From Benjamin Franklin to David Hall, 11 June 1770
To David Hall
ALS: American Philosophical Society
London, June 11. 1770
Dear Mr. Hall,
I received your kind Letter of March 17. The continual Employment of my Time here in other Affairs, together with the Expectation I have had every Year of Returning, have prevented my considering the Accounts between us so as to compleat the Settlement, which indeed can be much better done when we are together with Mr. Parker, who may be able in a Word to explain things that would require much Writing.1 I hope it will not now be long before we meet, as I am determin’d to see Philadelphia, God willing, next Spring at farthest, if not sooner. I rejoice to hear of the Welfare of your Family, to which I wish all Prosperity. With the greatest Esteem and Regard, I am ever, my dear Friend, Yours most affectionately
B Franklin
Addressed: To / Mr David Hall / Printer / Philadelphia / via New York / Per Packet / B Free FRANKLIN / June 11, 1770.
1. Hall had been arguing for years that the accounts should be settled, lest he or BF die with the matter still unresolved. BF had little reason to suppose that James Parker would be on hand for explanations the following spring: Parker had written him often enough that he was not long for this world, and in fact he died three weeks after BF sent this note. Hall survived only until the end of 1772. BF’s casualness about the whole affair is hard to understand; he might well have foreseen the complications that it caused in later years, for which see above, XIII, 100–1.