From Benjamin Franklin to Ingenhousz, 1 June 1783
To Ingenhousz
ALS: American Philosophical Society
Passy, June 1. 1783—
Dear Sir,
This will be delivered to you by an ingenious young Friend of mine, Mr. S. Vaughan, who travels with a View of improving himself in Mineralogy.4 He will be much oblig’d by the Informations & Counsels that you can give him; and as I have a great Regard for him, and for his Family, I earnestly recommend him to those Civilities which you are accustomed to show to Strangers of Merit. With sincere Esteem I am, my dear Friend, Yours most affectionately
B Franklin
Dr Ingenhauss.
4. Samuel Vaughan, Jr., had written to WTF on May 30 (APS), requesting a passport from BF for Germany by way of Strasbourg; he would have asked the English ambassador except that he had not yet called on him. BF could not have issued such a pass without Vaughan’s swearing an oath of allegiance to the United States. Whichever minister eventually issued the passport, at least BF provided this letter. After spending a week in Strasbourg, during which he met various scientists, Vaughan sought WTF’s help in obtaining a bill of exchange from Ferdinand Grand. He also reported what he had learned about François Hoffmann, a native of that city: Hoffmann had amassed a fortune in growing and exporting madder but had lost everything during the war and was now bankrupt. Samuel Vaughan, Jr., to WTF, June, 1783, APS. Vaughan and WTF had visited Hoffmann in Paris: XXXIX, 438.