From Benjamin Franklin to Kéralio, 2 March 1781
To Kéralio
AL (draft): Library of Congress
Passy, March 2. 1781
Dear Sir,
You have given me infinite Pleasure by the Good News you have sent me of our beloved Friend’s Recovery. I pray God there may be no Relapse.3 When you write, please to present mine & my Grandson’s affectionate Respects.4
I am ever, with sincere Esteem & Attachment
Mr Keralio.
3. Kéralio described himself as the secretary of the duchesse douairière de Deux Ponts, who in February had been diagnosed with pneumonia. Over a period of six weeks Kéralio wrote ten letters about her condition, which took a decisive turn for the better between Feb. 17 and 20: to WTF, Feb. 11, 12, and 20; to BF and WTF, Feb. 11[–15], 13, 18[–22], 20[–24], 22[–26], Feb. 27[–March 3], and March 1. On the verso of his Feb. 27–[March 3] letter is an intelligence report, dated Brest, Feb. 26. There is also one dated Toulon, Jan. 14, which was enclosed in a Jan. 23 letter to WTF, one of three extant letters Kéralio wrote him in the two months preceding the duchesse de Deux Ponts’ illness; the others were written on Dec. 7 and 31. Unlike Kéralio’s earlier intelligence reports (e.g., XXXIII, 9–13), however, BF did not forward these to Congress. All of the Kéralio letters cited above are in French and at the APS.
4. Here BF wrote but crossed out, “& assure the good L.”