Excellency, is connected in the house of Grubb & Co., at Nantes, who have sent him to Paris on business similar to that of Mr. Carnes.

He is well recommended to me as a worthy young man, and I cannot but wish your Excellency to give him a favorable hearing.

With great respect, I have the honor to be, sir, your Excellency's most obedient and most humble servant,

B. FRANKLIN.

MCC

TO COUNT DE VERGENNES

PASSY, 24 August, 1783.

SIR: Mr. Carnes, an American merchant settled at Nantes, who has already presented your Excellency with a petition requesting un arrêt de surseance, informs me that it cannot be complied with unless he first obtains the consentment of a third of his creditors; that in order to do this his presence is necessary at Nantes, but that his liberty will be in danger, if he has not a personal security from government. I therefore take the liberty of requesting your Excellency to afford him a sauf conduite till he can obtain the consentment of the majority of his creditors to his being favored with lettres de surseance. I have the honor to be, with great respect, sir, your Excellency's most obedient and most humble servant,

B. FRANKLIN.

MCCI

WM. TEMPLE FRANKLIN TO M. DE RAYNEVAL

PASSY, 25 August, 1783.

DEAR SIR:-My grandfather received duly the letter you honored him with on the 23d instant, accompanying our first project for the definitive treaty, and a receipt for the gravel. He is infinitely sensible of your kindness and attention, and directs me to make you his warmest acknowledgments, which I do, sir, as well for him as for myself. His gravel has now turned into the gout, which prevents his appearing at court to-day as he intended, and deprives him of the satisfaction of thanking you in person for your very friendly attention. He desires you will be so good as to inform the Count de Vergennes of the cause of his absence.

Permit me, sir, at the same time, to request you would lay before his Excellency the enclosed letter from Mr. Williams, which I have just received enclosed in one to me, expressing the greatest anxiety lest he should not obtain his new arrêt de surseance before the expiration of the old one. It is now the 25th, and his arrêt expires on the 6th of next month. You are so obliging as to say that the affair will come before the council on Friday next, the 29th instant. But will the remaining eight days be sufficient to have the arrêt made out, pass through the several offices, and to get it in time to Nantes? I beg, sir, you will take this into consideration, and endeavor, if possible, to procure a more speedy determination. You will render a pleasing service to

a worthy but unfortunate man, and you will infinitely oblige, dear sir, your affectionate and most obedient, humble servant,

W. T. FRANKLIN.

MCCII

FROM M. DE RAYNEVAL

VERSAILLES, 29 August, 1783.

SIR: I have informed Count de Vergennes of the difficulty which Mr. Hartley has made to signing at Versailles; and this minister has directed me to say that nothing ought to prevent your signing at Paris on Wednesday next, the day proposed for the signature of the other treaties; but I request you to fix the hour with Mr. Hartley at nine o'clock in the morning, and to send here an express immediately after your signature is completed.

M. de Vergennes is desirous of being informed of the completion of your labors at the same time with his own. You receive for Wednesday a note of invitation, as well as for your colleagues and Mr. Hartley; I presume that the latter will make no difficulty. I have the honor to be, sir, with perfect consideration, etc.,

DE RAYNEval.

MCCIII

I

TO SIR JOSEPH BANKS

PASSY, 30 August, 1783.

SIR:-On Wednesday, the 27th instant, the new aerostatic experiment, invented by Messrs. Montgol

'On the 5th of June, 1783, the brothers Montgolfier, sons of Peter Montgolfier, a celebrated manufacturer of paper at Annonay, a town

fier, of Annonay, was repeated by M. Charles, Professor of Experimental Philosophy at Paris.

A hollow globe, twelve feet diameter, was formed of what is called in England oiled silk, here taffetas gommé, the silk being impregnated with a solution of gum elastic in linseed oil, as is said. The parts were sewed together while wet with the gum, and some of it was afterwards passed over the seams, to render it as tight as possible.

It was afterwards filled with the inflammable air that is produced by pouring oil of vitriol upon filings

about forty miles from Lyons, made the experiment which resulted in the discovery of the balloon. A linen globe, of 105 feet in circumference, was inflated over a fire fed with small bundles of chopped straw, and when released rapidly rose to a great height, and descended, at the expiration of ten minutes, at a distance from the place of its departure of about a mile and a half.

The news of this experiment spread rapidly over Europe, and it attracted so much attention at Paris that M. de Faujas de Saint Fond, a naturalist, set on foot a subscription for meeting the expense of another experiment. The balloon this time was constructed by two brothers of the name of Robert, under the superintendence of a M. Charles, professor of natural philosophy in Paris and subsequently a member of the Academy of Sciences. The filling of the balloon, which was made of thin silk varnished with a solution of elastic gum, and was about thirteen feet in diameter, was commenced on the 23d of August, 1783, in the Place des Victoires. The hydrogen gas, which was used instead of the chopped straw of the Montgolfiers, was obtained by the action of dilute sulphuric acid upon iron filings, and was introduced through leaden pipes; but as the gas was not passed through cold water great difficulty was experienced in filling the balloon completely, and the crowd was so great that it became necessary on the 26th to remove the balloon to the Champs de Mars, which was done secretly in the middle of the night to avoid the crowd. On the following day, the 27th, at five o'clock in the afternoon, the balloon was liberated in the presence of an immense concourse of people, among whom was Dr. Franklin. His observations are recorded in this letter to Sir Joseph Banks, the President of the Royal Society, and was more complete than any other account of this experiment of so early a date.-EDITOR.

of iron, when it was found to have a tendency upwards so strong as to be capable of lifting a weight, of thirty-nine pounds, exclusive of its own weight, which was twenty-five pounds, and the weight of the air contained.

It was brought early in the morning to the Champ de Mars, a field in which reviews are sometimes made, lying between the military school and the river. There it was held down by a cord till five in the afternoon, when it was to be let loose. Care was taken, before the hour, to replace what portion had been lost of the inflammable air, or of its force, by injecting more.

It is supposed that not less than five thousand people were assembled to see the experiment; the Champ de Mars being surrounded by multitudes, and vast numbers on the opposite side of the river.

At five o'clock notice was given to the spectators, by the firing of two cannon, that the cord was about to be cut. And presently the globe was seen to rise, and that as fast as a body of twelve feet diameter, with a force only of thirty-nine pounds, could be supposed to move the resisting air out of its way. There was some wind, but not very strong. A little rain had wet it, so that it shone, and made an agreeable appearance. It diminished in apparent magnitude as it rose, till it entered the clouds, when it seemed to me scarce bigger than an orange, and soon after became invisible, the clouds concealing it.

The multitude separated, all well satisfied and delighted with the success of the experiment, and amusing one another with discourses of the various