which makes a Balance of upwards of £20. due to me. As he has taken a great deal of Trouble in my Sister's Affairs I do not think it right to expect Payment of that Ballance and have therefore wrote to him by your Brother enclosing a Receipt in full for the same.

I am glad you have disposed of the little Book for my Sister tho' at so low a rate. If you go from Virginia to England without calling here give my Love to your Wife and Sisters, and to Mr. Alexander, your Uncle, and let Mrs. Williams know that I shall be happy to see her and her sweet Girl arrive here with you. My best Wishes attend you, being ever,

You may remember, that two or three Years ago, I communicated to you a Claim I had upon the State of Virginia, on Account of a Purchase it had made of some Types & other printing Materials belonging to me at the Beginning of the Troubles; The Value could not at that Time be ascertained. Mr. Bache, my Attorney, being unacquainted with it; & my Papers and Accounts being lost & destroyed during the late Confusions. I have now no Means of discovering what the Quantity was of the Types & what they cost me; I only remember that there was a Fount of Law-Character for which I paid 30 Sterl & a large Fount of Greek which I think was valued at about 40 Sterl. besides a very con

siderable Fount of Long-Primer, the Weight of which I forget, but suppose it might be about 500lb which at 1/6 per lb amounted to 37£ 10/ Sterl. There were also some Cases & other Things of which I cannot speak particularly. You were so kind as to offer me your Assistance in procuring from the Government some Satisfaction for this Claim, I now take the Liberty to request that you would endeavour it as soon as possible, as I wish to have all my Affairs settled before my Departure: The Law-Fount & the Greek were probably of no use to the Government, & I should be willing to take them back if they still exist, and are entire. I suppose that the Value of Goods at that Time will be considered, as well as the Length of Time during which the Payment has been delayed. I submit the Whole to the Honour & Equity of the Government, & shall be thankful for what they will be pleased to allow me. My best Wishes attend you, being ever My Dear Friend,

Your's most affectionately

B FRANKLIN.

1774. TO DONATIEN LE RAY DE CHAUMONT,

FILS

(L. C.)

Philadelphia, Oct. 31st, 1789.

DEAR FRIEND: I was too much indisposed yesterday to write in answer to your affecting Letter, but I have considered the Case very attentively and will now give you the Result. In the first Place, what you demand of me is impracticable The Sum I have to draw upon in France being but little more than half of what you require; and upon that

small Sum, tho' my late extraordinary Expences in Building have much straitened me in furnishing my ordinary Expences, I dare not draw, under the present Circumstances of Affairs in that Country, lest thro' the Lowness of the Funds I should lose perhaps half my Property in selling out to pay the Bills, or in Case of public Bankruptcy, which I find is apprehended by many as a possible Case, my Bills should be returned under a Protest which, besides the Damages, would extremely embarrass me. By the last Accounts I received I suffered a loss of 15 per cent. in the Sale of my Funds to produce Money for the Payment of a Bill for 10,000 Livres, which I sold towards the End of the last Year, and we now learn from the public Prints that the new proposed Loan of 30 Millions does not fill, and that Mr. Neckar is discouraged and in bad Health, which together has occasioned the Funds. to fall much lower. In the next Place, it seems to me that in your present Circumstances (excuse my Freedom in presuming to give you my Advice), it would be more adviseable for you to remain here a few Months longer, in order to finish your Affair with the Congress. They meet again in the Beginning of January, and there is no Doubt but the Officers. thro' whose Hands such Affairs must pass, will be present, and your Accounts having been already examined and passed, I am of your Opinion, that they will probably be some of the first paid. Money, I think, will not be wanting, as it is thought that the immense Importation of Goods lately made into this Port must produce at least one-fourth of the Import expected from the whole of the United States. If you should be absent at the next Meeting of Congress it may occasion a still further Delay of Payment for want of somebody present to solicit the Business, which would be a further Prejudice

to the Creditors. If you should conclude to stay I would write a letter to your Father, which he might show to them, expressing that your Stay was by my Counsel, with the Reasons, and that as soon as the Congress should meet I would support your Application for immediate Payment with my strongest Interest. This Delay of two or three Months, I should think, cannot make much Difference in your Father's Affairs, the present Disorders of that Country being considered: Or if you apprehend, as you have mentioned, that the Creditors may suspect your having an Intention of assuming to your own Use the Property of your Father, you may, to prevent such Suspicions, offer the Creditors to deliver up to them or to any Person they shall please to appoint, all the Papers ascertaining your [imperfect]

1775. TO ROBERT MORRIS

(L. C.)

Philada., Nov. 2, 1789

DEAR SIR: I should be glad if it might suit you to spare half an Hour some Day this Week, to settle between us the Loss that accrued on the Sale of my Funds in France, for the Payment of the Bills I furnished you with. The sooner the better, as I find myself growing weaker daily, and less fit for Business.

I am your affectionate Friend and humble Servant,

B. FRANKLIN.

P. S. I enclose the two last Letters received from Messrs. Grand & Co., together with their Account, from which you may, at your Leisure, make the Computation. By the

As

Letters you will perceive the care that was taken to choose the most favourable Time for the Sale of those Funds. I reckon it, there is 10 per cent. loss on 16,000 livres of the 23,000 sold on the 23d of March, and 8 per cent. loss on the 80,000 sold April the 8th.

1776. TO JAMES LOGAN

(L. C.)

Philada., Nov. 2, 1789.

DEAR SIR: Apprehending there is some Danger of my slipping through your Fingers if the Business we are engaged in is longer delayed, I feel uneasy till the vacant Trusteeships are filled up, and the Deed recorded. I wish therefore it may be agreable to you that we have a Meeting soon for that Purpose.

With great Esteem and Respect, I am, sir, your most obedient humble Servant,

B. FRANKLIN.

1777. TO BENJAMIN VAUGHAN 1

MY DEAREST FRIEND,

1

Philadelphia, November 2, 1789.

I received your kind letter of August 8th. I thank you much for your intimations of the virtues of hemlock, but I have tried so many things with so little effect, that I am quite discouraged, and have no longer any faith in remedies for the stone. The palliating system is what I am now fixed in. Opium gives me ease when I am attacked by pain, and by the 1 First printed by Sparks, Vol. X, p. 397. — Ed.

VOL. XE