To Benjamin Franklin from Sir Edward Newenham, 20 June 1783
From Sir Edward Newenham
ALS: Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Leige 20 June I783-
My Dear Sir—
Hearing that the Irish Parliament will immediatly be dissolved,6 I am obliged to return to Dublin without having the pleasure of paying my respects to you, & Congratulating you, upon the final completion of your Glorious Cause—
I am now at the house of William Augustus Miles Esqr: whose writings have rendered Essential services to the Cause of Liberty; he Early & warmly Supported the rights and Priviledges of your Excellencys fellow-Subjects in america;7 he intends to Visit Paris before he returns to England, therefore I beg leave to Introduce him to your Excellency, & shall consider any Civilities you or your Amiable & Virtuous Grandson Shew him, as personaly conferred upon me—
Wishing you Every happiness that this Life can bestow—I have the Honor to remain, My Dr: Sir with the most Sincere Respect & Esteem your Excellencys Most obliged & Humble Sert
Edward Newenham
PS Lady Newenham & my Son have charged me to present their best Respects to your Excellency & your Grandson—
Addressed: To / His Excellency Doctr: Benj: Franklin / Minister Plenipotentiary from / the United States of America / Passy / Paris—
6. Parliament was dissolved on July 25, and the general election in County Dublin was held from Aug. 13 to Aug. 16: Dublin Evening Post, July 26, 1783; James Kelly, Sir Edward Newenham MP, 1734–1814: Defender of the Protestant Constitution (Dublin, 2004), pp. 193–5.
7. Miles (1753/4–1817) was a political journalist and pamphleteer. In 1779, while serving in the Royal Navy, he published anonymously A Political Mirror; or, a Summary Review of the Present Reign … (London, 1779), a critique of the British war in America as well as the government under George III. The following year he issued a second edition under his name and dedicated it to Newenham. In early 1783 Miles moved to Seraing, near Liège, from whence he sent articles to the Morning Post in 1784–85 defending the Pitt ministry: ODNB; Charles P. Miles, ed., The Correspondence of William Augustus Miles on the French Revolution, 1789–1817 (2 vols., London, 1890), I, 13–16.