are hard at work here in providing the supplies to replace those lost in the Marquis de Lafayette. With best wishes of success to you in your new employment, and assurances of every aid I can afford you, I am, dear sir, etc.,
B. Franklin.
DCCCCXCIII. TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS
Passy, 13 September, 1781.
Sir:—
I duly received the two letters your Excellency did me the honor of writing to me, both dated the 19th of June, together with the letter addressed to the king and the three commissioners with the instructions relative to the negotiations for peace. I immediately went to Versailles and presented the letter, which was graciously received. I communicated also to Count de Vergennes a copy of your instructions after having deciphered them. He read them while I was with him, and expressed his satisfaction with the unreserved confidence placed in his court by the Congress, assuring me that they never would have cause to regret it, for that the king had the honor of the United States at heart, as well as their welfare and independence. Indeed, this has already been manifested in the negotiations relative to the plenipotentiaries; and I have had so much experience of his Majesty’s goodness to us, in the aids afforded us from time to time, and of the sincerity of this upright and able minister, who never promised me any thing which he did not punctually perform, that I cannot but think the confidence well and judiciously placed, and that it will have happy effects.
I have communicated to Mr. Adams and to Mr. Jay the purport of your despatches. Mr. Adams already had received the same; by the first safe conveyance, I shall acquaint the Congress with the steps that have been taken in the negotiation. At present I would only say that the settling of preliminaries meets with difficulty, and will probably take much time, partly from the remoteness of the mediators; so that any relaxation of our warlike preparations, in expectation of a speedy peace, will be imprudent, as it may be pernicious.
I am extremely sensible of the honor done me by the Congress in this new appointment. I beg they would accept my thankful acknowledgments; and, since they judge I may be serviceable, though I had requested leave to retire, I submit dutifully to their determination, and shall do my utmost to merit in some degree the favorable opinion they appear to have of me. I am the more encouraged in this resolution, as within the last three months I find my health and strength considerably re-established.
I wish, however, that the consul-general may soon be appointed for this kingdom; it would ease me of abundance of troublesome business, to which I am not equal, and which interferes with my own important functions.
The king having graciously complied with my request, of replacing the supplies lost in the Marquis de Lafayette, many hands are employed in providing them, who work hard to have them ready and shipped so that they arrive before winter. With the highest respect, I have the honor to be, etc.,
B. Franklin.
P. S.—The copying machine for Mr. Secretary Thomson is in hand, and will soon be finished and sent to him.
DCCCCXCIV. TO DANIEL OF ST. THOMAS JENIFER Ref. 010
Passy, 13 September, 1781.
Sir:—
I received the very obliging letter you did me the honor of writing to me the 20th of June last. It gave me great satisfaction to find, by the unanimous choice you mention, that my services had not been unacceptable to Congress; and to hear also that they were favorably disposed towards my grandson, Temple Franklin. It was my desire to quit public business, fearing it might suffer in my hands through the infirmities incident to my time of life. But, as they are pleased to think I may still be useful, I submit to their judgment, and shall do my best.
I immediately forwarded the letter you enclosed for Mr. Lowndes; and if in any thing else I can do you service or pleasure here, please to command me freely. I have the honor to be, with great regard, sir, etc.,
B. Franklin.
DCCCCXCV. TO RICHARD BACHE
Passy, 13 September, 1781.
Dear Son:—
I received yours of June 20th. It gave me great pleasure, as it informed me of the welfare of yourself and the dear family.
I have read Mr. Wharton’s pamphlet. The facts, as far as I know them, are as he states them. Justice is, I think, on the side of those who contracted for the lands. Ref. 011 But moral and political rights sometimes differ, and sometimes are both subdued by might. I received, and thank you for, several copies of the Indian Spelling Book. I received also the German and English newspapers.
Among my papers in the trunk, which I unhappily left in the care of Mr. Galloway, were eight or ten quire or two-quire books, of rough drafts of my letters, containing all my correspondence when in England, for near twenty years. I shall be very sorry if they too are lost. Do not you think it possible, by going up into that country, and inquiring a little among the neighbors, you might possibly hear of and recover some of them. I should not have left them in his hands if he had not deceived me by saying that though he was before otherwise inclined, yet that, since the king had declared us out of his protection, and the Parliament by an act had made our properties plunder, he would go as far in the defence of his country as any man, and accordingly he had lately, with pleasure, given colors to a regiment of militia, and an entertainment to four hundred of them before his house. I thought he was become a staunch friend to the glorious cause. I was mistaken. As he was a friend of my son’s, to whom in my will I had left all my books and papers, I made him one of my executors, and put the trunk of papers in his hands, imagining them safer in his house (which was out of the way of any probable march of the enemy’s troops) than in my own. It was very unlucky.
My love to Sally and the children. I shall soon write to all my friends. At present I am pinched in time, and can only add that I am ever your affectionate father,
B. Franklin.
DCCCCXCVI. TO FRANCIS HOPKINSON
Passy, 13 September, 1781.
Dear Sir:—
I have received your kind letter of July 17th, with its duplicate, enclosing those for Messrs. Brandlight & Sons, which I have forwarded. I am sorry for the loss of the Squibs. Every thing of yours gives me pleasure.
As to the friends and enemies you just mention, I have hitherto, thanks to God, had plenty of the former kind; they have been my treasure, and it has perhaps been of no disadvantage to me that I have had a few of the latter. They serve to put us upon correcting the faults we have, and avoiding those we are in danger of having. They counteract the mischief flattery might do us, and the malicious attacks make our friends more zealous in serving us and promoting our interest. At present I do not know of more than two such enemies that I enjoy, viz. —— and ——. I deserve the enmity of the latter, because I might have avoided it by paying him a compliment, which I neglected. That of the former I owe to the people of France, who happened to respect me too much and him too little, which I could bear, and he could not. They are unhappy that they cannot make everybody hate me as much as they do, and I should be so if my friends did not love me much more than those gentlemen can possibly love one another.
Enough of this subject. Let me know if you are in possession of my gimcrack instruments, and if you have made any new experiments. I lent, many years ago, a large glass globe, mounted, to Mr. Coombe, and an electric battery of bottles, which I remember; perhaps there were some other things. He may have had them so long as to think them his own. Pray ask him for them, and keep them for me, together with the rest.
You have a new crop of prose