To Benjamin Franklin from Alexander John Alexander, 22 December 1784
From Alexander John Alexander9
ALS: American Philosophical Society
St Germains 22d Decr: 1784
Dr: Sir
I had the Honour to Inform you of the different steps I had taken to bring about an Accomodation with my Adversaries, & as I was long ago fully determined to make great sacrifices for Peace I have been for some time pretty sanguine of Obtaining it.1 Even last night I have a letter from my Nephew2 which mentions that the Friends of the parties had met, that my friends had made Specifick propositions which the Gentlemen on the other side required time to consult together, & with their Constituents to determine upon them. Judge of my surprise when I discovered by the most undoubted authority that Mr Walpole is taking measures to arrest my person at this very Moment upon the Old French Sentintes which are now under litigation in Granada & which form the Object of the Compromise. I laid the matter before my lawyer, & by his advice I left Paris Instantly, & have determined to quit the Kingdom as soon as possible. The Plan Mr Williams & I have formed for this purpose is that I shall take a place in the first Dilligence for Lyle, under the Name of John Brown that I shall go the evening before to some place on the Road to Ostend & from thence take my Seat in the Coach. May I request the favour that you will send me by the bearer a passport to John Brown to go to Holland.3 I have the Honour to be most sincerely Dr: Sir your Most Obt Humble Servt
A: J: Alexander
Addressed: A Monsieur / Monsieur Franklin / Ministre Plenepotentiare des / Etats unis / A Passi
Notation: Alexander 22 Decr. 1784—
9. The last extant letter from Alexander John Alexander (brother of JW’s father-in-law, William Alexander) was written in 1781 from Grenada, where he had been looking into the legal issues that still occupied him, a three-way dispute involving the Alexander brothers, Thomas Walpole, and the Bank of England: XXIX, 689n; XXX, 579–80n, 634–5; XXXV, 314–15; Price, France and the Chesapeake, II, 696–700. WTF saw Alexander in London in September and reported his return to France: WTF to BF, Sept. 26 and Oct. 5, above.
1. It is not known when Alexander visited Passy, but under cover of a letter dated only “Hotel de York Wednesday 3 O Clock” he returned to BF some papers that he had inadvertently taken with him (APS). We date this letter [before Dec. 22, 1784], as Alexander did not return to Paris before BF left for America in July, 1785.
2. The younger William Alexander: WTF to BF, Sept. 26, above.
3. JW immediately wrote to WTF asking that BF supply a passport and L’Air de Lamotte buy a ticket for Alexander on the public diligence. In a postscript, Alexander himself noted that he was enclosing a bill of exchange signed over to WTF, which WTF was to pay into the hands of Alexander’s nieces and JW (APS). In a note dated only “Thursday Evng.,” JW thanked WTF for his assistance and said that Alexander declined BF and WTF’s offer to lodge at Passy, thinking it better to leave France (APS).