The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 41: Volume 41: September 16, 1783, through February 29, 1784

756 Pages·2014·5.096 MB·English

by  Benjamin Franklin, Ellen R. Cohn

THE PAPERS OF
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
sponsored by
The American Philosophical Society
and Yale University
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“Information to Those Who Would Remove to America”
T H E P A P E R S O F
volume 41 September 16, 1783, through February 29, 1784
ellen r. cohn,
Editor
jonathan r. dull, Senior Associate Editor
robert p. frankel, jr., kate m. ohno, and
philipp ziesche,
Associate Editors
alicia k. anderson, allegra di bonaventura,
alysia m. cain, adrina m. garbooshian, and
michael sletcher,
Assistant Editors
New Haven and London yale university press, 2014
As indicated in the fi rst volume, this edition was made possible through the vision and
generosity of Yale University and the American Philosophical Society and by a substantial
donation from Henry R. Luce in the name of Life Magazine. Additional funds were
provided by a grant from the Ford Foundation to the National Archives Trust Fund Board.
Subsequent support has come from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Major underwriting
of the present volume has been provided by the Packard Humanities Institute through
Founding Fathers Papers, Inc., the Florence Gould Foundation, the Cinco Hermanos Fund,
and The Pew Charitable Trusts. We gratefully acknowledge the bequest of Raymond N.
Kjellberg, which will continue to sustain our enterprise. We offer particular appreciation
to Richard Gilder, Charles and Ann Johnson, Mason Willrich, the Yale Class of 1954,
Claude-Anne Lopez, and the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary for generous donations that
will insure the future of the edition. We are grateful for the generous support of Candace
and Stuart Karu, Richard N. Rosenfeld, Phyllis Z. and Fenmore R. Seton, Malcolm N.
Smith, Ralph Gregory Elliot, and Sheldon Cohen. Gifts from many other individuals as
well as donations from the American Philosophical Society, Yale University, the New York
Times Foundation, the Friends of the Franklin Papers, and the Saturday Evening Post
Society help to sustain the enterprise. The Papers of Benjamin Franklin is a benefi ciary of
the generous and long-standing support of the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission under the chairmanship of the Archivist of the United States. The National
Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency, has provided signifi cant
support for this volume. For the assistance of all these organizations and individuals, as well
as for the indispensable aid of archivists, librarians, scholars, and collectors of Franklin
manuscripts, the editors are most grateful.
© 2014 by the American Philosophical Society Held at Philadelphia for Promoting Useful
Knowledge and by Yale University.
All rights reserved. No part of the editorial contents of this volume in excess of 300 words
may be reprinted in any form without permission in writing from Yale University Press.
Much of the textual material is included by special permission of the owners of the original
manuscripts or holders of existing copyrights and should not be reprinted without their
authorization.
Library of Congress catalog card number: 59–12697
International standard book number: 978-0-300-20374-5
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources.
Printed in the U.S.A.
Administrative Board
David B. Davis, American Philosophical Society, Chairman
Joyce E. Chaplin, Harvard University
Ellen R. Cohn, Yale University, Secretary
Edward S. Cooke, Jr., Yale University
Robert Darnton, American Philosophical Society
John E. Donatich, Yale University Press
Richard S. Dunn, American Philosophical Society
Joanne B. Freeman, Yale University
Paul LeClerc, New York Public Library
Robert Middlekauff, University of California, Berkeley
Edmund S. Morgan (deceased), Yale University
John C. Van Horne, American Philosophical Society
Mason Willrich, Yale University
Gordon S. Wood, American Philosophical Society
To
avid rion avis
D B D
with gratitude and appreciation
Contents
Foreign-language surnames and titles of nobility often run to great length.
Our practice with an untitled person is to provide all the Christian names
at the fi rst appearance, and then drop them; a chevalier or noble is given
the title used at the time, and the full name is provided in the index.
*Denotes a document referred to in annotation.
List of Illustrations xxix
Contributors to Volume 41 xxxiii
Statement of Methodology xxxiv
Abbreviations and Short Titles xl
Note by the Editors and the Administrative Board liv
Introduction lvi
Chronology lx
1783
Editorial Note on Franklin’s Accounts 3
To Richard Price, September 16 6
From Prince Bariatinskii, with Franklin’s Draft of a Reply,
September 16 8
From Sir Edward Newenham, September 16 9
*From Miss E. Stubbs, September 16: see pages 546–7
*From ——— d’Avelange, September 17: see page 547
From James Bennet, September 17 10
*From Pierre Carrèl, September 17: see pages 306–7
From Robert Morris, September 17 12
From Patrick Murphy et al., September 17 13
*From Graf von Schönfeld, [before September 18]:
see page 98, note 7
To Benjamin Rush, September 18 14
From Samuel Chase, September 18 15
*From Pierre-Antoine-Jean Remond, September 18:
see page 281
ix