To Benjamin Franklin from Francis Childs, 17 February 1785
From Francis Childs7
ALS: American Philosophical Society
New York, Feb. 17. 1785—
Honored Sir,
It is some time since I did myself the honor to Address you, & in the present instance I importune you with this only that my situation in Life demands it,—sensible that your time must be engrossed by your attention to matters of more importance.—
I have experienced considerable loss by being as yet disappointed in not receiving the Types which so long has been expected.—8 If I remind you of this, think not but that it is with due deference to dignity, & veneration & Gratitude for the Countenance & Favor you have already shewn me.—
I wish Sir, that by the next Packet you would do me the honor to send me a line or two that I might know where to fix my hopes.— As to be suspended betwixt the hopes of receiving them & the Fear of being Disappointed, you will admit is certainly not a very agreeable situation.
My Most unfeigned Respects to you accompany this with every wish for your happiness, & believe that I am Honored Sir, Your Most Obedient Servant
Francis Child
His Excellency Benj. Franklin Esqr. Passey—
Addressed: His Excellency / Benjamin Franklin Esqr. / Passey / near Paris / per Packet.
7. Though he never mentioned it in letters to BF, Childs (who still signed himself “Child” but would soon add the “s” to his name: XLI, 126–7n) had just left his employer, Elizabeth Holt, and was about to launch the New-York Daily Advertiser using BF’s printing press, type he had been obliged to purchase (since no type from BF had yet arrived), Holt’s foreman (whom he had hired away), and, shortly after the paper began publication, Holt’s two remaining journeyman printers. On the day the present letter was written, Holt’s weekly paper, the New-York Journal, and the General Advertiser, announced that she was retiring and that Eleazer Oswald (her son-in-law and partner) would continue publication under the name New-York Journal, printing only “useful and entertaining” material and eliminating all “money-catching … Advertisements.” The next issue (Feb. 24), printed while Oswald was out of town, carried an announcement that “Francis Childs & Co.” was seeking subscriptions for a new venture to be called the New-York Daily Advertiser, which would begin publication on March 1 “by the advice and patronage of a number of respectable Gentlemen.” Oswald, enraged by what he considered a gross betrayal, published a series of intemperate articles about Childs’s actions and character, but they failed to impede the Daily Advertiser’s success. They are the source of much of what is known about this incident, and ran in Oswald’s paper alongside his advertisements for “a good Compositor … Wanted Immediately”: New-York Jour., and the Gen. Advertiser, Feb. 24; March 3, 10, and 17, 1785.
8. Childs had written to John Jay on Dec. 14, 1784, expressing frustration that he still lacked printing type. Jay predicted that BF would send some, and advised him to be patient and make the most of whatever opportunities presented themselves: John Jay to Childs, Dec. 20, 1784, APS.