From Benjamin Franklin to Vernier, 19 February 1785
To Vernier
L (draft):1 American Philosophical Society
Passy ce 19 Fevrier 1785.
J’ai reçu, Monsieur, la Lettre que vous m’avez fait l’honneur de m’écrire le 10 de ce Mois, relativement à 3 Contrats du Bureau d’Emprunt des Etats Unis dont vous étez Porteur2 [Text deleted by Franklin: Le Congrès s’occupe maintenant des moyens de rembourser ces Effets, et a pris de mésures éfficaces pour assurer le Payement des Interéts, qui a souffert quelque Retard; ceux de l’Année 1782 ont déja été payés, et ceux de l’Année 1783 le seront vraisemblablement bien tôt. Mais comme dans tous les Pays on ne peut payer ni l’Intérêt ni le Principal que sur la Représentation de ces Contrats, Les Proprietaires ont tres mal fait de les faire passer en Europe où ils ne sont bons à rien. En conséquence Je pense qu’il est necessaire de les renvoyer en Amerique à quelque Négociant ou à M. de Marbois Consul de France à Philadelphie, car il y a déja longtemps que Mr. Oster a changé de Consulat, ce qui est peutêtre cause que vous n’avez pas reçu de Reponse à la Lettre que vous avez écrite à ce Sujet. Afin de prevenir le Risque que vous courez en leur faisant passer la mer une seconde fois, vous feriez peutétre bien d’en prendre ici des Copies Authentiques, qui puissent vous servir en cas qu’ils soient perdus dans le Voyage.]
J’ai l’honneur d’etre, Monsieur, Votre très humble et très obeissant Serviteur./.
à M. Pierre Vernier.
[Revised text to be translated and inserted:] & which were deposited in the Hands of Mr Oster then Vice Consul of France at Philada. I know nothing certain of the present State of those Contracts, but suppose they may be now in course of Payment. I hear that Mr Oster is remov’d from Philadelphia to the State of Maryland or Virginia;3 which is probably the reason that you have had no Answer to your Letter. It would be well, I think, to write to Mr Marbois, present Consul of France at Philadelphia, (in whose Hands probably Mr Oster may have left the Papers deposited in the Consular Office,) and empower him to receive and transmit to you the Money.4
1. This document was written in two stages. L’Air de Lamotte, evidently translating a now-missing draft supplied by BF, wrote out the entire letter in French, through the complimentary close. Rather than sign it, BF crossed out most of the text and wrote a revised version (in English) on the verso. We set the crossed-out text in italic type, so that readers may follow the evolution of BF’s thinking.
2. This word was corrected to “Proprietaire.”
3. Martin Oster (XXVII, 334n) left Philadelphia for France in June, 1783, and, learning of his appointment as vice-consul at Richmond, returned to Virginia that fall. His ship landed in New York in November, 1783: XL, 103; Abraham P. Nasatir and Gary E. Monell, French Consuls in the United States … (Washington, D.C., 1967), pp. 566–7.
4. Marbois grew increasingly concerned about the problems of French holders of American loan office certificates. On March 17, 1785, Congress passed a resolution requiring claimants to submit their claims within one year or be excluded from settlement. Two months later, Marbois asked Congress to adopt special measures on behalf of foreign creditors, taking into account their particular difficulties in assessing the current value of their debts and collecting on them at a distance. He estimated their aggregate claims at between $5,500,000 and $6,000,000: Giunta, Emerging Nation, II, 632–4.