1733. TO BENJAMIN CHAMBERS, AND THE OTHER GENTLEMEN OF CHAMBERSBURGH GENTLEMEN: (L. C.) Philada, September 20, 1788. I received the Letter you did me the honour of writing to me, respecting what was supposed a new Invention, the blowing of Furnaces by a Fall of Water. When Mr. Zantzinger deliver'd me your Letter, I told him that I had several Books in my Library which describ'd the same Contrivance, and I have since shown them to him. They are the "French Encyclopedia or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences"; Swedenborg's Latin Treatise of Iron Works; and the French work "Des Arts et des Métiers," in the Article of Forges. Those Descriptions are all accompanied with Figures in Copper Plate, which demonstrate the Invention to be the same precisely in all its essential Parts; and in the Accounts of it, it is said to have been first practised in Italy about 100 Years since; whence it was brought into France, where it is now much us'd; thence into Sweden and Germany and I remember to have been informed by a Spaniard who was here forty Years ago, and gave me a Drawing of it, that it was practis'd in some parts of Mexico, in their Furnaces for smelting their Silver Ore. This being the case, you see, Gentlemen that Mr. McClintock cannot properly be recommended to the Assembly as the Discoverer of something new. It is, however, not an uncommon thing for ingenious Men in different Ages, as well as in different Countries, to hit upon the same Contrivance without knowing or having heard what has been done by others; and Mr. McClintock has at least the Merit of having introduc'd the Knowledge of this useful Invention into this Part of America, and of demonstrating by his own Example its Practicability. I am, gentlemen, with great Regard, your most obedient and most humble Servant, B. FRANKLIN. 1734. TO THE DUC DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD (L. C.) Philada [Oct. 22, 1788] I received and read with great Pleasure, my dear and much respected Friend, your Letter of the 12th July. It gave me a more clear and most satisfactory Acct of the present State of Affairs in your Country than any I have been able to obtain. You justly suppose they must be interesting to me. I love France, I have 1000 Reasons for doing so: And whatever promotes or impedes her Happiness affects me as if she were my Mother. I hope all will end to the general Advantage. Having now finish'd my Term of being President, and promising myself to engage no more in public Business, I hope to enjoy the small Remains of Life that are allow'd me, in the Repose I have so long wish'd for. I purpose to so employ it in compleating the personal History you mention. It is now brought down to my Fiftieth Year. What is to follow will be of more important Transactions: But it seems to me that what is done will be of more general Use to young Readers; as exemplifying strongly the Effects of prudent and imprudent Conduct in the Commencement of a Life of Business. Our public Affairs begin to wear a more quiet Aspect. The Disputes about the Faculty of the new Constitution are sub sided. The first Congress will probably mend the principal ones, & future Congresses the rest. That which you mention did not pass unnoticed in the Convention. Many, if I remember right, were for making the President incapable of being chosen after the first four Years; but a Majority were for leaving the Election free to chuse whom they pleas'd; and it was alledged that such Incapability might tend to make the President less attentive to the duties of his Office, and to the Interests of the People, than he would be if a second Choice depended on their good Opinion of them. We are making Experiments in Politicks; what Knowledge we shall gain by them will be more certain, tho' perhaps we may hazard too much in that Mode of acquiring it. I thank you much for the Dissertation sur la Nyctalopie. It was quite a Novelty to me, having never before heard of such a Malady. One of our most ancient Physicians assures me; that tho' he had some knowledge of the Distemper from his Reading, he never knew an Instance of it in any Part of North America. Indeed we have no Chalk in this Country, nor any Soil so white as to dazzle the Eyes when the Sun's Light is reflected from it. The Dissertation mentions that there are terres crétacées, &c. Are those terres white? Be pleased to make my Respects acceptable to Made la Duchesse d'Enville, whose many Civilities and Kindnesses to me when in France, I shall ever remember with Gratitude. My best Wishes attend you and all that are dear to you. May I here desire to be remembered kindly to the Marquis de Condorcet & l'Abbé Roshen? With the greatest & most sincere Esteem and Respect, I am, ever, Your obliged & most obedient Servant B. FRANKLIN. I enclose for your Amusement the only Paper I wrote in the Controversy. 1735. TO MISS FLAINVILLE MA CHERE ENFANT (L. C.) Philada Oct. 23, 1788 If I could write French as well as you do English, I would continue in that Language. The Proficiency you have made astonishes me. I lament with you the Death of that dear good Woman, Made Dutartre, and am concern'd for the other Misfortunes you have met with: Do not let them discourage you. You are still young and have many valuable Talents, and an amiable Disposition proper to procure new Friends, and you may yet see better Days. M. de Warville did me a great Pleasure in delivering to me your kind Letter. He is a most valuable Man, and I hope his Travels among us will be to his Satisfaction. I have been harassed with Illness this last Summer, am grown old, near 83, and find myself very infirm, so that I expect to be soon call'd for; and you may, my dear Child, consider this Line as taking Leave, which I do with sincere Wishes for your Prosperity & Happiness, being with a very affectionate Regard, Your loving Papa B. FRANKLIN. (L. C.) Philadelphia, October 23, 1788. 1736. TO MADAME LAVOISIER1 I HAVE a long time been disabled from writing to my dear friend, by a severe fit of the gout, or I should sooner have 1 The original letter is in the Paris Archives. Madame Lavoisier was a returned my thanks for her very kind present of the portrait, which she has herself done me the honour to make of me. It is allowed by those, who have seen it, to have great merit as a picture in every respect; but what particularly endears it to me is the hand that drew it. Our English enemies, when they were in possession of this city and my house, made a prisoner of my portrait, and carried it off with them, leaving that of its companion, my wife, by itself, a kind of widow. You have replaced the husband, and the lady seems to smile as well pleased. It is true, as you observe, that I enjoy here every thing that a reasonable mind can desire, a sufficiency of income, a comfortable habitation of my own building, having all the conveniences I could imagine; a dutiful and affectionate daughter to nurse and take care of me, a number of promising grandchildren, some old friends still remaining to converse with, and more respect, distinction, and public honours than I can possibly merit. These are the blessings of God, and depend on his continued goodness; yet all do not make me forget Paris, and the nine years' happiness I enjoyed there, in the sweet society of a people whose conversation is instructive, whose manners are highly pleasing, and who, above all the nations of the world, have, in the greatest perfection, the art of making themselves beloved by strangers. And now, even in my sleep, I find, that the scenes of all my pleasant dreams are laid in that city, or in its neighbourhood. I like much young M. Dupont. He appears a very sensible daughter of M. Paulze, one of the "farmers general." She was married to Lavoisier (1743-1794) in 1771, and after his death upon the revolutionary scaffold she married (1804) Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (1753-1814). ED. |