1. Franklin quotes from a [5 May] letter from Samuel Cooper, who traced accusations of obstructionism by France and supineness on the part of Franklin to letters received at Philadelphia and in Massachusetts “from some of our Plenipotentiaries at Paris, and particularly from Mr. Adams” (Franklin, Papers description begins The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Leonard W. Labaree, William B. Willcox, Claude A. Lopez, Barbara B. Oberg, Ellen R. Cohn, and others, New Haven, 1959–. description ends , 39:561–563). Cooper, who never saw the letters, likely heard reports of JA’s “Peace Journal,” an account of the Anglo-American peace negotiations made up of extracts from his Diary (JA, D&A description begins Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. description ends , 3:41–96). JA sent one copy to Congress, where it was read in March 1783, and a second, longer version to AA, who by the end of April had shared it with friends, including Jonathan Jackson and William Gordon (same, 3:42–43; AFC description begins Adams Family Correspondence, ed. L. H. Butterfield, Marc Friedlaender, Richard Alan Ryerson, Margaret A. Hogan, and others, Cambridge, 1963–. description ends , 5:60, 141–143; vol. 14:472–473). The accusations attributed to JA by Cooper reflect to a striking degree remarks made by JA in a 17 Nov. 1782 letter to Jackson (vol. 14:61–64). That letter, which arrived at Philadelphia at the same time as JA’s “Peace Journal,” was opened and read by the Massachusetts delegates then serving in Congress—and possibly shown to others—before it was forwarded to Jackson at Newburyport (JA, D&A description begins Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. description ends , 3:42–43). For the history of JA’s “Peace Journal,” see vol. 14:xviii–xx.

Franklin immediately replied to Cooper in a letter (not found) carried by John Thaxter on his departure from Paris on 14 Sept. 1783 for delivery to “a Gentleman in Philadelphia” (from Thaxter, 19 Jan. 1784, below). Franklin subsequently enclosed “a packet” for Cooper (also not found) with a 2 Nov. 1783 letter to Richard Bache, Franklin’s son-in-law, who perhaps not coincidentally lived in Philadelphia (Bache to Franklin, 7 March 1784, CtY: Franklin Coll.). The packet probably contained what Franklin later called “my Justification” (Franklin to Jonathan Williams Jr., 16 Feb. 1786, Franklin, Writings description begins The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Albert Henry Smyth, New York and London, 1905–1907; 10 vols. description ends , 9:487–488), including letters that he solicited from JA, John Jay, and Henry Laurens certifying his fidelity and zeal in the peace negotiations (see note 2), which he intended Cooper to make public at Boston (Bache to Franklin, 21 June 1784, PPAmP:Franklin Papers). But Cooper died before the packet reached him, and Franklin by then had begun to have second thoughts. In a 26 Dec. 1783 letter to Cooper, Franklin indicated that he had written to him “a too long letter some time since, respecting Mr A.’s Calumnies, of which perhaps it was not necessary to take so much Notice” (DLC:Franklin Papers).

2. Franklin wrote almost identical letters to Jay and Laurens on this date. The two men replied, in support of Franklin, on 11 and 21 Sept., respectively (ScHi:Laurens Papers; Jay, Unpublished Papers description begins John Jay: Unpublished Papers, ed. Richard B. Morris, New York, 1975–1980; 2 vols. description ends , 2:584–585; Laurens, Papers description begins The Papers of Henry Laurens, ed. Philip M. Hamer, George C. Rogers Jr., David R. Chesnutt, C. James Taylor, and others, Columbia, S.C., 1968–2003; 16 vols. description ends , 16:343–344). JA replied on the 13th, below.