To Benjamin Franklin from Alleyne Fitzherbert, 12 December 1782
From Alleyne Fitzherbert
AL: American Philosophical Society
Hotel du Parc Royal Decr. 12th
Mr Fitz-Herbert presents his Compliments to Dr Franklin and Mr Franklin and desires the honour of their Company to dinner on Tuesday next, the 17th, at 3 o’clock.8
Addressed: A Monsieur / Monsieur Franklin / à Passy.
Notation: Mr. Fitzherbert Decr. 12th
8. On Dec. 19 Fitzherbert wrote to Strachey that Townshend had advised him to “cultivate” the American commissioners, and that this “great dinner” for 20 guests was part of his attempt. It “went off very cheerfully,” he wrote, “and Dr. Franklin in particular was (in his usual oracular & sententious strain) uncommonly full of conversation.” New York Public Library. JA noted in his diary that the guests included all four commissioners, along with Baron Mountnorris, a member of the Irish House of Lords, and “several English gentlemen”: Butterfield, John Adams Diary, III, 96.