Title: Report of the Royal Commission to Investigate Animal Magnetism: Résumé with Extracts, [11 August 1784]
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

The commissioners of the Faculté de médecine and the Académie des sciences—with the exception of Franklin—met in Paris on

Wednesday, August 11, to sign the report of their four-month investigation. Franklin, unable to travel, had signed in advance, having received the pristine manuscript in a locked box two days earlier with instructions to keep his signature small enough to leave room for the others. As head of the commission, his signature came first.
It is not known when Franklin was chosen to head this joint commission, but it may have been at its initial meeting on May 8. Though the discussions were confidential, news of the appointment quickly circulated. Mesmer sent his May 14 letter of protest to Franklin individually, declaring him to be the head of the commission. (Franklin’s reply did not deny it.) A week later Lafayette, writing on Mesmer’s behalf, appealed to the man whom the world considered to be the commission’s “president.”
The American minister’s prestige and reputation as both a scientist and a diplomat, as well as his being the sole foreign member, must have made him an obvious choice to lead what might have been a contentious coalition. His election to the Académie des sciences had been based on his having proved the existence of a supremely powerful, invisible force—atmospheric electricity— whose therapeutic applications had been compared to magnetic treatments and were a promising field of study. He could be seen as impartial, having never taken part in any previous attempt to investigate Mesmer or Deslon. The views he had recently expressed about Mesmer’s “cures” which he guessed were psychological in nature, had been almost benign. Moreover, although the members of the Faculty had initially resisted the government’s injunction to work with members of the Academy, none of them seemed opposed to collaborating with Benjamin Franklin. As Lavoisier wrote of the commissioners, “Leurs lumières,

leurs qualités morales, le nom du célèbre Franklin placé à la tête, tout, dans cette Commission, paraissait propre à imprimer le respect et a inspirer la confiance.” If the government’s purpose in expanding the commission beyond the Faculty of Medicine was to instill public confidence in its findings, then the commissioners could have chosen no better person to represent them.
What were Franklin’s actual contributions.? We know that he hosted experiments at Passy and was himself magnetized. Finding travel prohibitively difficult, he did not attend the meetings and experiments that took place in Paris, which accounted for more than half of the commission’s work. He followed its progress, however, as recorded in the confidential log (“registre”) that was sent to him periodically for his review and signature. He must also have been briefed by his friend, neighbor, and co-commissioner Jean-Baptiste Le Roy.
As the “registre” has been lost, it is all but impossible to tease out the individual contributions of any of the commissioners. The notes of only one, Lavoisier, survive; from these writings, it is clear that he designed at least some of the key experiments. It seems unlikely that Franklin did not have a hand in designing experiments as well. Without the commission’s log, however, none of the internal discussions and debates, or even the dates of individual experiments, is retrievable. The only surviving account of the commissioners’ work is their official report, which was careful to present the group as a unified, cooperative body. The appointment of a “president” was never mentioned. The members’ names were listed in the opening paragraph, but thereafter they were characterized almost exclusively in the collective third person. An individual was mentioned only when his house was the scene of an experiment (Franklin’s residence being the most frequent of these), and, in one case, when a renowned ophthalmologist was described as examining a patient’s diseased eye as a means of distracting her attention as she was being magnetized. Otherwise, the commissioners were anonymous. They proceeded as a group, made decisions “unanimement,” and in presenting their conclusions spoke with a “voix unanime.” Even the order of their signatures signaled their integration: the five members of the Academy and the four members of the Faculty signed in strict alternation. When Bailly addressed the Académie des sciences on September 4

about the commission’s work, he stressed its unity. Their efforts had been motivated by a mutual desire for truth, and the results belonged to all of them: “rien n’a été distingue, le travail appartient à tous … nous avons été toujours unis, toujours unanimes.”
The eagerly anticipated Rapport des commissaires chargés par le Roi, de l’examen du magnétisme animal was published by the Imprimerie royale around August 21 and, at 66 pages, was the size of a small book. A preview of its conclusion was made public on August 20 in the Mémoires secrets. Reminding readers that the commissioners had investigated Deslon, not Mesmer, the article reported that they had found animal magnetism to be “une invention illusoire, vaine & funeste.”
Knowing that their report would be published and that the task of convincing the public lay wholly in their hands, the authors produced an account that was both scientifically sound and accessible, making for compelling reading. Chronology was unimportant; few dates were specified. The rationale for every decision and the details of every experiment, however, were explained in terms that anyone could understand. Rapport des commissaires was immediately reprinted in France by private publishers. Before the year was out, an English translation was issued in London by Joseph Johnson, who placed Franklin’s name in the title and identified him in the introduction as the head of the commission: Report of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, and other Commissioners, Charged by the King of France, with the Examination of the Animal Magnetism, as now Practiced at Paris. The report would become famous for the originality and rigor of the experiments, which led systematically to conclusions that the authors considered irrefutable.
On the advice of Breteuil, the commissioners reserved some of their observations for a second, secret report, also signed on August 11, which would be for the king’s eyes only. Its message was

blunt: the practice of animal magnetism was a threat not only to health, as the official report had stated, but also to morality, especially in the case of weak, virtuous women. The commissioners offered a medical explanation of why the nerves and imaginations of women were more easily excited than those of men. They provided an explicit description of a certain kind of prolonged “convulsion” that resulted not from the alleged healing power of animal magnetism but rather from the close physical contact and mutual arousal of male magnetizers and female patients who did not fully understand what was being done to them. Deslon himself had admitted, under interrogation by Lenoir, how easy it would be to abuse a woman in such a state. Many women had been in treatment for years without being cured. Most of them were not ill to begin with, but had been drawn to the clinic for the amusement it provided, attending regularly as a relief from boredom. Around the tub, the ease with which symptoms spread from person to person was striking. The commissioners reiterated the health risks of inducing full-blown crises, a dangerous practice that any responsible physician would shun. They implied the possibility that magnetic seances were a deliberate fraud. The uniformly critical tone of this private document was in stark contrast to the scrupulously evenhanded voice of the official report.
In the end, the commissioners of the Faculty of Medicine obtained what they had initially requested in their April 3 letter to Breteuil: a group of elite scientists had undertaken a systematic, logical series of experiments to prove whether animal magnetism existed. Contrary to their original proposal, however, their own investigation had not waited until after the academicians’ work had concluded; they had become integral participants. The scientists of the Academy had insisted on this, deeming the doctors’ expertise indispensable. In a statement that appears to have been read at one of the commission’s first sessions, Lavoisier eloquently outlined the distinct roles of scientists versus doctors, and proposed a way to proceed.

To all outward appearances, the group coalesced quickly. Franklin’s hospitality at Passy seemed to have helped foster the spirit of cooperation that ultimately characterized the Faculty/Academy commission. Its first meeting was convened around his table. The experiments performed at Passy were preceded by dinners at that same table, to which all the participants, from the investigators down to the humblest patients, were invited. Even after the report was published Franklin continued to host the commissioners, and these new friendships were further cultivated. His scientific contributions to the investigation may never be known, but Franklin’s role as head of the commission was rendered iconic when the print Le Magnétisme dévoilé depicted him leading the charge against mesmerist superstition and vice.

[August 11, 1784]

⟨Paris, August 11, 1784, in French: On March 12 the king appointed four physicians of the Faculty of Medicine—Borie, Sallin, d’Arcet, and Guillotin—to examine and report on animal magnetism as practiced by Deslon. At their request, the king appointed five members of the Academy of Sciences to join them: Franklin, Le Roy, Bailly, Bory, and Lavoisier. When Borie died at the outset of their work, the king appointed Ma-jault to replace him.
The agent that Mesmer claims to have discovered is defined, in his own words, this way: it is a universal fluid that facilitates a mutual influence among celestial bodies, the earth, and all living beings, and exhibits two distinct, opposite poles, like those of a magnet. Its effect can be transmitted from one animate or inanimate body to another, even over long distances, without an intermediary. The effect is intensified when the fluid is reflected in a mirror and transmitted through sound. Magnetic fluid can be collected, concentrated, and transported. In the human body it affects the nerves particularly. Animal magnetism can cure nervous disorders, improve the effect of medications, and induce salutary crises. It enables physicians to assess an individual’s health and determine with certainty the cause and

course of even the most complicated diseases. Magnetism provides a universal means of healing and preserving mankind.
Deslon endorses all of Mesmer’s principles. On May 9 the commissioners and Lenoir, lieutenant of police, assembled at Deslon’s house and listened to him read a memoir. He claimed that there is one nature, one disease, and one cure: animal magnetism. He then demonstrated how he directed magnetic fluid in his patients. Deslon pledged to cooperate with the commissioners to ascertain the existence of animal magnetism, to make known his knowledge of it, and to prove the usefulness of animal magnetism in the curing of disease.
The commissioners repeatedly visited Deslon’s clinic and observed group therapy sessions around a baquet, a circular, covered wooden tub from which protrude bent, movable iron rods.

This baquet, purchased circa 1784 by Lyon pharmacist Jean-Baptiste Lanoix, is believed to be the only extant example of the device developed by Franz Anton Mesmer for his magnetic therapy. Bottles filled with “magnetized” water were submerged inside the tub; iron rods, serving as conductors, were extended from the bottles through holes in the tub’s lid. At the top of each rod was attached another, movable iron rod that could be applied directly to the area causing complaint. The circuit of “magnetic fluid” was enhanced by means of cords linking patients to the tub or to each other. Mesmer’s clinic offered four baquets as well as individual treatments for prominent patients: Charles C. Gillispie, Science and Polity in France at the End of the Old Regime (Princeton, 1980), pp. 261, 264; Miriam Simon, “Le mesmérisme,” in Benjamin Franklin: un Américain à. Paris (1776–1785), ed. Simon et al. (Paris, 2007), p. 168. Reproduced by courtesy of the Lyon Musée d’Histoire de la Médecine et de la Pharmacie.

  Patients are arranged in rows around this tub and press an iron rod to their afflicted body part, while holding each other by the thumbs or being tied together with a cord. In the corner sits a pianoforte on which different kinds of melodies are played, occasionally accompanied by singing. The magnetizer holds a metal rod 10 to 12 inches long. Deslon told the commissioners that the rod and music both conduct magnetism; that the rope and chain of thumbs both augment the effect; and that the inside of the tub concentrates magnetism. Patients receive magnetism simultaneously by these means. They are also directly magnetized when the magnetizer passes a finger and metal rod in front of their face or around their afflicted part, stares into their eyes, and applies pressure with his hands and fingers to the lower abdominal area, maintaining contact for as much as several hours.
While some patients remain calm, the more common effect of this treatment is what is called, in animal magnetism, the crisis: fits of violent convulsions and seizures that can last for hours, accompanied by screams and laughter, followed by exhaustion and lethargy. These so-called crises are considered salutary. The power wielded by the magnetizer over his patients is extraordinary. Most patients who experience crises are women, and the crises appear to be contagious among them.
After the commissioners observed the effects of these

magnetic treatments, their next task was to determine the causes and to search for proof of the existence and utility of magnetism. The question of existence had to come first, for animal magnetism can certainly exist without being useful, but it cannot be useful if it does not exist. Deslon insisted that the commissioners investigate the curative powers of magnetism, but they did not believe that they had to do so. Because magnetic fluid was acknowledged to be undetectable by the senses, and the commissioners considered any gradual improvement of symptoms to be inconclusive evidence of the efficacy of any particular treatment, they determined to focus on immediate, physical effects attributable to no other cause than animal magnetism.
The commissioners resolved to perform the first experiments on themselves, so that they could experience the sensations. They agreed unanimously to conduct these trials as a group, in private, so that they could freely discuss their observations. Deslon set up for them a separate room with a tub, and they went there once a week; they were magnetized by either Deslon or one of his disciples for two and a half hours each time. None felt any symptoms ascribable to animal magnetism. In order to test whether sequential days of treatment would make a difference, some commissioners went three days in a row, but the effect was the same.
The commissioners next determined to experiment on subjects who were actually sick, chosen from the lower classes. This second experiment was conducted at Franklin’s home.

Sept malades ont été rassemblés à Passy chez M. Franklin; ils ont été magnétisés devant lui & devant les autres Commissaires par M. Deslon.
La veuve Saint-Amand, asthmatique, ayant le ventre, les cuisses & les jambes enflees; & la femme Anseaume, qui avoit une grosseur à la cuisse, n’ont rien senti; le

petit Claude Renard, enfant de six ans, scrofuleux, presque étique, ayant le genou gonflé, la jambe fléchie & l’articulation presque sans mouvement, enfant intéressant & plus raisonnable que son âge ne le comporte, n’a également rien senti, ainsi que Geneviève Leroux, âgée de neuf ans, attaquée de convulsions & d’une maladie assez semblable à celle que l’on nomme chorea sancti Viti. François Grenet a éprouvé quelques effets; il a les yeux malades, particulièrement le droit, dont il ne voit presque pas, & où il a une tumeur considérable. Quand on a magnétisé l’œil gauche en approchant, en agitant le pouce de près & assez long-temps, il a éprouvé de la douleur dans le globe de l’œil, & l’œil a larmoyé. Quand on a magnétisé l’œil droit, qui est le plus malade, il n’y a rien senti; il a senti la même douleur à l’œil gauche, & rien par-tout ailleurs.
La femme Charpentier, qui a été jetée à terre contre une poutre, par une vache, il y a deux ans, a éprouvé plusieurs suites de cet accident; elle a perdu la vue, l’a recouvrée en partie, mais elle est restée dans un état d’infirmités habituelles; elle a déclaré avoir deux descentes, & le ventre d’une sensibilité si grande, qu’elle ne peut supporter les cordons de la ceinture de ses jupes: cette sensibilité appartient à des nerfs agacés & rendus très-mobiles; la plus légère pression faite dans la région du ventre, peut déterminer cette mobilité & produire des effets dans tout le corps par la correspondance des nerfs.
Cette femme a été magnétisée comme les autres, par l’application & par la pression des doigts; la pression lui a été douloureuse: ensuite en dirigeant le doigt vers la descente, elle s’est plainte de douleur à la tête; le doigt étant placé devant le visage, elle a dit qu’elle perdoit la respiration. Au mouvement réitéré du doigt de haut en bas, elle avoit des mouvemens précipités de la tête & des épaules, comme on en a d’une surprise mêlée de frayeur, & semblables à ceux d’une personne à qui on jetteroit quelques gouttes d’eau froide au visage. Il a semblé qu’elle éprouvoit les mêmes mouvemens ayant les yeux fermés. On lui a porté les doigts sous le nez en lui faisant fermer les yeux, & elle a dit qu’elle se trouveroit mal si on continuoit. Le

septième malade, Joseph Ennuyé, a éprouvé des effets du même genre, mais beaucoup moins marqués.
Sur ces sept malades, il y en a quatre qui n’ont rien senti & les trois autres ont éprouvé des effets. Ces effets méritoient de fixer l’attention des Commissaires, & demandoient un examen scrupuleux.

The third series of experiments was conducted with patients chosen from the aristocracy. In one experiment, four of them, two women and two men, were admitted to the commissioners’ private tub; two felt minor effects. Other patients were tested in other circumstances. Deslon magnetized one commissioner suffering from acute migraine, but the pain did not abate. The doctor also went to Passy to magnetize Franklin and members of his household.

M. Franklin, quoique ses incommodités l’aient empêché de se transporter à Paris, & d’assister aux expériences qui y ont été faites, a été lui-même magnétisé par M. Deslon, qui s’est rendu chez lui à Passy. L’assemblée étoit nombreuse; tous ceux qui étoient présens ont été magnétises. Quelques malades qui avoient accompagné M. Deslon, ont ressenti les effets du Magnétisme, comme ils ont coutume de les ressentir au traitement public; mais Mme de B**, M. Franklin, ses deux Parentes, son Secrétaire, un Officier Américain, n’ont rien éprouvé, quoiqu’une des Parentes de M. Franklin fût convalescente, & l’Officier Américain alors malade d’une fièvre réglée.

Collecting and analyzing the data gathered so far, the commissioners concluded that magnetic treatments had the capacity neither to detect illnesses nor to alleviate them. The fact that the most pronounced symptoms were experienced by lower-class patients, who were presumed to be more credulous and more eager to please their examiners, while the more educated and

skeptical subjects felt little or nothing, led them to suspect that the patient’s imagination played a part in producing symptoms.
At this stage of the investigation, the commissioners learned that a medical doctor named Jumelin was conducting experiments with animal magnetism at the home of the dean of the Faculty. Though Jumelin was not a disciple of Mesmer or Deslon, he magnetized patients as they did, using his fingers and an iron rod and laying his hands on affected parts of the body. He did not, however, make any distinction between poles. Jumelin agreed to perform a series of experiments (the fourth series) at the home of commissioner Majault. First, he magnetized eleven patients, eight men and three women. As only one woman felt effects—intense heat directly beneath where Jumelin’s hand floated above her body—the commissioners proposed blindfolding her so that she could not see where the magnetism was being directed. Under those conditions, she felt no effects in the places being magnetized. They removed the blindfold and had Jumelin place his hand on her abdomen; then, she again felt heat and even fainted. The blindfold was reinstated, and the commissioners led her to believe that Jumelin was magnetizing her once more (which he was not). She felt the same effects, with the same intensity. After some time, Jumelin was silently directed to magnetize her over her stomach and back; she felt nothing. These experiments led the commissioners to conclude that the method of magnetizing and the distinction between poles were irrelevant. They then tested the supposition that the patients’ reactions were caused by their imaginations, by having Jumelin conduct similar experiments (the fifth series) on other patients. Once again the blindfolded patients felt sensations according to where they believed the magnetism to be directed.
In the sixth series of experiments, conducted at M. Jumelin’s home, the commissioners used his servant to test a blindfold they had designed, which, being padded with goose down, was comfortable and admitted no light whatsoever. The commissioners, especially the doctors among them, conducted an

“infinite” number of experiments on patients who either were or were not being magnetized, with and without their knowledge. The results were always the same: effects were felt only when patients believed that magnetism was being applied, and patients could induce these sensations in themselves.
Having determined that imagination, on its own, can produce sensations and make a patient feel pain and heat, the commissioners wanted to test whether the imagination by itself was powerful enough to induce actual crises. The seventh, eighth, and ninth experiments, designed to provide an answer, were performed at Passy on different days with subjects chosen by Deslon: a boy and two women.

Lorsqu’un arbre a été touché suivant les principes & la méthode du Magnétisme, toute personne qui s’y arrête doit éprouver plus où moins les effets de cet agent; il en est même qui y perdent connoissance où qui y éprouvent des convulsions. On en parla à M. Deslon, qui répondit que l’expérience devoit réussir pourvu que le sujet fût fort sensible, & on convint avec lui de la faire à Passy, en présence de M. Franklin. La nécessité que le sujet fût sensible, fit penser aux Commissaires que pour rendre l’expérience décisive & sans réplique, il falloit qu’elle fût faite sur une personne choisie par M. Deslon, & dont il auroit éprouvé d’avance la sensibilité au Magnétisme. M. Deslon a donc amené avec lui un jeune homme d’environ douze ans, on a marqué dans le verger du jardin, un abricotier bien isolé, & propre à conserver le Magnétisme qu’on lui auroit imprimé. On y a mené M. Deslon seul, pour qu’il le magnétisât, le jeune homme étant resté dans la maison & avec une personne qui ne l’a pas quitté. On auroit desiré que M. Deslon ne fût pas présent à l’expérience, mais il a déclaré qu’elle pourroit manquer s’il ne dirigeoit pas sa canne

& ses regards sur cet arbre, pour en augmenter l’action. On a pris le parti d’éloigner M. Deslon le plus possible, & de placer les Commissaires entre lui & le jeune homme, afin de s’assurer qu’il ne feroit point de signal, & de pouvoir répondre qu’il n’y avoit point eu d’intelligence. Ces précautions, dans une expérience qui doit être authentique, sont indispensables sans être offensantes.
On a ensuite amené le jeune homme, les yeux bandés, & où l’a présenté successivement à quatre arbres qui n’étoient point magnétisés, en les lui faisant embrasser, chacun pendant deux minutes, suivant ce qui avoit été réglé par M. Deslon lui-même.
M. Deslon présent, & à une assez grande distance, dirigeoit sa canne sur l’arbre réellement magnétisé.
Au premier arbre, le jeune homme interrogé au bout d’une minute, a déclaré qu’il suoit à grosses gouttes; il a toussé, craché, & il a dit sentir une petite douleur sur la tête; la distance à l’arbre magnétisé étoit de vingt-sept pieds.
Au second arbre, il se sent étourdi, même douleur sur la tête; la distance étoit de trente-six pieds.
Au troisième arbre, l’étourdissement redouble ainsi que le mal de tête; il dit qu’il croit approcher de l’arbre magnétisé; il en étoit alors environ à trente-huit pieds.
Enfin au quatrième arbre non magnétisé, & à vingt quatre pieds environ de distance de l’arbre qui l’avoit été, le jeune homme est tombé en crises; il a perdu connoissance, ses membres se sont roidis, & on l’a porté sur un gazon voisin, où M. Deslon lui a donné des secours & l’a fait revenir.
Le résultat de cette expérience est entièrement contraire au Magnétisme. M. Deslon a voulu expliquer le fait, en disant que tous les arbres sont magnétisés par eux-mêmes, & que leur Magnétisme étoit d’ailleurs renforcé par sa présence. Mais alors une personne sensible au Magnétisme, ne pourroit hasarder d’aller dans un jardin sans risquer d’avoir des convulsions; cette assertion seroit démentie par l’expérience de tous les jours. La présence de M. Deslon n’a rien fait de plus que ce qu’elle a fait dans le carrosse

où le jeune homme est venu avec lui, placé vis-à-vis de lui, & où il n’a rien éprouvé. Si le jeune homme n’eût rien senti, même sous l’arbre magnétisé, on auroit pu dire qu’il n’étoit pas assez sensible, du moins ce jour-là: mais le jeune homme est tombé en crise sous un arbre qui n’étoit pas magnétisé; c’est par conséquent un effet qui n’a point de cause physique, de cause extérieure, & qui n’en peut avoir d’autre que l’imagination. L’expérience est donc tout-à-fait concluante: le jeune homme savoit qu’on le menoit à l’arbre magnétisé, son imagination s’est frappée, successivement exaltée, & au quatrième arbre elle a été montée au degré nécessaire pour produire la crise.
D’autres expériences viennent à l’appui de celle-ci, & fournissent le même résultat. Un jour que les Commissaires se sont réunis à Passy chez M. Franklin, & avec M. Deslon, ils avoient prié ce dernier d’amener avec lui des malades, & de choisir dans le traitement des pauvres, ceux qui seroient le plus sensibles au Magnétisme. M. Deslon a amené deux femmes; & tandis qu’il étoit occupé à magnétiser M. Franklin & plusieurs personnes dans un autre appartement, on a séparé ces deux femmes, & on les a placées dans deux pièces différentes.
L’une la femme P**, a des taies sur les yeux; mais comme elle voit toujours un peu, on lui a cependant couvert les yeux du bandeau décrit ci-dessus. On lui a persuadé qu’on avoit amené M. Deslon pour la magnétiser: le silence étoit recommandé, trois Commissaires étoient présens, l’un pour interroger, l’autre pour écrire, le troisième pour représenter M. Deslon. On a eu l’air d’adresser la parole à M. Deslon, en le priant de commencer, mais on n’a point magnétisé la femme; les trois Commissaires sont restés tranquilles, occupés seulement à observer ce qui alloit se passer. Au bout de trois minutes la malade a commencé à sentir un frisson nerveux; puis successivement elle a senti une douleur derrière la tête, dans les bras, un fourmillement dans les mains, c’est son expression; elle se roidissoit, frappoit dans ses mains, se levoit de son siège, frappoit des pieds: la crise a été bien caractérisée. Deux autres Commissaires placés dans la pièce a côté, la porte fermée, ont

entendu les battemens de pieds & de mains, & sans rien voir, ont été les témoins de cette scène bruyante.
Ces deux Commissaires étoient avec l’autre malade, la demoiselle B**, attaquée de maux de nerfs. On lui a laissé la vue libre & les yeux découverts; on l’a assise devant une porte fermée, en lui persuadant que M. Deslon étoit de l’autre côté, occupé à la magnétiser. Il y avoit à peine une minute qu’elle étoit assise devant cette porte, quand elle a commencé à sentir du frisson; après une autre minute, elle a eu un claquement de dents, & cependant une chaleur générale; enfin après une troisiéme minute, elle est tombee tout-à-fait en crise. La respiration étoit précipitée; elle étendoit les deux bras derrière le dos, en les tordant fortement, & en penchant le corps en devant: il y a eu tremblement général de tout le corps; le claquement de dents est devenu si bruyant, qu’il pouvoit être entendu de dehors; elle s’est mordu la main, & assez fort pour que les dents y soient resté marquées.
Il est bon d’observer qu’on n’a touché en aucune manière ces deux malades; on ne leur a pas même tâté le pouls, afin qu’on ne pût pas dire qu’on leur avoit communiqué le Magnétisme, & cependant les crises ont été complètes. Les Commissaires qui ont voulu connoître l’effet du travail de l’imagination, & apprécier la part qu’elle pouvoit avoir aux crises du Magnétisme, ont obtenu tout ce qu’ils desiroient. Il est impossible de voir l’effet de ce travail plus à découvert & d’une manière plus évidente, que dans ces deux expériences. Si les malades ont déclaré que leurs crises sont plus fortes au traitement, c’est que l’ébranlement des nerfs se communique, & qu’en général toute émotion propre & individuelle est augmentée par le spectacle d’émotions semblables.

The tenth and eleventh experiments were performed on the highly susceptible dame P***, who suffered from filmy eyes and who, at Passy, had fallen into a crisis. This time she was tested at the home of Lavoisier, with Deslon present, to determine the extent to which her imagination was engaged. After recovering from the swoon she experienced when entering the

house, she was shown a group of cups filled with liquid and asked to select the one that had been magnetized. She fell into a crisis after having been shown four non-magnetized cups, but afterwards, when given a cup of water to drink that had been magnetized by Deslon himself, she felt nothing. Next, Majault examined the film on her eyes while, unbeknownst to her, the magnetized cup was held for twelve minutes behind her head. Distracted and comforted by the eye exam, she was calmer than at any other time.
The twelfth experiment tested the power of sight to stimulate the imagination. One of Jumelin’s patients, who had lost the power of speech when he magnetized her, agreed to be magnetized again at his house in the presence of the commissioners. Her extreme reaction could be reproduced only when she was able to see Jumelin.
The thirteenth experiment explored the role of the magnetizer’s gaze, which, it was agreed, was far more powerful than any other kind of sign or gesture. A new patient at Deslon’s clinic, coming out of a crisis, was transfixed by her magnetizer’s gaze, and reported that she carried it in her mind’s eye for three days, asleep or awake.
The fourteenth and fifteenth experiments tested whether animal magnetism could produce any effects without the imagination being engaged. As magnetic fluid was said to pass through walls and heavy wooden doors, and as Deslon himself had asserted that it passed through paper, the commissioners removed a door between two chambers and replaced it with a paper partition. From behind that partition, at a distance of eighteen inches, one of the commissioners magnetized Mlle. B** for thirty minutes without her knowledge, as she chatted with the others. Although when magnetized at Passy she had fallen into a violent crisis within minutes, this time she felt nothing. The magnetizer then entered her chamber, stood in front of her at precisely the same distance, and magnetized her in a manner that, unbeknownst to her, should have produced no effects, according to Mesmer’s doctrine of polarity. Within minutes she fell into a convulsive crisis complete with headache, hiccups, teeth-chattering, foot-tapping, twisting limbs, and pain in her lower back.

The sixteenth experiment, also conducted on Mlle. B**, proved that imagination could end a crisis as well as instigate it. As the magnetizer told her that it was time to stop, he crossed his index fingers in a way that should have continued the flow of magnetism exactly as before. He then told her that each of her symptoms would abate. Within only three minutes, his voice directing her imagination, the pain in her head, neck, chest, and arms disappeared.
Having proven that animal magnetism did not exist and that all the symptoms they had observed were attributable to the imagination, the commissioners discussed the physical effects and how they were augmented in group sessions. They pointed out the potentially harmful consequences of prolonged pressure, either light or deep, on the colon, diaphragm, stomach, and uterus during magnetic treatments. They noted the phenomenon of mutual incitement and imitation of symptoms in group sessions, particularly among women, that often led to the proliferation of crises. And they discussed how hysterical symptoms could become habitual, and could be easily induced by the repetition of certain triggers.
The real causes of the effects ascribed to animal magnetism, they determined, were touch, imagination, and imitation. Among these, imagination was the most important. Even Deslon agreed in some measure with this assessment.

M. Deslon ne s’éloigne pas de ces principes. Il a déclaré dans le Comité tenu chez M. Franklin le 19 juin, qu’il croyoit pouvoir poser en fait que l’imagination avoit la plus grande part dans les effets du Magnétisme animal; il a dit que cet agent nouveau n’étoit peut-être que l’imagination elle-même, dont le pouvoir est aussi puissant qu’il est peu connu: il assure avoir constamment reconnu ce pouvoir dans le traitement de ses malades, & il assure également que plusieurs ont été ou gueris ou infiniment soulagés. Il a observe aux Commissaires que l’imagination ainsi dirigee au soulagement de l’humanite souffrante, seroit un grand

bien dans la pratique de la Medecine (h); & persuadé de cette vérité du pouvoir de l’imagination, il les a invités à en étudier chez lui la marche & les effets. Si M. Deslon est encore attaché à la première idée que ces effets sont dûs a Taction d’un fluide, qui se communique d’individu à individu par l’attouchement ou par la direction d’un conducteur, il ne tardera pas à reconnoître avec les Commissaires qu’il ne faut qu’une cause pour un effet, & que puisque l’imagination suffit, le fluide est inutile. Sans doute nous sommes entoures d’un fluide qui nous appartient, la transpiration insensible forme autour de nous une atmosphere de vapeurs egalement insensibles; mais ce fluide n’agit que comme les atmosphères, ne peut se communiquer qu’infiniment peu par l’attouchement, ne se dirige ni par des conducteurs, ni par le regard, ni par l’intention, n’est point propagé par le son, ni réfléchi par les glaces, & n’est susceptible dans aucun cas des effets qu’on lui attribue.

Finally, the commissioners considered whether the crises and convulsions produced around the tub could ever be useful in curing patients. They concluded that they could not; these convulsions were violent and harmful, capable of causing lasting physical and neurological damage. Wise doctors attempted to quiet such convulsions, not induce them. Suffering them regularly could only be fatal.
The commissioners unanimously concluded that animal magnetism did not exist and a belief therein constituted a regression to the superstitions of a less enlightened age.

Les Commissaires ayant reconnu que ce fluide magnétique animal ne peut être apperçu par aucun des nos sens, qu’il n’a eu aucune action, ni sur eux-mêmes, ni sur les malades qu’ils lui ont soumis; s’étant assurés que les pressions & les attouchemens occasionnent des changemens rarement favorables dans l’économie animale; & des ébranlemens toujours fâcheux dans l’imagination; ayant enfin démontré par des expériences décisives que l’imagination sans Magnétisme produit des convulsions, & que le Magnétisme sans l’imagination ne produit rien; ils ont conclu d’une voix unanime, sur la question de l’existence & de l’utilité du Magnétisme, que rien ne prouve l’existence du fluide magnétique animal; que ce fluide sans existence est par consequent sans utilité; que les violens effets que l’on observe au traitement public, appartiennent a l’attouchement, à l’imagination mise en action, & à cette imitation machinale qui nous porte malgre nous a repeter ce qui frappe nos sens. Et en même temps ils se croient obligés d’ajouter, comme une observation importante, que les attouchemens, l’action répétée de l’imagination, pour produire des crises, peuvent être nuisibles; que le spectacle de ces crises est également dangereux à cause de cette imitation dont la nature semble nous avoir fait une loi; & que par conséquent tout traitement public où les moyens du Magnétisme seront employés, ne peut avoir à la longue que des effets funestes (i).
A Paris, ce onze Août mil sept cent quatre-vingt quatre. Signés, B. Franklin, Majault, le Roi, Sallin, Bailly, d’Arcet, de Bory, Guillotin, Lavoisier.⟩


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from William Carmichael, 11 August 1784
From: Carmichael, William
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear Sir
St. Ildefonso Augt. 11th 1784

I received some days ago a Letter from the Cte de Campomanes in answer to the one which your Excellency put into my hands for him; As I had in prospect an occasion of sending it by an extraordinary Courier I have taken the Liberty to detain this Letter until the moment of the Departure of the Courier— The packet would have cost your Excellency an extraordinary postage, & As I had been instrumental in bringing you into this Correspondence, I did not wish to engage your Excellency to pay more than was necessary for the proofs of my desire to contribute to your satisfaction— It is with the highest pleasure I can assure you that your Name is in Veneration here, your confidence & esteem are my passeports to all the Literati. I beg your Exy to answer Campomanes as soon as your Leisure will permit you & to answer generally as a well wisher to every measure taken for the encouragement of Agriculture & the Sciences here. If my information from America is just, I hope your Excellency will have the satisfaction of concluding a Treaty with this Country as much to your honor as those to which you have already given your signature. I hope from the friendship which your Excy has so often declared to me that you will have the goodness to make me the instrument of notifying the Intentions of Congress to this Court. The Silence of that Body afflicts & Surprises me. I do not know what to think of this Silence which distresses me to the last degree— Patience you have been my example & I love & respect you too much not to follow it. I drew upon you the ninth of last month in favor of Messrs Drouilhet for 4000 Livres Tournois, I wished not to be too pressing & altho I wrote your Excellency that I should draw in favor of Mr Williams for 2000 Livres Tournois I shall not do it until next week—
I beg & entreat your Excellency to charge My Namesake to have the goodness to write me from time to time. Situated as I am & as I have been here I cannot remain longer spending

money for Others & my own Time more precious still without having it in my power to serve others or myself essentially. On My return to America I may possibly be of use to my friends & to myself & certainly I have had no motive to induce me to remain here because, I have not consulted my own Interests but those of the States— I always regarded them as inseraparable, but I am afraid I shall sooner or later experience that Ostracism has not existed only in Athens— I should not complain of this, If I had only a shirt of your garment to give me some claim to merit, but as this gift cannot be bestowed without your ascencion to another World I will consent to suffer every thing in this provided Your Excellency will also determine not to leave us, even Tho’ Madame Helvetius should invite you to Elysium to revenge herself of the indifference of her Caro Esposo & you of the Inconstancy of your Gaia, until you shall see us hors d’Affaire with all the potentates of Europe— I cannot tell your Exy How we shall be here, but this week I shall have an opportunity of writing you more fully by a private hand— With affectionate remembrance to my Namesake I have the honor to be with the highest regard & Affection Your Excys most Obliged & Most Humble Sert

Wm Carmichael


Title: Charles Thomson to the American Commissioners, 13 August 1784
From: Thomson, Charles
To: American Commissioners

Gentlemen,
Philadelphia 13 Aug. 1784

In pursuance of the Orders of the Committee of the States, I have the honor to transmit to you the copy of a letter signed T. Gilfillan, dated London the 19 feby 1784 with a copy of an inspection roll of Negroes taken on board certain vessels at anchor near Staten Island on the 30 of November 1783, to be made use of in any negotiations you may have with the court of Great Britain agreeably to the instructions heretofore transmitted to you.

With great Respect I have the honor to be Gentlemen Your most obedient and most humble Servt

Chas Thomson
The Honbl. John Adams Benj Franklin & Thomas Jefferson

Notations: Philad Augst. 13. 1784 from The Secretary of Congress / Papers relating to Negroes carried from New York


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Joseph Banks, 13 August 1784
From: Banks, Joseph
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear Sir
Soho Square Augst. 13 1784

Willing as much as is in my Power to Clear the R. Society & myself from our share of the Charge of Illiberal treatment towards you with which I fear this Countrey may too justly be accusd, I take my Pen with no small Pleasure to inform you that I am instructed by the Council of the Royal Society to Present to you in their name the Gold medal they have struck in honor of Captn. Cook as a testimony how truly they respect those liberal Sentiments which inducd you when his return to Europe was expected to Issue your orders to such American Cruizers as were then under your direction to abstain from molesting that great Circumnavigator an act worthy those sentiments of General Philanthropy by which I have observd your Conduct ever actuated since I have had the honor of your acquaintance. At the Same time give me leave to Congratulate you on the honorable manner in which you receivd a Copy of Captn. Cooks voyage sent to you by his Britanic Majesties orders as a testimony of his Royal approbation of the same liberal Conduct.
As I suppose you would wish to know to whom you are obligd for the representation which inducd his Majesty to Send it I can Inform you that it was Ld Howe, when I, who by desire of the Admiralty conducted the General Business of that Publication reported the names of those to whom Presents of the work ought in my opinion to be sent I did not venture to insert your

name in the List but when Ld Howe on hearing my reasons for Sending one to his Most Christian Majesty approvd of them in warm Terms I thought it proper to acquaint him that you had an equal right to the same compliment a circumstance of which he was ignorant on which his Lordship of his own mere motion & without hesitation orderd your name to be inserted in the List & Obtaind his Majesties Royal assent with as little difficulty.
We have at last began to Exhibit Ballons as a matter of Profitable shew two days ago a French man who Calls himself Chevr. Moret advertisd that he would ascend at Chelsea in a machine made on Mont Golfiers Principles, Tickets were sold for a Guinea half & half a Crown & a most numerous assembly got together especialy on the outside of the Enclosure it seemd however that the Chevr. knew by Previous experiment that his Machine was so ill Constructed & so heavy that it Could not raise even its own weight above 10 feet from the Ground this at best was the result of the Experiment & the Company Finding reasons to beleive that the Chevr. never meant to ascend which they deduced from the fire pla[ce?] within being held up by wyers so thin that they soon burnd off but more especialy by a Dram bottle which they had examind in his Gondola & found empty became quite outrageous & tore to peices in a few minutes the whole apparatus.
To day a Montgolfier is to ascend in which we are told a Major Gardiner who came here from America as a Loyalist about 3 or 4 years ago is to go up with another Gentleman whose name is secret in a few days more a Globe of 32 feet filld with Gas &

well made is to Carry up a Mr. Lunardi a writer in the office of the Neapolitan minister & a Mr. Biggins who seems a well Educated young man who lives upon his Means.
Adieu dear sir beleive me Your Obedient & Faithfull servant

Jos: Banks

P.S. I will send the Gold medal by the first safe opportunity & the bronze one with it which you receive from the Soc. as one of the fellows

Addressed: Dr. Franklin / Passy / near / Paris

    James Cook Gold Medal


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Charles Thomson, 13 August 1784
From: Thomson, Charles
To: Franklin, Benjamin

My dear friend,
Philadelphia August 13. 1784

The renewal of our ancient correspondence and the receipt of your letters excited those sensations, which real friends feel

on meeting unexpectedly after a long separation. As Mr Jefferson, who I hope is by this time safe arrived will explain matters to you and make you fully acquainted with the state of our affairs I shall no longer conceal from you the circumstance of the Omission of the signature of the letter of the 5 Jany last, which procured me the favour of hearing from you. The letter was to have been signed by the President. As the vessel was on the point of sailing and the captain only waiting for the dispatch, I copied the letter in Congress and delivered it to the President, who sealed it in a hurry without putting his Name to it. So that my letters to you are all private, and this will explain why they generally contain “nothing of public Affairs.” I am sensible you must, for a considerable time past, have been greatly at a loss for want of official communications. And though I often wished to give you some yet I forbore, for reasons, which if ever I am so happy as to have a personal interview I can assign and which I am persuaded you will deem satisfactory. But this Inconvenience will be obviated, if Mr Jay who with his family is arrived at New York and who as I mentioned to you in a former letter, is appointed Secretary for foreign affairs, accepts that Office, as I hope he will: Though I must confess my hope is founded more on my wishes than on any solid reason. I have written and informed him of his appointment & urged his acceptance, but have not yet received his Answer.
Col Harmar who arrived with the Marquis de la Fayette after a fine passage of 35 days delivered me on the eighth your letter of the 14 June with a copy of that of the 13 May, the original of which I had received before, announcing the exchange of the ratifications of the definitive treaty of peace: On this happy completion of our hazardous enterprize I most sincerely congratulate you. It is an event, which I have devoutly wished and yet I cannot but say, the prospect of it has often excited many uneasy apprehensions. From the first appeal to arms, through the whole contest, I never had a doubt of the issue; but I was afraid it would come upon us before we had acquired national

principles habits and sentiments, which would enable us to improve it to advantage and to act becoming our station and dignity. I need not mention to you who know so well the peculiar circumstances of America at the commencement of this revolution. The several colonies were distinct and separate governments, each jealous of another and kept apart by local interests and prejudices. Being wholly dependent on Great Britain they were secluded from all Negotiations with foreign courts and almost from all intercourse with foreign Nations. Having never been much taxed, nor for any length of time, they had no funds, whereon to ground public credit. Those who know the difficulty which old established nations experience in their attempts to introduce new arrangements either in government, police or finance, will readily conceive what we have had to encounter; more especially when it is considered, that the ancient governments being dissolved, the people were thrown into a state of nature, that property being equally divided and the feudal system unknown in this country, there were no individuals to whom the people were accustomed to look up and who could influence their conduct or Opinions. And even when new governments were adopted, the ideas of liberty which prevailed threw the whole power into the hands of the people And the rotation which took place in the legislatures and executives of the several states afforded little Opportunity of acquiring National sentiments. Notwithstanding all this we have made considerable progress in the short period of eight years; the time elapsed since we became a Nation; And I am happy to think that the people every day become more and more impressed with the necessity of honorably paying our debts, supporting public credit and establishing a national character. And though Rhode island still holds out and refuses her assent to the impost of 5 per cent, yet as all the other states have agreed to the measure I have strong hopes that she may be induced to come into it, or that some means will be devised to overcome the obstacle which her refusal throws in the way. In like manner I am persuaded the

people of these states will quickly find it to be their interest as well as of absolute necessity to be faithful in the Observance of treaties and to avoid internal contentions and divisions.
There is no doubt but Britain will watch for advantages, if not to recover what she has lost, at least to be revenged for what she has suffered; and that every thing will be attempted and every artifice used, which Malice can suggest, to break our Connection with France and to sow dissensions among the states. The easy access which foreigners have to these states and the ready reception they meet with afford favourable opportunities of putting their arts in practice. And it is worthy of Observation, that it is strangers lately come among us, whom we know nothing of, joined with Men, who, to say the least of them, were lukewarm in our cause and of doubtful Characters, who are now most active in sowing jealousies of France, from an affected regard for our liberty and a zeal to preserve this country from foreign influence. I think it therefore highly necessary both for France and America to be on their guard and not suffer themselves to be duped by the arts of their common enemy.
The atrocious and unprovoked outrage lately committed in this city by one Longchamps a vagabond frenchman seems to carry strong marks of a premeditated design to embroil us with France: And what makes this still more probable is the palliating

account given of this affair in a paper newly set up here, as if for the purpose, entitled “Courier de l’Amerique,” and which is conducted by Boinod and Gaillard, two strangers, who came to this place last fall about the same time as Longchamps. The complexion of this paper evidences a marked inveteracy against France and a strong desire to excite fears and jealousies or at least to give an unfavourable impression of her: I am glad to find that the zeal of the Authors has hurried them into so palpable a manifestation of their design and that suspicions are already raised which I trust will guard against the influence of the poison they mean to convey.
I send you the Courier de l’Amerique as far as published and some other papers of the day. I also enclose the copies of some originals, which will explain the circumstances of the outrage committed by Longchamps and the Measures taken by Government in Consequence thereof. I must inform you that the judges have not yet given an Answer to the last letter of the President. The question “Whether Longchamps can be legally delivered up by the Council according to the claim made by the late Minister of France” was publickly argued by lawyers before the Judges, who still have it under advisement. In the mean

while Longchamps is confined in prison and the matter is laid before the legislature, who have now under consideration a bill, which I have no doubt they will pass for effectually securing the rights and immunities of public Ministers and punishing the violators of them.—
It may not be amiss to acquaint you that from his own shewing it appears that Longchamps had been an Officer in the french service; that in 1775 he came to America and went to our camp then before Boston, where he was cordially received; that after being in our camp and about head quarters for some weeks he took the advantage of a pass given for the purpose of going into the country, to slip into Boston, which we were beseiging; that he wanted permission of genl Gage to come again into our camp; But for some reason that does not appear it was not granted; That in our camp he passed by the name of Longchamps and in Boston by that of Blutiere. In short from many circumstances there is reason to suspect that at that time he either was or wished to be employed as a spy of the british general. Whether his late crime is the effect of sudden passion

or the result of some premeditated design may possibly in time be manifested. There is a circumstance in the Conduct of Longchamps not mentioned in any of the papers, which it may not be improper to inform you of. On the 17 he committed the first insult. On the 18 he went to a justice of the peace and took an Oath of allegiance to the state, after which he perpetrated the outrage of the 19th. His views in taking the oath have been variously interpreted, some imagining that he meant thereby to secure himself from the french laws and from the power and resentment of the Consul; others that his design was by becoming a citizen to involve the state in his crime and interest the populace in his favour. But whatever might have been his views, even the lawyers who undertook his defence laid little stress upon it in their pleadings And the Bench seemed to be decidedly of opinion that the oath he had taken was of no effect and that he was only to be considered in the light of an alien stranger.
The Commissions which Mr Jefferson carried with him and which I hope you have received befor this will not only inform you of the purpose of Congress respecting your request of recal, but enable you to satisfy the Danish Minister and to proceed on commercial treaties with Great Britain and other powers. I wish I were able to give you any pleasing expectations with respect to some employment for your secretary W. T. F, against whose conduct or abilities while in public service I have never heard the least Objection. On the contrary I have always heard them well spoken of. But to me it appears that it will be injuring your grandson to delay making some other provision for him in hopes of an employment from Congress and of this I am persuaded you are already convinced by the Appointment of Col Humphreys. And yet I have seen such changes in the conduct of public affairs occasioned by the change of men entrusted with the direction of them, that there is always room left for hope. But he who has other means of support is less affected by a disappointment in meeting with public employ and if his Country stands in need of his services and calls upon him to fill any office, he seems to confer rather than to receive an obligation by accepting it.—
I have taken some steps but they have hitherto been fruitless to find out Philip Hearn. Upon Enquiry I learn that capt. Holland came to this Country in 1775 and was employed as adjutant

to a regiment; that in 1776 he was promoted to the rank of a captain in the Delaware and was killed in the battle of German-town in 1777; that he had married a daughter of Parson Ross of the Delaware state by whom he left issue and that his widow & children enjoy a pension from the Assembly of that state agreeably to a recommendation of Congress.
I need not mention with what marks of cordiality and Affection the Marquis de la Fayette, who came to this place last Monday, was received by all ranks of people. His stay was but short as he was anxious to see general Washington. He left town this Morning and expects to return in three or four Weeks.
Mr Laurens is arrived at New york, but not yet come forward.
I intended to have troubled Mr Jefferson with a line by this Opportunity, but my letter to you has insensibly become so long, that I shall not have time. You will please to make my respectful compliments to him and Mr Adams. I thank you for the notice you have taken of Mr Isaac Norris. From what I hear I am afraid he is too fond of the company of “Moines crasseux.” Is there no way of reclaiming the son of our common and worthy friend?
With sincere affection and esteem I am Dear Sir Your old and constant friend

Chas Thomson

P.S Pray what is the nature of this new discovery called Animal Magnitism of which we have such strange Accounts? Is it a real

arcanum of nature lately discovered? is the old magic revived? or is it quackery and a sporting with the imagination?

Honble B Franklin


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Jonathan Williams, Jr., 13 August 1784
From: Williams, Jonathan Jr.
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear & hond Sir.
Havre de Grace 13. Augt 1784.

I should have called on you before my Departure if I had not been detained so long in Paris, that I expected to find you in bed and I was determined not to Stop myself ’till I came hither. The inclosed from my Father in Law will give you an Idea of his Business & Situation. I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you in about 15 days in the mean Time I remain as ever yours most dutifully & affectionately Yours.

J Williams J

Addressed: A Son Excellence / Monsr Le Docteur Franklin / Ministre des Etats Unis / en son Hotel A Passy / prés Paris.
Notation: Williams 13 Augt.— 1784.—


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

				The following previously identified accounts cover the period of this volume: VI and VII (XXIII, 21); XVII (XXVI, 3); XXV, XXVII (XXXII, 3–4); XXX (XXXVI, 3). We offer here a summary of entries that have not found a place elsewhere in annotation but provide insights into Franklin’s private and public life.
				Account XVII (Franklin’s Private Accounts with Ferdinand Grand, XXVI, 3) contains the usual mixture of household and personal expenses. Maítre d’hôtel Jacques Finck received five payments: 2,217 l.t. 10 s. on August 19; 2,000 l.t. on October 7; 1,500 l.t. on November 19; 2,000 l.t. on December 24; and 5,724 l.t. 18 s. on February 5. L’Air de Lamotte, Franklin’s secretary, received 1,200 l.t.

on December 6 and 2,000 l.t. on January 10. La Hure, the tailor, received 1,714 l.t. 19 s. 3 d. on August 27. Madame Fremont, the laundress, received 663 l.t. 18 s. on March 9. In the fall of 1784, Franklin began selling his shares in the Caisse d’escompte. On September 30, he was credited for the sale of ten shares, yielding 70,911 l.t. 5 s., as well as three months’ interest on those shares at 4½ percent. On December 31, he sold another twenty-five shares, for 11,250 l.t. On February 28, he received a dividend of 1,500 l.t. on his ten remaining shares. On December 31, Franklin invested 200,000 l.t. in a new French government loan issued that month.

				Account XXV (Account of Postage and Errands, XXXII, 3). These records, kept by L’Air de Lamotte, survive for every month covered in this volume except August. They include Lamotte’s accounting of every letter and packet, and the monthly statements submitted by the postman, Berthelot, and Bonnefoÿ, who ran errands. Letters and packets for Franklin that were sent to the Duke of Dorset were retrieved on September 14 and 20, October 6, and December 9. On December 17, almanacs were delivered for Temple from the abbé Poncelin de La Roche-Tilhac. On January 3, Berthelot received a New Year’s gift of 6 l.t. Lamotte paid the postage for letters for John Paul Jones and Matthew Clarkson on January 20. On February 4 and 13, Lamotte recorded letters that he himself had received from Francis Coffyn; the earlier one was “au sujet d’une Caisse.”
				Account XXVII (Accounts of the Public Agents in Europe, XXXII, 4). Franklin drew quarterly salary payments of 14,583 l.t. 6 s. 8 d. on October 4 and December 31. On January 7, Temple received 3,622 l.t. 10 s. (two quarters’ salary) plus the 1,000 l.t. that he was underpaid for salary on Aug. 6, 1784. On January 8, Lamotte received wages for nine months’ work in Franklin’s office, a total of 1,260 l.t.; he was also reimbursed monthly for the statements detailed in Account XXV. Chaumont received quarterly rent payments of 1,500 l.t. on October 6 and January 7. On September 14, 51 l.t. was paid for “medals.”


Title: Editorial Note on Promissory Notes
From:
To:

				Six months after the last known promissory note was signed at Passy (February, 1784, another American seaman, presumably a released captive, arrived at Franklin’s door and begged for assistance. Five more

Americans and one German who had served in the American army would follow over the next few months. All received loans on behalf of the United States and signed triplicate forms promising to repay. With the one exception noted below, all these men received 24 livres.
				William Reaven, “From sealem,” signed his promissory note on August 21. “Nath” (Nathaniel) Wall or Walls signed on September 17. The man who received assistance on October 16 and signed with an X was identified on the promissory note as “Charles Tomson of Lancaster in Pensylvania” by BF’s secretary, L’Air de Lamotte. Three loans were granted on November 11: to Thomas Dimond of Maryland and to two men from “Massachusetts Bay”—John Wilson and a companion who signed with an X but whose name was recorded in Account XXVII as “Jas. Hobon.” On November 15, Louis Nett received 48 livres. L’Air de Lamotte noted that he was “a German Dragoon in the Service of the United States.”


Title: Editorial Note on Applicants for Emigration
From:
To:

				For the period of the present volume, letters survive from ten individuals who wished to emigrate to the United States themselves, and one who wrote on behalf of a friend. Answers to six applicants have been located: Franklin discouraged two of them altogether, encouraged one to go elsewhere, referred another to church authorities, and sent copies of “Information to Those Who Would Remove to America” to two individuals whom he cautioned to consider the matter carefully before making such a journey.
				We summarize here letters from the five applicants for whom no replies have been located. Summaries of the others appear in annotation of the answers they elicited, which are published in full.
				On October 30, Fortin de Le Bel l’aîné, in Paris, recommends an unnamed person who has heard that Congress is seeking artists. The man in question had been an engineer in Saint-Domingue but since

returning to France has lost his small fortune and is working for the port commandant of Brest. Fortin encloses papers (now missing) that will attest to this history. The man’s talents include cartography, architectural drawing, engraving, and painting. Fortin writes again on Nov. 12, convinced that his earlier letter and its enclosures had not reached Franklin.
				On December 23, Dalzan Delapierre sends a duplicate of the letter he had sent on April 25, 1784, since he is convinced that Franklin must not have received it. He would like a response at once, since a nobleman who knows him well is planning to sail to America to join Lafayette, and Dalzan would accompany him if Franklin gave a positive response.
				John Egleton writes in what appears to be native English on December 26, without providing a return address. He has heard that some unnamed “Gentlemen” are contemplating sending a gardener to America “to cultivate the plants to be imported into this Kingdom.” Told to apply to Franklin, Egleton will not object to going, provided that the salary is good. He will be happy to answer any further questions.
				An earnest Lutheran pastor named William Reiser writes in labored English from Hanau, in Hesse, on January 29. Having read a few years earlier that Franklin sent vintners to America with vine stock, he now wonders if he, too, could be “an object for America.” He is 42 years old, a prorector at the local secondary school, has studied natural history and mathematics, and can preach in French. His position at the school, of which he encloses an advertisement, provides modestly for himself, his wife, and their three children, but he is motivated to leave by his “love for a land of liberty.” If someone like himself would be welcome in America “and advantageously placed there,” he would appreciate an answer.
				Pierre Bon de Corcelles addresses Franklin, his “trés honnoré Patron,” on March 5. He has decided to undertake his long-planned journey to Philadelphia by himself. He is about to leave for London; not knowing how long he will stay there, he will not need the recommendations that Franklin promised him until the time of his departure to America.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to William Franklin, 16 August 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Franklin, William

					When Benjamin Franklin decided to reestablish communication with his estranged Loyalist son, with whom he had had no contact since 1775, he did so by planting a hint in the ear of a Connecticut merchant who, being about to leave Paris for London, was sure to see William. The message, duly communicated, was that Franklin did not understand why his son had not “made any Overtures towards a Reconciliation,” now that the two opposing sides in the late war had settled their differences. If countries could reconcile, why not family members? William promptly wrote a letter to his father, dated July 22, which he mailed on August 6.
					William’s letter seems to have arrived in Passy around the same time that Thomas Jefferson arrived in Paris, bringing the news that William Temple Franklin had been passed over as secretary of the new commission in favor of David Humphreys. It appears that Jefferson first visited Passy on August 10. Almost immediately, Franklin made the decision to send Temple to London. The young man began making plans for his trip on August 11.

					Sending Temple to London would accomplish several goals: it would spare him the humiliation of watching a less qualified secretary try to learn the job that he had done for so many years; it would allow Temple to form beneficial connections with Franklin’s British friends and other important members of London society; and it would enable Temple to visit his father, as he had been longing to do. In the letter published below, Franklin instructs his unapologetic Loyalist son not to come to France, as William—desiring a personal interview to discuss “private Family Affairs, of a very important Nature”—had requested. Instead, Franklin would send Temple to London as his proxy.
					Temple told William Carmichael that the trip had been his own idea. After informing Carmichael of Humphreys’ appointment, he wrote, “My Grandfather is more chagrin’d at this neglect of me and of his Recommendation than I am myself: I had long been desirous of going to America to make myself a little known there, and he now seems inclined to permit me: but previous to my making that Voyage I have got him to consent to my going for a few Weeks to England, to visit my Father, & settle with him some Family Concerns. For which Purpose I shall probably set off the day after tomorrow.” Two days hence was August 17, but it would be another week before Franklin finished writing all the letters he wanted Temple to deliver. As for the trip’s duration, the intended stay of “a few Weeks” turned into a few months, much to Franklin’s distress.

						Dear Son,
						Passy, Augt. 16. 1784

					I received your Letter of the 22d past, and am glad to find that you desire to revive the affectionate Intercourse that formerly existed between us. It will be very agreable to me. Indeed nothing has ever hurt me so much and affected me with such keen Sensations, as to find my self deserted in my old Age by my only Son; and not only deserted, but to find him taking up Arms against me, in a Cause wherein my good Fame, Fortune and Life were all at Stake. You conceived, you say, that your Duty to your King & Regard for your Country requir’d this. I ought not to blame you for differing in Sentiments with me in Public Affairs. We are Men, all subject to Errors. Our Opinions are not in our own Power; they are form’d and govern’d much by Circumstances that are often as inexplicable as they are irresistible.— Your Situation was such that few would have censured your remaining Neuter, tho’ there are Natural Duties which precede political Ones, and cannot be extinguish’d by them. This is a disagreable Subject. I drop it. And we will endeavour as you propose mutually to forget what has happened relating to it, as well as we can.—
					I send your Son over to pay his Duty to you. You will find him much improv’d. He is greatly esteem’d and belov’d in this Country, and will make his Way any where. It is my Desire that he should Study the Law, as a necessary Part of Knowledge for a public Man, and profitable if he should have occasion to practise it. I would have you therefore put into his Hands those Law-books you have viz. Blackstone, Coke, Bacon, Viner, &c. &c. He will inform you, that he received the Letter sent him by Mr Galloway, and the Paper it enclos’d, safe. On my leaving America I deposited with that Friend for you a Chest of Papers, among which was a Manuscript of 9 or 10 Volumes relating to Manufactures, Agriculture, Commerce, Finance, &c. which

cost me in England about 70 Guineas; and Eight Quire Books containing the Rough Drafts of all my Letters while I liv’d in London. These are missing. I hope you have got them. If not, they are lost.— Mr Vaughan has publish’d in London a Volume of what he calls my Political Works. He proposes a second Edition. But as the first was very incompleat, and you had many Things that are omitted, for I used to send you sometimes the Rough Drafts, & sometimes the printed Pieces I wrote in London, I have directed him to apply to you for what may be in your Power to furnish him with, or to delay his Publication till I can be at home again—if that may ever happen. I did intend returning this Year; but the Congress, instead of giving me Leave to do so, have sent me another Commission, which will keep me here at least a Year longer; and perhaps I may then be too old and feeble to bear the Voyage. am here among a People that love and respect me, a most amiable Nation to live with, and perhaps I may conclude to die among them; for my Friends in America are dying off one after another, and I have been so long abroad that I should now be almost a Stranger in my own Country. I shall be glad to see you when convenient, but would not have you come here at present. You may confide to your Son the Family Affairs you wished to confer upon with me, for he is discreet. And I trust that you will prudently avoid introducing him to Company that it may be improper for him to be seen with. I shall hear from you by him, and any Letters to me afterwards, will come safe, under Cover directed to Mr Ferdinand Grand, Banker at Paris.

					Wishing you Health, and more Happiness than it seems you have lately experienced, I remain, Your affectionate Father

						B. Franklin
						Govr. Franklin

				Endorsed: Dr. Franklin to W.F.— Augst. 16. 1784


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Richard Price, 16 August 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Price, Richard

					Dear Friend,
					Passy, Augt. 16. 1784

				I some time since answered your kind Letter of July 12. returning the Proof of Mr Turgot’s Letter, with the Permission of his Friends to print it. I hope it came safe to hand.—
				I had before receiv’d yours of April 6. which gave me great Pleasure, as it acquainted me with your Welfare, and that of Dr Priestly.
				The Commencement here of the Art of Flying, will as you observe be a new Epoch. The Construction & Manner of Filling the Balloons improves daily. Some of the Artists are lately gone to England. It will be well for your Philosophers to obtain

from them what they know, or you will be behind-hand; which in mechanic Operations is unusual for Englishmen.—
				I hope the Disagreements in our Royal Society, are compos’d; Quarrels often disgrace both Sides: And Disputes even on small Matters often produce Quarrels, for want of knowing how to differ decently; an Art which they say scarce any body possesses but yourself & Dr. Priestly.—
				I had indeed Thoughts of visiting England once more, and of enjoying the great Pleasure of seeing again my Friends there: But my Malady, otherwise tolerable, is, I find, irritated by Motion in a Carriage, and I fear the Consequences of such a Journey; yet I am not quite resolv’d against it. I often think of the agreable Evenings I used to pass with that excellent Collection of good Men, the Club at the London, and wish to be again among them. Perhaps I may pop in, some Thursday Evening when they least expect me.
				You may well believe it very pleasing to me to have Dr Priestly associated with me among the Foreign Members of the Academy of Sciences. I had mention’d him upon every Vacancy that has happen’d since my Residence here, and the Place has never been bestow’d more worthily.—
				When you wrote the Letter I am answering, your Nation was involv’d in the Confusion of your new Election. When I think of your present crazy Constitution, & its Diseases, I imagine the enormous Emoluments of Place to be among the greatest, and while they exist I doubt whether even the Reform of your Representation will cure the Evils constantly arising from your perpetual Factions. As it seems to be a settled Point at present that the Minister must govern the Parliament, who are to do everything he would have done, and he is to bribe them to do this, and the People are to furnish the Money to pay these Bribes, such a Parliament appears to me a very expensive Machine for Government, and I apprehend the People will find out in time that they may as well be governed, and that it will be

much cheaper to be governed, by the Minister alone, no Parliament being preferable to the present.
				Your Newspapers are full of fictitious Accounts of Distractions in America. We know nothing of them. Mr Jefferson, just arriv’d here, after a Journey thro’ all the States from Virginia to Boston, assures me that all is quiet, a general Tranquility reigns, and the People well satisfy’d with their present Forms of Government, a few insignificant Persons only excepted. Those Accounts are I suppose intended as consolatory, and to discourage Emigrations. I think with you, that our Revolution is an important Event for the Advantage of Mankind in general. It is to be hoped that the Lights we enjoy, which the ancient Governments in their first Establishment could not have, may preserve us from their Errors. In this the Advice of wise Friends may do us much Good, and I am sure that which you have been so kind as to afford us, will be of great Service.
				Mr Jay is gone to America; but Mr Adams is just arriv’d here, and I shall acquaint him with your Remembrance of him. Poor Paradise, whom you mention, I respect and pity: But there is no helping him. He seems calculated by Nature for Unhappiness, and will be equally miserable whether with or without his Wife, having no Firmness of Mind. I doubt his Property in Virginia may suffer by his Irresolution.
				Many Thanks for your kind Wishes respecting my Health and Happiness, which I return fourfold, being ever with the highest Esteem, my dear Friend, Yours most affectionately

					B Franklin
					My respects and best wishes attend good mrs price

					P.S. I wrote you a few Lines by your Friend Mr Lewis, as he might meet with you at Brighthelmstone. The Bearer is my

Grandson & Secretary, a worthy good Young Man. I beg leave to recommend him to your Civilities, and if convenient I wish he may be introduc’d one Evening to our Club. He stays but a short time in London.—

						Revd Dr Price

				Endorsed: A letter from his Excellency Dr [Franklin] dated Aug [torn]


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to John Walter, 17 August 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Walter, John

					Sir,
					Passy, August 17th, 1784.

				I received your favour dated in May last, with the specimens of your manner of cementing your Types, for which I am much obliged to you. My manner of making the Matrices for words I could freely communicate to you, but that I think your method better, on the whole, to have the letters cast separately, and afterwards cemented. But the founders demand of double price, seems too high, and I imagine a cement might be contrived, with which the letters being wet while composing into words or parts of words, they would, when dry, stick firmly enough together. I have now here a little composition of types, which having been used in printing, and washed with lye, (which dissolves the printing ink) and the dissolved matter not being rinsed out with water as it ought to have been, is now so hard baked together, that I find it impossible to separate the letters: I have even boiled them in lye without success. I fancy the white of eggs with lime finely powdered, or lime water perhaps, if dryed on a very hot stove, might produce the same effect.— I send you herewith by my grandson, the French piece I mentioned to you; when perused you can return it. I am sorry for your difficulties, wish you success, and am, Sir, Your humble Servant,

					B. Franklin.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Benjamin West, 17 August 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: West, Benjamin

					Dear Sir,
					Passy, Augt. 17. 1784.

				I forget whether I answer’d in its time your kind Letter by Mr. Dagge. I have it now before me, and there will be no harm in answering it twice. It gave me great Pleasure, as it inform’d me of the Welfare of a Family I so much esteem and love, and that my Godson is a promising Boy. I wish much to see you all once more. The Malady I have, tho’ otherwise tolerable, prevents my using a Carriage, and so discourages the Journey. If I grow better, and I do think I am mending, possibly I may undertake it before I go to America. You can tel me whether my Appearance in London may not be offensive to some whom I ought not and do not desire to offend any farther.— I am glad to hear that Mr and Mrs Aufrere are well, and preserve me in their kind Remembrance. They are Persons that I very much esteem and respect. They had an amiable Daughter who was married before I left England. Is she well, and has she Children? This will be delivered to you by my Grandson who respects you infinitely. My Love to Raphael and my Godson. I shall be glad to see Raphael here, and would have him come at the Time of the Salon. Embrace Betsey for me most affectionately, and believe me ever, my dear Friend, Yours sincerely

					B. Franklin
					Mr West

				Addressed: Benj: West Esqr— / Newman Street / London. / By / Mr. Wm. T. Franklin.—


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Lord Howe, 18 August 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Howe, Rear Adm. Richard, Viscount

					My Lord
					Passy, Augt. 18th. 1784—

				I received lately the very valuable Voyage of the late Captain Cooke, kindly sent to me by your Lordship, in consideration of my Good-will in issuing Orders towards the protection of that illustrious Discoverer from any Interruption in his Return home by American Cruisers. The Reward vastly exceeds the small Merit of the Action, which was no more than a Duty to Mankind. I am very sensible of his Majesty’s Goodness in permitting this Favor to me, and I desire that my thankful acknowledgements may be accepted. With great Respect, I am, My Lord Your Lordships most obedient and most humble Servant

					B. F.
					To The Right Honble. Lord Viscount Howe


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to William Strahan, 19 August 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Strahan, William

					Dear Friend
					Passey, Augt. 19th. 1784

				I recieved your kind Letter of Apl. 17. You will have the goodness to place my delay in answering to the Account of Indisposition & Business, & excuse it. I have now that letter before me; and my Grandson whom you may formerly remember a little Scholar of Mr. Elphinson’s, purposing to set out in a day or two on a visit to his Father in London, I set down to scribble a little to you, first reccommending him as a worthy young Man to your Civilities and Counsels.
				You press me much to come to England; I am not without strong Inducements to do so; the Fund of Knowledge you promise to communicate to me is an Addition to them, and no small one. At present it is impracticable. But when my Grandson returns, come with him. We will then talk the matter over, and perhaps you may take me back with you. I have a Bed at your service, and will try to make your Residence, while you can stay with us, as agreeable to You if possible, as I am sure it will be to me.—
				You do not “approve the Annihilation of profitable Places, for you do not see why a Statesman who does his Business well, should not be paid for his Labour as well as any other Workman.” Agreed. But why more than any other Workman? The less the Salary the greater the Honor. In so great a Nation there are many rich enough to afford giving their time to the Public, And there are, I make no doubt, many wise and able Men who would take as much Pleasure in governing for nothing as they do in playing Chess for nothing. It would be one of the noblest of Amusements.— That this Opinion is not Chimerical the Country I now live in affords a Proof, its whole Civil and Criminal Law Administration being done for

nothing, or in some Sense for less than nothing, since the Members of its Judiciary Parliaments buy their Places, and do not make more than three per Cent, for their Money, by their Fees and Emoluments, while the legal Interest is Five; so that in Fact they give two per Cent to be allow’d to govern, and all their time and trouble into the Bargain. Thus Profit, one Motive for desiring Place, being abolish’d, there remains only Ambition; and that being in some degree ballanced by Loss, you may easily concieve that there will not be very violent Factions and Contentions for such Places; nor much of the Mischief to the Country that attends your Factions, which have often occasioned Wars, & overloaded you with Debts impayable.—
				I allow all the Force of your Joke upon the Vagrancy of our Congress. They have a right to sit where they please, of which perhaps they have made too much Use by shifting too often.— But they have two other Rights; those of sitting when they please, and as long as they please, in which methinks they have the advantage of your Parliament; for they cannot be dissolved by the Breath of a Minister, and sent packing as you were the other day, when it was your earnest desire to have remained longer together.—
				You “fairly acknowledge that the late War terminated quite contrary to your Expectation.” Your expectation was ill founded; for you would not believe your old Friend, who told you repeatedly that by those Measures England would lose Her Colonies, as Epictetus warn’d in vain his Master that he would break his Leg. You believ’d rather the Tales you heard of our Poltronery & Impotence of Body & Mind. Do you not

remember the Story you told me of the Scotch Serjeant, who met with a Party of Forty American Soldiers, and tho’ alone disarm’d them all and brought them in Prisoners: A Story almost as Improbable as that of the Irishman, who pretended to have alone taken and brought in Five of the Enemy, by surrounding them. And yet, my Friend, sensible and Judicious as you are, but partaking of the general Infatuation, you seemed to believe it.— The Word general puts me in mind of a General, your General Clarke, who had the Folly to say in my hearing at Sir John Pringle’s, that with a Thousand British Grenadiers he would undertake to go from one end of America to the other and geld all the Males partly by force and partly by a little Coaxing. It is plain he took us for a Species of Animals very little superior to Brutes. The Parliament too believ’d the Stories of another foolish General, I forget his Name, that the Yankies never felt bold. Yankey was understood to be a sort of Yahoo, and the Parliament did not think the Petitions of such Creatures were fit to be recieved and read in so wise an Assembly. What was the consequence of this monstrous Pride and Insolence? You first send small Armies to Subdue us, believing them more than sufficient, but soon found yourselves obliged to send greater; these whenever they ventured to penetrate our Country beyond the Protection of their Ships, were either repulsed and obliged to scamper out, or were surrounded, beaten, and taken Prisoners. An American Planter who had never seen Europe, was chosen by us to Command our Troops and continu’d during the whole War. This Man sent home to you, one after another, five of your best Generals, baffled, their Heads bare of Laurels, disgraced even in the Opinion of their Employers. Your Contempt of our Understandings in Comparison with your own appeared to be not much better founded than that of our Courage, if we may judge by this Circumstance, that in whatever Court of Europe a Yankey Negociator appeared, the wise British Minister was routed put in a passion, pick’d a

quarrel with your Friends, & was sent home with a Flea in his Ear.— But after all my dear Friend, do not imagine that I am vain enough to ascribe our Success to any superiority in any of those Points. I am too well acquainted with all the Springs and Levers of our Machine, not to see that our human means were unequal to our undertaking, and that if it had not been for the Justice of our Cause, and the consequent Interposition of Providence in which we had Faith we must have been ruined. If I had ever before been an Atheist I should now have been convinced of the Being and Government of a Deity. It is he who abases the Proud & favors the Humble! May we never forget his Goodness to us, and may our future Conduct manifest our Gratitude.—
				But let us leave these serious Reflections and converse with our usual Pleasantry. I remember your observing once to me, as we sat together in the House of Commons, that no two Journeymen Printers within your Knowledge had met with such Success in the World as ourselves. You were then at the head of your Profession, and soon afterward became a Member of that Parliament. I was an Agent for a few Provinces and now act for them all. But we have risen by different Modes. I as a Republican Printer, always lik’d a Form well plaind down; being averse to those overbearing Letters that hold their Heads so high as to hinder their Neighbours from appearing. You as a Monarchist chose to work upon Crown Paper, and found it profitable; while I work’d upon Pro-patria (often indeed call’d Fools-Cap) with no less advantage. Both our Heaps hold out very well, and we seem likely to make a pretty good days Work of it. With regard to Public Affairs, (to continue in the same stile) it seems to me that the Compositors in your Chapel do not cast off their Copy well, nor perfectly understand Imposing. Their Forms too are continually pester’d by the Outs, and Doubles, that are not easy to be corrected. And I think they were wrong in laying aside some Faces, and particularly certain Head-pieces, that would have

been both useful and ornamental. But, Courage! The Business may still flourish with good Management; & the Master become as rich as any of the Company—
				By the way, the rapid Growth and extension of the English language in America, must become greatly Advantageous to the Booksellers, & holders of Copy Rights in England. A vast audience is assembling there for English Authors, ancient, present and future, our People doubling every twenty Years; and this will demand large, and of course profitable, Impressions of your most valuable Books. I would therefore If I possessed such rights, entail them, if such a thing be practicable, upon my Posterity; for their Worth will be continually Augmenting. This may look a little like Advice, and yet I have drank no Madeira these Ten Months. The Subject however leads me to another thought, which is, that you do wrong to discourage the Emigration of Englishmen to America. In my piece on Population, I have proved, I think, that Emigration does not diminish but multiplies a Nation. You will not have fewer at home for those that go Abroad. And as every Man who comes among us, and takes up a piece of Land, becomes a Citizen, and by our Constitution has a Voice in Elections and a share in the Government of the Country, why should you be against acquiring by this fair Means a Repossession of it, and leave it to be taken by Foreigners of all Nations and Languages who by their Numbers may drown and stifle the English, which otherwise would probably become in the course of two Centuries the most extensive Language in the World, the Spanish only excepted. It is a fact that the Irish Emigrants and their Children are now in Possession of the Government of Pensilvania, by their Majority in the Assembly, as well as of a great part of the Territory; and I remember well the first

Ship that brought any of them over. I am ever, my dear Friend, Yours most Affectionately

					B Franklin
					W. Strahan, Esqr.— Copy—


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from the Comtesse de Beauharnais, 20 August 1784
From: Beauharnais (Beauharnois), Marie-Anne-Françoise Mouchard, comtesse de
To: Franklin, Benjamin

					le 20 aoust 1784

				Permettéz, Monsieur, que je vous envoie ce memoire en faveur d’un infortuné digne a tous egards de votre compassion? Vous y verrés qu’une chute qu’il a faite l’hiver dernier le met hors detat de continuér ses travaux; votre coeur genereux et sensible qui previent les besoins des malheureux qui les devine meme me repond que celui cy vous interessera, oui Monsieur en vos vertus minspirent la confiance de vous le dire, si vous vouliéz avoir la bonté de joindre quelques louis a ceux qu’il a deja recus, vous prolongeriéz son existence et cest a vous benir quil emploiroit le reste de sa vie. Vous seréz peut etre surpris, Monsieur, de la demande que jose vous faire n’ayant pas l’honneur detre connue de vous, mais lillustre Monsieur franklin precedé par la renommée a droit a ma priere puisqu’elle est un juste hommage, éh qui peut aimér plus a faire e bien que le premiér philosophe de nos jours, que le pere des infortunés et que celui sur la phisionomie respectable duquel on lit que le pauvre nira point chéz luy sans revenir heureux. Combien jattache de prix a loccasion [de?]

luy offrir les sentiments dadmiration avec lesquels jay l’honneur detre Monsieur Votre tres humble et tres obeissante servante

						LA CTESSE DE BEAUHARNOIS

				Notation: La Csse. de Beauharnois 20 Août 1784.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from [François-Louis?] Perregaux, 20 August 1784
From: Perregaux, [François-Louis?]
To: Franklin, Benjamin

					No. 19. ruë du Sentier 20. aoust 1784

				Mr. Perregaux a l’honeur de présenter ses civilités à Monsieur le Docteur Francklin & ainsi qu’il le désire celui de lui envoyer incluse la traitte de Mr. Leveux de Calais de l.t. 1722 5 s. sur lui afin qu’il y aye la complaisance de l’accepter & de la lui renvoyer par la petite poste—

				Notation: Perregaux 20 Aout 1784