Qualities; Quantity of Acres; Price, and the Rent it affords; for not being in a condition to enjoy a Country Seat since my Malady, the Stone, does not permit me to ride either on Horseback or in a Wheel Carriage, I have no Inducement to purchase Land but the Prospect of its producing greater Profit than Money at Interest. It is but the other day that the Gentleman you referr'd me to, call'd to give me what Information he could, which having consider'd I apprehend the Purchase will not suit my Views, so that I must wish you a better Chapman.

3

With great Esteem, I have the honour to be, Dear Sir, your most obedt and most humble Servant.

B. FRANKLIN.

1630. TO JEAN-BAPTISTE LE ROY (L. C.) Philada. March 27, 1786.

DEAR FRIEND,

I did myself the Pleasure of Writing to you soon after my Arrival here. I hope you & yours continue well, tho' I have not heard from you since I left France: a Country I most sincerely love, having receiv'd in it so many Kindnesses, many of them from you, of which I shall ever retain a grateful Remembrance.

I employ'd my Leisure at Sea in writing three Pieces; one is a Discourse on the different kinds of Smoky Chimneys, & the Means of curing them. Another is, the Description of my Vase Stove, its Principles, Use and Advantages; this I had promis'd to M' Cadet j'. The third is a Letter on Nautical Subjects, address'd to your Brother. They are all

1 A Mr. Bowie. — ED.

now printing in the second Volume of the Transactions of our Philosophical Society, of which I hope to send a Copy to the Academy this Summer, the Printing being far advanced.

The enclos'd for Made LeRoy came to me under Cover from Mad Beniousky, who is now in the neighbouring Province of Maryland, to my great Surprise, not being able to imagine how she came there, or what she does there.

If you should have any thing to send to me, such as the Memoires of the Academy, or any new Pamphlet of the kind you know I like; please to give it to M. Grand, who will pay for me the Expence. I send to his Care for you a Catalogue of our Forest Trees and Shrubs just published here, with a spare Copy or two for any Friend of the Academy to whom be agreable.

it

may

My Grandsons are well, and join with me in best Wishes of every kind of Happiness to you and good Made le Roy. Pray remember me to M. Bailly & all our Friends of the Commission; and believe me ever, with sincere Esteem and unalterable Attachment, my dear Friend,

MY DEAR FRIEND:-I confess that I am a little [mutilated] as a Correspondent. I wish to hear from my Friends by every Pacquet, and presume they may excuse me if I write

once a Year. The only Apology I can make, and that not a very good one, is, that Indolence is natural to Age, and that I am too much engag'd in Business. But I have too long omitted Writing to my Friends at Auteuil. I throw myself on their Good Nature and beg their Forgiveness. The continued Kindness towards me express'd in their Letters affected me much, and I never perused those Letters but with fresh Pleasure mix'd with the Remembrance of the many delighted Hours I pass'd in that sweet Society, and the Regret with which I find myself forever separated from it.

I wrote in November last to the Archbishop of Bordeaux,1 and executed his Commission so far as to send him the Seeds he desired, which I hope arrived in good Order, tho' I have not since heard from him. The kind of wooden houses he wrote for are not usually made here, tho' possibly they may at Boston. But that being remote from me, so that I could not have the least Inspection of the Workmen, I have advised his writing to the French Consul who resides there, and send him an exact Plan of the Buildings with all their Proportions; the Description in the Letter you sent me not being sufficiently precise to be intelligible by our ignorant Carpenters, who therefore could not compute the Cost.

It is rare that we see the Cardinal Bird so far north as Pennsylvania. Those sent here from Virginia generally perish by the Way, being a tender Bird and not well bearing the Sea, so that we have not hitherto been able to get any for Benjamin to take care of. Mr. Alexander has, I understand, sent out several for our Dame' in his Tobacco Ships to France, which never arriv'd, and unless a Friend was going in the

1 M de Cicé; he became garde des sceaux in 1789. — ED.

2 Madame Helvétius. — ED.

Ship who would take more than common Care of them, I suppose one might send an hundred without landing one alive. They would be very happy, I know, if they were once under her Protection; but they cannot come to her, and she will not come to them. She may remember the Offer I made her of 1,000 Acres of Woodland, out of which she might cut a great Garden and have 1,000 Aviaries if she pleased. I have a large Tract on the Ohio where Cardinals are plenty. If I had been a Cardinal myself perhaps I might have prevail'd with her. I am much oblig'd by her kind Offer of sending Robes, Hats, Bonnets, and other French Modes to my good Daughter, the Mother of Benjamin, to whose filial Care of me and Attention to me I owe much of my present Happiness. Inclos'd I send her Commission, which if Notre Dame will be so good as to execute with her usual good Taste and Judgment, Mr. Grand will immediately pay the Bill, and I shall be very thankful.

You have, as we hear, an Assembly of Notables to confer and advise on the Amendment of your Laws and Constitutions of Government. It is remarkable that we should have the same Project here at the same time. Our Assembly is to meet next Month. I pray God that Success may attend the Deliberations of both Assemblies, for the Happiness of both Nations.

My Health continues much in the same State as when I left France, my old Malady not growing worse, so that I am able to go through a good deal of Business, and enjoy the Conversation of my Friends as usual.

Your project of Transporting rather than drowning the good Lady's eighteen Cats, is very humane. The kind Treatment they experience from their present Mistress may

possibly cause an Unwillingness to hazard the Change of Situation; but if they are of the Angora Breed, and can be inform'd how two of their Tribe brought over by my Grandson are caress'd and almost ador'd here, they may possibly be induc'd to transport themselves rather than risque any longer the Persecution of the Abbés, which sooner or later must end in their Condemnation. Their Requêté1 is admirably well written; but their continually Increasing in Number will in time make their Cause insupportable: Their Friends should, therefore, advise them to submit voluntarily either to Transport or to Castration.

The Remarks of a Grammarian on the Particle on, are full of Wit and just Satire. My Friends here who understand French have been highly entertain'd with them. They will do good if you publish them. They have had some Effect upon me, as you will see in this Letter: For when I spoke of the prosperous State of our Affairs here, fearing you might suppose that I thought all well because I myself had a profitable Place, I found it proper to add other Reasons.

Your taking the Pains of Translating the Addresses is a strong Mark of the Continuance of your Friendship for me, which gave me as much Pleasure as the Addresses themselves had done, and that, you may, well believe, was not a little : For indeed the Reception I met with on my Arrival far exceeded my Expectation. Popular Favour not the most constant Thing in the World, still continues with regard to me, my Election to the Presidentship for the second Year being unanimous. Whether it will hold out to the End of the third, is uncertain. A Man in high Place has so many Occasions,

1 This petition of the cats was written by Abbé Morellet, and has often been published in the collected works of Benjamin Franklin. — ED.