, for the Discourse is often much better than the Man, as sweet and clear Waters come to us thro’ very dirty Earth. I am the more particular on this Head, as you seem’d to express a little before I came away some Inclination to leave our Church, which I wou’d not have you do.
For the rest I would only recommend to you in my Absence to acquire those useful Accomplishments Arithmetick, and Book-keeping. This you might do with Ease, if you wou’d resolve not to see Company on the Hours you set apart for those Studies. I think you should and every Body should if they could, have certain days or hours to [about six and a half lines missing] She cannot be spoke with: but will be glad to see you at such a time.
We expect to be at Sea to morrow if this Wind holds, after which I shall have no opportunity of Writing to you till I arrive (if it pleases God that I do arrive) in England. I pray that his Blessing may attend you which is of more worth than a Thousand of mine, though they are never wanting. Give my Love to your Brother and Sister, as I cannot now write to them; and remember me affectionately to the young Ladies your Friends, and to our good Neighbours. I am, my dear Sally, Your ever Affectionate Father
B. Franklin


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Wharton, 9 November 1764
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Wharton, Thomas

Dear Sir
Cape Henlopen, Nov. 9. 17642 aClock P M.
We are just putting to Sea, with a Wind fine and fair as can blow. My Love to my good old true Friend your Father, and all his worthy Sons; And my affectionate Regards to all enquiring Friends. I am Yours affectionately
B Franklin

Endorsed: Benja. Franklin Cape-Henlopen Novr. 9th. 1764


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from James Bowdoin, 12 November 1764
From: Bowdoin, James
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir
Boston Novr. 12. 1764
I observe by the last Papers that your Assembly have again appointed you one of their Agents in Great Britain: which without doubt, is much to the mortification of the party, whose spleen has been lately gratified by your not being returned a member of the present assembly. I am very glad the Colonies are likely to have a Gentleman on t’other Side the water So well qualified to represent their Circumstances and State of Trade: a proper representation of which must make the ministry see (unless they dont choose to see) that they can expect nothing from the colonies by way of duties or tax whether internal or external; and that the duties already laid and those talked of, can have no other effect than to distress them, and injure Great Britain.
Whatever is forced from the Colonies in this way will at least so far disable them from paying their balances to Britain: it being demonstrably evident that all the remittances they can make, Gold and Silver included (the whole of which is gone and going) are not sufficient to pay those balances, and command the usual Supply of British manufactures. Much less will they be able to do either when their other trade (the Source of their ability to carry on the British) is so greatly embarrassed.
Our two houses have petitioned the house of Commons on this head. Besides separate Petitions from the Colonies a joint Petition to Parliament from all the Colony-Agents on the Subject of their rights and Trade, and being heard by counsel thereon before the Lords as well as Commons Seem the most likely means to procure a redress of Grievances.
I wish you Success in this matter. I have not yet heard from Mr. Canton in relation to the telescope I sent him some time ago. I shall be much obliged if you’ll speak to him about it, and desire the favor he would get it alter’d and sent as soon as his convenience will permit. I have desired Messrs. Lane & Booth to pay the cost. You said when here you thought Dolland’s Micrometer might be fixed to the telescope: if it can be conveniently done, I should be glad it might: in which case, if it would be in the way when not wanted, it may be best to have it fitted in such manner as to be put on and taken off at pleasure. Your Asistance in the contrivance of the Telescope, if your leisure will permit, I shall esteem a great favor. I heartily wish you a good voyage, success in your Embassy, and in due time a safe return, which I hope will be by the way of Boston. My best regards wait on you and your good Family. [?] yours
Benjn. Franklin Esqr. at Phila.


Title: Samuel Rhoads, Junior: Account Book, 13 November 1764
From: Rhoads, Samuel
To:

On April 6, 1763, Franklin advanced to Robert Smith, carpenter, £96 towards purchasing materials for the house he was to build on the Franklins’ lots on Market Street. During the next nineteen months he paid at least £120 more to Smith and lesser sums to other workmen and suppliers, and on Feb. 9, 1764, he lent £200 to Smith, who probably lacked adequate working capital, and took back the carpenter’s bond for the loan. Franklin entrusted the general oversight of the building operation to his friend, the carpenter, builder, and merchant, Samuel Rhoads, who had been his fellow representative from the city of Philadelphia in recent assemblies. Before embarking for England in November 1764, Franklin turned over to Rhoads £350 in cash and Smith’s bond for £200; Rhoads then gave Franklin his receipt for these advances “to be apply’d towards the Building of B. Franklin’s House if wanted.”
Rhoads thereupon directed his son, Samuel Rhoads, Junior, aged twenty-four, to act as his disbursing agent in connection with the Franklin house, and the young man promptly set up a record of his transactions. Seven pages of an account book designated “Account Benj: Franklin Esq. 1764” contain his receipt for £200 turned over by his father on Nov. 13, 1764, memoranda of various payments, and eight receipts signed by artisans and suppliers of materials. One may hope that the younger Rhoads and the men with whom he dealt were more skilled in their trades than they were in penmanship and that they kept their working tools in better condition than they did their quills, for in several places these records are almost indecipherable. They are printed here, however, as accurately as possible, to provide evidence of some of the operations involved and the slow progress achieved in completing the Franklin family’s new house.

Receivd Novr. 13 1764 of my Father Samuel Rhoads two hundred pounds Money belonging to Benj. Franklin Esqr which sum I promise to Repay by Discharging Such Bills or payments of such Sums of Money from time to time as my said Father shall direct and order. Witness my Hand Samuel Rhoads Junr
£200
S R Junr. Receiv’d
£44 of Danl. Williams in april
No 1 Recd Philada. Novr. 13th. 1764 of Benjn. Franklin. By the hand of Saml. Rhoads the sum of fifty Pounds on Acco.
£50 Per Robt: Smith
No 2 Receiv’d Nov: the 20th: 1764 of Benj: Franklin by the Hands of Saml Rhoads the sum of six Pounds on Accot.
£6: 0 William Anderson

December the 4th: 1764

pd: Robert Erwin his Accot. in full for Carting

£7:
  9

pd: Balti Clymer Do.

  1:
  18

  £9:
  7

Dec 12th: pd. John & Joseph Ledru after the Accot. had been Examind and settled by John Palmer
  £39:
  12:
  9

pd: Jacob Graff his Accot. for Bricks now Deld. per ordr of John Pa[?]er
}
  12:
  7:
  6

pd. Salter Brittain & Comp their Accot. for Boards &c.

pd: Receipt to S R Junr by Thos Forster

  £5:
  17

No. 2 Receiv’d Feb: 8th: 1765 of Samuel Rhoads Six Pounds towards Work done for Benja Franklin at his new House
£6 William Anderson
Receiv’d May the 13th: 1765 of Benjn: Franklin Esqr. by the Hands of Samuel Rhoads twenty Pounds which with several Sums formerly receiv’d Amts to fifty seven Pounds and is in full for Plaistering [No 2 vertically in margin] done for the sd: B: Franklin at his new House in this City and at his Plantation
£20: 0: 0 per William Anderson
pd. Adam Achart £5 in part of his accot. Examd. to be pd. when ratifyd.
Receiv’d June the 1st: 1765 of Samuel Rhoads four Pounds and one Shilling in full for eighteen perches of Stone Deld: Robt. Erwin for use of Benj: Franklin Esqr. Sent from John Parishes [?] Quarry £4: 1:0 recd. per Georg Kaffart [?]
Note the English name is George Caphart [?]
Sundrys pd. per Sa Rhoads Junr. Vizt.

To David Rose
£ 9:
  2

  Mich Weaver
  13:
  10

  David Rose Tyler
  3:
  12

  Conrad Bangon

  12

  William Rush
  68:
  4:
  11–

June 19th: pd. Michael Coon 27s. per note from John Ledru for Digging foundation 6 Days at 4s. 6d. per
Pd: James Davis 19s. 6d. being one half the Cost of Measuring the Plaistering done by Will. Henderson.

July the 23d Receiv’d of Deborah Franklin 50 Pounds which I paid the same Day to Robt: Smith per loose [?] Rect:
Septr: 9th: pd: David Rose Brickmaker £10 in part of his Accot. for Bricks used in the Well.
£3 pd [illegible] £8: 5s. 3d. & Sammy in full of his Accot: in all £21. 5s. 3d. the 27th Day
Pd: John Elmsly 41s. 9d. for Turning Sundry
Pd. Do: 3s. 3d. for Drops for Stairs
Pd: Do. £3: pd £1: 14s: 7d. in full of his Acct. now brote in June 21st. [?]
No. 12 Receivd Feby: the 6th. 1766 of Benjamin Franklin Esqr. by the Hands of Samuel Rhoads twenty Pounds toward our Accots of Work done at his Well Little Hous &c. John Ledru
£20 Joseph Ledru
No. 13 Receiv’d July the 7th 1766 of Benj: Franklin Esqr. by the Hands of Samuel Rhoads two pound and ten shillings in full for takeing up all the Bricks in his well. Cleaning several large Stones from under the Curb, settling it deeper and finishing the same fit for use and we promise to sink the sd: Well one foot deeper at our own Expence, in Case the Water shall hereafter fail
Witness our Hands Deanl Bearrd [?]The true Accot
[Cancelled:] Pd: John Guy per S Rhoads Junr: 15s. for [?] Load Sand. Receiv’d of Saml Rhoads five Pounds per John Ledru
April 10 pd: Robert Smith £10 towards his Work &c. per Rect.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Thomas Wharton, 13 November 1764
From: Wharton, Thomas
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Much Esteem’d Friend Benjamin Franklin
Philad[elphia, November 13, 1764]
Thy very kind Letter of the 9th. Instant I [had the pleasure] of receiving yesterday the Contents whereof afforded Matter of real Satisf[action, and] on being shewn to my honoured Father gave Him that just Sensation, which [warms the] Breast of every true Friend.
I have done myself the pleasure of visiting [thy Wife] and Daughter since thy departure; Who express’d their tender, and filial [Affection?] towards thee, sufficient to warm the coldest Heart: And be assured, if it Liys [in my] Power to contribute to their Ease and Pleasure, I shall be chearfull to do it.
The Party at present seem very [quiet, nor] can I, with any degree of Certainty learn, that They intend to give a formal A[nswer to] thy Remarks. W A—has been heared to say, that He was sorry to find [Mr. Frank]lin so warm, and did not know, He had given sufficient Cause therefor; We are [informed?] it sticks very close by Him, his Children and Friends being very uneasy about the Charge. Many of the Pr—ns express their Surprise at their signing the protest, when [such] Proofs could be brought in Opposition to it, And say that Had their Society been [left] unnoticed by thee—it might be well enough. Some of Us, the last Evening determined to have thy Remarks translated into Dutch, and gave Orders for it’s being distributed with Miller’s Newspaper, and expect to have it published in Bradford’s this Week.

On the 9th an Express passed through this City from Colo. Bouquet to General Gage—giving as I am informed, an Account of his being mett between the Tuscorora Hill, and the Shawanae’s Town, by a considerable Number of the Delaware and Shawanae Indians. Who intreated Him for Peace, which He absolutely refused Unless They would first deliver up all the Captives, and their Offspring, which [They] have promised to do; They requested Him to stop his March down, and give them [Time to?] perfect this Matter. But He knowing their perfidy, told them, He should continue on if They did not comply in Twelve days, He would destroy everything in his Way. [It] appears that they were destitute of Ammunition, and every Necessary of Life, So that We hope a Peace is near at hand; And as I am not able to give thee a circumsta[ntial] Account of this Matter, and being informed that [it is gone] home by the Packet shall refer [you th]ereto.
Captain Friend it’s [said] will sail in a Week, but can not learn that [Governor] Hamilton has taken his Passage. I am thy Sincere and Aff[ectionate]

Addressed: For / Benjamin Franklin Esqr. / Agent for the Province of / Pennsilvania / in / London
Endorsed: Tho. Wharton Nov. 13. and 20. 1764 answer’d Jan. 12