To Benjamin Franklin from Thomas Wharton, 12 June 1766
From Thomas Wharton
ALS: American Philosophical Society
Philada. June 12. 1766
My Dear friend
I wrote thee on the 9th4 which sent by Express after Capt. Egdon, but He not reaching the Vessell have deliverd them to Capt. Falkner, by whom thou’l receive this.5
We on the 10th. had the Pleasure of finding thou had wrote a Letter to the Commitee of Correspondence,6 which at once Stoppd the Virulence of the P--ry P--ty and gave them reason to Apprehend, that thy great and Unwearied Endeavours, would, to their great Mortification, and our Joy, be crownd with Success.
I have enclosd thee, a News Paper of this date, in which thou’l find, that We rejoice, but not in Such a Manner as can Give our Ennemies a handle Against Us, and that my Friend is not forgot by a respectable Part of the People, I mean the Free and Independant in Judgement.7
Hinton Brown and Doctr. Fothergill have wrote to Jas. Pemberton, a Letter, wherein they Express such sentiments of thy Integrety, Joind with the Important services thou has renderd to this Continent, as will (if possible) more Endear thee to the Freemen Amongst Us;8 Which We intend to Publish.
Have also sent thee an Address &c.9 which is said to be wrote by John Dickinson.
The Piece wrote by Doctr. Fothergill relative to the Stamp Act, does Him great Honor, being by Us Esteem’d a well done Performance.1 I remain thy real friend
Tho Wharton
Addressed: For / Benjamin Franklin Esqr / Deputy Post Master General of No America / In / Craven Street / London / per favour of / Capt Falkner
Endorsed: Mr Thos Wharton June 12. 66
4. Not found.
5. Pa. Gaz., June 12, 1766, reported the clearance of the Ellis, Capt. Samuel Egdon; on June 19 it reported the clearance of the Elizabeth, Capt. Nathaniel Falconer.
6. For BF’s letter to the committee, April 12, 1766, see above, pp. 236–40.
7. Pa. Gaz., June 12, 1766, reported that on June 4 “a large Number of reputable Inhabitants of Philadelphia” celebrated the King’s birthday with a mammoth public dinner on the banks of the Schuykill River followed by a fireworks display. Seventeen toasts were drunk at the dinner, one to “our worthy and faithful Agent, Doctor Franklin.”
8. For Fothergill’s letter of Feb. 27, 1766, refuting the accusation that BF had been a promoter of the Stamp Act, see above, p. 261 n.
9. Dickinson’s An Address to the Committee of Correspondence in Barbados (Phila., 1766), an attack on the Stamp Act and a remonstrance to the Barbadians for not opposing it.
1. Probably a reference to Fothergill’s Considerations Relative to the North American Colonies (London, 1765).