From Benjamin Franklin to John Canton, [December 1771?]: résumé
To John Canton
AL: The Royal Society
[December, 1771?3]
<An undated note in the third person. Business prevents Franklin from visiting him that afternoon as expected; Mr. Collinson,4 who was to have come with him, is out of town. They will call instead next week. >
[Note numbering follows the Franklin Papers source.]
3. In the volume of Canton’s papers this note follows BF’s letter to him above, Aug. 15; its placing warrants a guess that it was written after that date, and it was obviously written before Canton’s death the following March. From Aug. 25 until the end of November BF was absent on his tour of Ireland and Scotland; hence we are assigning the note to December as the earliest probable date.
4. Peter Collinson’s only son, Michael.