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 reëstablished.

I wish, however, that a 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 may arrive before winter. With the highest respect, I have the honor to be, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

P. S. The copying machine for Mr. Secretary Thomson is in hand, and will soon be finished and sent to him.

G *

SIR,

TO DANIEL OF ST. THOMAS JENIFER.*

Passy, 13 September, 1781.

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, &c. B. FRANKLIN.

TO RICHARD BACHE.

Loss of Dr. Franklin's Papers.

DEAR SON,

Galloway.

Passy, 13 September, 1781.

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

• Member of Congress from Maryland.

lands. 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 neighbours, 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 into his hands, imagining them safer in his house (which was out of the way of any probable march of the enemies' 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.

The Indiana Grant.

DEAR SIR,

TO FRANCIS HOPKINSON.

Friends and Enemies.

Passy, 13 September, 1781.

I have received your kind letter of July 17th, with its duplicate, enclosing those for Messrs. Brandlight and 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 their 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 served 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.

I de

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 writers. I see in your papers many of their fictitious names, but nobody tells me the real. You will oblige me by a little of your literary history. Adieu, my dear friend, and believe me ever yours affectionately,

B. FRANKLIN.

SIR,

FROM JOHN ADAMS TO B. FRANKLIN.

Commission for negotiating Peace.

Amsterdam, 4 October, 1781.

Since the 25th of August, when I had the honor to write to you, this is the first time that I have taken a pen in hand to write to anybody, having been confined, and reduced too low to do any kind of business, by a nervous fever.

The new commission for peace has been a great consolation to me, because it removed from the public all danger of suffering any inconvenience, at a time when, for many days together, there were many chances to one that I should have nothing more to do with commissions of any sort. It is still a great satisfaction to me, because I think it a measure essentially right, both as it is a greater demonstration of respect to the powers, whose ministers may assemble to make peace, and as it is better calculated to give satisfaction to the people of America, as the commissioners are chosen from the most considerable places in that country.