To Benjamin Franklin from Mrs. William Deane, 1 March [1771–75]
From Mrs. [William] Deane1
AL: University of Pennsylvania Library
Frith Street March the 1st. [1771–752]
Mrs. Deane presents her Compliments to Dr. Franklin with many thanks to him, for the benefit she hopes, she has received, from the perusal of Richards Maxims, which are so Excellent they ought to be framed and hung up in every House.3 Mrs. Deane is much obliged to Dr. Franklin for his kind remembrance of her, and hopes he will Consider of the other request, for the benefit of the Females of Great Britain. General Deane joins in Compliments
Addressed: To / Dr. Franklin / Craven Street / Strand
1. The wife of General Deane, the governor of Upnor Castle. The Deanes were old acquaintances of BF; see above, VII, 321–2.
2. Deane was promoted to major general on April 30, 1770: A List of the General and Field-Officers... for the Year 1775 (London, [1775]), p. 4. BF left for America in late March, 1775.
3. She is referring to the collection of aphorisms and maxims in Poor Richard, first published in 1757 and so frequently reprinted thereafter that it is impossible to tell what edition BF had given her. See above, VII, 326–40.