From Benjamin Franklin to ———, 2 July 1778
To———7
ALS: American Philosophical Society
Passy, July 2. 1778
Sir,
I am exceedingly oblig’d by the exact Plan and Profile you have been so kind as to send me, of the hydraulic Machine at Chatou.8 Be pleased to accept my thankful Acknowledgments of the Favour, and be assured that I am, with great Esteem, Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant
B Franklin
7. A virtually indecipherable notation on the verso, which may have no relation to the letter, can be read as “franclin et Ridly.”
8. The machine was in fact nearby, at Marly, to provide water for that château and Versailles. The commissioners dined at Marly on June 2, when JA commented on the magnificence of the waterworks, and they visited them again on Aug. 17: Butterfield, John Adams Diary, II, 316, 318.