the rate of with at Paris. leagues per minute, as I was in formed by a very ingenious Peruvian whom I met B. FRANKLIN. MDV DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESS TO BE OBSERVED IN MAKING LARGE SHEETS OF PAPER IN THE CHINESE MANNER, WITH ONE SMOOTH SURFACE In Europe, to have a large surface of paper connected together, and smooth on one side, the following operations are performed. 1. A number of small sheets are to be made separately. 2. These are to be couched, one by one, between blankets. 3. When a heap is formed it must be put under a strong press, to force out the water. 4. Then the blankets are to be taken away, one by one, and the sheets hung up to dry. 5. When dry, they are to be again pressed, or, if to be sized, they must be dipped into size made of warm water, in which glue and alum are dissolved. 6. They must then be pressed again to force out the superfluous size. 7. They must then be hung up a second time to dry, which, if the air happens to be damp, requires some days. 8. They must then be taken down, laid together, and again pressed. 9. They must be pasted together at their edges. 10. The whole must be glazed by labor, with a flint. In China, if they would make sheets, suppose of four and a half ells long and one and a half ells wide, they have two large vats, each five ells long and two ells wide, made of brick, lined with a plaster that holds water. In these the stuff is mixed ready to work. Between these vats is built a kiln or stove, with two inclining sides; each side something larger than the sheet of paper; they are covered with a fine stucco that takes a polish, and are so contrived as to be well heated by a small fire circulating in the walls. The mould is made with thin but deep sides, that it may be both light and stiff; it is suspended at each end with cords that pass over pulleys fastened to the ceiling, their ends connected with a counterpoise nearly equal the weight of the mould. Two men, one at each end of the mould, lifting it out of the water by the help of the counterpoise, turn it and apply it with the stuff to the smooth surface of the stove, against which they press it, to force out great part of the water through the wires. The heat of the wall soon evaporates the rest, and a boy takes off the dried sheet by rolling it up. The side next the stove receives the even polish of the stucco, and is thereby better fitted to receive the impression of fine prints. If a degree of sizing is required, a decoction of rice is mixed with the stuff in the vat. Thus the great sheet is obtained, smooth and sized, and a number of the European operations As the stove has two polished sides, and there are two vats, the same operation is at the same time performed by two other men at the other vat; and one fire serves. MDVI TO JOHN LATHROP ' PHILADELPHIA, 31 May, 1788. REVEREND SIR:-I received your obliging favor of the 6th instant by Mr. Hilliard, with whose conversation I was much pleased, and would have been glad to have had more of it, if he would have spared it to me; but the short time of his stay has prevented. You need make no apology for introducing any of your friends to me. I consider it as doing me honor, as well as giving me pleasure. I thank you for the pamphlet of the Humane Society. In return please to accept one of the same kind, which was published while I resided in France. If your Society has not hitherto seen it, it may possibly afford them useful hints. It would certainly, as you observe, be a very great pleasure to me, if I could once again visit my native town, and walk over the grounds I used to frequent when a boy, and where I enjoyed many of the innocent pleasures of youth, which would be so brought to my remembrance, and where I might find some of my old acquaintance to converse with. But when I consider how well I am situated here, with every 1 An eminent clergyman of Boston, and for many years a neighbor and valuable friend of Mrs. Mecom, the sister of Dr. Franklin. thing about me that I can call either necessary or convenient; the fatigues and bad accommodations to be met with and suffered in a land journey, and the unpleasantness of sea voyages to one who, although he has crossed the Atlantic eight times, and made many smaller trips, does not recollect his having ever been at sea without taking a firm resolution never to go to sea again; and that, if I were arrived in Boston, I should see but little of it, as I could neither bear walking nor riding in a carriage over its pebbled streets; and, above all, that I should find very few indeed of my old friends living, it being now sixtyfive years since I left it to settle here;-all this considered, I say, it seems probable, though not certain, that I shall hardly again visit that beloved place. But I enjoy the company and conversation of its inhabitants, when any of them are so good as to visit me; for, besides their general good-sense, which I value, the Boston manner, turn of phrase, and even tone of voice, and accent in pronunciation, all please, and seem to refresh and revive me. I have been long impressed with the same sentiments you so well express, of the growing felicity of mankind, from the improvements in philosophy, morals, politics, and even the conveniences of common living, and the invention and acquisition of new and useful utensils and instruments; so that I have sometimes almost wished it had been my destiny to be born two or three centuries hence. For invention and improvement are prolific, and beget more of their kind. The present progress is rapid. Many of great importance, now unthought of, will, before that period, be produced; and then I might not only enjoy their advantages, but have my curiosity gratified in knowing what they are to be. I see a little absurdity in what I have just written, but it is to a friend, who will wink and let it pass, while I mention one reason more for such a wish, which is, that, if the art of physic shall be improved in proportion to other arts, we may then be able to avoid diseases, and live as long as the patriarchs in Genesis; to which, I suppose, we should have little objection. I am glad my dear sister has so good and kind a neighbor. I sometimes suspect she may be backward in acquainting me with circumstances in which I might be more useful to her. If any such occur to your observation, your mentioning them to me will be a favor I shall be thankful for. With great esteem, I have the honor to be, reverend sir, etc., B. FRANKLIN. MDVII TO M. LE VEILLARD PHILADELPHIA, 8 June, 1788. MY DEAR FRIEND:-I received a few days ago your kind letter of the 3d of January. The arrêt in favor of the non-catholiques gives pleasure here, not only from its present advantages, but as it is a good step towards general toleration, and to the abolishing in time all party spirit among Christians, and the mischiefs that have so long attended it. Thank God, the world is growing wiser and wiser; and as |