Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Benjamin Vaughan, 17 April 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Vaughan, Benjamin

My dear Friend,
Passy, April 17. 1784

Since I wrote to you respecting Dr. Withering, I have received a very satisfactory Letter from him. So this Affair need not give you father [farther] Trouble.— I am sorry to hear you are hurt by a Fall from your Horse. I hope the Effects will not be lasting; and that by this time you are recover’d.
It will give me great Pleasure to hear that our Friend has an Opportunity of doing all the Good he wishes; as he [is] capable of doing a great deal.
I do not understand well a Paragraph of your last (dated

April 2) relating to the Subscription of the 39 Articles. Please to explain in your next.—
It would be well not to think of a new Edition of that Collection, ’till I can from America render it more compleat. Have you ever enquir’d of Govr Franklin, what supply he can furnish? He had a great many Things.—


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

Sir,
Passy April 17. 1784

I have received a Book for which I understand I am obliged to you, the Introduction to Logography.— I have read it with Attention, and as far as I understand it am much pleas’d with it. I do not perfectly comprehend the Arrangement of his Cases; but the Reduction of the Number of Pieces, by the Roots of Words and their different Terminations is extreamly ingenious; and I like much the Idea of cementing the Letters, instead of casting Words or Syllables, which I formerly attempted and succeeded in, having invented a Mould and Method by which I could in a

few Minutes form a Matrice and adjust it, of any Word in any Fount at pleasure, and proceed to cast from it. I send inclosed a Specimen of some of my Terminations, and would willingly instruct Mr. Johnson in the Method if he desired it, but he has a better.— He mentions some Improvements of Printing that have been proposed, but takes no Notice of one published here at Paris in 1776; so I suppose he has neither seen nor heard of it. It is in a Quarto Pamphlet, intitled, Nouveau Systéme typographique, ou Moyen de diminuer de moitié, dans toutes les Imprimeries de l’Europe le travail et les frais de Composition, de Correction et de Distribution; découvert en 1774 par Madame de ***. Frustra fit per plura quod potest fieri per pauciora. A Paris de L’lmprimerie Royale. M.DCC.LXXVI.— It is dedicated to the King, who was at the Expence of the Experiments. Two Commissaries were named to examine and render an Account of them; they were M. Desmarets of the Academy of Sciences, and M. Barbou an eminent Printer. Their Report concludes thus—“Nous nous contenterons de dire ici que M. de St. Paul a rempli les Engagemens qu’il avoit contractés avec le Gouvernement; que ses Experiences projetées ont été conduites avec beaucoup de Méthode et d’Intelligence de sa part; & que par des calculs longs et pénibles, qui sont le fruit d’un grand nombre de combinaisons raisonnées, il en a deduit plusieurs résultats qui meritent d’etre proposés aux Artistes, & qui nous paroissent propres à éclairer la pratique de L’Imprimerie actuelle, et à en abréger certainement les procédées. … Son projet ne peut que gagner aux contradictions qu’il essuiera sans doute, de la part des gens de l’Art. A Paris le 8 Janvier 1776.”— The Pamphlet consists of 66 Pages containing a Number of Tables, of Words and Parts of Words, Explanations of those Tables, Calculations, answers to Objections, &c. I will endeavour to get one to send you if you

desire it. Mine is bound up with others in a Volume. It was after seeing this Piece that I cast the Syllables I send you a sample of. I have not heard that any of the Printers here make at present the least Use of the Invention of Madame de ***. You will observe that it pretended only to lessen the Work by one half; Mr. Johnson’s Method lessens it three fourths. I should be glad to know with what the Letters are cemented. I think cementing better than casting them together, because if one Letter happens to be battered, it may be taken away and another cemented in its Place.— I received no Letter with the Pamphlet. I am Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant

(sign’d) B. Franklin
Mr. Walter


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Edward Nathaniel Bancroft, 17 April 1784
From: Bancroft, Edward Nathaniel
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Honoured Sir
Chiswick April 17th 1784

I have received your two very kind letters of which the first was not dated & the last dated Passy March 26th. 1784 & I am very happy to find that you are well & I hope your Grandson Benjamin Franklin Bache is also. I received Mr Bache’s letter & answered it & which I hope, by this time, he has received.— My dear Mama, whom I have seen not long ago, has been very indifferently; but is now getting better: She has recd. a few days ago two letters from my dear Papa: the first dated the 15th of Januy. & the last dated the 25 th of Januy. which informs us that he was just agoing to sail for South Carolina & where he expected to be in 4 or 5 days & of his expectations of being in England about the end of June next & I flatter myself to see him in June.—

My dear sisters & brothers are in charming health except the last little one whose name was Sophia & who lately died of the Small-pox. All my sisters & brothers have been inoculated & now look as well as ever & they all join in giving their restpectful love to you & your beloved family.— I remain, Honoured Sir, Your affectionate Sert.

Edwd. Nath. Bancroft

P.S. Mr. Rose & his family give their best respects to you & pray if you please give mine to your Grandson.—

Addressed: A Monsieur / Monsieur Le Docr. Franklin / Ministre plénipotentaire des / Etats. unis d’Amérique. / A Passy.
Notation: Bancroft M. Edd. Nath. Chiswich, April 17. 1784


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Henry Laurens: Two Letters, 18 April 1784
From: Laurens, Henry
To: Franklin, Benjamin

I.

No. 32. Norfolk Street London 18th. April 1784
Dear Sir.

I beg leave to refer to my Letter of the 7th. Inst. by the hands of Mr. Bourdieu.
Mr. Hartley call’d upon me the 13th. at Bath & return’d a verbal answer. “The King had ordered him immediately to Paris for exchanging the Ratifications.” & he accordingly goes & will do me the honor of delivering this.
Nothing further done by Administration respecting American Intercourse & Commerce, but ’tis said they are doing. A judicios intelligent friend who has been much consulted call’d

upon me last Night, & assured me “nothing liberal or to good effect would be done, or he very much fear’d so, that he was tired & would be done with them. Mr. Pitt is well disposed having been well advised but the weight of the Council is against him.” I feel no regret on this account, difficulties will have an excellent effect on our side, I think my Countrymen appear to most advantage when they have a Rub to encounter & they seem to be at this moment taking measures which should have been adopted upon the first appearance of the Proclama: of 2d July ’83. The West India Merchants & Planters, every sensible Man in Trade with whom I converse, every unemployed Manufacturer & many who dread loss of future orders are uneasy. & all will come right when we determine to act right. I am come to London tho’ in poor health to provide for embarkation & hope to get away about the 15 th. or 20 th. May. I have the honor to be With the highest Esteem & Respect Dear sir Your Obedient humble servant

Henry Laurens

This will be accompanied by two of the latest News Papers.
I see last Night’s Gazette contains a Proclamation or enlargement of the term for American intercourse to the 20th June. But this I count Nothing probably Parliament are to be consulted. If I can get one of the Gazettes in time it shall go with this but no doubt Mr. Hartley will have a Copy.

His Excellency. B. Franklin Esquire &c &c

II.

P.S. to a Letter of this date 18th. April 1784 already deliver’d to Mr. Hartley’s care.
Dear Sir

In writing in haste this Morning fearing to lose the opportunity an Instance of egregious weakness & folly which I learn’d from my friend last evening escap’d my memory, but as Mr. Hartley stays an hour longer I will communicate it, although I hear you say this is nothing extraordinary in these people.
Some of them & from circumstances attending, there must be a Majority, meaning no Man Eastward of Charing Cross, still entertain an opinion that America, say, the United States must & will infallibly return to Great Britain & upon her own terms— What new Maggot has bitten them? See say they & assert it very possitively, there’s already a defection of four States, only Nine could be convened for Ratifying the definitive Treaty. I don’t think this is merely the effect of ignorance, or not in all of them, therefore to me it proves a determin’d resolution in such, not to return to America, but to urge a Commercial in hopes in time of provoking an hostile War & of improving upon late errors. Happy for us if this be the design, their horns are shortned, & their hands restrain’d by manyfold ties, we nevertheless may read the Heart & should be upon our Guard.
Mr. Hartley had not the Gazette, I have put one into his hands with your Name to it, the Proclamation is almost verbatim a Copy of the former. This really, considering they are inform’d of the resentment on our side, looks hardy.
God bless you Sir.

Henry Laurens
His Excellency Doctor Franklin


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, [19 April 1784?]
From: Le Roy, Jean-Baptiste
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Lundy après midy [April 19, 1784?]

Mon Illustre docteur Je comptois bien avoir Lhonneur de vous aller voir ce Soir et de me dèdommager du tems que jai passe Sans aller vous attaquer ou me deffendre aux echcs Mais malheureusement un petit accès de fièvre m’empeche de Sortir. Une autre raison qui me faisoit desirer d’avoir Lhonneur de vous voir ce Soir c’etoit pour vous rappeller que Les Commissaires viennent diner demain mardy chez moi. J’espere et je me flatte que vous ne les abandonnerez pas dans cette Occasion nous aurons grand Soin de vous et ce n’est qu’a un pas de votre Jardin je crois que je n’ai pas besoin d’ajouter combien Monsieur Franklin votre petit Fils nous fera de plaisir. Jespere qu’il Se regarde toujours comme prié chez moi.
Recevez Mon Illustre docteur les Sincères assurrances de tous les Sentimens de tendresse que je vous ai vouès pour la vie

Le Roy

Addressed: A Monsieur / Monsieur Le Docteur Franklin
Notation: Le Roy—


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Charles Thomson, 19 April 1784
From: Thomson, Charles
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear Sir,
Annapolis 19 April 1784

In my last I informed you that I had taken measures to gain information respecting Mr Marggrander and the other persons enquired after. The enclosed is a copy of letter I have received from our old neighbour Reuben Haines in answer to my enquiries touching Marggrander. With respect to the others I have yet heard nothing—
Give me leave my dear Sir to recommend to your friendly notice and protection Mr Isaac Norris a son of our old friend Norris. He is young & inexperienced but of a good disposition and with proper care may become a useful member of Society. The last letter I had from him informs me that he was at Leige in Flanders, but that he intended to visit Paris. Should he still be at Leige I would take it as a favour if you would send him a letter to introduce him to proper company and to make his travels useful to himself and to his country. He left home too young and too little informed respecting the affairs of his own country he will therefore stand in need of more advice abroad, and I know none more capable of advising him or whose advice will have more weight with him than yours, as he has a strong desire of being under your patronage.
I am with the greatest Esteem & respect Dear Sir Your affectionate old friend & obedt humble Servant

Chas Thomson
Doctr B. Franklin,

Notation: Chas Thomson Esqr to B F. Ap. 19. 84.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Jonathan Williams, Sr., 20 April 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Williams, Jonathan Sr.

Dear Kinsman,
Passy, April 20. 1784

The Bearer, Mr Biederman, is recommended to me by Persons of Distinction, as a Gentleman of Worth & very respectable Character, charged with the Concerns and Interest of many principal Manufacturers and Merchants in Saxony, between which Country and ours I should be glad to see a commercial Intercourse opened and established, as it might be advantageous to both. I recommend him therefore very earnestly to your Civilities, and to all the Information & Advice that as a Stranger may be useful to him, wherein you will very much oblige Your affectionate Uncle

B Franklin
Jonathan Williams Esqr


Title: John Adams to Franklin and John Jay, 20 April 1784
From: Adams, John
To: Franklin, Benjamin,Jay, John

Gentlemen
The Hague April 20. 1784

I have just now received the Letter which Dr Franklin did me the Honour to write me on the 16th. with the Copy of the Treaty with Sweeden. I have before inclosed the King of Prusisas Project of a Treaty, prepared as I am assured by his Minister with his own Hand in his private Cabinet.

I believe it has been reserved to the present Age when the subtilties of Aristotle and the schools are transferred from Theology to Politicks, to discover Room for a Doubt in the Construction of the Armistice. And therefore We shall Search in vain in any Admiralty, for a Precedent. The Words are “Le terme Sera d’un mois depuis la manche et les mers du Nord, jusqu’aux Isles Canaries inclusivement, Soit dans l’Ocean, Soit dans la Mediterranée.”
This Limit is to extend to the Southermost Point of the Southernmost Canary Island, from the Channell. This is the Extent from North to South.— What is to be the Extent from East to West? is it to have none. is it to be confined to a mathematical Line, running from the Middle of the Channel to the remotest Part of the remotest Canary? or is it to be a Space as Wide as the Channel, running from it to that Canary? or is it to be as wide as that Island. if none of these Constructions have common sense in them, what can We suppose to have been the Meaning of the Contracting Parties? They have ascertained the Space very exactly from North to South, and as they have left the Extent from East to West without limits, it is very clear they intended it should be unlimited and reach all round the Globe, at least where there is any Ocean or Mediterranean.
I have the Honour to be, Gentlemen your most obedient and most humble servant

John Adams
Their Excellencies Benjamin Franklin Esq John Jay Esqr.

Addressed in another hand: à / Leurs Excellences / Messieurs B. Franklin et J. Jay / Ministres Plenipotentiaires des Etats Unis / de l’Amerique / à / Passy / près / Paris— / France

Endorsed by John Jay: Mr. Adams’ Letter of 20 Ap. 1784 to Mrs. Franklin & Jay


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from William Carmichael, 20 April 1784
From: Carmichael, William
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear Sir
Paris 20th April 1784

Inclosed I have the honor to send you a Letter from the house of Drouilhet advising me of their having drawn upon your Excellency for £s [l.t.] 13447.5. s. at 60 days date making the Sum of 54000 Rials de Vn. [Veillon] or 2700 Dollars for the payment of a bill drawn by Mr Morris on me which bill became due since my Departure from Madrid.— I intended to have had the pleasure of waiting on you this morning but am prevented by a bilious vomiting which confines me to the house & I am afraid will the whole day.
I have the honor to be with Much respect your Excellencys Most Obedt & Most Humble Sert

Wm. Carmichael
His Excy. Benjn. Franklin—


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Jacob Duché, Jr., 21 April 1784
From: Duché, Jacob Jr.
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir
Asylum, Lambeth, April 21, 1784

I take the Liberty of addressing your Excellency on a Subject, in which I am sure you will find your Philosophy as well as Humanity not a little interested.
The eldest Daughter of Mr George Meade, a respectable Merchant & Citizen of Philadelphia,—a young Lady of about 15 Years of Age, has now been above Six Months in England, under the Care of some of the most eminent Physicians, for the Recovery of her Health. Her Complaint is of the Epileptic Kind; and her Fits return at Intervals of a Week or Fortnight, & sometimes of a longer Continuance. They began, when she was 7 or 8 Years old. At first they had only the Appearance of Giddiness, and a short Absence of Mind, and were supposed to be occasioned by over Exercise in a Swing with other Children— They have been increasing ever since; till they are now generally attended with some Degree of Convulsion—
Every Method of Cure, that could be thought of, was tried by the Physicians at Philada without Success. Sir Richard Jebb, old Dr Pitcairn, and your Friend Dr Watson have been consulted since her Arrival here. Various Courses of Medicine have been ineffectually tried. A Perpetual Blister as it is called, on her Back, has proved useless: And she is now under the Experiment of a large Issue, which, we are apprehensive, will have as little Efficacy as the former Attempts.
Under these Circumstances her Friends have received Letters from Philada by the New-York Packet, dated March the 1st last, from her Father, in which he earnestly desires, that she may be sent immediately over to France, in order to be put under the

Direction of a Monsr Le Drue, known in England by the Name of Comus, who, it seems, has published a Pamphlet, containing an Account of some extraordinary Cures of the Epilepsy, by the Electric Shock. The Physicians & Surgeons here, I believe, are not acquainted with his mode of applying the Stroke: And they apprehend it to be a dangerous Experiment. Mr Meade, however, is extremely earnest to have the Experiment tried.
A Lady of Mr Meade’s Acquaintance is to be applied to, to accompany his Daughter, and return with her, after proper Time allowed for the Experiments to take Effect.
But as Mr Meade has written to me on the Subject, and wishes me to assist his Correspondent with my Advice in this Matter, I thought I could not serve him more effectually, than by endeavouring to obtain from your Excellency the best Information relative to this new Parisian Experiment, which could not have escaped your minute Enquiry & Examination; and, which I could wish might not be hazarded, in the present Case, without your Approbation.
I should be much honoured by an early Intimation of your Thoughts on this Subject; and would choose to postpone the young Lady’s Excursion to France, which must be attended with great Expence to her Father, ’till I can be indulged with your Opinion and Advice. Your Tenderness & Delicacy will naturally suggest the Propriety of concealing the young Lady’s Name.
Mrs Duché and my young Folks desire to be affectionately remembered; and we shall all be happy to hear of your Health, and that of Mr & Mrs Bache and their Children—
I have the Pleasure of informing you, that I expect my dear aged Father in one of the first Ships from Philada— As there was no Probability of his Son’s ever returning to his Native Land, he has disposed of Part of his Property, and arranged the Rest, so as to embark in May next—

I have the Honour to be, Sir, With sincerest Respect Your Excellency’s most obedient Friend & Servant

J. Duché

Notation: Duché, April 21. 1784.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Gaetano Filangieri, 21 April 1784
From: Filangieri, Gaetano
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir,
La Cava, April 21, 1784

On the 20th of November of last year, 1783, I sent you the fourth volume of my work on La scienza della legislazione, and a few days later I shipped, via Marseille, a trunk containing more copies of the same volume, in the same quantity as the other volumes you had previously received through Mr. Pio. Before that, I had sent you a copy of the third volume as well as another trunk, addressed to Mr. Pio, with the corresponding number of copies of that volume. However, I did not receive, either from you or from Mr. Pio, a confirmation that these books of mine had actually reached their destination. This silence from both of you makes me fear they are lost, and since in this case I would like to repair the loss, please send a response on this matter. My work proceeds quickly in my solitude, where all possible causes of delay are removed by the isolation that separates me from the rest of mankind. I hope to receive news of your precious health, and I remind you of the most sincere admiration and respect from Your most humble and devoted servant,

Gaetano Filangieri


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Samuel Cooper Johonnot, 21 April 1784
From: Johonnot, Samuel Cooper
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Hon’d Sir—
Boston 21st April 1784

I arriv’d here the 12th Jany., after a Voyage, & Journey, exceedingly laborious, & disagreeable.— Fourteen Days sooner, I could have had the Satisfaction, of seeing my Grandpappa.— Why did I arrive later?— I acknowledge the Fault. It will not bear Reflection:— May the Lesson prove as useful, as ’tis severe. I really deserv’d a harder Stroke, than Your friendly Reproach, which I rec’d at Nantes. From the 16th Septr., to the 22’d of Decr., I was floating between Nantes, & Baltimore. I am now in Boston, having had my Degree of Batchelor of Arts, last Year. I expect to study, 12 or 18 Months, as a Graduate, at Harvard College: then, to enter Judge Sullivan’s Office, as a Candidate for the Bar. My hon’d Grandpappa has left Me one Third of his estate, the income of which, will, it is expected, with Œconomy, compleat my Education; & at 21, set Me out handsomely in the

world. Meanwhile, Sir, let me beg the continuation of your useful Correspondence; & though I may have been heedless, I still presume, to ask your good Advice. My future Behaviour will prove whether I deserve it.—
As I know Ben would not receive an Apology, for not writing to Him, I will not make One. A Letter, shortly, will be the best Method of appeasing Him. You have so many abler Correspondents, that it would be equally presumptuous & useless, to write any thing concerning the state of Affairs; But, though many write with more Elegance, none can with more Gratitude, Esteem, & Affection,—than Your humble Servant,

Sam’l Cooper Johonnot.

P.S. Grandmama acknowledges the Receipt of your Letter, dated 26 of December; & desires her best Regards. Please to remember me affectionately, to your two Grandsons.

Addressed: A Son Excellence / Monsr. le Doctr. Franklin / Ministre Plenipotentiàire des Etats / Unis de l’Amerique, près sa Majesté / tres Chretienne. / à Passy près Paris.


Title: If Life’s Compared to a Feast, 22 April 1784
From:
To:

William Temple Franklin found this poem among his grandfather’s papers and claimed that it was entitled “B. F.’s Adieu!” The sole extant autograph, written on a small sheet of paper, has no title. Beautifully penned, as though intended for presentation, it fills the sheet, with the dateline placed in the bottom left corner. Whether the top of the sheet originally bore a title and was subsequently trimmed is not known.
This verse takes as its point of departure a poem by Isaac Watts that Franklin had reprinted in the Pennsylvania Gazette some fifty years earlier along with the essay in which it appeared. The essay tells of an indolent, self-indulgent man who has an epiphany at the age of thirty. Devoting himself thereafter to leading a useful existence, he performs good works and dies content in the knowledge that his life was of value. At the end of the essay, Watts quotes in Latin and loosely translates three “Scraps of Horace.” The one that Franklin references is the following:

Life’s but a Feast; and when we die,
Horace would say, if he were by,
Friend, thou hast eat and drunk enough,
’Tis Time now to be marching off:
Then like a well-fed Guest depart,
With cheerful Looks, and Ease at Heart;
Bid all your Friends Good Night, and say,
You’ve done the Business of the Day.

Temple published Franklin’s poem beneath what he characterized as “the original (with various corrections)” of the epitaph Franklin wrote in 1728. Although the autograph of that version of the epitaph has not survived, both it and the autograph verse published here were owned by the bookseller and collector William Upcott in the early nineteenth century. Around 1836, Upcott permitted a one-page facsimile to be made of the two pieces, which was subsequently published. On the facsimile, they appear as Temple placed them: the epitaph on top, followed by a rule; the poem at the bottom, with the dateline in the lower left corner of the sheet. At the top of the sheet, above the epitaph, appears the title “Epitaph written 1728,” in a hand that imitates Franklin’s. Whoever wrote this title took it from Temple’s edition, where it was an obvious editorial insertion, set in italics within square brackets.
The Upcott facsimile has been the cause of much confusion. Lyman Butterfield, in his comprehensive study of the handwritten and printed epitaphs, regarded it as proof that Franklin had written both pieces on the same sheet of paper on April 22, 1784. We disagree. A close comparison of the handwriting of the autograph verse (which Butterfield did not see) with that of the facsimile of the epitaph reveals enough differences to convince us that the two pieces were written with different pens at different times. Moreover,

Butterfield and many scholars who relied on his judgment, including our predecessors, did not recognize that the facsimile’s title was forged. Nonetheless, it is possible that Franklin wrote this version of the epitaph in late 1783 or early 1784, as he anticipated his departure from France and reviewed his early life in preparation for resuming his autobiography.

April 22. 1784.—

If Life’s compared to a Feast,
Near Fourscore Years I’ve been a Guest,
I’ve been regaled with the best,
And feel quite satisfyd.
’Tis time that I retire to Rest;
Landlord, I thank ye!— Friends, Good Night.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Robert Pigott, [between 22 April 1784 and 18 May 1784?]
From: Pigott, Robert
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Hotel d’Angleterre [Fri?]day 4 O Clock.[between April 22 and May 18, 1784?]
Dear Sir

I had proposed myself the honor of dining to day at Passy, but Business of the day has prevented me of having that Pleasure As I propose going to England early on Sunday morning, I shall be proud to receive your commands and of executing any of your orders As I am with the greatest Respect & Regard dear Sir Your most faithful & obed Sert.

R. Pigott

Addressed: A Son Excellence / Dr. Franklyn / Passy.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Jan Ingenhousz, 23 April 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Ingenhousz, Jan

Dear Friend,
Passy, April 23. 1784.

I did intend to have written you a long Letter by the good Bishop, but cannot now accomplish it.— You will however have it very soon.— Fearing that the Seeds for your Friend might not arrive in time, to be planted this Spring, and having received a Box for some of my Acquaintance here, I sent a Part to you, to be dispos’d of as you please, supposing you might oblige him with them. I hope they got safe to hand.— I am, ever, my dear Friend, Yours most affectionately

B Franklin
Dr Ingenhauss.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Cadet de Vaux, 23 April 1784
From: Cadet de Vaux, Antoine-Alexis-François
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Monsieur
ce 23 Avril 1784

J’ai l’honneur de vous Envoyer l’Epreuve de la lettre que vous avés eu la complaisance de me remettre. Je vous prie de la faire repasser au Bureau du journal de Paris (rue Grenelle St honoré) DIMANCHE AVANT 9 HEURES, afin qu’elle paraisse dans la feuille du lundi, le dimanche nous laissant un peu plus d’espace dans le Journal du lundi, par la Suppression de plusieurs articles.
La farine de Mays est arrivée.

Je Suis avec un profond respect Monsieur, Votre très humble et très obeisst Serviteur

Cadet de Vaux

Notation: Cadet de Vaux, 23 avril 1784—


Title: Franklin et al.: Report to the Académie Royale des Sciences, 24 April 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Académie Royale des Sciences

Samedi 24 Avril 1784

M.M. Franklin, Le Roy, Coulomb, Delaplace et l’abbé Rochon, ont fait le rapport suivant.
M. le Marêchal de ségur ayant envoyé à l’Acade. deux projets, pour armer de paratonnerres, les magasins à poudre de la ville de Marseille et mandé dans la Lettre qui les accompagnoit, que le Roi desiroit que la compagnie les fit examiner et en donnât son avis; l’Académie nous a nommés pour lui en rendre compte. Nous allons le faire avec tout le soin que demande un sujet de cette importance, non seulement par la nature de son objet; mais encore par les heureux effets qui en résultéront. Car rien n’est plus propre à multiplier de toutes parts les paratonnerres, que l’exemple que donnera sa Majesté, est en faisant armer les magasins à poudre de son Royaume.
Mais avant de parler des projets que nous avons été chargés d’examiner; il ne sera pas inutile de rappeller en peu de mots la Théorie qui doit servir de guide dans l’etablissement des Paratonnèrres ou des conducteurs.
Pour armer un édifice quelconque de maniére a le mettre à l’abry de la foudre, au moyen d’un ou de plusieurs conducteurs; il y a differentes circonstances auxquelles on doit avoir une attention particuliére.
1°. Il est nécéssaire de connoître ou de déterminer qu’elle est son étendue, afin de décider s’il faudra en mettre un ou plusieurs;

car c’est un point sur lequel il est important de statuer avant de rien entreprendre. Malheureusement les expériences électriques, ne nous ont encore rien appris qui puisse nous mener à connoître l’étendue de la sphére d’action de la pointe d’un conducteur; mais depuis qu’on en a armé des Edifices, plusieurs observations nous ont appris que des parties de ces Edifices qui se sont trouvées à une distance de plus de quarante cinq pieds de la pointe du conducteur, ont été foudroyées, d’où il suit tout naturellement qu’il faut les placer de maniére que leur sphére d’action n’ait à défendre que des parties situées à une moindre distance.
2°. L’orsqu’il y a plusieurs pointes ou flèches sur un édifice, il faut les faire bien communiquer ensemble et faire communiquer de même toutes les parties du comble de l’Edifice qui sont recouvertes en plomb ou qui ont quelqu’autre métal, comme des pointes en fer appartenant à des Girouettes, ou à quelques ornements, afin que le tout ne fasse qu’un systême de corps métallique qui avec les barres de transmission soit propre à faire passer la matiére fulminante du haut en bas de l’edifice, de quelque part qu’elle vienne.
3°. Il n’est pas moins important que ces barres soient intimement unies entre elles, afin que cette matiére ne trouve aucune resistance dans son passage de haut en bas. Car la solution de continuité dans ces barres, produit toûjours une résistance plus ou moins grande, sélon l’etendue de leur séparation; parce qu’il faut alors que la matiére fulminante ou électrique saute de l’une à l’autre de ces barres.
4°. Enfin, il faut quelles communiquent bien exactement avec la Terre humide, ou mieux encore avec l’eau, pour qu’il y ait un passage facile et toûjours ouvert le long de ces barres de transmission avec la masse de la terre ou le grand reservoir commun de la matiére électrique.
Quant à la hauteur des pointes, elle doit être au moins de 12 ou 15 pieds et plus même, si l’edifice est fort grand; ce qu’il y a de certain, c’est que plus elles seront élevées, plus leur sphére d’activité s’étendra à une grande distance. On leur donnera deux pouces en quarré par en bas et même plus en proportion de ce que leur hauteur excédera celle de 15 pieds. Et quant à la grosseur des barres de transmission, il paroît qu’en leur

donnant huit à 10 lignes en quarré, ou un pouce tout au plus, cette grosseur sera plus que suffisante pour qu’elles transmettent la matiére fulminante du plus violent coup de Tonnèrre. Ce qu’il y a de certain, c’est que l’observation ne nousàencore fourni aucun exemple de barres de fer de cette grosseur qui ayent été en aucune façon fondue ou altérée par le passage de la foudre.
Après ces notions préliminaries sur la maniére d’établir les conducteurs et sur les dimensions qu’on doit donner aux parties dont ils sont composés; il faut en venir à l’examen des deux projets pour armer les magasins à poudre de Marseille, envoyés par M. le Maréchal de ségur et signés par M.M. Ravel, de Puy Contal et Pierron l’un officier dans le corps royal d’artillerie et l’autre dans le corps royal du Génie.
Ces deux projets ont été formés pour le même magasin qui a 31 toises de long sur 8 de large ou à peuprès. Dans le prémier on établit trois pointes ou flèches, sur le faîtage du magasin et dans sa longueur. A celles ci on en ajoûte quatre autres placées réspectivement à chaque angle du bâtiment. Dans le second projet on place de même trois pointes sur le faîtage, mais au lieu d’en mettre aux quatre angles du bâtiment; on les établit en quinquonce des deux côtés du toît avec des barres de fer de transmission horisontales qui régnent tout le long et qui font communiquer ces pointes les unes avec les autres.
Quant à la maniére dont elles sont arrêtées ou scellées sur le faîtage dont les barres de transmission sont assemblées les unes avec les autres; enfin dont elles vont se rendre dans l’eau, elle est la même pour les deux projets. En jettant un coup d’ceil sur les déssins, l’académie concévra sans peine tout ce que nous venons d’exposer sur la nature de l’un et de l’autre.
Pour prononcer sur celui des deux qui doit être préféré, nous remarquerons que le second avec les barres de transmission couchées horisontalement le long du toît, entraîneroit une trop grande dépense et qui ne paroît pas nécéssaire; mais pour les pointes qu’on y employe, il faut les conserver, seulement, au lieu de les placer en quinconce comme on le propose dans ce projet;

on les établira de maniére que chacune d’elles réponde exactement à la moitié de l’intervalle qui se trouve entre la pointe du milieu du faîtage et celle de l’extremité. Et au lieu de faire communiquer ces pointes ensemble par des barres de transmission couchées le long du toît, on les fera communiquer avec celles du faîtage par des barres qui viendront les joindre perpendiculairement en rampant le long du toît. Par là on auroit également la communication intime de toutes les pointes sans la dépense que entraîneroit des barres couchées horisontalement tout autour du toît. Ce point réglé il faut passer à l’examen de la maniére dont on propose de réunir ou d’assembler les differentes parties des paratonnèrres de ces deux Projets.
Il paroît que M.M. Pierron et de Ravel, auteurs de ces projets, pénétrés de la nécéssité d’établir une communication bien intime entre ces parties, ont crû qu’on ne devoit jamais épargner rien pour y parvenir, mais nous ne pouvons nous empêecher de penser que ces Messieurs ont poussé trop loin le scrupule à cet égard, et que la maniére dont ils proposent d’unir ensemble toutes les parties de leur systême conducteur, comporteroit trop de travail et une dépense superflue. En effet, les vis aux extremités des barres de transmission, les écrous dans les espèces de pitons chargés de les recevoir, ne manqueroient pas de demander des frais assés considérables pour être bien faits et remplir leur objet. Nous croyons qu’on pourroit y procéder plus simplement: voici en consequence comment nous pensons qu’on pourroit armer ces magasins, en parlant d’après ce qui nous est exposé et en réunissant dans l’etablissemt de leurs paratonnèrres la solidité et tout ce que peut en assurer l’effet à l’economie, conformément à ce que paroît désirer M. le mal. de ségur, selon les termes de sa Lettre.
On conservera les jambes de force des flèches dans les magasins à poudre qu’on se propose d’armer à Marseille et dans d’autres Ports où ils se trouvent exposés à de grands vents de Mer, mais dans d’autres magasins situés dans l’intérieur du Royaume, on pense qu’on pourroit s’en passer, l’expérience ayant montré que des pointes avec les dimensions qui sont indiquées dans les déssins, sont suffisantes pour résister aux efforts des vents qu’on y éprouve; mais on donnera plus de hauteur aux fleches en la portant jusqu’à 15 pieds. Au bas de chaque fléche, et immédiattement au dessus de l’endroit où elle sera scellée, dans

la pierre de taille on pratiquera ou on réservera de chaque côté une oreille circulaire ayant deux pouces de diamètre ou a peu près et deux lignes d’épaisseur. On y fera au centre un trou de 5 ignes de diamètre au bout de la prémiére barre de transmission qui sera attachée à cette flèche, on pratiquera une oreille toute semblable. On en fera autant à l’autre bout; de maniére que toutes les barres de transmission auront ainsi une oreille à chacune de leurs extremités. Pour faire la réunion de toutes ces parties les unes avec les autres, on appliquera l’oreille d’une de ces barres contre celle d’une autre en mettant entre deux une lame de plomb. Et au moyen d’un écrou entrant sur une vis à tête et dont la tige passera à travers l’œil de ces oreilles, on les serrera fortement l’une contre l’autre. De cette maniére ces barres seront bien assemblées les unes avec les autres; on pourra les séparer facilement et cet ajustement sera très facile a executer. Pour soutenir ces barres de transmission le long du toît, on pourra établir et sceller dans la pierre de taille de distance en distance, des pitons fendus par en haut, pour les récévoir. Quant à la position et à la distribution des pointes ou des fleches, on les établira comme nous l’avons proposé, trois sur le faîte et deux de chaque côté du toît répondant réspectivement au milieu de l’intervalle entre la flèche du milieu du bâtiment et celle de l’extremité. Ces pointes du toît communiqueront avec les barres de transmission régnant le long du faîtage, comme nous l’avons dit plus haut et s’eleveront de maniére a déborder ce faîtage au moins de six pieds. Par cette disposition des differentes pointes de ce bâtiment, il se trouvera que toutes les parties de son comble seront bien défendues par ces pointes n’y en ayant aucunes qui ne soient fort en dedans de la sphère d’activité dont nous avons parlé. On ne peut qu’applaudir d’ailleurs à la maniére dont on a fait communiquer les barres de transmission à l’eau en les ménant jusqu’à la Mer. Cependant si à l’autre extremité du bâtiment il se trouvoit de la terre à la superficie et que le sol ne fut pas entierement de Rocher, on pourroit y faire déscendre des barres de transmission de la pointe placée à cette extremité: cela pourroit servir a diminuer l’espace que la matiére fulminante auroit à parcourir de l’autre côté. La manière dont les pointes en cuivre sont adaptées à la flèche est bien, on les ajuste ici à vis, l’une et l’autre méthode sont bonnes, mais par la derniére, on peut démonter facilement cette

pointe et c’est un avantage, car cela est quelquefois nécéssaire; on en a vû de fondus par le passage de la matiére fulminante dans un coup de Tonnerre.
Telles sont les observations que nous avons crû devoir faire sur les deux projets, pour armer de paratonnères les magasins en poudre de la Ville de Marseille, que M. le Mal. de ségur a envoyés à l’Académie, ainsi que les changements que nous avons crû devoir proposer à la maniére de faire communiquer ensemble, toutes les differentes parties de l’appareil mais avant de terminer ce rapport nous devons à M.M. Ravel de Puy comtal et Pierron, la justice de dire qu’on reconnoit par la maniére dont leurs projets sont conçûs, qu’ils entendent très bien la matiére et qu’ils sont très en état de faire armer de paratonnères, les magasins à poudre que M. le Mal. de ségur, les chargera de défendre contre les ravages de la foudre.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Pierre-Isaac Poissonnier, 26 April 1784
From: Poissonnier, Pierre-Isaac
To: Franklin, Benjamin

On March 12, 1784, the French government ordered the Faculté de médecine to conduct an investigation of animal magnetism. It had

been six years since the man who claimed to have discovered it, Franz Anton Mesmer, had established an independent medical practice in Paris, and three years since the last of several attempts to examine his methods had failed. This time, rather than attempt to investigate the uncooperative Mesmer, the government instructed the Faculty to examine his doctrine as practiced by his chief disciple, Charles Deslon, the personal physician to the king’s brother and one of the Faculty’s elite regent doctors.
The letter to the Faculty came from the baron de Breteuil, minister of the king’s household, who stated that the king’s order was a response to Deslon’s own request. The physician had evidently used his connections at court to obtain one last chance to vindicate his magnetic treatments. The Faculty had long since denounced animal magnetism as quackery and, despite Deslon’s status, had suspended him, threatening him with expulsion if he did not renounce Mesmer’s doctrine by August. Meanwhile, Mesmer, with whom Deslon had recently quarreled, had turned on him in public, accusing him of being a traitor, not yet initiated into the deepest mysteries of magnetism, and unqualified to operate the independent practice he had just opened. By March, 1784, whatever devotion Deslon may have felt toward his mentor’s code of secrecy had evaporated. The baron de Breteuil’s letter of March 12 instructed the dean of the Faculty himself, Jean-Charles-Henri Sallin, to form a three-man commission with Jean d’Arcet and Joseph-Ignace Guillotin to investigate how Deslon harnessed this insensible force in the cause of curing disease. Their report was to be submitted to the king.
Between March 12 and the time Poissonnier wrote Franklin the present letter, much had changed in the royal commission. First it was expanded from three members to twelve, with commissioners added from the Académie des sciences (Franklin among them) and

the Société royale de médecine. That configuration proving unworkable, the commission was then split in two, with separate Faculty and Society commissions sharing Franklin and his fellow members of the Academy. Later, when the work was under way, the membership would shift once again: the Society would lose the members of the Academy and continue its experiments independently. Those experiments being of little consequence, the Society’s work would be eclipsed by the conclusions of the Faculty/Academy commission.
The story of how the king came to appoint two separate commissions with the same task, both of which included Franklin and met at his residence at Passy, is not generally known. Nor has it been understood when and why the members of the Academy allied themselves exclusively with the commissioners of the Faculty of Medicine. The commissioners’ private records are gone. Negotiations among the various organizations and the government have left only partial traces, and of the surviving documents, some are undated drafts. The official reports submitted by the two commissions never mention that their members were at any time commingled. Moreover, previous historians appear to have been unaware of certain documents among Franklin’s papers, published for the first time in this volume, which contradict aspects of the standard narratives. We therefore attempt to relate this confusing history to the degree we can reconstruct it, so that our readers may understand why Poissonnier was convening the meeting that is the subject of the present letter.
Breteuil’s March 12 letter to the Faculty lay unanswered for three weeks. The fact that it had been sent, however, was soon known to the Society of Medicine, which strongly objected to being left out of the investigation. Poissonnier, Vicq d’Azyr, and Chief of Police Lenoir, who was an associate of the Society, lobbied Breteuil to broaden the commission. The Society’s argument was indisputable: advising the government on quackery and secret remedies was its explicit mandate, not that of the Faculty. Lenoir must also have discussed with Breteuil the broader issue of public safety. Mesmer’s influence had been steadily increasing, and he had become a substantial threat to the health and well-being of a credulous citizenry. His popularity was not only growing in Paris; he had recently begun to invade the purses of people throughout France and the islands by means of the Society of Harmony, which was eliciting huge fees from wealthy “students” who had been promised a copy of his doctrine, which was not yet, and never would be, printed. If the government were to receive a

negative report from the Faculty, which had already declared its hostility to Mesmer and Deslon, it would have as little effect on public opinion as all previous censures. If there were to be a government-sanctioned investigation, it should be definitive, and the royal commission had to be perceived as being above any suspicion of bias. In the opinion of Lenoir, Poissonnier, and Vicq d’Azyr, the best chance of securing public confidence would be to expand the commission to include four members of the Faculty, four members of the Society, and four of the most distinguished members of the Academy of Sciences: Franklin, Bailly, Le Roy, and Lavoisier.
By the end of March, Breteuil and Lenoir appear to have come to an agreement and authorized Poissonnier to investigate the feasibility of this plan. On April 1, Poissonnier reported to Lenoir that Bailly, Lavoisier, and Le Roy, whom he had seen at a meeting of the Academy, had all agreed to serve as commissioners. He expected the same response from Franklin, whom he would visit either the next day or the day after. Whether the Faculty would be willing to work with the Society, if the goal were presented as the public good, was as yet unknown. Maloet, a member of both institutions, doubted it, but the duc de Praslin was optimistic. Poissonnier proposed that if the Faculty should refuse to join forces with the Society, each institution could work independently with the four commissioners of the Academy. Maloet had advised that in the letters of appointment to these academicians Breteuil should state that it was the physicians who had requested their counsel. Poissonnier hoped that his views conformed to those of Lenoir and Breteuil.
They evidently did because on April 2, Breteuil sent a letter of appointment to Lavoisier, stating that the king had chosen him to examine Mesmer’s methods as practiced by Deslon. He was notably vague on who Lavoisier’s colleagues would be. Mentioning neither the Faculty nor the Society by name, he wrote that the commission would include “plusieurs autres personnes distinguées

par leurs lumières et leur experience.” Following Maloet’s advice, Breteuil added that it was “les médecins eux-mêmes” who desired the collaboration.
We assume that Bailly, Le Roy, and Franklin received similar letters of appointment around the same time. We know, at least, that Franklin’s came from Breteuil. When Temple Franklin published an edition of his grandfather’s papers, he wrote that when the king appointed a commission to investigate animal magnetism, “Dr. Franklin, at the particular request of his majesty, signified to him by a letter from the minister, consented to be one of the number.”
On April 3, the day after Breteuil sent Lavoisier a letter of appointment, the Faculty commissioners—now four in number, Borie aving been added—collectively replied to the letter of appointment that Breteuil had sent them on March 12. Their response, as polite as the occasion required, effectively rejected both government plans: the one of March 12 (the only one they explicitly acknowledged) and the expanded one that was being implemented without their consent (to which they gave a subtle nod in their final sentence). They were honored to accept the king’s commission to examine animal magnetism, they wrote, but begged to point out that the assignment was not a straightforward one. Mesmer claimed that magnetic fluid permeated the entire universe, extending as far as the celestial bodies. There was nothing in nature, either animate or inanimate, that did not possess its energy and was not subject to its force. It therefore could be said to encompass two kinds of properties: one physical, in the general sense; the other medicinal, in that it was said to produce changes in animal constitution. As practical doctors, they were incapable of investigating the former. They requested that a preliminary study be conducted by some of those illustrious physicists whose work was so celebrated. Those scientists could determine whether this universal agent, said to be newly discovered, existed, and could identify its general properties. If it were proven to exist, then they, the doctors, would investigate its medicinal effects. This would yield a judgment “d’autant plus capable de répondre aux vues du Gouvernement et de

fixer l’opinion publique.” They mentioned nothing about the Society of Medicine.
In a letter dated only “Dimanche,” which we believe to have been written on April 4, Lassone, the president of the Society, sent an urgent message to Breteuil. He insisted on the Society’s being consulted in cases such as this, warned of the dangers of factionalism and misplaced animosity (no doubt alluding to the Faculty’s hostility toward the Society), and emphasized the advantages of a collaboration among the three bodies (i.e., the Faculty, the Society, and the Academy). Lassone also proposed the names of four commissioners from the Society.
Breteuil was away from Versailles for almost two weeks. After his return, he settled on the compromise plan suggested by Poissonnier. On April 18 he wrote nearly identical letters to the commissioners of the Faculty and the commissioners of the Society, informing each group (without mentioning the other) that ”sur le désir que vous m’en avés témoigné par votre lettre du …,” the king had appointed four members of the Academy of Sciences—Franklin, Bailly, Le Roy, and Lavoisier (in that order)—to assist them with the examination of animal magnetism.
The present letter from Poissonnier is the earliest piece of correspondence in Franklin’s archive that mentions any aspect of his appointment as a royal commissioner. Its chief significance lies in its indication, hitherto unrecorded, that he was, for a brief period, a member of a joint commission with the Society of Medicine. The initial meeting was held at Passy to accommodate Franklin’s limited mobility. What was discussed that day is not known, and the

academicians’ role would prove to be extremely limited. Only two members of the Academy—Le Roy and Lavoisier—are known to have attended sessions at which the Society’s physicians examined patients. On May 22, the day after they signed their third procès-verbal, Lavoisier penned a declaration on behalf of both of them: since they were not doctors, their signatures could signify nothing other than that they had been present. That may have been the day they decided, in concert with their fellow academicians Franklin and Bailly, that their collaboration with the Society of Medicine was pointless. On that spring afternoon, all the members of the other commission, comprising academicians and members of the Faculty, gathered in Franklin’s garden and conducted the seventh of a series of systematic, rigorous experiments. With Deslon secretly pointing his rod at a tree he had just magnetized, so as to amplify the effect, his blindfolded, twelve-year-old patient, handpicked by Deslon because of the boy’s extraordinary sensitivity to animal magnetism, was led to a group of non-magnetized trees some thirty feet away, and, after hugging them, convulsed so violently that he fainted. That experiment, according to the commissioners’ report, was the one that definitively proved that animal magnetism did not exist.

Ce Lundy 26. avril 1784

Mr. Poissonnier a Eté Chargé par mrs. Leroy, Bailly et Lavoisier de demander a Monsieur Francklin sil peut luy Convenir de les recevoir a diner vendredy prochain et s’il trouveroit bon qu’il invita aussy de Sa part les 4. Commissaires de la société Royale pour s’Entretenir Ensemble apres midy ou plustot a une heure avant midy du Plan qu’ils auront a Suivre pour l’Examen du Procédé de Mr Deslon.
Mr Poissonnier Saisit cette occasion de renouveller a Monsieur Francklin les assurances de son respect et de Son inviolable attachement/

Notation: Poissonier, Paris 26. avril 1784.—


Title: David Hartley’s “Project of a Treaty,” [after 27 April 1784]
From: Hartley, David
To:

On September 4, 1783, the day after signing the definitive treaty of peace with the United States, the British negotiator David Hartley put in writing the assurance he had given the American peace commissioners during the signing ceremony: that “in a very short time” the parties would renew the suspended negotiations for a commercial convention. Hartley delivered this message on behalf of the then foreign secretary, Charles James Fox, unaware that Fox had no intention of agreeing to any of the additional eleven articles that Hartley and the Americans had negotiated in the spring and summer of 1783. The Americans had interwoven those articles—along with the preliminary articles of November 30, 1782—into their “Project for the definitive Treaty of Peace and Friendship” of August 6.
When Hartley carried the signed peace treaty to England in mid-September, he expected that he would soon return to Paris. He received no such instructions, however. On October 4, having heard nothing from Fox, Hartley sent Franklin his own proposal for a temporary convention. In late October and early November, he sent Fox four extremely long letters setting forth his thoughts about the substance and importance of an agreement between the two nations. The first, dated October 27, argued that a further delay in negotiating a commercial convention would be contrary to British interests; with it, he enclosed a copy of Franklin’s letter to him of September 6. On October 29 he sent Fox a copy of the proposed temporary convention he had conveyed to Franklin, accompanied by twenty-three pages of explanation. On November 1 he resent the eleven articles that were awaiting “the adjourned consideration of his Majesty’s ministers.” Following each article was Hartley’s personal commentary: he noted when the article had first been sent for the secretary’s consideration, pointed out when an article seemed uncontroversial, and for cases that bore further scrutiny offered his opinion as to how the ministry should respond. Finally, on November 6, he sent a sixteen-page analysis of

why Great Britain should care about maintaining the peace with the United States, and how important it was to establish principles upon which such an alliance could hold. He advocated two principles for the foundation of this alliance: (1) that Great Britain and the United States make common cause of defending their respective dominions in North America, and (2) that the British navy should defend and protect the United States, in return for which the United States would support and strengthen the Royal Navy by supplying raw materials and seamen. Hartley would later inform Carmarthen, Fox’s successor as foreign secretary, that these four letters recorded the substance of the “many” personal conferences he had had “with Mr. Fox & others of his majesty’s then ministers” on Anglo-American negotiations. Whatever the nature of those conferences, the change in the English ministry in December, 1783, put an end to them.
On April 9, 1784, the day George III signed the ratification of the peace treaty, Hartley was instructed to return to Paris to exchange ratifications with the American commissioners. Although he wrote to the commissioners that before leaving England he would seek authorization to resume commercial negotiations, it appears that his request for such authorization went unanswered. Ever optimistic, Hartley arrived in Paris believing that instructions to treat would surely arrive.
The undated document published below, in Hartley’s hand and found among Franklin’s papers, is our sole evidence of the discussions that must have taken place at Passy shortly after Hartley’s arrival. Informal in appearance (the writing is hasty, the columns irregular in width, and some text is interlined), this one-page list records the articles that Hartley wished to see in a British-American treaty of commerce. The first ten refer to articles that he had already negotiated with the American commissioners; they correspond to articles 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 17 of the Americans’ “Project for the definitive Treaty of Peace and Friendship” of August 6, 1783.

The fourteenth (penultimate) item refers to the “co-partnership in commerce” that Hartley had proposed in the draft temporary convention he had sent to Franklin the previous October. The remaining four items refer to proposals that Hartley had made to Fox in his letter of November 6, 1783. These, presumably, were new to the American minister. The comments in the right-hand column are Hartley’s own opinions and queries as expressed (in many cases) in his letters to Fox.
Franklin’s reactions to the new articles were not recorded. Hartley may have brought this sheet to his first meeting with Franklin, which took place on the morning of April 27, or else sketched it out during one of their conversations. As it did not represent an official overture, no formal response was required. Two days later, a skeptical Franklin informed Henry Laurens of Hartley’s hopes of receiving authorization to treat, and solicited Laurens’ views on a commercial treaty in case an official overture should be made. It never was. On May 13, when informing Carmarthen that the exchange of ratifications had taken place, Hartley added that the Americans were “ready and desirous” of negotiating a commercial treaty and wished to sign in the interim a one-year commercial convention. On May 25 Carmarthen responded curtly that Hartley’s mission to Paris was completed and that there was “no reason for your continuing there any longer.” Further negotiations with the United States would “require a considerable degree of deliberation.” Despite these unambiguous instructions, Hartley remained in Paris, having convinced himself, if no one else, that as soon as Parliament had finished formulating a new trade policy he would at last receive his instructions.

[after April 27, 1784]

Debts & Interest suspended.
Appears reasonable but [Quere] whether it can be done by right

Free navigation of River St Laurence
agreed

Account of prisoners to be drawn out &c
not agreed

The Kings good offices with the Emperor of Morrocco &c
agreed

Husbandmen & fishermen not to be attacked in war. Privateering to cease
agreed

warlike stores supplied to an enemy not to be esteemed Contraband
not agreed

mutual denization & naturalization
agreed

Proposal to cut logwood &c
Q

All places upon the boundary line to be mutually free &c
agreed

British troops to be kept on the water line
agreed

GB to supply to the Amern states — ships of the line & — frigates in case of attack
agreed

Amern States to give to GB a certain number per annum of timbers for masts yards bowsprits &c. And pitch tar & turpentine to supply troops & provisions if Canada [&c] be attacked
agreed

Amern States not to carry any naval stores or military to any nation at war with GB during such war [or] take part in any way against GB but to furnish — Seamen if demanded
agreed

British subjects to carry freely in to Amern ports as Amerns. & amerns in to British ports in ships half owned by british & navigated by equal British & Amern Crews
agreed

This treaty to last for 20 years
agreed.

Project of a Treaty


Title: Franklin and John Jay to John Adams, 29 April 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin,Jay, John
To: Adams, John

Sir,
Passy April 29th. 1784

We received the Letter you did us the honour of writing to us the 10th. Inst, with the project of a Treaty that had been transmitted to you by the Baron de Thulemeier, which we have examined, & return herewith, having made a few small Additions or Changes of Words to be proposed, such as Citoyens for Sujets and the like, and intimated some Explanations as wanted in particular Paragraphs. The sooner a Copy, with such of these Changes as shall be agreed to by your Excellency and the Prussian Minister, is forwarded to Congress for their Approbation,

the better. With regard to the Language of Treaties, we are of Opinion that if the Ministers of the Nation we treat with insist on having the Treaty in their own Language we should then insist on having it also in ours, both to be sign’d at the same time; this was done in our Treaties with France; but if both Parties agree to use a Language that is particular to neither but common to both, as the Latin, or the French, as was done in our Treaty with Sweden, we then think it not necessary to have it also signed in English.
With great Respect, we are, Sir, Your most Obedient and most humble Servants

B FranklinJohn Jay
His Excellency John Adams Esqr.

Endorsed: Dr Franklin Mr Jay 1784
Notation: April 29th.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Mary Hewson, 29 April 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Hewson, Mary (Polly) Stevenson

Dear Friend,
Passy, April 29. 1784

I receiv’d yours of the 2d Inst. dated at Blackfriars. I had but just receiv’d the Wheels you mention. The Ice had prevented their coming up the River. I shall write to Mr Viney as soon as I can. In the mean time please to acquaint him that they came to hand well and that I like them.— I enclose a Specimen of a new Work by the Author of L’Ami des Enfans, which I shall continue to send if you like it. I have now only time to add what is indeed needless to add, that I am as ever Yours most affectionately

B Franklin
Mrs Hewson


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Henry Laurens, 29 April 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Laurens, Henry

Dear Sir,
Passy, April 29. 1784.

I received your Favour by Mr Bourdieu, and yesterday another of the 18th. per Mr Hartley, who also gave me the Gazette with the Proclamation. I am with you very little uneasy about that,

or any other Measures the Ministry may think proper to take with respect to the Commerce with us. We shall do very well.— They have long lost Sight of their true Interest, and are now wandring blindfold in Search of it, without being able to find it;—but they may feel what they cannot at present see, and all as you say will come right at last.
Mr. Hartley seems to have some Expectation of receiving Instructions to negociate a Commercial Treaty. He thinks he could hardly be sent here merely to exchange the Ratifications. I have not much Dependance on this. Yet as we are authoriz’d to receive Overtures from any European Power, and to plan Treaties to be sent to Congress for Approbation, and I am not yet dismiss’d, I shall much regret your Absence if such a Treaty should be brought upon the Tapis: for Mr Jay will probably be gone, and I shall be left alone, or with Mr A. and I can have no favourable Opinion of what may be the Offspring of a Coalition between my Ignorance and his Positiveness.— It would help much if we could have from you a Sketch of the Outlines, and leading Features of the Treaty, in case your propos’d Embarkation for America should take Place before Mr Hartley makes his Overtures.—
There being but nine States present at the Ratification was owing only to the extreme Inclemency of the Season which obstructed Travelling. There was in Congress one Member from each of three more States; and all were unanimous, tho’ the Votes of those three could not be reckon’d. It is therefore without Foundation that those Gentlemen flatter themselves from that Circumstance with a Defection of Four States from the Union, and thence a Probability of a Return of the whole to the Dominion of Britain.— What Folly!—
My Grandson joins in respectful Compliments and best Wishes, with, Dear Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant

B Franklin
His Excelly. H. Laurens Esqr

Endorsed: Doctor Franklin 29th. April 1784. Recd. 6th. May. Answd. same date.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Benjamin Vaughan, 29 April 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Vaughan, Benjamin

My dear Friend,
Passy, April 29, 1784.

I received your kind letters of the 16th and 20th instant. I thank you for your philosophical news. We have none here. I see your philosophers are in the way of finding out at last what fire is. I have long been of opinion that it exists every where in the state of a subtile fluid. That too much of that fluid in our flesh gives us the sensation we call heat; too little, cold. Its vibrations, light. That all solid or fluid substances which are inflammable have been composed of it; their dissolution in returning to their original fluid state, we call fire. This subtile fluid is attracted by plants and animals in their growth, and consolidated. Is attracted by other substances, thermometers, &c. &c., variously; has a particular affinity with water, and will quit many other bodies to attach itself to water, and go off with it in evaporation. Adieu. Yours most sincerely,

B. F.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from the Vicomte de Rochambeau, 29 April 1784
From: Rochambeau, Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Paris ce 29 avril 1784—

Le Vcte. De Rochambeau a deja eu l’honneur d’envoyer L’année passée a Monsieur Le Docteur franklin Le premier volume du traité sur Les bois. L’auteur vient de lui addresser Le premier cahier du Second volume en le priant d’en faire passer un exemplaire a Passy. Il est enchanté que cette occasion lui fournisse celle de Le rappeller a son souvenir et de l’assurer De L’attachement inviolable quil lui a voué.—


Title: Extracts of Henry Mackenzie’s Journal, [29 April 1784–2 May 1784]
From: Mackenzie, Henry
To:

[April 29–May 2, 1784]

Thursday 29th.
Went to see Dr Franklin.— His House elegant & excellently situated at Passy on an Eminence commandg a View of the River

& the Country beyond it.— In good health & a green old Age, except that he has the Stone wh [which] however does not trouble him except when he is driven in a Carriage. Wears now his own thin grey Locks wh look very venerable.— Walks every Day for about 2 Hours.— Would wish to visit England but for fear of the Motion of a Carriage.— Our Conversn chiefly about the Balloons, wh He thinks may be turnd to usefull Purposes & that Means may be found of directing them. He saw a Man work a Boat over the River opposite to his House by a machine like the Wings of a Windmill, wh he turnd round wt his Hand— Something like that may guide the Balloon. Surprised as I was, at the Adventurers not complg [complaining] of Dizziness; but some of them did feel it while near the Earth; but afterwds when they lost the Idea of relative Distance they ceased to feel it. One of the things wh appear’d most tremendous to them was the perfect & awfull Silence wh reign’d around them, the Wind having no Subject on wh to make a Noise. He thinks that both Mongolfiers & Charles’s Method of filling it will be usefull. The first for War, because they can be always in the Baggage of an Army & can be instantly fill’d; the Second for Journeys, because it is

less exposed to Accidents, & needs less constant Attention for a long continued Purpose— Query by me of the Danger from the electric Fire in Summer; he answd that he was told the Gaz, tho highly inflammable when mix’d wt a certain propn [proportion] of common Air was quite the reverse when unmixed.

Sunday 2nd May.
Dined with Dr Franklin— Compy [Company] Mr Hartley, Mr Jay, &c. High Eulogium of Ld Chatham— Junius written by Ld Campden.— An Invention of a Grate by Dr F. for clear burning of Coal.— Flame acts as a preservative agt [against] the Burning of any Substance, therefore any thing burns slower when surrounded with Flame.— Young Franklin formerly Temple a Companion of my poor Brother Jamie at Kensington.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, 2 May 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Chaumont, Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de

In May, 1784, after a truce of two years’ duration, Franklin and his friend and landlord, Le Ray de Chaumont, finally agreed on what

was owed to whom. Franklin had tried unsuccessfully to settle their accounts in the spring and summer of 1782, on order of Congress. After Chaumont refused to abide by the ruling of their mutually chosen arbitrator, Ferdinand Grand, and after Franklin (as he explains here) thought better of prolonging the dispute by submitting the accounts to a second arbitrator, the diplomat let matters stand as they were: at an impasse.
Chaumont, meanwhile, continued to press a claim against Congress through his agent in America, Jean Holker, for seventy thousand livres’ worth of woolens and medicines he had shipped to the Continental Army in 1780 and 1781. He had credited himself with that amount in the account he submitted to Franklin, to the American’s surprise. Franklin told Ferdinand Grand during the audit that he knew nothing about that transaction, having never received any orders regarding it.
What spurred the recommencement of negotiations in May, 1784, was the arrival of two letters from Philadelphia: one addressed to Thomas Barclay, the congressional auditor of European accounts, and the other to Chaumont. Both contained information about the merchant’s claim and Congress’ intention of honoring it. Comptroller of the Treasury James Milligan, after meeting with Jean Holker, had written to Robert Morris on February 4 to explain the history of Chaumont’s invoices and inform the superintendent that Chaumont’s account with Congress could not be settled until the Treasury had in hand an authenticated copy of the merchant’s settled account in Europe. Morris forwarded a copy of this letter to Barclay on February 7, instructing him to send Chaumont’s settled account “immediately.” Holker sent Chaumont a copy of the comptroller’s letter on February 9. Under cover of a long letter detailing his efforts to obtain payment, he also enclosed copies of his recent correspondence with Robert Morris and his statement of what Chaumont was owed by the United States. He stressed that Chaumont’s European accounts had to be settled before Congress would act. Chaumont gave all these

enclosures to Franklin, who kept them, endorsing the set, “Papers from Mr Holker relating to the Debt due to M. Chaumont in America.”
Having received proof that Chaumont’s outlay of woolens and medicines was deemed legitimate by Congress, and cognizant that his landlord had been unable to emerge from the bankruptcy into which he had fallen in 1781, Franklin recommenced negotiations in the spring of 1784 with an attitude both shrewd and benevolent. The letter published here is the first evidence of the two men’s conversations. Their final agreement was signed on May 28, below.

Dear Sir,
Passy, May 2. 1784

I am sorry to learn from you that Mr Grand declines acting as an Arbitrator in our Affair, because if it must be settled by others than our selves, it is best it should be done by our common Friends.— I have always been ready to submit the Matters in Dispute between us to his Decision with that of M. Dangirard, but knowing that you must be found much in Debt, that it would embarras you to make Payment, and conceiving it was the difficult Situation alone of your Affairs that induc’d you to make certain Objections to my Accounts, and Demands in yours which did not appear to me just, I forbore in Friendship to press the Examination of those Points and a Determination upon them, believing that as soon as your Affairs should be arranged, it would not be difficult for us to adjust our Accounts ourselves, without the help of any Arbitrator. And now I would

propose to you that we should try that Experiment. If we agree and make a Settlement, so that the State of our Accounts may appear clear to my Constituents, I shall make no Difficulty of advancing the Sum you require, tho’ it should augment your Debt here, as you can easily make an equal Diminution of your Demand in America. With great Regard, I have the honour to be Dear Sir, &c

Letter from Mr Franklin to M. de Chaumont May 2. 1784— No 8


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Samuel Vaughan, 3 May 1784
From: Vaughan, Samuel
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear Sir,
Philadelphia 3d. May 1783 [i.e., 1784]

Shortly after my last, the foregoing petition was presented to the Assembly; it was referred to the Committee of ways & means, who made a favorable Report, the day before their adjournment; therefore not time to have procured leave to bring in a Bill, which have good reason to believe, would then have

been readily granted. But some persons are now making interest against the prayer, saying it would be injurious to the proposed plan of making shady walks, by avenues of Trees. Pity it is that another year has passed without planting them, to bring them the sooner to maturity.
I conceive the Buildings would not only be very ornamental, but contribute to the encrease of cool agreeable shade; should You be of the same opinion, the writing Your sentiments thereon, may have great effect & arrive before the motion is made; as the House has adjourned until the 16th. of August.
I well know this Business is less important than such in which You are generally engaged, nor should I have troubled You with this application, but under a persuasion it will have a tendancy to the advancement of knowledge & Sience, as well as contribute to the health & pleasure of the Citizens at large. The family all join in most affectionate regard, with, Dear Sir, Your assured & mo: obedt. hble Servt

Saml Vaughan

Addressed: To His Excellency / Benjn. Franklin / Passy / near Paris


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from John Gardner, [c. 4 May 1784]
From: Gardner, John
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir,
[c. May 4, 1784]

I should hardly have presumed to have given this interruption to your important occupations had not an event taken place in which I find my interest and honour too deeply concerned to admit of Silence.
I arrived here 5 Days since in the Ship Amity belonging to Messrs. Cabot of Salem in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,

bringing a Cargo of Rice from Charleston South Carolina. Being unacquainted with the Laws of this Kingdom I was upon my arrival apprised by my Broker (M. Menard) of the necessity of making an exact report of the quantity of Tobacco on board of the Ship, I according sent an express & most positive order to my Mates to collect every Ounce of that Commodity on board the Ship & to make a return to me of the weight of it: this order was faithfully executed & the quantity returned 173 lb weighed with the Steelyards belonging to the Ship, from this amount I deducted 17 lb being as I was informed the difference between the weight of this Country & Ours. Unfortunately I did not mention this circumstance to Monsr. Menard who therefore deducts 16 lb more for the same purpose, so that our report was erronious by this accident 16 lb. The Envoys of the Bureau report that they find 23 lb more of Tobacco than have been reported; of this Quantity about 2¼ lb was by threats drawn from the Pockets & Pouches (I might almost add Jaws) of my Crew consisting of 15 Sailors which did not exceed one Day’s consumption for the remaining excess of 4¾ lb I can give no account; it probably arose from a fault in the Steelyards which are seldom very exact, I have the most solemn assurances of my Officers in whom I have every reason to confide that they weighed every Leaf of Tobacco on board of the Ship neither they nor myself had any interest therein.
I have stated these facts to the Directors of the Tobacco revenue but am told that 23 lb of unreported Tobacco have been found on board my Vessel & that I must pay a fine of 50 Livres pr. pound therefor & that if I expect redress I must look elsewhere for it.
This being my situation I must pray your Excellency to use your influence with the Farmers General that this severe & unmeritted fine may be remitted.
Was there the slightest foundation for a suspicion of an unwarrantable intention on my part I should not have had the

assurance to apply to your Excellency in the manner I now do. But however contrary it may appear to the principles of our Order there is no person who views an illicit trade in a light more unfavourable than myself.
Permit me now to subscribe myself with the most profound respect your Excellency’s ever obedient & humble. Servt.

John GardnerCr. of Ship Amity

N.B. As I shall sail from hence for America in about 3 Weeks I must pray your Excellency to consider my case as soon as convenient. I am addressed here to Monsr. Pierre Texie who will write this Day to the Farmers General.

His Excellency Benjamin Franklin Esqr. Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America at the Court of France.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Edward Nairne, 5 May 1784
From: Nairne, Edward
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear Sir
Lond: May 5: 1784

By the favor of Colonel Harman, have sent you three lens’s from 40 to 49 inches focus, one of which I hope will prove the right length. Have looked over my books but cannot find any account of those you formerly used. If either of these should not be long enough, their shall be others sent you, by any conveyance you shall mention. Mrs Nairne & my two daughters desire to be remembred to you, I am Dear Sir Your most obliged Hble servt

Edwd: Nairne
Dr Franklin

Addressed: Dr Franklin / Passey / near Paris


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Jean-Sylvain Bailly: Two Letters, 6 May 1784
From: Bailly, Jean-Sylvain
To: Franklin, Benjamin

I.

ce jeudi 6 may. [1784]

Mr Bailly de L’academie des sciences presente ses respects a Monsieur Franklin. Il est chargé par mrs les commissaires de la faculté de medecine et de L’academie des sciences pour le magnetisme animal, de lui demander s’il veut les recevoir apres demain samedi pour avoir l’honneur de le voir et de conferer avec lui.

Addressed: a Monsieur / Monsieur Franklin ministre / plenipotentiaire des etats unis de / l’amerique septentrionale en son hotel / a passy
Notation: M. Bailly.—

II.

ce jeudi 6 mai [1784]

Mr Bailly a l’honneur d’observer a Monsieur Franklin qu’il serait fort difficile dans ce moment de se concerter avec tous les commissaires sur la proposition qu’il veut bien leur faire de diner chez lui samedi; et d’autant plus que ce jour etant un jour d’academie plusieurs et particulierement Mr Lavoisier, sousdirecteur, sont obligés de s’y trouver. Mr Bailly pense donc qu’il

vaut mieux pour le moment laisser les choses comme elles sont; la visite des commissaires samedi après midi est un hommage qu’ils sont bien aise de rendre a Mr franklin, et il pourra leur faire lui meme pour un autre jour, sa proposition de diner chez lui, proposition qui ne peut que leur etre infiniment agréable.

Addressed: a Monsieur / Monsieur Franklin ministre / plenipotentiaire des etats unis de / l’amerique en son hotel / a passy
Notation: Bailly 6 May 1784.—


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Henry Laurens, 6 May 1784
From: Laurens, Henry
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear Sir.
London 6th. May 1784.

I have been about a fortnight indebted for your obliging Letter of the 17th Ult: delaying from day to day a reply, hoping from expected supplies of Money from my own funds I should have avoided calling upon Mr Grand, but the prospect is vanished. My Attornies had sent me a Bill for £500. which is protested, they had Shiped about three times that value of Rice & Indigo, the Ship struck on the Bar sprung a leak & put back & probably will be condemn’d, the Ministers of this Country will give no answer to my demand for the £2860. Nor will the Judge of the Admiralty condemn or acquit a quantity of Indigo value upwards of £2000—which has been lock’d up in his Court from the Month of July 1780. Besides these I had lent about £1100. to friends who seemed to be more in distress than my self & who cannot at present repay, these disappointments leave me poor & I hold my resolution against borrowing, it is therefore a fortunate circumstance to know that I may be supplied by Mr. Grand on account of the United States. I have requested him to remit me immediately the value of One thousand or twelve hundred Guineas & I intreat you Sir, if it shall be necessary to second the

motion, my affairs will not admit of delay. I hope to embark on or about the 25 th. Inst:— The Author of “Considerations” &ca is our friend Mr. Champion, he has thanked me for my remarks & is publishing a second Edition with amendments.— Mr. Edwards (Bryan Edwards Esquire) is likewise about a second Edition of his Tract with a copious Postscript, he has assured me, my remarks & several additional hints in conversation are useful to him, if I have not skill for shaping at the Anvil, I am content with the humbler part of blowing the Bellows. But alas! There remains such a degree of sourness towards us & so great a jealousy of our acquiring the Carrying Trade, as will render all these attempts fruitless. If the intelligence which we have lately received is founded, it will more effectually alarm this Administration, than the sentiments & warnings of fifty Pamphleteers. ’Tis reported the Loyalists in Nova Scotia had quarrel’d with their Governor, complained of a monopoly of the best Lands by the King’s Officers, were weary of Military Government, demanded a Representation, many of them had at all hazards returned to the United States &ca.
I thank you Sir, for the friendly terms in which you have invited my stay to see the important business of a Treaty of Commerce finished, but first I perceive not the least disposition on this side to adopt one wise step, except per force of necessity. Secondly I entertain no opinions of my own abilities, the

necessary work is pretty clearly marked out & I shall leave superior judgement for the Execution; that you were more agreeably Coupled, or single, since Mr. Jay is going, is the friendly wish of my heart.
When I had so far advanc’d My Son arrived & honor’d me with your Letter of 24th. April. We every day repeat the thread bare adage, “I am surpriz’d at nothing.” & yet are every day expressing our surprize at some event. I confess it is surprizing to me, our friend D.H. should affect to “seem to have some expectation of receiving Instructions to Negotiate a Commercial Treaty” than which I firmly believe, nothing is more remote from the view of his Court; or is he the least inform’d of every Man of Intelligence in this Country? True indeed, it has been industriously circulated & is credited by the bulk of people, that a Treaty of Commerce is the present employment of our friend & we are charg’d with throwing stumbling blocks in the way, averse to reasonable propositions. “He thinks he could hardly be sent merely to exchange the Ratifications.” I can only sigh & lament the frailty of human Nature. How was he sent? It would have been very easy to have saved him the expence & trouble of the journey. But it did not appear expedient, why should we deprive a friend of a little consolatory Eclat? Certainly not for saving Money in the Treasury of an uncordial people. But let this pass.
You know my sentiments Sir, respecting the Politics of this Country; to morrow some Buggaboo may cause a total change in their present Plans. I speak therefore from appearances & from no light Authority, there is no ground for expecting overtures from Mr. Hartley. Take this for granted, nothing further will be attempted before the meeting of Parliament. Quarreling will probably be their first employment & take up no small space of time; firm resolutions on our side to retaliate restrictions on this, may bring on deliberations for a Commercial Treaty. But until such Resolutions shall be formed the unfriendly party will flatter themselves with an assurance of success & of our submission to their regulations. These reflections carry my view of Treaty to a great distance. I shall nevertheless, at your desire, hazard committing my self by communicating such outlines as

shall occur to my mind before I leave England. My Son informs me you wish for a Copy of the Remarks, you will receive them by Colonel Harmer, possibly with anecdotes which I think will even “surprize” a Man of your experience, in the mean time be assured the Monarch of this Kingdom, “entertains no ill Will to Doctor Franklin, would be glad to receive at his Court a Character which, tho’ formerly misrepresented to him, he now admires & speaks of with respect.” This is a truism, as the modern word coiners have it, it came to me from one who deliver’d it, in private conversation, at no second hand, whose veracity & candor I am sure you would depend on.
As soon as I shall have properly lodg’d my Widowed Sister, I shall embark in the first good Vessel, for any Port in the United States not southward of Chesepeake, hoping as I said above to get away about the 25th Inst ready in the mean time to receive your Commands. Being always With sincere Esteem & Regard Dear Sir Your affectionate & Obedient humble servant

Henry Laurens
His Excellency Benjamin Franklin Esquire Passy.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Jérôme-Joseph Geoffroy de Limon, 6 May 1784
From: Limon, Jérôme-Joseph Geoffroy
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Paris rue du fauxbourg St. honoréprés la rue St. charle, le 6 may 1784.

M. de Limon a l’honneur de faire mille complimens a Monsieur le Docteur franklin et de lui envoyer un boete et un paquet qu’il

a trouvé pour lui dans une caisse qu’il vient de recevoir de M. B. Vaughan. Si M de Limon ne partoit pas demain matin pour aller passer huit jours a la campagne il auroit eu l’honneur d’aller lui porter lui-même ces effets et de profiter de cette occasion de rendre ses hommages à un grand homme qui fait autant d’honneur a son Siécle qu’a son pays

Notation: Limon 6 Mars 1784—


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from George Washington, 6 May 1784
From: Washington, George
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear Sir,
Philadelphia May 6th. 1784.

Mr. Tracy the bearer of this, is a Gentleman of Fortune from Massachusettsbay—on a visit to Europe.

His political character, and character for benevolence & hospitality are too well established in this Country to need any other recommendation, notwithstanding I have taken the liberty of giving him this letter of introduction to you.—
With very great esteem and regard—I am—Dr Sir Yr. Most Obedt. Servt

Go: Washington
The Honble. Doctr. Franklin

Addressed: The Honble / Doctr. Franklin / Paris / Favored by Mr. Tracy


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Thomas Barclay, 7 May 1784
From: Barclay, Thomas
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir
Paris 7th May 1784

The Gentleman who will have the Honor to deliver this Letter to you is Mr. Morel du faux of Dunkirk, who has been several Years settled in that place with great reputation, and who when I was at Amsterdam, was recommended to me so warmly by a

number of persons for whom I have the greatest respect, that I promis’d to Interest myself in procuring for him the Office of Agent or vice Consul for the United States.— I mentiond this application already to your Excellency, and informed Mr. Morel of what pass’d. He waits upon you to State some services he has done to America, and will think himself under great obligations to you if he succeeds— As it is highly proper for me to have your approbation of the appointments that are to take place, I have referd Mr. Morel to you, on this occasion and remain with the greatest respect, Sir Your Excellency Most Obedient Most Hume. Servt.

Thos Barclay
His Excellency Benjamin Franklin Esqr.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from the Abbé ——— Thomas, 7 May 1784
From: Thomas, ——, abbé
To: Franklin, Benjamin

à Paris ce 7 may 1784.

Au mois d’Octobre 1781 j’ai fait passer a Mr Williams Negt etabli à Nantes un Ballot de Marchandises marqué T.H. No 1.

contenant toiles de Coton futaines et Bazins, Bas et Bonnets de Coton, enfin grose Draperie en Laine, en le priant d’expedier le dit Ballot pour l’Amerique Septentrionale pour mon Compte et a mes Risques et fortunes, moyennant les Droits de Commission dont nous etions convenus, le laissant au reste maitre du Choix des Corespondants auxquelles il l’adresseroit. Mr Williams l’a envoyé a Mrs. Bache et Shée Negts a Philadelphie. J’avois expréssement demandé a Mr Williams qu’il m’obtint le plus promptement possible un compte de Ventes et des Observations d’après lesquelles je pusse diriger et étendre cette Speculation, ce premier Ballot ne devant être regardé que comme un Echantillon. Cependant me voici au mois de May 1784 sans avoir pû l’obtenir. Au mois de juin dernier, Mr Williams m’à fait passer une Remise à Compte, et dans la lettre qui l’a renfermoit il m’anoncoit que ces Mrs. lui disoient que par leur prochaine ils lui remettroient le Compte de Vente et la Remise pour Solde. A en juger par la datte de l’acceptation de la Traite, il y a plus de 15 mois que Mrs Bache et Shée promettoient compte et remise par leur prochaine, et ni l’un ni l’autre ne sont arrivés. Mr Williams a qui j’en ai temoigné mon étonnement, m’a repondu par Ecrit dabord, et tout recemment encore de vive voix qu’il n’en etoit pas moins Surpris que moi même et qu’il me conseilloit de leur ecrire directement. Je l’ai deja fait 2 fois, j’enverai un Triplicata par le premier paquebot; mais j’aurai bien plus de Confiance dans une Récommandation de son Excéllence Mr le Docteur Franklin si j’étois asses heureux pour l’Obtenir. Je ne doute pas qu’elle me procurat plus promptement et plus surement ce que je demande avec justice, a ce qu’il me semble, savoir un Compte de Vente, une Remise pour Solde et a court terme. Independamment de l’Ancienté de ma créance, je puis encore représenter les Risques énormes que j’ai courus, ayant fait partir sans assurance, sur l’Avis de Mr Williams, et dans un tems ou nous etions si maltraités que nos Chambres ne vouloient plus assurer a quelque Prix que ce fut. Au reste je rends la plus Haute

Justice a Mrs Bache et Shée; tous les rapports sont a l’avantage de cette maison vraiment Respectable; je suppose seulement que l’Objet pour lequel je réclame, n’étant qu’un Essay, ne leur a pas paru asses important pour meriter toute leur Attention, et qu’ils m’ont oublié./.

(Signe) Thomas


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Henry Laurens, 10 May 1784
From: Laurens, Henry
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear Sir,
London 10th. May 1784.

The 6th. Inst: I had the honor of addressing you by Post & availing myself of the encouragement you had given to hope for a supply of Money from Monsr. Grand on account of the United States, I requested that Gentleman by the same conveyance to remit to me the full value of One Thousand or twelve hundred Guineas which I repeat in order to guard against accidents as my affairs will not admit of delay.
I am presently to commence a journey to Bath with my Sister in Law, where I shall stay no longer than shall be necessary to see her settled, perhaps not more than eight & forty hours, then return here & take the first good opportunity for proceeding to America.
Inclosed with this are the Remarks which My Son inform’d me you wish’d to have, I think they are highly honour’d by your attention, the bearer Colo. Harmar does not leave London till Wednesday or Thursday next I have intreated him to take some of the latest News Papers for you.
With great Esteem & Respect I have the honor to be Dear sir Your obedient humble servant

Henry Laurens
His Excellency Benjamin Franklin Esquire Passy.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from the Baron de Feriet, 11 May 1784
From: Feriet, ——, baron de
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Versailles ce mardi 11 mai 1784

Mr. De Feriet a L’honneur de faire part a Monsieur francklin qu’il est convenu avec Les directeurs de la manufacture de st. cloud, qu’on ferait demain tous Les Verres D’harmonica; en

conséquence, demain dès six heures du matin, il sera rendu a La manufacture avec tous les modéles, et il veillera soigneusement a ce que les verres soyent faits avec toute L’éxactitude possible. Si la santé et les affaires de monsieur francklin lui permettaient d’y venir faire un tour dans le courant de la journée, ses observations pouraient contribuer a la perfection de L’ouvrage, et il pourait juger par lui même si les Moyens proposés par les directeurs pour accorder les verres en les usant, sont praticables ou non.
Mr. de feriet prie Monsieur francklin d’agréer L’homage de son tendre et respectueux attachement que toute sa famille partage.

Notation: Feriet M. De, Versailles 11 Mai 1784.—


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Stephen Hopkins, 11 May 1784
From: Hopkins, Stephen
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Sir,
Providence May 11th. 1784.

Mr. Solomon Drown, a native of this place, is a young gentleman of great modesty, and of a very fair character; has spent many years in his Studies here, and in his attendance on the various Medical Lectures at Philadelphia; and is now about to take a Voyage to France, in order to perfect his knowledge in the healing Art, and in the French Language.

Any favours shown, or patronage afforded him while in France, will be very gratefully acknowledged by him, who is with sincere esteem, Your affectionate old Friend,

Step Hopkins
His Excellency Benja. Franklin Esqr.

Addressed: His Excellency Benja. Franklin Esqr. / Paris.
Notation: Hopkins May 11. 1784


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Thomas Percival, 11 May 1784
From: Percival, Thomas
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Dear Sir.
Manchester May 11th. 1784.

I cannot omit the favourable opportunity, which the Tour of my young Friend Mr. White affords me, of paying my respects to you; and of requesting your acceptance of a Vol. of Moral and Literary Dissertations, which I have just published. Your approbation of my little Work, I should deem a distinguished honour: But whatever opinion you may form of it, I hope and trust it will not be unacceptable to you, as a memorial of my cordial esteem & veneration.
How happy would it render your Friends, to see you once more in England! But with respect to yourself, it is doubtful whether you might not feel more pain than pleasure, from such a visit. Time has produced many changes, which you would lament: and amongst these, the loss of Sir John Pringle has almost ruined the Royal Society. But you are no stranger, I presume, to the disgraceful contentions of that learned body, & to the

conduct of the President, both to his excellent predecessor and to many of the Fellows.
We have established a very useful Literary & Philosophical Society here, and shall soon publish a Vol. of Memoirs. I shall inclose the account of another Institution, in the success of which, I am much interested. Mr. White, who is an intelligent young man, will inform you of the progress we have made in it, and of the encouragement with which it has been honoured.
I have not heard very lately either from Dr. Price or Dr. Priestley. But I believe they are both well. From Mr. Vaughan I had a letter a few days ago. He has sent me some curious observations on Cold, made by Professor Patrick Wilson, at Glasgow. I would transmit a copy of the paper, but you will probably have it communicated to you, long before this packet arrives.
With the most cordial respect and esteem, I am, Dear Sir, Your faithful, & very affect. hble. Servt.

Tho. Percival

Addressed: To / Doctor Benjn. Franklin / Paris.— / with a Book—by favr. of Mr. White
Notation: Thomas Percival 11 May 1784


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Samuel Mather, 12 May 1784
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Mather, Samuel

Revd. Sir,
Passy, May 12. 1784.

I received your kind Letter with your excellent Advice to the People of the United States, which I read with great Pleasure, and hope it will be duly regarded.— Such Writings tho’ they may be lightly pass’d over by many Readers, yet if they make a deep Impression on one active Mind in an hundred, the Effects may be considerable. Permit me to mention one little Instance, which tho’ it relates to my self, will not be quite uninteresting to you. When I was a Boy, I met with a Book intitled Essays to do Good, which I think was written by your Father. It had been so little regarded by a former Possessor, that several Leaves of it were torn out: But the Remainder gave me such a Turn of Thinking as to have an Influence on my Conduct thro’ Life; for I have always set a greater Value on the Character of a Doer of Good, than on any other kind of Reputation; and if I have been, as you seem to think, a useful Citizen, the Publick owes the Advantage of it to that Book.— You mention your being in your 78th Year. I am in my 79th. We are grown old together. It is now more than 60 Years since I left Boston, but I remember well both your Father and Grandfather having heard them both in the Pulpit, and seen them in their Houses. The last Time I saw your Father was in the Beginning of 1724, when I visited him after my first Trip to Pennsylvania. He receiv’d me in his Library, and on my taking Leave show’d me a shorter way out of the House thro’ a narrow Passage which was cross’d by a Beam overhead. We were still talking as I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, and I turning partly towards him, when he said hastily Stoop, Stoop! I did not understand him till I felt my Head hit against the Beam. He was a Man that never miss’d any Occasion of giving Instruction, and upon this he said to me, You are young and have the World before you; Stoop as you go through it,

and you will miss many hard Thumps. This Advice, thus beat into my head has frequently been of use to me, and I often think of it when I see Pride mortified, & Misfortunes brought upon People by their carrying their Heads too high.—
I long much to see again my native Place, and once hoped to lay my Bones there. I left it in 1723; I visited it in 1733, 1743, 1753, & 1763. In 1773 I was in England; in 1775 I had a Sight of it, but could not enter, it being in Possession of the Enemy. I did hope to have been there in 1783, but could not obtain my Dismission from this Employment here. And now I fear I shall never have that Happiness. My best Wishes however attend my dear Country. Esto perpetua: It is now blest with an excellent Constitution. May it last forever.—
This powerful Monarchy continues its Friendship for the United States. It is a Friendship of the utmost Importance to our Security, & should be carefully cultivated. Britain has not yet well digested the Loss of its Dominion over us, and has still at times some flattering Hopes of recovering it. Accidents may encrease those Hopes, and encourage dangerous Attempts. A Breach between us and France would infallibly bring the English again upon our Backs. And yet we have some wild Heads among our Country-men, who are endeavouring to weaken that Connection!— Let us preserve our Reputation by performing our Engagements, our Credit by fulfilling our Contracts, and our Friends by Gratitude & Kindness; for we know not how soon we may again have occasion for all of them.
With great and sincere Esteem, I have the honour to be, Reverend Sir, Your most obedient & most humble Servant

B Franklin
Revd Dr Mather

Notation: Dr Franklin to Dr Mather 1784.