means of payment. It may have otherwise very ill effects in depressing the spirit of a minister, and destroying that freedom of representation, which, on many occasions, it might be proper for him to make use of. I heartily congratulate you, Sir, on your being called to the honorable and important office of President, and wish you every kind of prosperity. Be pleased to present my dutiful respects to the Congress, and believe me to be, with great and sincere esteem and respect, &c. B. FRANKLIN. TO MESSRS. KORNMANN. Relative to a Claim of Relationship with Dr. Franklin. GENTLEMEN, Passy, 21 November, 1781. Enclosed is the answer you desire to the letter sent me from Königsberg. I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, &c. B. FRANKLIN. MADAM, Passy, 21 November, 1781. I received the letter you did me the honor of writing to me the 26th of last month; in answer to which I ought to inform you, that I was born in America, now near seventy-six years since, that I never was in Ireland till the year 1772, which was for a few weeks only, and I did not pass thence to America with any person of my name, but returned to England; nor had I ever any knowledge of the John Franklin you mention. I have exact accounts of every person of my family since the year 1555, when it was established in England, and am certain, that none of them but my self since that time was ever in Ireland. The name of Franklin is common among the English of the two nations, but there is a number of different families who bear it, and who have no relation to each other. It would be a pleasure to me to discover a relation in Europe, possessing the amiable sentiments expressed in your letter. I assure you I should not disown the meanest. I should also be glad if I could give you a satisfactory account of your family; but I really know nothing of them. I have therefore not the honor of being related to them, but I have that of being, Madam, yours, &c. B. FRANKLIN. DEAR SIR, TO THOMAS POWNALL. Passy, 23 November, 1781. I received your favor by Mr. Hobart. I caused an application to be made to Almon in behalf of Mrs. Barry, but do not learn that it is like to meet with any success.* As the transaction was between yourself and him, no other person but you can claim with authority. I must therefore beg for the poor good woman's sake, that you would do something effectual in it. I also request that you would send the copies you mention to me here, directed to the care of Mr. Bowen at Ostend; and that the plate may be packed with them. I wish most heartily with you, that this cursed war was at an end; but I despair of seeing it finished in my time. Your thirsty nation has not yet drunk * Mrs. Barry was the daughter of Lewis Evans, who published a geographical account of some parts of America, with an improved map. Mr. Evans had died, and his daughter, who was now at Tunis, was to receive the profits of the sale. Almon was the publisher. enough of our blood. I am authorized to treat of peace whenever she is disposed to it; but I saw inconveniences in meeting and discoursing with you on the subject, or with any one not avowed by your ministry; having already experienced such, in several instances. Mr. Hobart appeared not fully acquainted with your ideas, and, as he could not communicate them, I could make no judgment of them. My best wishes attend you, being with the old, long continued esteem, dear Sir, your most obedient, &c. B. FRANKLIN. TO JOHN ADAMS. Capitulation of Lord Cornwallis. - General Greene. SIR, Passy, 26 November, 1781. I sent forward last Saturday some packets and letters for you, which I hope got to hand in time. Most heartily do I congratulate you on the glorious news!* The infant Hercules in his cradle has now strangled his second serpent, and gives hopes that his future history will be answerable. I enclose a packet, which I have just received from General Washington, and which I suppose contains the articles of capitulation. It is a rare circumstance, and scarce to be met with in history, that in one war two armies should be taken prisoners completely, not a man in either escaping. It is another singular circumstance, that an expedition so complex, formed of armies of different nations, and of land and sea forces, should with such perfect concord be assembled from different * The capitulation of Lord Cornwallis's army. places by land and water, form their junction punctually, without the least retard by cross accidents of wind or weather, or interruption from the enemy; and that the army, which was their object, should in the mean time have the goodness to quit a situation from whence it might have escaped, and place itself in another whence an escape was impossible. General Greene has done wonders too in Carolina. I hear that a reinforcement was to be sent to him from the army in Virginia, and that there are hopes of his reducing Charleston. You have probably in the enclosed packet the account of his last great action. Count de Grasse sailed on the 30th with the fleet and part of the land forces. His destination is not mentioned. I have the honor to be, &c. B. FRANKLIN. FROM JOHN ADAMS TO B. FRANKLIN. Proposed Treaty of Alliance between France, Holland, and the United States. SIR, Amsterdam, 26 November, 1781. I presume you have a copy from Congress of their instructions to me of the 16th of August;* but, as it is possible it might be otherwise, I have enclosed one. I have communicated them to the Duke de la Vauguyon. I shall do nothing in the business without communicating it beforehand to him, with the most entire confidence, and receiving his approbation and advice. He informs me, that he has not yet received any instructions from his court respecting it. These instructions * Instructions for proposing a treaty of alliance between France, Holland, and the United States. See Secret Journal of Congress, Vol. II. p. 470. have arrived at a very proper time to counteract another insidious trick of the British ministry, in agreeing to the mediation of Russia for a separate peace with Holland. With unfeigned joy I congratulate your Excellency on the glorious news of the surrender of Cornwallis to the arms of the allies. How easy a thing would it be to bring this war to a happy conclusion, if Spain and Holland would adopt the system of France, and coöperate in it with the same honor and sincerity. There is nothing wanting but a constant naval superiority in the West Indies, and on the coast of the United States, to obtain triumphs upon triumphs over the English, in all quarters of the globe. The allies now carry on the war in America with an infinite advantage over the English, whose infatuation, nevertheless, will continue to make them exhaust themselves there, to the neglect of all their possessions in other parts of the world. I have the honor to be, &c. JOHN ADAMS. FROM ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO B. FRANKLIN. Necessi Financial Difficulties of the United States. ty of further Assistance from France. Preparations for another Campaign. DEAR SIR, Philadelphia, 26 November, 1781. The Marquis de Lafayette, who has obtained leave to revisit his family for the winter, does me the honor to be the bearer of this, and duplicates of two former letters to you. The degree of estimation in which he is held here, you will collect from the enclosed resolutions relative to him, so that you may converse free |