Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Sartine: Two Letters, 21 February 1780
From: Sartine, Antoine-Raymond-Gualbert-Gabriel de
To: Franklin, Benjamin

I.
Versailles le 21. fevr. 1780.
J’ai reçu, Monsieur, avec la Lettre que vous m’avez fait l’honneur de m’écrire le 13. de ce mois, celle que vous avez écrite à l’agent des Etats unis à l’Orient et je me suis empressé de lui faire passer le Commissaire de la Marine dans ce port. Je doute qu’elle soit arrivée assez promptement pour que cet Agent ait remis au Capitaine du Navire Anglois parlementaire les Prisonniers faits par le Corsaire le prince noir armé sous Pavillon Americain.
A l’egard de la reclamation que vous m’adressez de 478 prisonniers remis à M. le Duc de la Vauguyon et provenant de la division de M. Jones, J’aurai l’honneur de vous repondre sur cet objet par une depeche posterieure.
J’ai l’honneur d’être avec la Consideration la plus distinguée, Monsieur, votre tres humble et tres obeissant serviteur.
(signé) De Sartine.M. Franklin

II.
Versailles le 21. fevr. 1780.
J’ai l’honneur, de vous envoier, Monsieur, le mémoire qui m’a été adressé par le Greffier de l’Amirauté de Coutances dans lequel cet officier représente que la vente du petit Bateau sur lequel 6. Americans se sont échappés d’angleterre n’a produit que 34. l.t. et que les frais relatifs à cette vente montent a 139. l.t. en conséquence il reclame une somme de 105. l.t. Je ne doute pas que vous ne pensiez que cette procédure étant relative à des Sujets des Etats Unis, c’est a vous de donner des Ordres pour que le remboursement en soit fait au Greffier de cette amirauté.
J’ai l’honneur d’être avec la Consideration la plus distinguée, Monsieur, votre tres humble et tres obeissant Serviteur,
(signe) De SartineM. Franklin


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Joshua Johnson, 22 February 1780
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Johnson, Joshua

Sir,
Passy Feb. 22. 1780
Enclos’d I send you a Copy of Some Resolutions of Congress that I have lately receiv’d. I request to know whether you purpose to undertake the Business; and if so, when you think you may be at Leisure to enter upon it. I have the Honour to be, with great Esteem, Sir &c.
Mr. Joshua Johnson.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Jonathan Williams, Jr., 23 February 1780
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Williams, Jonathan Jr.

Dear Jonathan
Passy, Feb. 23. 1780
I have acquainted Mr Chaumont that I approved of his accepting the Bills, and that I would provide for the Payment. I observe they are drawn at 2, 3, & 4 Usances.—
As to the Cloathing. If the Congress had only demanded so many Suits, without giving particular Directions, we might have taken our Friends Opinions, and let them excercise their Judgments or their Fancies. But our Orders being very particular in describing every part of the Suit, I think they ought to be punctually executed.
I am just now told that your Uncle is in London, and that it is suspected he is gone to carry Intelligence to the Ministry.— Is he not still with you?

My Love to the Goodeys, & believe me ever Your affectionate Uncle
BFMr Williams
BF. to J. Williams Feb. 23. 1780 Approbation of M. de Chaumont’s Acceptance of Mr Williams’s Bills. Also a letter to Mr Johnson


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from John Paul Jones, 23 February 1780
From: Jones, John Paul
To: Franklin, Benjamin

L’Orient February 23d. 1780.
I have the pleasure to inform your Excellency that I this day had M. Secondat the Kings Constructor to examine the Situation of the Alliance, and find him of Opinion that the Head and Cutwater can be Secured without bringing the Ship into port.— I shall not therefore think of heaving down, and the bottom must remain without Caulking ’till a future Opportunity.— The Ship must be lightened by the head Six or Seven feet in Order to bring the Scarf of the Cutwater above the Surface of the Water which will be done as soon as possible; in the meantime the Rigging is under repair. Measure is taken for the Sails, and I attend with impatience your Orders with the Ministers permission to have Assistance from the Port.— I hope they will send immediate Orders to Gourlade and Moylan to pay the Wages due to the Surviving Seamen and Soldiers of the late Bon Homme Richard.— They Consider me as the Guarantee for their payment.— The French part of them follow me every where and declare that having engaged to serve under my Command they will Sail with no other person.—
I pray you to mention the matter so that they may be paid agreeable to their Engagement.—
My Eyes are still very weak and inflamed but I am with a Sincere Heart Dear Sir your Excellencys very obliged most humble Sevt.
Jno P JonesHis Excellency B. Franklin Esqr. &c. &c.
 Notation: J.P. Jones L’orient Feb 23. 80


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Marc Le Fort, 23 February 1780
From: Le Fort, Marc
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Monsieur
du 23e. fevrier 1780.
N’aiant receu aucune reponse à la lettre que nous primes la liberté de vous adresser pour le Sr. Ante. Gautier et à touttes celles que lui avons ecrit par cinq voyes differentes, nous prenons derechef la liberté de recourir à vos Bontés et Vous prier de faire passer lincluse à la Virginie à quelque personne sure pour etre remise au Sr. Gautier. Nous avons eté informés voye de la Martinique indirectement que le Sr. Gautier avoit eté obligé de se rendre à Philadelphie aupres de Monsieur Gerard pour pouvoir terminer touttes ses difficultés avec le Capne. Collineau à quoi il avoit eu le bonheur de parvenir, et que ensuite il etoit retourné en Virginie pour conclure et terminer l’arrangement.
Nous sommes dans la plus grande inquietude de ne recevoir point de lettres directement il faut quil n’en arrive plus de navires en Europe, la derniere qui nous est parvenue du Sr Gautier est en date du 17 janvier;

Excusés nous Vous en prions tant d’importunité, et Daignés agrèer les sentimens de la respectueuse Consideration avec laquelle nous sommes Monsieur Vos très humbles & obts serviteur,
ppre. de Mr faure Douneau & Cie.Le Fort
 Notation: Le fort Marseille Le 17. may 1779.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Arthur Lee, 24 February 1780
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Lee, Arthur

Sir,
Passy, Feb 24th. 1780.
I request you would send me by the Bearer, my Grandson, the original Treaty of Alliance which I have a present Occasion to see. And if in assorting your Papers you have separated such belonging to the Publick as may be useful here, and are not necessary to you, I request you would send them also, either now or before you leave Paris. I have the Honour to be, Sir, Your most obedt & most humble Servant
B Franklin
Hon. Ar. Lee Esqr
 Endorsed: Dr. Franklin’s Letters Feby. 24. 1780
Notation: B. Franklin to A. Lee Feb. 24th. 1780


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Richard Donaldson Cooke, 24 February 1780
From: Cooke, Richard Donaldson
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir/
Rotterdam Febry. 24th. 1780
The inclos’d is a letter I recd. from Mr. Bache of Philadelphia in June 1778, and have never had it in my Power to convey it to you sooner— I have come over to Europe in order to receive a Legacy left my father by his sister Anna Cooke of this Place, which I’m apprehensive will cause me trouble before I gett it, as it lies in the Bank of England— Mr Bache inform’d me it was thro Yourself and Mr. Williams of Natz, that the News first came to America for Which I return you Gentlemen My Sincere thanks— At the time of my first hearing the Above News I had the Honour to command a Compy. in the Continental Service of America, then at the Valley Forge and Contd: in the military way till a few months before I left the Continent, which was the 22 Novr. last, I make no doubt but you were well acquainted at that time with the Situation of our Army who are in High spirits and think of nothing less than Indepency with a Peace— I intend to sail for America in April, if you have any commands there that I can serve you in shall think myself greatly honour’d— I go by the way of St Eustatius—as I came— I am with Respect Your Mst. Obdt. Servt.
Richd: Donaldson Cooke
 Addressed: The Honble. / Doctr: Benjamin Franklin / Ambassador from the United States of America / at the Court of France
Notation: R. Donalson Feb 24 80


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Lafayette, 24 February 1780
From: Lafayette, Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, marquis de
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear Sir
Versaïlles 24h february [1780]
According to the letter your Grand son wrote me last Morning I have obtain’d from the Ministry that the four thousand Compleat Cloathes would be Carried on Board of the frigatte that is ordered to Carry me to America— so that if they are at Rochefort, la Rochelle, l’isle d aix or l’isle de Rhé By the Second of the next month they will be taken on Board— I Could not tell to mr. de chaumont that I was Myself Going, and therefore have not been very particular about this affair But to tell him that there was not time to be lost in sending the said Cloathes— Pray, my dear Sir, hurry on that Busines, and very friendly Believe me Yours
Lafayette
 Notation: La fayette 24 Feb 79


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from James Lovell, 24 February 1780
From: Lovell, James
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir
Philada. Feby. 24th. 1780
I forward the Gazettes to Boston for you, as usual without knowing when they will find a Passage from thence. Your Letter of Sepr. 30th and one from Doctor Lee of Decr. 8th. came to hand two days ago, your prior being May 26 recd. augst. 17th.— I hope you have got news Papers from me often, tho I have written few Letters. The commercial Comtee. are impressed with yr. Sentiments respecting Draughts. It is but a mere name at present. I hope that Branch may for a Time be conducted by the Admiralty-Board, till a new Arrangement can be formed to be executed by Persons not members of Congress. We are about calling on the States according to their Staples so that the Prospect of suitable Remittances is enlarged. This Plan is consequent upon the Resolve of Decr. 14. I am With much Respect Sir your Friend & humble Servant
James Lovell
Honble. Doctr. Franklin
The Chevalr. De la Luzerne expressed to me an Anxiety because we do not correspond by Cypher. I early communicated to you from Baltimore a very good one, tho’ a little tedious like that of Mr. Dumas. I inclose you a Sample at this Time.
  Addressed: Honorable / Doctor Franklin / Minister Plenipotentiary / from the United States / of America / France
Notations: J Lovell Feb. 24. 80 / To be sunk in Case of Danger


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from John Bondfield, 25 February 1780
From: Bondfield, John
To: Franklin, Benjamin

  Nantes 25 feb 1780
  Sir

I am this Instant honord with your favor of the 14 Curt.
The petition of the poor American is perfectly true as there represented some days after his arrival at Bordeaux he was taken ill of the Small Pox, he applied to me to get him into the Hospital they are not receivd into the Hospital in that disorder which I told the poor man. He was with one of his Companions who carried him as I then thought back to his Lodgings. I made enquiry after him sundry times but could never learn where he was. The morning Mr Adams was embarking for Paris he appeard at the door of the Hotel. I emediately recolected him and told him to call at my House. Mr Adams gave him also some releif. He calld the next day and gave me an account of all he had undergon (which I assure you affected me much) the same as incerted in the petion. I gave him wherewith to enable him to procure necessary subsistance for his recovery and the day before I left Bordeaux gave him also some further Releif.
At my return shall make enquiry about the man by whom he was so Hospitably entertaind and discharge the debt his bounty incur’d and am greatly flatterd at the oppertunity the poor Sailors petion gives me of exhibiting this mark of your Attentive care and Humain Attention to the miseries of the distrest Americans. I have a heavy charge against the State for like advances which I hope your Excellency will some day give me orders to lay before you. In Seaports we are almost dayly with some or other distrest Object wch in duty as fellow Beings and the addition of being honor’d with the American Affairs cannot disist from giving every succor their nessessities absolutely require. If Seamen we get them emediately shipt on board Vessels bound to the West Indies if none offer direct for the American States but Landsmen of which many Escaping from prison or other Accidental Causes they remain at our charge the most moderate we possibly can provide until some opportunities offer to send them forward.
With due respect I have the Honor to be Sir your most Obedient Humble Servant
John BondfieldHis Excellency B Franklin Esq
 Addressed: To / His Excellency B. Franklin Esq / Passy / prés / Paris
Notation: Bondfield 25 Feb 80


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Dumas, 25 February 1780
From: Dumas, Charles-Guillaume-Frédéric
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Monsieur,
Lahaie 25e. fevr.
Les deux imprimés ci-joints vous feront connoître que vous avez été ponctuellement obéi. Je vous félicite de toute mon ame de l’heureuse arrivée de nos dignes amis Mrs. Jay & Carmichael. Ce dernier m’a fait la faveur de m’écrire; & je prends la liberté de vous adresser une réponse pour lui, ne sachant de voie aussi sure pour la lui faire tenir.— Je lui fais aujourd’hui une autre réponse, mais en termes généraux seulement, thro’ 873. 337. 64. pour me conformer à sa direction une fois pour toutes seulement: car ce seroit vouloir subir, l’un & l’autre, le joug d’une vraie inquisition.
Les Etats d’Hollde. se séparent sans avoir rien fait du tout, parce que le Gd. Pense. a la Colique, & qu’on doit d’ailleurs celebrer dans 5 jours d’ici un jour de Jeune & prieres. Il se rassembleront dans la huitaine. En attendant 30. continue de faire aux 31. les plus belles protestations. On parle de porter l’équipement de la rep. pour cette année a 52 Vaissx. de guerre, d’emprunter pour cet effet 5 millions de florins, & de négocier auprès des Cours du Nord pour un Corps de Matelots.
Je suis avec un très-grand respect, Monsieur Votre trèshumble & très-obéissant serviteur
Dumas
Passy à S. E. Mr. Franklin
 Addressed: His Excellency / B. Franklin Esqr., Min. Plenip. / of the United States, &c. / Passy./.
Notation: Dumas, la haie Feb. 25. 80


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from John Paul Jones, 25 February 1780
From: Jones, John Paul
To: Franklin, Benjamin

L’Orient Feby 25th. 1780
I am honored with your Excellencies letter of the 19th.— I feel your reasons for Urging frugallity, and as I have not hitherto been among the most extravagant Servants of America so you may depend on it my regard for you will make me particularly Nice in my present situation. It will give me very great pleasure to be able to carry to America the supplies of Arms and Cloathing you mention, and I hope to be able to Cram a great part if not the whole into the Alliance. Should any remain I hope Capt Bell will be able to take them on board the Luzern and it is likely that he will Sail with the Alliance. I will pay the most Cheerful regard to the accomodation of the four Gentlemen that you mention as passengers. I hope they will agree together and I shall be happy in showing them attentions.— I am in the greatest want of a first Lieutenant, he that acts at present having a Second Lieutenants Commission and being oftener Drunk than Sober.
There is a Lieutenant in the Services (Mr. Rhodes) now on board the Luzern Capt. Bell; but he is not absolutely necessary there as they have other good Officers. I should esteem it a great favor if you would Order Lieut. Rhodes to come on board the Alliance as first Lieutenant.— I have lately written a letter to M. Baudouin, under Cover to Doctr. Bancroft that I suppose has been shown to you. My motive was to remove that prejudice with respect to me which I feared might prove Unfavorable to the Common Cause and of Course hurtful to America.
The people of the Alliance and Bon homme Richard are Anxious to Know if they will be paid for the Prizes Sent to Norway?— I am glad to be able to inform You that it is the Custom in America where Ships are in Company to Share agreeable to the weights of Metal and number of Men. With the greatest and most affectionate Respect & Esteem I am Your Excellencies very Obliged most humble Servant
Jno P Jones
His Excellency B. Franklin Esqr. &c &c.
 Addressed: His Excellency / B. Franklin Esqr. &c &c. / Paris
Notation: JP. Jones, L’orent Feb. 25. 80


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Franklin and Samuel Wharton: Memorial to Congress, 26 February 1780
From: Wharton, Franklin,Wharton, Samuel
To: Franklin, Benjamin

This memorial from Franklin and his long-time partner in western land ventures Samuel Wharton recapitulates the history of their efforts to establish a legitimate title to lands they had purchased in the unsettled area south of the Ohio River. Their enterprise originated in 1768 as an attempt by a group of Pennsylvania merchants, the “suffering traders,” to obtain land in compensation for losses they had sustained in Indian raids in 1763. By the summer of 1773 the petitioners had nearly achieved their objectives, having obtained a favorable report by the Board of Trade on their request and an order from the Privy Council to the solicitor general and attorney general to prepare the official instrument of the grant. Numerous delays over the next year, however, convinced the claimants that the immediate resolution of their cause would not issue from Whitehall. In April, 1775, the promoters of the Walpole Company in London authorized William Trent, an original member of the group who had been in London lobbying and was just returning home to America, to explore the possibilities for selling at least part of the tract of land they were certain would soon lawfully be theirs. Wharton had collected two legal opinions which assured them that the land titles needed no further validation by the crown.
The greatest obstacle to the claims of the Indiana promoters over the next three years was the insistence by Virginia that she alone had authority over her outlying lands. The Virginia constitution of 1776 had provided the outlines of the state’s western policy, and subsequent resolutions by state legislative bodies sought to implement it. Agents of the Indiana group and other land companies presented appeals to the legislature in May, 1779. The following month Virginia took its final stand on the issue: the state had the exclusive right of purchasing from the Indians all lands within its chartered boundaries.
With their hopes of recognition by Virginia dashed, the Indiana associates turned to the Continental Congress for “justice.” Although Franklin had long believed that sovereignty over the western lands lay with Congress and while agents of the company had informally approached members of Congress, they made no formal petitions prior to the fall of 1779. In September, however, associates of the company presented memorials to Congress. The timing of the plaintiffs’ appeal may seem slightly opportunistic: in the spring of 1779 the Indiana Company was arguing that the lands were Virginia’s to grant, but by the fall they contended that the Congress had assumed from the crown sovereignty over the territory in question.
Although Franklin and Wharton officially were still partners in the venture, we assume that Wharton played the major role in drafting the present memorial. The document apparently had been in the works for some months, and what precipitated it we cannot be sure. Possibly Wharton, in correspondence with members of the company back in America, suspected that Virginia would refuse their company’s claims and prepared to adopt a new approach to Congress. The memorial’s date, however, would indicate that he intended to take it to America in person, for he left Paris shortly afterward to make his way home to Philadelphia.

Passy, (in France) February 26 1780
To the Honorable, the Representatives of the United States of North America in Congress Assembled,
The Memorial of the Honorable Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Wharton humbly sheweth:
That on the 5th day of November 1768, His Britannick Majesty at a Congress held with the Six Nations of Indians, at Fort Stanwix, purchased from the said Indians a very extensive Tract of Country, Situate near the Province of New York, and upon the river Ohio in North America, The limits and Boundaries of which Tract are mentioned and described in the Deed of Sale and Conveyance from the said Indians to his said Majesty.
That the Consideration paid by his said Majesty’s Agent to the said Indians, on their executing the said Conveyance amounted to the Sum of £10,460.7.3. Sterling, exclusive of other Considerations referred to in the said Conveyance.
That in June 1769 a Petition was presented to his said Majesty by your Memorialists, in behalf of Themselves and several Persons residing in the United States and Great Britain, proposing to purchase 2,400,000 Acres, Part of the said tract, at such Price and Subject to such Quit Rents as should be thought reasonable, and the Petitioners humbly proposed, that a Grant of the Lands, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, should be made to Them and their Heirs and Assigns; and that such Grant should particularly specify the several and respective Boundaries and Limits within which the Lands thereby granted should be located or set out.
That the said Petition having been referred by his said Majesty in Council, to the Earl of Hillsborough and the other Lords Commissioners for Trade, and Plantations, your Memorialists and Several of their Associates attended their Lordships in the month of December, 1769, on the Subject of the said Petition; when the Earl of Hillsborough was pleased to recommend to the Petitioners, to endeavour to contract with the Lords Commissioners of the British Treasury for such Part of the said Lands, purchased from the said Six Nations, lying on the river Ohio, as would be Sufficient in extent to form a Seperate Government, and your Memorialists and their Associates acceding to this Suggestion and Recommendation, his Lordship immediately went from the Board of Trade to the said Board of Treasury, desiring the Petitioners, to wait ’till his Return when his Lordship was pleased to inform the Petitioners, that he had applied in their behalf to the Duke of Grafton, Lord North, and the other Lords of the said Treasury Board, which was then sitting, who had signified their Desire to receive the Proposal of the Petitioners, for purchasing such Tract of Land as was recommended to them to contract for as aforesaid.
That accordingly, on the 4th. day of January, 1770, a Memorial was presented to the said Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, proposing to purchase the Tract of Land, herein after described, and to pay the sum of £10,460 7. 3. Sterling money of Great Britain for the same, and a quit Rent of two shillings for every hundred Acres of cultivable Land, within the said Tract, the said quit Rent to commence after the Expiration of Twenty Years; the Boundaries of which Tract of Land were described in a Paper annexed to the said Memorial, and are as follow.— Beginning on the South Side of the River Ohio opposite to the mouth of Scioto, thence Southerly thro’ the Pass in the Ouasioto Mountains to the South Side of the said Mountains, thence along the Side of the said Mountains North-Easterly to the Fork of the great Kenhawa, made by the Junction of green Briar and new River, thence along the said Green Briar River on the easterly Side of the Same unto the Head or Termination of the North Easterly Branch thereof, thence Easterly to the Allegheny Mountains Then along the said Allegany Mountains to Lord Fairfax’s line, thence along the same to the Spring Head of the North Branch of the River Potowmack, thence along the western boundary Line of the Province of Maryland to the Southern boundary Line of the Province of Pennsylvania, Thence along the said boundary Line of the Province of Pennsylvania to the End thereof, Thence along the western boundary Line of the said Province of Pennsylvania, untill the same shall strike the River Ohio, thence down the said River Ohio to the Place of Beginning.
That the said Lords Commissioners of the Treasury took into Consideration the said Memorial and Paper containing a Description of the Lands applied for, and agreed to accept the Price offer’d to be paid for the Purchase of the said Lands, in Case the other Departments of his said Majestys government, who were the proper Judges of the Policy of the Grant applied for, should approve such Grant, but with Respect to the quit Rents proposed to be reserved, and the Periods at which They should commence their said Lordships postponed any Decision thereon ‘till They received information from the Earl of Hillsborough and the Board of Trade, what quit Rents were reserved on Grants in his said Majesty’s Colonies, which lie nearest to the Lands in Question, and from what Periods after the Grants such quit Rents commenced respectively.
That on the 19th Day of January 1770 the Earl of Hillsborough transmitted to the said Board of Treasury, an Account of the quit Rents reserved in such Grants of Lands in North America, as were nearest to the Lands applied for.
That your Memorialists, and their Associates being informed that Arthur Lee Esquire; who had prayed his said Majesty, on the 16th day of March 1768, to give and grant to him and his Associates 250,000 Acres of the said Land, had presented a Petition to the Lords Commissioners for Trade, and Plantations, as had also Colonel George Mercer, in Behalf of the Ohio Company (who claimed 500,000 Acres within the Limits of the Tract prayed for) and That the said Petitions had been transmitted to the said Lords Commissioners of the Treasury for the Purpose of Staying the Grant of the Lands to your Memorialists and their Associates. They Therefore, on the Fourth Day of April 1770, represented to the said Lords of the Treasury, that as their Lordships had agreed to the Sum offered to be paid for the said Purchase, and nothing was wanting to complete the same, but fixing the Time for the Commencement of the quit Rents, They hoped the Conclusion of their Treaty would not be delayed, at the Request of the said Petitioners.
That on the 7th of April 1770, the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury having been attended by your Memorialists and several of their Associates, Their Lordships acquainted them that as the Matter contained in the said Petition (of Colonel Mercer) related Singly to the question, how far the Grant to your Memorialists and their Associates could be made, consistenly with Justice, it could not properly come under the Consideration of that Board, who had nothing before them but the Settlement of the Purchase Money, and quit Rents to be paid, and with Respect to these Points, their Lordships agreed to accept the Proposition of the Memorialists, as to the purchase Money and quit rents to be paid for the said Grant.
That on the 8th Day of May 1770 your Memorialists and their Associates presented a Petition to his said Majesty in Council, praying that a Grant of the said Lands should be made to them, reserving therein to all Persons their just and legal Rights to any Parts or Parcels of said Lands, which might be comprehended within the Tract prayed for by the Memorialists.
That your Memorialists, and their Associates having agreed with the said Colonel George Mercer on Behalf of the Ohio Company; he withdrew his Application to his said Majesty for a seperate Grant of Lands, within the Tract prayed for by the Memorialists, and relinquished all Claim thereto.
That on the 25 day of May 1770, the Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs, referred to the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, the Memorialists said Petition of the 8th of May 1770.
That in July 1770, when the aforesaid Petition was under the Consideration of the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, the Earl of Hillsborough was pleased to send for and acquaint your Memorialists and several of their Associates, that the said Commissioners were of opinion, The Government of Virginia should be furnished with Copies of all Papers relating to your Memorialists and Associates Contract with the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, and that until such Time, as an Answer was received to a Letter, which the Earl of Hillsborough was directed by his Britannick Majesty to write to the governor of the Colony (inclosing the said Papers) all farther Proceedings with your Memorialists, and their Associates, touching the Premisses, must be suspended; but his Lordship was pleased to assure your Memorialists, and several of their Associates, that he should by the said King’s express Command, forbid the Governor of Virginia to grant any Warrants for, or suffer any Surveys to be made on any Lands within the Boundaries of the Contract of your Memorialists, or beyond the Limits, prescribed by the Royal Proclamation of 1763.

That on the 24th of February 1771 the Honorable Mr. Walpole (one of your Memorialists Associates) understanding, that an Answer was received from the President, and Council of Virginia to the foregoing Letter of the Earl of Hillsborough, made Application to his Lordship for a Copy of the same, and on the day following,— His Lordship, by Letter, informed Mr. Walpole “that he had directed Copies to be made and Sent him of such Parts of the Letter as he had received from Virginia, as related to your” (memorialist’s) “Application for Lands in America, now before the Board of Trade.”— And that accordingly, your Memorialists and their Associates were furnished with Copies of such Parts of Mr. President Nelson’s Letter (dated Williamsburgh October 18th 1770) as related to their Contract aforesaid, by which it appeared, that all the Proceeding’s concerning the said Contract with the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury (transmitted, as above, by Order of the Board of Trade) and the Earl of Hillsborough’s Letter of the 20th of July 1770 (forbidding by the said King’s Order, The granting of any more Lands westward of the Alleghany Mountain) had been received “read in Council, and maturely considered.”
That it also appear’d, that the said President and Council had represented to the Earl of Hillsborough, that “his late Majesty (George the Second) had been pleased to order 200,000 Acres of Land to be granted to the Ohio Company, and that Governor Dunwiddie had, by proclamation, promised 200,000 Acres on, or near the Ohio to Such Persons as would voluntarily enter the King’s service for the Defence of the Frontiers &c. (as upon Reference being had to the said Letter, will more particularly appear) But at the same Time, the said President (and Council) observed “that in all other Grants, He did not find any Steps had been taken towards Surveying and Seating them. Of Course (he added) They are, or will become lapsed”, And also, That,— “We do not presume to say, to whom our gracious Sovereign Should grant his vacant Lands, all that We can consistently with our Duty hope for, is that all prior Rights, whether equitable or legal, may be preserved and protected.”
That upon the Earl of Hillsborough receiving the foregoing Letter, his Lordship wrote to Mr. President Nelson, January 2d. 1771, acknowledged the Receipt of his Dispatches, No. 2, 5, & 6, and observed to him, “That as the first related to a Matter under the Consideration of the Lords of Trade, his Majesty had ordered Copies thereof and of it’s inclosures to be sent to that Board, and that his Lordship had no Doubt, but in the Consideration of them,— Attention would be given to the equitable Claims of those bona fide Settlers, whose Possessions were derived from the Grants made to the Ohio Company in 1754, or such as were passed in Consequence of Instructions from his late Majesty or Lieutenant Governor Dunwiddies Proclamation, at the Commencement of last War.”
That after much Attendance and Solicitation at the Board of Trade, the Earl of Hillsborough and the other Lords Commissioners of that Board did on the 15th Day of April 1772 make a Report to the said Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs, as to the Propriety of the Grant prayed for by your Memorialists and their Associates, both in Point of Policy and Justice …; and among other Reasons assigned by their Lordships against the Policy of the said Grant They were pleased to observe, That the Tract prayed for was out of all Advantageous Intercourse with Great Britain …; And with Regard to the Justice of the said Grant, their Lordships were pleased to report, That they presumed this Consideration could have Reference only to the Case of such Persons, who had already possession of Lands in that Part of the Country, under legal Titles, derived from Grants made by the Governor and Council of Virginia.

That on the first Day of July 1772, the said Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs took the said Report of the said Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations into Consideration, and having heard what your Memorialists and their Associates had to offer thereupon, did humbly report to his said Majesty, that it appeared to them upon full and mature Consideration of the Evidence, which the Petitioners had produced in Support of their Said Petition, (The most material Part of which had not been produced at the Board of Trade.)
1st. That the Lands in question had been for some Time past, and were then in an actual State of settling, Numbers of Families to a very considerable Amount removing thither from his said Majesty’s other Colonies.
2ly. That the Lands in question, did not lie beyond all advantageous Intercourse with the kingdom of Great Britain.
That the Lords of the said Council for Plantation Affairs, did at the same Time report to his said Majesty, that it was their Opinion, that in Case his said Majesty should be graciously pleased to make a Grant of any Part of the Lands in question, that the Petitioners were best entitled to such Mark of his Majesty’s Royal Favor, in Regard they were the first who had made Proposals for the Purchase from Government, of Lands in his Majesty’s Plantations in America, and had agreed to take the whole Expence of the Civil Government on themselves and their Lordships at the same Time that they recommended it to his said Majesty to comply with the Prayer of the Petitioners, submitted it, as their Opinion That Orders should be sent to the Superintendant of Indian Affairs, to apprize the Tribes of the six Nations and their Confederates, of such intended Settlement; and That the said Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations should be directed to prepare a proper Clause or Clauses to be inserted in the Grant, Saving and reserving to the respective Occupiers all prior Claims to Lands within the Limits of the said Grant, whether derived from equitable, or legal Titles, and further strictly prohibiting the Petitioners and their Associates, and their, and each and every of their Heirs and Assigns from settling occupying or improving any Part of the Lands lying between the Line which had been settled by the Treaty as well with the Tribes of the Six Nations and their Confederates, as with the Cherokee Indians, as the boundary line between his said Majesty’s Territories and the hunting Grounds of the Indians and the Line proposed by the Petitioners, beginning on the South Side of the River Ohio, opposite to the Mouth of Scioto, and running thence Southerly Thro’ the Pass of the Ouasioto Mountains to the South Side of the said Mountains, but that all that Part of the said Lands comprehended between the said two Lines should remain wholly unsettled and unoccupied by the Petitioners and their Associates, and each and every of their Heirs, and Assigns untill such Time as his said Majesty’s Allowance and Permission for the Settling and occupying the same, Should be first obtained;— And lastly, the said Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs did report to his said Majesty, that it was their Opinion, that to the End the several Persons actually Settled, or that might thereafter Settle, might be more properly and quietly governed, that the said Settlement and District Should be erected into a Seperate Government, in such Form, and Manner as to his said Majesty’s Wisdom should seem meet, and under such other Restrictions and Regulations as his said Majesty’s Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations Should advise.
That on the 14th Day of August 1772 his said Majesty taking the said Report of the said Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs into Consideration was pleased, with the Advice of his privy Council to approve thereof, and to order, that the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations should consider and report to his Majesty in Council, if any and what Terms of Settlement and Cultivation, and what Restrictions and Reservations to the British Crown were necessary to be inserted in the said Grant, exclusive of the Money agreed to be paid by the Petitioners in Consideration of the said Tract of Land, And the Reservation of a quit Rent of two Shillings for every hundred Acres of cultivable Land within the said Tract, after the Expiration of twenty years and that they should likewise prepare a proper Clause or Clauses to be inserted therein, for saving and reserving to the respective Occupiers all prior Claims to Lands within the Limits of the said intended Grant, whether derived under equitable or legal Titles. And also strictly prohibiting the Petitioners and their Associates and each and every of their Heirs and Assigns, from settling occupying or improving any Part of the Lands which lie between the Line which had been settled by Treaty as well with the Tribes of the Six Nations and their Confederates as with the Cherokee Indians, as the Boundary Line between his said Majesty’s Territories and the hunting Grounds of the Indians, and the Line proposed to be drawn by the Petitioners (as above described) but that all that Part of the said Lands comprehended between the said two Lines should remain wholly unsettled and unoccupied by the Petitioners and their Associates, and each and every of their Heirs and Assigns ’till such Time as the Petitioners their Heirs and Assigns should have obtained his said Majesty’s Permission and Allowance for settling and occupying the same. And his said Majesty was pleased further to order that the said Lords Commissioners for Trade And Plantations should prepare and lay before his Majesty in Council a Plan for establishing a Seperate Government upon the said Tract in such Form and Manner and under such Restrictions and Regulations as they should judge proper and expedient; together with an Estimate of the Expence, and the Ways and Means by which the same should be defrayed by the Petitioners.
That on the 14th Day of August his said Majesty in Council was pleased by a further Order in Council to approve the Report of the said Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs; and accordingly to give the necessary Directions to the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations for carrying the same into Execution: And his said Majesty was thereby pleased to order “that the right Honorable the Earl of Dartmouth one of his said Majesty’s principal Secretarys of State Should receive his Majesty’s Pleasure for directing his Majesty’s Superintendant for Indian Affairs to apprize the Chiefs of the Six Nations and their Confederates, of his Majesty’s Intention to form a Settlement upon the Lands purchased of them by his Majesty in 1768.”
That in Consequence of the said Order of Council, the Earl of Dartmouth sent Instructions to his Majesty’s Superintendant for Indian Affairs, and in Obedience thereto the Deputy Agent for Indian Affairs on the 3d. of April 1773 assembled the Chiefs of the Western Nations and informed them in his Majesty’s Name, of his Majesty’s Resolution to form a Settlement upon Part of the Lands purchased of the Six Nations in 1768 and on the sixth Day of the same Month the Chiefs in Council returned an Answer, and therein among other Things observed, that as their Bretheren the white People had for some years past been settling in great Numbers thro’ that Country, they could not help being alarmed, as they appeared to do it, without the Authority of their wise People, or any good Intentions towards them. That for the Peace of the Country it was as necessary for prudent People to govern them, as it was for them to take Care of their foolish young Men. And they desired, that his Majesty might be assured that they wished nothing more than to cultivate the strictest Friendship with their Bretheren the English in that Country, And that it would give them the highest Satisfaction to take the Person, whom his Majesty should appoint to govern there by the Hand and to afford him all the Assistance on their Parts, that they were able to give in renewing and strengthning the Chain of Friendship and promoting the Peace and Tranquillity of that Part of the Country.
That on the 6th Day of May 1773 the Earl of Dartmouth and the other Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations were pleased to report to his said Majesty, that his Majesty having been pleased by his Order in Council of the 14th of August 1772 to approve of a Report from the right honorable the Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs containing several Propositions respecting the Application made as aforesaid, for a Grant of Lands upon the River Ohio in North America and for erecting the said Lands into a seperate Government and to direct them to report their Opinion touching the Conditions of the said Grant and the Plan upon which Such Seperate Government ought to be established; They did therefore, in Obedience to his said Majesty’s Command, take the said Order of Reference into Consideration, and represented to his said Majesty thereupon.
That as the Measures which his said Majesty had been pleased to Adopt, in Regard to his Possessions upon the Ohio had they humbly conceived been principally founded upon a Consideration of the Necessity there was, for introducing some regular and uniform System of Government into a Country which tho’ at present a Part of the Colony of Virginia was yet from its remote Situation, incapable of participating of the Advantages arising from the civil Institution of that Colony, they did therefore, make the Consideration of the Plan of Government the first Object of their Attention, and as they presumed that it was not intended that the Limits of the new Government to be formed Should be confined to the Tract proposed to be granted in Propriety but that it Should comprehend all such Parts of that Country as by the Agreement of the Indians, were reserved for the Settlement of his Majesty’s Subjects, and which from their Nature and remote Situation could not participate of the Advantages of the Civil Constitution of any other Colony, they therefore craved Leave humbly to propose
1st. That the Lands comprehended within the Boundaries described in the said Report Should be seperated from the Colony of Virginia and be erected by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, into a distinct Colony, under the Name of Vandalia, And that the Form and Constitution of Government for the Said Colony Should be such, as is in and by the Said Report mentioned and expressed; And particularly that the Annual Salaries and Allowances to the Several Officers of Government, within the said new Colony should be as follows vizt

To the Governor
£1,000”-”-

To the Chief Justice
500”-”-

To the Assistant Judges
400”-”-

To the Attorney General
150”-”-

To the Clerk of the Assembly
50”-”-

To the Secretary
200”-”-

To the two Ministers
200”-”-

£2,500”-”-

And that in Order to secure the Payment of the said Establishment, together with Such further Annual Sum, not exceeding £500, as should be necessary for contingent Expences, five of the Persons to whom the Lands prayed for, being a Part of the Lands included within the said new Government, Should be granted as hereinafter mentioned, Should give Security in the Sum of ten thousand Pounds Sterling for the Payment by the Proprietors of the Sums above mentioned, either into the Receipt of his said Majesty’s Exchequer or into the Hands of such Person as his said majesty should please to appoint to receive the Same, the said Payments to be made halfyearly and the first Payment to be made at the Expiration of Six months from the Date of the Governors Commission, and to continue to be paid half yearly as aforesaid, untill Provision Should have been made by some Act of general Assembly to be approved of by his said Majesty for the Support of the Said Establishment.
That pursuant to his said Majestys Order in Council of the 14th Day of August 1772, so much and Such Part of the Land included within the Limits of the new Colony as are hereinafter mentioned,— be granted to your Memorialists and their Associates, That is to say;
All the Lands included within the Following lines vizt, “beginning at the South Side of the River Ohio, opposite to the Mouth of Scioto, then Southerly thro’ the Pass of the Ouasioto Mountains, to the South Side of the said Mountains, then along the Side of the said Mountains North Easterly to the Fork of the Great Kenhawa made by the Junction of Green Briar River and new River, Thence along the said Green Briar River on the easterly Side of the same unto the Head or Termination of the North Easterly Branch thereof, thence easterly to the Allegheney Mountains, thence along the said Allegheney Mountains to Lord Fairfax’s Line, thence along the same to the Spring head of the North Branch of the River Potomack, thence along the Western Boundary Line of the Province of Maryland to the Southern Boundary Line of the Province of Pennsylvania thence along the said boundary Line of the Province of Pennsylvania to the End thereof thence along the Western Boundary Line of the said Province of Pennsylvania untill the Same shall strike the River Ohio, thence down the said River Ohio to the Place of beginning.”
That the said Grant should be made upon the following Conditions, and Reservations that is to say,
That the Grantees, Should upon the Day of the Date of the Grant pay into the Receipt of his said Majesty’s Exchequer the Sum of ten thousand four hundred and Sixty Pounds seven Shillings and three Pence, pursuant to the Agreement made with his said Majesty’s Treasury on the 7th of April 1770.
That the said Grantees Should yearly And every year for ever, pay to his said Majesty his heirs and Successors or to such Person or Persons as his said Majesty should appoint to receive the same the Sum of two Shillings Sterling for every hundred Acres which they should lease, Let, demise plant or settle, whether the said Lands be settled and planted by the Said Grantees themselves, or by their Heirs or Assigns or Undertenants, the said Payment not to commence untill the Expiration of twenty years After such Leasing, Letting, demising, planting or Settling respectively.
That for the better ascertaining And Securing the Payment of the said quit Rent all Agreements for Possession, Leases, Grants, Conveyances, Demises, Plantings, Settlements or Proper Memorials thereof should be within Six months from the Date thereof transmitted to the Auditor of the Plantations in Great Britain and that all such Agreements for Possession, Leases, Grants, Conveyances, Demises, Plantings, Settlements or Memorials thereof Should not be admitted as Evidence in any Court of Law unless the Same were registered and recorded as above.
That in each of the Parishes, into which the Several Counties within the Province should be divided, there Should be a Tract of three hundred Acres reserved for the Purpose of a Glebe for the Support of a Minister of the Church of England And that such Glebe Land Should be granted by the Proprietors or their Heirs or Assigns as soon as a proper Church should be built and twelve Vestrymen elected out of such of the Parishioners as Should Subscribe to and profess the Doctrine of the Church of England, And that the said Grants be made free from any quit Rents or other Rents or Services whatsoever.
That the said Grantees Should within the Space of one year from the Date of the Grant erect and build or cause to be erected and built, at their own proper Cost and Charge within Such Part of the Province granted to them as his said Majesty Should direct and appoint a House proper for the Residence of his said Majesty’s Governor and also a Church.
That all prior Claims to Lands, within the Limits of the said Grant whether derived under equitable or Legal Titles Should be Saved and reserved to the respective Occupiers and Possessors with Exception however to all Occupancy of what Nature or kind soever taken or made Subsequent to the Agreement for the Purchase of the said Grant made with the Lords of the Treasury on the 4th Day of January 1770, And provided also that the Grant of two hundred thousand Acres to be made to the Officers of the Regiment, raised and paid by the Colony of Virginia in 1754, in Consequence of the Engagement made to them, should be located in one contiguous Tract.
That there Should be a Reservation to his said Majesty his Heirs and Successors of all Mines of Gold Silver or precious Stones, and of a Right of erecting on any Part of the said Lands Such Forts and Fortifications as might hereafter be judged necessary for the Security and Defence of the Possesions of the Crown of England in America.
And lastly, Their Lordships humbly craved Leave to represent to his said Majesty that they had omitted any Restriction upon the Proprietors from Settling to the West of the Line Agreed upon with the Cherokees at Lochabor in October 1770; that Restriction having, as they conceived, become altogether unnecessary, as the Indians had for the Sake of a natural Boundary consented, that the District reserved to his said Majesty for settlement should be bounded on the South West by the River Louisa or Catawba River, which is very far West of the utmost Extent of the Tract proposed to be granted in Propriety.
That on the 19th Day of May 1773 his said Majesty was pleased by an Order in Council of that Day to refer the said Report of the Earl of Dartmouth, and the other Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations to the Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs.
That on the 3rd Day of July 1773 their Lordships by an Order in Council bearing Date that Day were pleased to observe, that his said Majesty having pleased by his Order in Council of the 19th of May last to refer unto that Committee a Report made by the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations (in pursuance of his said Majesty’s Order in Council of the 14th of August 1772) proposing amongst other things the Several Conditions and Reservations to be inserted in the Grant of certain Lands on the Ohio in North America prayed for by your Memorialists and their Associates, the Lords of the Committee that day took the Same into Consideration and were thereby pleased to order that his said Majesty’s Attorney and Sollicitor General Should prepare and lay before that Committee a Draught of a proper Instrument to be passed under the great Seal of Great Britain containing a Grant to Thomas Walpole Esquire and others his Associates of the lands prayed for by their Memorial inserting in said Draught the Conditions and Reservations proposed in the said Report of the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, a Copy whereof was thereunto annexed.
That on the 16th Day of July 1773 his said Majesty’s Attorney and Sollicitor General made a Report to the Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs on the said Order of Council, (of July 3d, 1773) And after due Consideration of the said Report, their Lordships were pleas’d on the 28th Day of October 1773, to make the following mandatory order thereupon. Vidzt.

At the Council Chamber. Whitehall, the 28th Dayof October 1773.
By the right Honble: the Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs.—
Whereas there was this Day laid before their Lordships a Report from his Majesty’s Attorney and Sollicitor General upon taking into Consideration an Order of this Committee bearing Date the 3rd. of July last, whereby they were directed to prepare a Draught of a proper Instrument to be passed under the Great Seal of Great Britain containing a Grant to the Honorable Thomas Walpole and others his Associates of certain Lands on the River Ohio in North America inserting in the said Draught, The Conditions and Reservations proposed in a Report of the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, bearing Date the 6th of May 1773, a Copy whereof was annexed to the said Order, in which Report of his Majesty’s said Attorney and Sollicitor General, it is humbly Submitted, that the Granting the Said Lands in joint Tenancy will probably render it impossible to make any under grants, with complete Titles. That the Description of the Thing to be granted is much more loose and uncertain Than hath been usual in Royal Grants, or than hath been practised So far as they know, in any but the Grants, which were made for the Erection of Colonies to the first Adventurers in America, while it was wholly unknown. And further, That the Quit Rents will not be so well Secured to his Majesty, if they are not reserved from the Lands under granted, instead of being made payable by the Grantees— The Lords of the Committee this Day took the said Report into Consideration, and are hereby pleased to order, that his Majesty’s Attorney and Solicitor General do prepare and lay before this Committee the Draught of a proper Instrument to be passed under the great Seal of Great Britain, containing a Grant to the Honble: Thomas Walpole Samuel Wharton, Benjamin Franklin and John Sarjent, Esquires, and their Heirs and Assigns of the Lands prayed for by their Memorial (they being the Persons, who in Behalf of themselves and their Associates contracted for the said Lands with the Lords Commissioners of his Majesty’s Treasury) inserting in the said Draught, the Conditions and Reservations proposed in the said Report of the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, dated the 6th of May 1773, excepting that Part of the said Report, which proposes, that the Grantees do pay the quit Rents to his Majesty his Heirs, and Successors; And in Respect thereof, the Lords of the Committee are hereby pleased to order That the said quit Rents be reserved from the Lands which shall be leased, sold, demised, planted or settled, whether the said Lands be planted, and settled by the said Grantees themselves, or by their Heirs or Assigns or Undertenants; the said Payment of the quit Rents not to commence untill the Expiration of twenty years after such leasing demising, Planting or Settling respectively, And for the better ascertaining the Bounds of the said Tract of Land to be granted as aforesaid, their Lordships are hereby pleased to transmit the Map of the Tract of Land prayed for by the Memorialists, and to order that his Majesty’s Attorney and Solicitor General do insert the Bounds in the same Manner as they are described and ascertained in the said Report of the Lords Commissioners for Trade, and Plantations, dated the 6th of May 1773—
That your Memorialists and their Associates understanding, in the Autumn of 1774, that the Earl of Dunmore, the then Governor of Virginia, had presumed to pass Grants for some Lands comprehended within the Bounds of their Contract aforesaid represented the Same to the Earl of Dartmouth, at that Time Secretary of State for the American Department, and his Lordship was pleased to convey his Britannic Majesty’s Command to the said Governor, in the following Words.

My Lord
Whitehall Octr. 5 1774
As your Lordship says, that you was entirely ignorant of the Claim of Mr: Walpole and his Associates, otherwise than by Common Report, I think fit to enclose your Lordship, a Copy of Lord Hillsborough’s Letter to Lord Bottetourt of the 20th July 1770, the Receipt of which was acknowledged by Mr. President Nelson, a few Day’s after Lord Bottetourt’s Death, and appears by his Answer to it, to have been laid before the Council,— That Board therefore could not be ignorant of what has passed here upon Mr: Walpole’s application, nor of the King’s express Command contained in Lord Hillsborough’s letter, That no Land whatever Should be granted beyond the Limits of the Royal Proclamation of 1763, untill The King’s farther Pleasure was signified, And I have only to observe, That it must have been a very extraordinary Neglect in them, not to have informed Your Lordship of that Letter, and those Orders. signed.— I am, &c.
  Dartmouth.

That in the Spring 1775, the Draught of a Royal Grant for the Lands aforesaid being prepared, pursuant to the said Order of Council, and having undergone the Examination and Correction of Lord Camden, and other’s of your Memorialists’ Associates in England, the Lord President of his Majesty’s Privy Council requested, That the Honble Mr. Walpole and his Associates would wait for the Grant aforesaid, and the Plan of Government of Vandalia, untill Hostilities, which had then commenced between Great Britain and the United Colonies, Should cease.
That your Memorialists and their Associates did incur a great Loss of Time (particularly Samuel Wharton, in an Absence of more than Eight Years from his Family, Connexions and Affairs) and expended the Sum of Nine thousand, five hundred, and fifty seven Pounds 13/6 Sterling money of Great Britain, in conducting this Business thro’ The various Offices and Departments of the British Government, and in making Presents to the Indians on the River Ohio, in Order to maintain Peace and Tranquillity there, and by these Means together with the before recited Contract, between them, and the said British Government, your Memorialists and their Associates did acquire an equitable Title to the Lands in Question, notwithstanding the Instrument for actually conveying the Same, was not compleated on Account of the Difference, which arose between the United Colonies and Great Britain,— And as your Honors have now succeeded to the Sovereignty of the Territory in question, Your Memorialists confide, That you will think it just and reasonable, To consider the said Lands as Subject to such Contracts, and Dispositions, as were made concerning Them, while they confessedly belonged to the British Crown; And that, your Memorialists, and their Associates, who have ever been ready to fulfil their Parts of the said Contract, may not suffer so great an Injury by a Change of Sovereignty, as to be deprived of their equitable Rights to the said Lands.
Your Memorialists therefore humbly pray, that the said Lands may be granted to Them, and to their Heirs and Assigns, (in Trust nevertheless, for and concerning the respective purparts and Shares belonging to their several Associates) upon the Terms and Conditions of the said Contract, and Order of Council, or upon such other Terms as may be convenient to the Interests of the United States And not injurious to your Memorialists and their Associates.

And your Memorialists, as in Duty bound shall ever pray &c.
Saml. WhartonB Franklin

 Notation: Memorial from the Hon. B. Franklin & Saml. Wharton Feby 26th. 1780.— March 16. 1781


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Digges, 26 February 1780
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Digges, Thomas

Dear Sir
Passy Feb. 26. 1780.
I comply’d readily with your late Recommendations, placing faith in the Declaration of the Parties, that the Transaction was bonafide intended, for the Purpose mentioned, getting home their Property. If this should be extended to cover an illicit Trade, it will when discovered effectually put a Stop to such Operations. I see by some thing in a late paper from that Country, that they begin to suspect them.
The not complying with The Paroles is doubly provoking, not only by the refusal of what is Just, but by so long delaying the Refusal and keeping the matter in suspense. This however I put into a Bag I keep for small Accounts that may or may not some time or other be ballanced. We have so many greater Injuries to complain of that such little ones may at present without much Inconvenience pass unnotic’d.— So I urge that point no more, but shall send over English Prisoners for all the americans Brought hither, I have Thoughts though of requiring by a public advertisement the People releas’d upon their parole, to render themselves here accordingly, as many of Them engag’d to do in failure of Sending Americans in their Places. But I do not flatter myself that a Single Englishman will have Honour enough to comply with the Requisition. So corrupt are become the Morals of that once generous and virtuous Nation.—
I wrote to you before about the affair of Capt. Cook, I have only to add, that the Duke de Croy Governor of Calais and Picardy, in my Opinion might with great Propriety be presented with one of those Medals as he zealously and industriously promoted the giving Orders to The arm’d Vessels of france and America, not to molest that celebrated Navigator. If therefore the society should imagine any Inconvenience in giving a Medal to me under present Circumstances, I would easily excuse their not doing it, if they give it to him.
Your Bill drawn for the Maps, &c. is long Since paid, and I lately sent you an advance of 100£ which I hope you receiv’d.
With great Esteem, I am, Dear sir.
Mr. Digges


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Fleury, 26 February 1780
From: Fleury, François-Louis Teissèdre de
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir
Paris, hotèl De picardie Ruë de seine. 26. f. 1780.
Marquis De la fayète goes to america, & I Remain behind him, with grief, but determined to follow him.—
I writte to Congress, & general wasshington, to ask a prolongation of furlough; if you did not think improper, to interfere by your friends, or by writting to congress, in my favour, I could expect they would grant to me, what the king of france, has granted before to serve the united states;
I beg that favour of you & Remain your most obedient humble servant
FLEURY.
If Mr. Dana would do the same I would be much obliged to him.

 Addressed: à Monsieur / Monsieur franklin, Ministre / plenyp. / èn son hotèl / à passy.
Notation: Fleury 26 Feb 80


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Fleury, 26 February 1780
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Fleury, François-Louis Teissèdre de

Sir
Passy, Feb. 26. 1780
I am sorry you were disappointed in meeting me at Versailles. In all your Billets except that of yesterday you omitted mentioning where you Lodged, otherwise I could have acquainted you that I should not be at court on the Day you Expected me.
I suppose you will acquaint the Congress or General Washington with your Reasons for desiring a Prolongation of your furlow. As you have not communicated them to me, I know not what to say in order to enforce them. I can therefore only forward your Request, and pray that it may be favourably considered, which I shall do. I imagine however that the Congress have so high an Opinion of your merit as an officer, and the Importance of having you in actual Service that the request will not be lightly granted.
With great Esteem &ca.
Col. Fleury.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Richard Bennett Lloyd, 26 February 1780
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Lloyd, Richard Bennett

Dear Sir,
Passy, Feb. 26. 1780.
I have just receiv’d your favour of the 18th. Instant. I had before answer’d another that contain’d much the Same matter. I hope that Answer is come to hand before this time. I can now only repeat, that your present Circumstances and those of your family well considered, I must approve of your endeavouring to get home in the manner you find safest and cheapest. And as you have always maintain’d the Character of a firm friend to The Interests of your Country, I cannot but wish you and good Mrs. LLoyd (to whom please to present my affectionate Respects) a prosperous Voyage and happy sight of your friends on the other side of the Water. I believe your Showing this Letter to The Persons you mention, will have the same Effect as my Writing to Them particularly in your Behalf, their generous Dispositions being always ready to befriend Merit, on perhaps a slighter Testimony than this from me of its being real. With great and sincere Esteem, I have the honour to be, Dear sir, your &c.
M. LLoyd, London.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Wren, 26 February 1780
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Wren, Thomas

Revd. Sir
Passy, Feb. 26. 1780
Your great attention to the wants of our poor captiv’d Countrymen, and your kind and charitable Care of Them in their sickness and other Distresses; I have often heard spoken of by such as have escaped and pass’d thro’ this Place, in the strongest Terms of grateful aknowledgements. I beg you to accept among the rest, my sincere and hearty Thanks, and my best Wishes for your Health and Prosperity.—
I have put a Little Money, lately in to the hands of Mr. Digges, and now some in to those of Mr. Hodgson, for the Relief of the most pressing Necessities of the Remaining Prisoners. Those Gentlemen will I suppose request your Assistance in the disposition of it. I should have done it when I heard the subscription was near exhausted, if I had not been flattered with The hope That they would sooner have been exchanged, first on Account of the solemn Paroles in writing given by Numbers of Englishmen taken by our Vessels and set at Liberty, and then against those carried in to Holland: But the Paroles after long Indecision I am lately told are rejected, and the Exchange I propos’d in Holland was refus’d at first on the Expectation of retaking them in their Way to france, and tho’ afterwards agreed to it was thro’ another Channel, and for other Prisoners.— These Delays have not been owing to any Neglect of mine, as the Prisoners of Forton in a Letter to me of the 3d. Instant inform me, They are frequently assured. On enquiring I did not find that we had actually here a sufficient Number of English to answer another Cartel, unless the British Governement would have allow’d the Paroles. I kept the alliance in Europe, and join’d her to the little Squadron under Capt Jones, principally in hope of obtaining more Prisoners to compleat the Exchange, and I can now inform our People that this Latter View will be accomplished, the Minister of the Marine here, having given me Assurances that the Cartels bringing over Americans shall immediately have the same Number of English in Exchange to the Amount of 500. We have also two or three Privateers out who have already brought in near 100, and are daily making more Prisoners, so that I hope their Confinement of our People now nearly at an End. I shall be happy to see them at liberty in france, and will assist them what I can in returning to their native Country. I have some Reason to think that the Delays were rather occasioned by the Weakness or Impatience of Those Prisoners who basely deserted the Cause of their Country, and entred with its Enemies; this naturally gave hopes that more might do the Same and that the longer confinement the greater would be the Defection probably and thence the Determination relating to The paroles was kept back and I had no positive Answer till within these Two Weeks.
The Prisoners not having signed their above mentioned Letters with any Names, but requesting me to answer it in a Letter to you, occasions my desiring that you would be so good as to communicate to them the Contents in such Manner as you shall judge best.
With very great Esteem and respect, which I should rejoice in an opportunity of demonstrating, I have the honour to be. Revd sir Your most obedient and most humble servant
BF.
Revd. Mr. Wren.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Jonathan Williams, Jr., 26 February 1780
From: Williams, Jonathan Jr.
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear & hond Sir.
Nantes Feb. 26. 1780
I have just received your kind Letter of the 23 Inst. My preceeding Letters will have explained the Affair of the Bills. They were drawn to fall due at 2.. 3.. & 4 Usances because M. de Chaumont so directed, & I suppose he directed so because he imagined it would facilitate the negociation. I can however avoid negociating those a short date if you think it necessary as Bills on Paris are now in demand. I shall in consequence of your Direction take the Order of Congress solely for my Guide in the Provision I am making. I have however been obliged to make one Deviation because it was impossible to do otherwise. They direct all the Cloth to be wet before it is made up, in order I suppose to prevent its shrinking afterwards. At this Season of the Year if I was to wet the Cloth I should not get it dry again on accot of the incessant Rains, & it would become damaged. I cannot therefore comply with this, shall however make the Coats large enough to allow for Shirinking.
The Report about my Uncles being in London is a very injurious one to him & me for I must have been a very bad American to have been privy to his Return to London & he could not go without my knowledge. I beg you to contradict this Falsehood and you may be assured that my Uncle is with me & will not leave this Place ’till he returns to America which will be by the first good Opportunity in the Spring.
I am ever with the greatest Respect Your dutifull & affectionate Kinsman
Jona Williams J

Mariamne & Christie are well & desire to be respectfully & affectionately remembered. I have just recd a Letter from my Mother dated Nov. 14. She desires her Duty to you & informs you that she & my Father a few Days before went to see Aunt mecom who was well & happy with her Grand Daughter.— A Vessell is put in here from Boston Dismasted. She was bound to Amsterdam, the Captain says that 6 Transports with Provision bound from N York to Penobscot for the English Garrison there under Convoy of a Sloop of War were much better Convoyed (Sloop of War & all) by two Salem Privateers safe & sound into Boston Harbour. Penobscott will be a hungry Garrison this Winter.
I am ever as before
JW

 Notation: J Williams Feb 26 80


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Francis Coffyn, 27 February 1780
From: Coffyn, Francis
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Hond. Sir
Dunkerque 27 febry 1780.
The Bearer of this Thomas Kearl, of Norfolk in Virginia being desirous of returning to his natif Country, apply’d to me to know how he could proceed, I advised him to go to Paris, and from thence to Nantes or Lorient, and tol’d him that he might call on your Excellency to know wether there are any vessells at the above ports bound to America, being well persuaded from your Excellencys usual readiness to assist all americans, you would readily give him your best advise how to proceed;
I have the honour to remain with true respect Hond. Sir Your Excellencys most obedt. & most humble Servant
Frans. Coffyn
 Endorsed: Lent a Louis to this Man
Addressed: To His Excellency / Dr. Bn. Franklin / minister Plenipotentiary for the united / States of America at the Court of / France / at Passi near Paris
Notation: Coffy frans. 27 feby. 1780.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from William Bingham, 28 February 1780
From: Bingham, William
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir
St Pierre M/que Feby 28th 1780
No Event of material Importance to merit your Notice or Attention, has happened in this Quarter since the Date of my last—
I have not been honoured with any of your Favors since your Residence in France, not withstanding the many official Letters that in the Course of public Business I have had occasion to address you— I am entirely ignorant of the Cause to which I should attribute so mortifying a Neglect, which I have not only felt with the keenest Sensibility, but which has been of material Injury to me in the negotiating the Business committed to my Care.
The Bills that I took the liberty of passing on you for Amount of the Disbursements on Continental Vessels that refitted here, came back protested, & the Intendant has in Consequence exacted of me a promissory Note with personal Security, for the Payment of that Sum, which is due in a short time, & which it is impossible for me to do honor to— This unlucky Transaction became publicly known here, & has effectually ruined my Credit— But what greatly aggravates the Misfortune, is the Circumstance of receiving no Reply to my Letters which accompanied the Bills, which might furnish me with Reasons to palliate your Refusal to accept them—
I shall take my Departure from hence in a short time for America, being induced thereto from various Reasons of a substantial Nature, but more especially from the Circumstances of no Provision being made for the liquidating Debts contracted on public Account in this Department— By a proper Representation which I Shall be enabled to make on the subject, I flatter myself that I Shall prevail on Congress to provide Funds for the Purpose—
With my best Wishes for your Health & Happiness, & with sentiments of perfect Esteem & Regard, I have the honor to be Sir Your obedt hble servant
Wm Bingham
 Notation: Bingham Feby. 28. 1780


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from ——— Keiser, 28 February 1780
From: Keiser, ——
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Monsieur,
à L’orient Le 28 fevrier 1780
Parmi Les prisonniers faits par des corsaires ou autres batimens Américains amenés & detenus dans ce port, il s’est trouvé jusqu’ici plusieurs qui auroient desiré aller à bord de quelque batiment appartenant aux Etats-unis, & ne pas retourner en Angleterre. Les etrangers surtout comme Les Danois, hollandois, portugais, &c. pris à bord des vaisseaux anglais sont dans ce cas. Plusieurs de ces gens deja pressés en Angleterre se sont trouvés forcés d’y retourner, dans Le dernier cartel, parcequ’il n’y avoit pas d’ordre à leur sujet. Comme Le cas peut arriver journellement & que ces pauvres malheureux s’addressent alors à moi, qui exerce La Charge d’interprete dans Le port, je desirerois, Monsieur, que Votre Excellence m’instruisit, si ces prisonniers appartenans aux Etats unis peuvent aller à bord d’un batiment americain, comme les prisonniers faits par nos batimens entrent dans notre service quand & à bord de quel batiment ils veulent, s’entent Lorsque le Capitaine du batiment à bord duquel ils veulent servir, en est content. Supposé que cela soit faisable, comme je n’en doute aucunement, je Vous supplie, Monsieur, d’en prevenir Mr. Puchelberg L’agent du Congrés afin que j’obtienne de lui la liberté de presenter ces dits prisonniers aux Capitaines americains qui se trouvent ici & qui ont quelquefois très besoin de monde.
En attendant Vos ordres j’ai L’honneur d’etre avec le plus profond respect Monsieur de Votre Excellence Le très humble & très obeissant serviteur
KeiserSergent de la troupe du portde L’orient, interprete
 Notation: Keiser le 28. Fevrier 1780. L’Orient.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Landais, 28 February 1780
From: Landais, Pierre
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Please Your Excellency.
Paris fy 28. 1780.
In the answer you favoured me with dated feby 12, you Say that I am pleased to blame you. I beg you Pardon, it dont became me to blame, but I may Say that I have been detained here by Your Excy Order, and ask for a passage for America. I ask at the Same time your order for my Staying here all that time, Since you have in your hand the first order you gave me to that purpose.
When I asked your Excy the favour of ordering my truncks &c to be put ashore, since you had been pleased to give the Command of the frigate Alliance to Cap. Jones, which had been Confided to me by Congress, Your Excellency told me to write, for them, my Self. I Observed to you, the impossibility of my writing to Cap. Jones in the present Circumstances, and that they could not be landed without his Consent, The Same difficulty remains yet at present.
Your Excellency Says that I had received a Considerable Sume of money, as to that money I have either Spent in coming from holland or for the time I was in Paris Since I came by your order is but fifty Louis d’or Beside what I received in Holland.
As to money your Excy know that I have received none not even a Coat that was offered to me in Brest by Mr John Adam from your Excy upon what was due to me, which I thought not acceptable. I have Spent for my expence in the Ship’s Service, postage of Letters & and have never charged or receive a farthing upon no accounts;— Therefore I have Spent good deal for thoses triffles and for my Own Expences. So I beg as a favour that I may receive what is due to me, for prizes money and monthly pay Since I am in Europe that I may remit the money I have Spent Since that time where I took it from.
Your Excellency See by the above that I ask for my passage for America my adoptive Country to be tryed; an order for my staying in france till I go their; my trunks &c to be remitted at the adgent Sealed up, for I will not receive them till I have Seen wheither all what I left in them is their Still; My money-prize Shear, and monthly pay Since I am in Europe; or Your Excellency Refusal in writing to thoses articles you Shall not think proper to Grant me.
I am with Respect Your Excellency’s Most Obedient & Most humble Servant
P. Landais

Excellency Bn Franklin Minister plenipy. Of the united States of America

 Notation: P Landais 28 Feb 1780


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Dennis Walsh, 28 February 1780
From: Walsh, Dennis
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir
Vlissinge the 28 february 1780.
In the month of June 76 a Vessel came to Tenerife under English Colors called the Friendship commanded by a Thomas Newell well known in that Island to have been in the employ of Mr Rose of S. Carolina. He gave out that owing to the disputes subsisting between England & America he had coverd his Vessel under the names of Gildart & Bussigny of Liverpool, declard her bound for the Bay of Honduras, & made application for goods on Freight. Amongst others my friend Mr James Barry, now my Partner in trade, shipd 36½ pipes wine for Jamaica, & Captain Newell instead of proceeding to Jamaica went to the Danish Island of St Thomas & there disposed of Mr Barrys property & of that of the other Shippers upon his Vessel to the amount of £1600 Stlg— Mr Barrys Invoice was £438. Of the truth of all these circumstances I have had the fullest proof, for haveing gone to the West Indies & receiving information that he had been at St Thomas, I called at that Island, saw some of the wines in July 78 in the Possession of Messieurs Garret Sprit de Mint & Company, to whom the whole of the Cargo had been sold as appeard by their books, & the concurring Testimony of many people in the Island. From St Thomas he proceeded to Charles Town Sth. Carolina, where his connections lay, & whereas I understand he has been since employd in a Merchant Vessel or a private Ship of war, & that he has made some voyages to France. I wrote to Charles Town, & made enquiry of the House of Murphy & Compy. of Nantes— I have not receivd any answer from the former place & in vain have Messrs Murphy & Co. made enquiry at the latter.
Thus circumstanced will your Excellency pardon me if not seeing any other mode of obtaining redress I am imboldend to apply to you. The nature of my complaint is such as will I flatter myself claim some degree of your attention when I tell you that I am ready to make oath of the truth of what I advance, & to produce the Bills of Loading signd by Captain Newell, together with my friends full Powers for acting. I am persuaded that this same Captain Newell is employd in the Service of America, & that it is more than probable he may be occasionaly in some Port of France, & if I might hint to your Excellency what I thought the most eligible mode of proceeding (exclusive of writing to America) I woud beg leave to mention that of writing to the different Ports of France in such terms as your Excellency might think meet. If your Excellency shoud honor me with a line I wish it to be directed for me at Mr Francis Bowens, Ostend. If my House at Tenerife Walsh & Barry can be of any service to your Excellency, you may depend upon their utmost exertions.
I have the honor to be Sir Your Excellencys most obedient & most humble servant
Dennis WalshHis Excellency B. Franklin Esqr.


Title: French Loan Certificate, [29 February 1780]
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

[February 29, 1780]
No 5.  Pour 750, 000 livres.
Nous Benjamin Franklin Ministre Plenipotentiaire des ETATSUNIS de l’Amerique Septentrionale, en vertu du pouvoir dont nous sommes revetus par le CONGRES desdits Etats, promettons en son nom et solidairement pour lesdits Treize ETATS-UNIS, faire payer & rembourser au Tresor Royal de sa Majesté tres chretienne le premier Janvier mil sept cent quatre-vingt huit au domicile de M. Grand, Banquier a Paris, la somme de sept cent cinquante mille livres, argent de France, avec les interets a raison de cinq pour cent, l’an, valeur reçu comptant, a Paris, ce 29 Fevrier 1780
B Franklin


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Ralph Izard, 29 February 1780
From: Izard, Ralph
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir
Paris 29th. Feby. 1780.
I have written to Captain Jones relative to my having a passage on board of the Alliance. It will be agreeable to me to stay in Paris with my family until she is ready to sail, & I should be obliged to you if you would let me know when you think it proper for me to set out for L’Orient, & what Passengers are to go in her.
I have the honour to be Sir your most obt. hble Servt.
Ra. Izard
Honble B. Franklin Esqr.
 Addressed: To / The Honble Benjamin Franklin Esqr / Minister Plenipotentiary from / the United States of America / at Passy.
Notation: Ra Izard Feb 29. 80


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Sartine: Two Letters, 29 February 1780
From: Sartine, Antoine-Raymond-Gualbert-Gabriel de
To: Franklin, Benjamin

I.
Versailles le 29. fev. 1780.
J’ai eu l’honneur, Monsieur, de vous écrire le 14 du mois d’octobre dernier relativement au nommé françois Vermeille et quelqu’autres marins qui reclament les parts qui leur reviennent dans les quatorze prises faites par le Corsaire Americain la Revange pendant une croisiere de trois mois, vous m’avez fait l’honneur de me répondre que ces matelots avoient êté embarqués clandestinement par le Capitaine Cunningham Commandant ce Corsaire et qu’il convenoit d’attendre le retour de Mr. Dean et Broghn interessés dans la Revange pour constater la légitimité des prétentions de ces matelots.
Il m’a êté depuis rendu compte que quelques uns de ces marins ont êté portés sur le Rolle d’Equipage de ce Corsaire et ont passé la revue d’usage. D’aprés ces formalités la légitimité de leurs reclamations me paroit constatée, et je vous serai obligé de vouloir bien leur procurer la justice qu’ils ont lieu d’attendre./.
J’ai l’honneur dêtre avec un trés sincere attachement, Monsieur, votre trés humble et trés obeissant serviteur.
DE SARTINE
à M. francklin
 Notation: Prises
II.
Versailles le 29 fevr. 1780
J’ai l’honneur, Monsieur, de vous envoyer différentes pieces relatives à un Sloop de 60 Tonneaux environ dont 15 Americains se sont emparés près de Portmouth en Angleterre et sur lequel ils sont arrives à Barfleur. Comme le Conseil des Prises ne prend point connoissance de celles faites par les sujets des Etats Unis, J’ai pense qu’il convenoit de vous envoyer ces pieces et j’écris en consequence aux officiers de l’Amirauté de Barfleur.
J’ai l’honneur d’être avec un tres sincere attachement, Monsieur, Votre très humble et très obeissant Serviteur
(signé) De Sartine
M. Franklin


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Jean de Neufville & fils, [February? 1780]
From: Neufville, Jean de, & fils
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Honourable Sir
[February, 1780?]
We most kindly thank you for your agreable last favour, we have duely noted its contents, we hope your Excellency hath been Satisfied with our Account of the American Squadron, and will always be so with what She Causes to pass throw our hands.
We doubt not butt your Excellency hath received the Account of Comodor JP. Jones Esqr. arrivall at the Coruña which gave us an infinite pleasure to learn by him Self and that he by another cruise would proceed to France; it appears the English do not pretend to insult him as they have done our Dutch convoy; may they Soon be brought to reason and respect forever the Independent American Colours.
Many American Gentlemen lately broke out and escaped from England they were recomanded to us from there, there is two or three here Still to whome we expect to procure a passage home by the way of St. Eustacia or the Danish Island five of them preferrd to go by the way of France, intending to pay a visit to your Excellency, and desiring from us we should mention this; we shall always be glad to lend the Americans here all the Assistance which lays in our power; and hope to see soone the time born that we may offer them direct passages from hence.
We have the honour to be with the utmost respect and veneration Honourable sir Your Excellencys most devoted Obedient humble Servants
John DE Neufville & Son
 Addressed: To / His Excellency B Franklin / Ambassador plenipotentiarie / of the united states of America / at / Passy
Notation: Neufville John & son


Title: Parabole Contre La Persécution, [after February 1780]
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

Franklin had never intended that his pseudo-chapter of Genesis (1755), later known as “Parable Against Persecution,” be published. The piece, which he had printed on a slip of paper and hidden in his Bible, was a private joke; his now-legendary recitations were a harmless hoax meant to provoke and amuse the company. When friends requested copies of the “chapter,” he most often refused; only on rare occasions did he reluctantly oblige them, as a special favor. Some of these friends, however, betrayed his desire for secrecy; two of the four copies that Franklin is known to have given out in England found their way into print, one of them in the London Chronicle where both the author and the game were exposed. Franklin’s general reputation as a wit was enhanced, but he was thereafter deprived of his private amusement.
Deprived, that is, until he came to France and found himself surrounded by men and women both hungry for diversion and eager to help him with his French. Franklin may have realized that reciting the bogus passage to a Catholic audience might not be as effective a parlor game as it had been in Protestant company. Yet he might have guessed that the friends who had been helping him with his language skills would be amused by the piece as another translation exercise.
At the beginning of 1779, Franklin sent to Jonathan Williams, Jr., for copies of “the Chapter.” He then set about rendering it in French, enlisting the help of the abbé de La Roche and others, beginning a process that would continue for more than a year.
Five successive manuscript versions of the translation are extant: four drafts by Franklin, and a copy of the third draft made by L’Air de Lamotte, who joined his household as secretary in February, 1780. All five are entitled “Chapter XXV.” With each successive effort, attempts were made to eliminate grammatical errors and improve the style. The first draft is entirely in Franklin’s hand: it is a clumsy, literal translation with numerous deletions and interlined corrections. The second manuscript is a clean copy of the first which was submitted to La Roche; the abbé returned it with grammar corrections interlined. Franklin endorsed it, “Exercise No 7 Abraham corrigé.” He then copied out the corrected text in a neat, double-column format, and resubmitted it for La Roche’s review. Both La Roche and Franklin made corrections and wording changes on this third draft. The text was then turned over to L’Air de Lamotte, who made a clean copy.
Once the French was correct, Franklin tried to achieve what he believed would be a suitably biblical style. The fourth draft, which differs substantially from the first three, was obviously created after consultation with someone who suggested rewording entire phrases throughout. But even this draft was not final. The chapter would undergo one more major stylistic revision (the manuscript traces of which are now lost) in order to produce the bagatelle which Franklin printed at Passy, the text “a l’imitation du langage de l’Ecriture” presented below.
It is not clear that the printed version is in all respects an improvement over the language of the fourth draft. Certain phrases seem more elegant, while others appear to be clumsier. In any event, Franklin’s private little joke had certainly changed function as it changed cultures. In France, its value lay in its linguistic challenge. And unlike in England, when Franklin had deliberately kept his copy hidden from view, in Passy his translation was beautifully printed for distribution to his closest friends.
By the time Franklin typeset this bagatelle, Benjamin Vaughan’s edition of Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces had already been published. Vaughan included an unauthorized version of the original piece, in which he introduced the name “Parable Against Persecution.” Franklin, while he did not approve of the text Vaughan had used, must not have objected to the title: he appropriated it for his own use. He ended up printing “Chapter XXV” under the heading, “Parabole Contre la Persécution.”

  [after February, 1780]
PARABOLE CONTRE LA PERSECUTION,
A L’IMITATION DU LANGAGE DE L’ECRITURE.

1. Et ensuite il arriva qu’Abraham étoit assis à la porte de sa tente vers le coucher du soleil.
2. Et il apperçut un homme courbé sous le poids des années, venant du désert appuyé sur un bâton.
3. Et Abraham se leva & alla au-devant de cet homme, & lui dit, viens dans ma tente, je t’en prie, & lave tes pieds, & demeure y toute la nuit, & tu te leveras demain du grand matin, & tu continueras ta route.
4. Et l’homme dit, non; car je resterai sous cet arbre.
5. Mais Abraham le pressa tant, qu’il se détourna; & ils arriverent à la tente: Et Abraham fit cuire un pain sans levain, & ils mangerent.
6. Et quand Abraham vit que cet homme ne bénissoit point Dieu, il lui dit; pourquoi n’adores-tu pas le Dieu très-haut créateur du ciel & de la terre?
7. Et l’homme répondit, je n’adore point ton Dieu, & je n’invoque point son nom; parce que je me suis fait un Dieu, qui habite toujours dans ma maison & pourvoit à tous mes besoins.
8. Et le zele d’Abraham s’alluma contre cet homme, & il se leva & se jetta sur lui & le conduisit ainsi en le maltraitant jusqu’au désert.
9. Et au milieu de la nuit Dieu appella Abraham, en disant, Abraham, où est l’étranger?
10. Et Abraham répondit & dit, Seigneur, il ne vous adore point, & il n’invoque pas votre nom; c’est pourquoi que je l’ai chassé de ma présence jusque dans le désert.
11. Et Dieu dit, ne l’ai-je pas souffert cent quatre-vingt-dixhuit ans, & ne l’ai-je pas nourri & habillé malgré sa rebellion contre moi; ne pouvois-tu pas, homme pécheur toi-même, le supporter une seule nuit?

12. Et Abraham dit, que la colere de mon Seigneur ne s’allume pas contre son serviteur. Voilà que j’ai péché devant vous, pardonnez-moi, je vous prie.
13. Et Abraham se leva & courut au désert, & chercha l’homme avec empressement, & le trouva; & il retourna avec lui dans sa tente; & après l’avoir traité avec amitié, il le renvoya le lendemain avec des présens.
14. Et Dieu parla une seconde fois à Abraham & lui dit, parce que tu as péché, j’affligerai ta postérité pendant quatre cents ans dans une terre étrangere:
15. Mais parce que tu t’es repenti, je la délivrerai, & je l’en ferai sortir avec puissance & joie, & avec de grandes richesses.


Title: Editorial Note on Franklin’s Accounts, 1780
From:
To:

Two new accounts begin during the period covered by this volume:
XXV. Account of Postage and Errands, April 1, 1780, to May 31, 1783: American Philosophical Society, 237 pages. A collection of monthly statements and bills which are all marked as having been paid by order on Ferdinand Grand. For the months under consideration in this volume the statements, in French, were submitted by the cook, Coimet. They consist mostly of postal expenses, about half of which are for mail sent by la petite poste, meaning that they originated from the district to which they are delivered. Coimet also kept track of a vast number of what he calls comistions pour paris, without explaining what kind of errands he means. They cost 1 l.t. 4 s. each. The same sum is charged for washing the cabriolet (gig), an activity that occurred three times in April and once in May.
The only other expenses indicated, all of them in May, are 1 l.t. for sawing wood for the masters, 3 l.t. for Mr. Franklin’s wigmaker (this must refer to William Temple Franklin), 1.4 l.t. to pay for a bath, and 1 l.t. for sweeping the kitchen chimney.
XXVI. Franklin’s Account with Chaumont, March 19, 1780, to December 22, 1780: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 8 pages.
These sheets, in the hand of Jean L’Air de Lamotte, are part of Franklin and Chaumont’s efforts to reconcile their differences through the arbitration of Ferdinand Grand, and they frequently duplicate the items appearing in Account XIX (XXVIII, 3). Made up mainly of disbursements by Chaumont to fill the congressional order of supplies entrusted to Jonathan Williams, Jr., this account also contains other expenses, including Chaumont’s statement for rent due him. When this account was drawn up and signed on July 9, 1782, he proposed a figure of 20,000 l.t. for five years’ retroactive rent to Franklin and the other commissioners.
The entries that apply to this volume are a sum of 250,000 l.t. that Franklin put in the hands of Grand on March 19 and 193 l.t. 10 s. for a courier to go from Passy to Nantes.
Two accounts are here identified whose entries begin during an earlier period:

Account XXVII. Accounts of the Public Agents in Europe, 1777–1787: National Archives, 1,020 pages. A fully indexed and cross-referenced group of accounts of the American and European agents who represented the United States. These include salaries, bills of exchange drawn for supplies, foreign loans, interest accounts, payments for American prisoners, war supplies from the French royal storehouse and the arsenal at Nantes, accounts of various ships, and sundry other expences incurred by the American ministers. While containing many entries that can be found in accounts cited previously in our edition, these are the most complete records that we have found for Franklin’s official expenditures, handled through Ferdinand Grand. For the period covered by our present volume, those entries not cited elsewhere in our annotation include a payment to Bancroft on May 9 for newspapers (320 l.t., 16 s.), to Moutard for books on June 22 (470 l.t.), and 300 l.t. on May 22 for transporting prisoners from Dunkirk to Paris.
These accounts have been microfilmed (National Archives Publication M1004) but unlike most of the records from the National Archives cited in this edition, including Account XXVIII, they are not part of The Papers of the Continental Congress.
Account XXVIII. Abstracts of Ferdinand Grand’s Accounts with the United States, February 28, 1777–March 1, 1783: National Archives, 266 pages. On May 10, 1783, Ferdinand Grand told Franklin and his fellow peace commissioners that the previous month he had submitted his accounts to Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris (Library of Congress). Abstracts in English of these accounts were made in Philadelphia and are now in the National Archives, 210 pages bearing the date, “Register’s Office, May 31, 1783,” and 56 pages undated. Several sections relate to Franklin, including a seven-page abstract of Grand’s account with him (September, 1777, to August, 1781), and a separate three-page abstract of his account with him (January, 1781, to January, 1782). There are also three-page abstracts of Grand’s account with Commissioners Franklin, Deane, and Lee (March, 1777, to April 1778) and Commissioners Franklin, Lee, and Adams (April to July, 1778). Numerous sections also record payments Grand made on Franklin’s behalf.
While these accounts are more readily available than Account XXVII, they are less reliable. Translated by someone unfamiliar with the names mentioned and unskilled at reading French handwriting, misspellings abound.
We also offer a summary of entries from Franklin’s accounts which have not found a place elsewhere in our annotation but which provide insights into Franklin’s private and public life between March 1 and June 30, 1780.
Account XVI (Cash Book, XXVI, 3).
The expenses connected with Franklin’s press in Passy are, as usual, one of the prominent items. The staff (Hémery, Bieuville, Rocque, Garre—as he is now spelled—and Madelon) remain the same, at the same salary as indicated in XXXI, 3. Almost 400 l.t. were spent in March on lead and 30 l.t. on silver. On April 27, two presses were bought from Fagnion for the use of the secretary’s office, at a cost of 300 l.t. Franklin noted: “As I purpose to keep them after my Mission here is finish’d, they must be put to my private Account.” A large disbursement of 5,000 l.t. was made on May 7 for the purchase of Hémery’s foundry, as well as more lead and antimony for 373 l.t. and on the 17th Fagnion received 144 l.t. for punches and matrices.
Assistance to prisoners recurs frequently: substantial contributions to Thomas Digges and William Hodgson for that purpose are indicated in our annotation, below, as well as loans to Baron de Wulffen. A “poor Frenchman” who had served on the Boston and been long a prisoner in England received 48 l.t., and Franklin advanced a louis to Thomas Kearl, a Virginian returning to America (XXXI, 556–7).
A few sundry items were purchased: tea for 9 l.t. from the abbé Morellet, books, a pocket glass and other glass from Ciceri, and an écritoire.
Brunel the joiner was paid for his work, and Miss Chaumont was reimbursed 360 l.t. for her account, the rest to be paid by an order on banker Grand.
Account XVII (Franklin’s Private Accounts with Ferdinand Grand, XXVI, 3) records the purchase, on March 9, of one share from the Caisse d’Escompte, and the sum of 644 l.t. 2 s. on May 29 for Benjamin Bache’s schooling.
Account XXIII (William Temple Franklin’s Accounts, XXIX, 3) provides, as always, some insight into the family’s life. The chevalier O’Gorman is paid 150 l.t. on March 11 for a cask of burgundy. Cabaret the stationer and Pissot the bookseller both receive payment for their wares. The new secretary, L’Air de Lamotte, really settles into the household, since a bed is bought for him and no longer hired. An English penknife is purchased for Franklin. The various servants, Coimet the cook and Joseph Bogey (Bogay) the kitchen boy, receive their wages, while François and Arbelot are also reimbursed for their own food when they serve their masters at dinner parties. Money is advanced to Robert Drybrough (for whom see Jones’s letter of March 14) and Pomier de l’Etang (who presented a note on John Torris).
Finally, a somewhat exotic note on April 19: 240 l.t. “Advanced to M. Secleback, a Maltois to assist him in returning to his own Country, he being taken by the English in going to serve in America and confined in Prison for two Years.”