4861“My Ink with a Little Loaf Sugar,” 11 July 1781 (Franklin Papers)
AD : Library of Congress At first glance this document makes little sense: what looks like a title line, written in a large hand and dated to the hour, is centered above two stanzas that have nothing to do with either the title or one another. Both verses are taken from the works of Joseph Addison, and the misquotations suggest that they were written from memory. Indeed, the poetry in this...
4862Franklin: Certificate Concerning Silas Deane, [18 December 1782] (Franklin Papers)
Printed in Silas Deane, An Address to the United States of North-America … (New London, Connecticut, 1784), p. 21; draft: American Philosophical Society Certain paragraphs having lately appeared in the English newspapers, importing, that Silas Deane, Esqr. formerly Agent and Commissioner Plenipotentiary, of the United States of America, had sometime after his first “arrival in France,...
4863Preface to the Declaration of the Boston Town Meeting, February 1773 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in The Votes and Proceedings of the Freeholders and Other Inhabitants of the Town of Boston … (London, 1773), pp. i–vi. In July, 1772, the Massachusetts House of Representatives petitioned the crown to stop paying Governor Hutchinson’s salary. At the end of September rumor spread that the judges were to be similarly paid, and a month later the Bostonians began a series of town meetings...
4864Export License from the Secret Committee, 9 January 1776: résumé (Franklin Papers)
DS : University of Pennsylvania Library <Philadelphia, January 9, 1776, to the New Hampshire committee of inspection: The secret committee, as empowered by the Congress, authorizes John Langdon of New Hampshire to export to the amount of $10,000 the produce of the colonies, in their service and according to the Continental Association; horned cattle, sheep, hogs, and poultry are excepted....
4865Poor Richard Improved, 1755 (Franklin Papers)
Poor Richard improved: Being an Almanack and Ephemeris … for the Year of our Lord 1755 . … By Richard Saunders, Philom. Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by B. Franklin, and D. Hall. (Yale University Library) It is a common Saying, that One Half of the World does not know how the other Half lives . To add somewhat to your Knowledge in that Particular, I gave you in a former Almanack, an Account...
4866The American Commissioners’ Interview on January 8 with Gérard: Four Documents, 1778 (Franklin Papers)
This meeting, in Deane’s quarters in Paris at six in the evening of January 8, was the commissioners’ reward for all the frustrations of the previous year. Vergennes had announced to them on December 12 that France was ready to negotiate, but three weeks of silence followed while the court attempted to secure Spanish participation. Then, when Madrid made clear that it had no intention of...
4867Mutiny Act, [15 April 1756] (Franklin Papers)
Printed in Anno Regni Georgii II. Regis, Magnae Britanniae, Franciae & Hiberniae, Vigesimo Nono. At a General Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania, begun and holden at Philadelphia, the Fourteenth Day of October, Anno Domini, 1755 , … (Philadelphia, 1755), pp. 267–70. On March 3, 1756, the Assembly minutes record that “A Bill for the better Regulation of such Soldiers as are or hereafter...
4868From the Casuist: The Case of the Missing Horse, 25 January 1732 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in The Pennsylvania Gazette , January 25, 1731/2; also draft: Historical Society of Pennsylvania. To the Query, propos’d to the Casuist in the last Gazette, I have received two Answers, from different Hands, each of which subscribes himself The Casuist. As their Opinions are different, ’twill perhaps be more satisfactory to the Querist if I insert them both. My Opinion, which is...
4869Rise of the Late War, [18 May 1756] (Franklin Papers)
Ad: American Philosophical Society When and for what purpose Franklin prepared this brief chronology has not been determined; no direct connection between it and any of his other writings has been found. The words “late War” in the endorsement suggest 1763 or a subsequent year for its composition, although he may have added the endorsement some time after compiling the text. While he could not...
4870The Swedish-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce, with Translation, 3 April [i.e., 5 March] 1783 (Franklin Papers)
(I) DS : National Archives, Svenska Riksarkivet; copy: National Archives; incomplete press copy of DS : American Philosophical Society; (II) translation and copy: National Archives This treaty, negotiated by Franklin and the comte de Creutz, Swedish ambassador to the French court, was the first pact signed by the United States with a nation that was not already an ally in the War of...
4871Certification of Bills, [8 August 1784] (Franklin Papers)
Press copy of DS and copy: College of William and Mary Library I do hereby Certify whom it may concern, that the following Certificates of Money, due from the Treasury of the United States of America, to the following Officers, have been by them lodged in my Hands, Viz:— Dollars To Major Genl DuPortail, { One dated 24 Novr. 1781. for 5,255: One dated 4 Novr 1783. for 9960: One dated 4 Novr....
4872“A Traveller”: News-Writers’ Nonsense, 20 May 1765 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in The Public Advertiser , May 22, 1765; draft: American Philosophical Society As Verner W. Crane has pointed out, this article illustrates a practice which Franklin employed in the newspapers again in 1768: the fictitious controversy. On May 10, writing over the signature of “The Spectator” (see above, pp. 123–4), he had commented unfavorably on the veracity and overheated...
4873Marginalia in [Josiah Tucker], A Letter from a Merchant, [1770?] (Franklin Papers)
MS notations in the margins of a copy in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania of [Josiah Tucker], A Letter from a Merchant in London to His Nephew in North America (London, 1766). The Rev. Josiah Tucker, Dean of Gloucester, was one of the more prolific pamphleteers of his time, and one of the few whose work still commands attention. He was an economist as well as a theologian, and his...
4874Extracts from the Gazette, 1739 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in The Pennsylvania Gazette , January 4 to December 27, 1739. [ Advertisement ] Benjamin Franklin, Printer, is removed from the House he lately dwelt in, four Doors nearer the River, on the same side of the Street. [January 11] We hear from the Head of Timber-Creek in the Jerseys, That a Woman there has lately had Five Children, all born alive, within the space of 11 Months, by two...
4875Constitutional Convention. Second of Benjamin Franklin’s Motion that Proposed Executive Serve Without Pay, 2 June 1787 (Hamilton Papers)
Philadelphia, June 2, 1787. On this date Benjamin Franklin moved that the expenses of the proposed Executive should be paid but that he should receive “no salary, stipend fee or reward whatsoever” for his service. “The motion was seconded by Col. HAMILTON with the view he said merely of bringing so respectable a proposition before the Committee, and which was besides enforced by arguments that...
4876Advertisement for Wagons, 26 April 1755 (Franklin Papers)
Broadside: American Philosophical Society; also Boston Public Library Whereas 150 Waggons, with 4 Horses to each Waggon, and 1500 Saddle or Pack-Horses are wanted for the Service of his Majesty’s Forces now about to rendezvous at Wills’s Creek; and his Excellency General Braddock hath been pleased to impower me to contract for the Hire of the same; I hereby give Notice, that I shall attend for...
4877Franklin’s Journal, 1–3 January 1782 (Franklin Papers)
AD : Library of Congress Went to Court; which was full, as usual on New-Years day. Visit with the other Foreign Ministers, the King, the Queen, and all the rest of the Royal Family separately, even the little Dauphin. Spoke with the Minister of War, M de Segur, who assur’d me of his Readiness to forward every Operation that might be [ torn: in?] the Service of the United States. Did not meet...
4878Draft of a Petition from the Colonial Agents to the House of Commons, [between 24 February 1769 and 7 March 1769] (Franklin Papers)
Copy: Charles Garth Letterbook, South Carolina Archives Department The fate of the petition that follows illustrates the difficult position of the colonial agents. In the late winter they had, or thought they had, indications that the mounting excitement in America might induce the administration to repeal the Townshend Acts if there were some way to cover its retreat. The problem was to find...
4879Advertisement to Wagoners, 6 May 1755 (Franklin Papers)
Broadside: Yale University Library Notice is hereby given to all who have contracted to send Waggons and Teams, or single Horses from York County to the Army at Wills’s Creek, that David M’Conaughy and Michael Schwoope of the said County, Gentlemen, will attend on my Behalf at York Town on Friday next, and at Philip Forney’s on Saturday, to value or appraise all such Waggons, Teams and Horses,...
4880“A Virginian”: Second Reply to Mr. Pym, 5 September 1765 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in Lloyd’s Evening Post, And British Chronicle , September 9–11, 1765. The grounds for believing that this second letter by “A Virginian” was written by Franklin are indicated in the headnote to the first letter by the same writer, above, pp. 243–6. This piece is clearly an amplification of the other; the three intervening issues of Lloyd’s Evening Post contain no response by “William...
4881Notice to Subscribers, 25 January 1752 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in Die Hoch Teutsche und Englische Zeitung, January 25, 1752. Die Hoch Teutsche und Englische Zeitung was Franklin’s second attempt at publishing a German newspaper in Philadelphia, and it was only a little less unsuccessful than the first. When Gotthard Armbrüster’s German paper failed in 1749, Franklin bought the equipment, placed Johann Boehm in charge, and the Philadelphier...
4882Franklin’s Contributions to a Pamphlet by George Whatley, March 1774 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in [George Whatley,] Principles of Trade, Fredom and Protection Are Its Best Suport: Industry, the Only Means to Render Manufactures Cheap. Of Coins; Exchange; and Bountys: Particularly the Bounty on Corn. By a Well-Wisher to His King and Country. With an Appendix. Containing Reflections on Gold, Silver, and Paper Passing as Mony. The Second Edition Corrected and Enlarg’d . … (London,...
4883Martha Careful and Caelia Shortface, 28 January 1729 (Franklin Papers)
Printed in The American Weekly Mercury , January 28, 1728/9. When Samuel Keimer forestalled Franklin’s plan to publish a newspaper by announcing that he would publish one of his own, Franklin expressed his resentment through the satirical essays of The Busy-Body (see below, p. 113). The Busy-Body, however, was not the first to ridicule Keimer. Plodding methodically through the alphabet of...
4884Poor Richard Improved, 1750 (Franklin Papers)
Poor Richard improved: Being an Almanack and Ephemeris … for the Year of our Lord 1750 . … By Richard Saunders, Philom. Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by B. Franklin, and D. Hall. (Yale University Library) To the Reader . The Hope of acquiring lasting Fame , is, with many Authors, a most powerful Motive to Writing. Some, tho’ few, have succeeded; and others, tho’ perhaps fewer, may succeed...
4885Franklin’s Notes for a Conversation with Lord Chatham, 31 January 1775 (Franklin Papers)
AD and copy: Library of Congress In the debate in the House of Lords on January 20 Lord Chatham, in response to a challenge from the ministerial benches, promised to offer a plan of reconciliation. Franklin was most curious to know what it was, and the Earl had assured him in December that he would be consulted. His curiosity was satisfied when he was summoned to a conference at Hayes on...
4886I Sing My Plain Country Joan, 1742 (Franklin Papers)
MS : American Philosophical Society There can be little doubt that Franklin composed these verses to his wife. They are assigned to him in two different anecdotes, which, though the incidents described are separated by forty years, are not inconsistent. The first, from the family of Franklin’s friend John Bard, relates how, at a meeting of some club, possibly the Junto, someone jokingly took...
4887Articles of Agreement with David Hall, 1 January 1748 (Franklin Papers)
DS : Haverford College Library; also copy: Department of Records, Recorder of Deeds, Philadelphia Strahan sent David Hall to Franklin in 1744, where, as journeyman, he proved to be so skillful, so industrious, discreet, and honest, that Franklin arranged to set him up in the West Indies. This project was abandoned, however, and Hall became Franklin’s foreman instead. By the summer of 1747...
4888Dates of Journeys Abroad, 1766–69: résumé (Franklin Papers)
AD : American Philosophical Society [Memorandum of the dates of Franklin’s departure from and return to England on his trips to Germany in 1766 (June 15 and Aug. 13), to Paris in 1767 (Aug. 28 and Oct. 8), and to Paris in 1769 (July 14 and Aug. 24).] Hitherto documents covering a span of years, such as accounts, have been printed under the first date entered. Hereafter they will be printed or...
4889Distribution of the Mail, April 1743 (Franklin Papers)
Draft: American Philosophical Society This document obviously belongs to the period of Franklin’s Philadelphia postmastership, 1737–53. The date 1743 is tentatively ascribed on the basis of a marginal note that the John , Captain Mesnard, for New York arrived at Deal on February 10. Stephen Mesnard was captain of the Britannia sailing between New York and England in 1740–41, and of the...
4890Appointment of William Temple Franklin, 1 October 1782 (Jay Papers)
To all to whom these Presents shall come, Benjamin Franklin & John Jay send Greetings. Whereas the United States of America in Congress assembled did on the 15 th . June in the year of our Lord 1781, appoint and constitute the said Benjamin Franklin and John Jay, & John Adams, Henry Laurens and Thomas Jefferson Esquires, and the Majority of them, and of such of them as should assemble for the...