shower down his blessings on the king, the queen, their children, and all the royal family, to the latest generations!

Permit me, at the same time, to offer you my thankful acknowlegements for the protection and countenance you afforded me at my arrival, and your many favors during my residence here; of which I shall always retain the most grateful remembrance.

My grandson would have had the honor of waiting on you with this letter, but he has been some time ill of a fever.

With the greatest esteem and respect, and best wishes for the constant prosperity of yourself, and all your amiable family, I am, sir, your excellency's most obedient and most humble servant, B. FRANKLIN.

[Answer to the foregoing]

A son Excellence Monsieur Franklin.

A Versailles, le 22 Mai, 1785. J'AI appris avec beaucoup de peine, monsieur, votre retraite et votre prochain départ pour l'Amerique. Vous ne devez pas douter que les regrets que vous laisserez, ne soient proportionnés à la considération dont vous jouissez à si juste titre. Je puis vous assurer, monsieur, que l'estime que le roi vous porte, ne vous laisse rien à désirer, et que sa majesté

TRANSLATION.

To his Excellency M. Franklin.

Versailles, 22d May, 1785.

I LEARN with great pain, sir, of your resignation, and that you are about to return to America. You can have no doubt of the regrets which your departure will produce, it will be proportioned to that consideration to which you are so justly entitled. I can assure you, sir, that the esteem which the king bears for you, is not less than you could wish, and that his majesty contemplates with true gratification, that your countrymen will appreciate in a manner worthy of you, the importance of the services which you have rendered to your country.

I pray you, sir, to retain for me a place in your remembrance, and never to doubt the sincerity of the interest which I take in your happiness: it is in the spirit of these feelings of attachment that I offer you the wishes with which I have the honor to be, sir, your very humble and very obedient servant, DE VERGENNES.

apprendra avec une véritable satisfaction, que vos compatriotes ont récompensé d'une manière digne de vous, les importans services que vous leur avez rendus.

Je vous prie, monsieur, de me conserver une part dans votre souvenir, et de ne jamais douter de la sincérité de l'intérêt que je prends à votre bonheur: il a pour principe les sentimens d'attachement que je vous ai voués, et avec lesquels j'ai l'honneur d'être, monsieur, votre très-humble et très-obéissant serviteur, DE VERGENNES.

One of the last public acts of Dr. Franklin in Europe, as plenipotentiary from congress, took place on the 9th of July, 1785, when he concluded and signed (jointly with other American commissioners) a treaty of amity and commerce between the United States of America and the king of Prussia. This treaty is remarkable as containing a strong and lasting testimony of Dr. Franklin's wonted philanthropy. In it was introduced for the first time, (and, to the disgrace of governments, perhaps for the last) that benevolent article against the molestation of the persons and property of unarmed citizens in time of war; and against privateering. The establishing of this principle as the future law of nations, was a favorite object of Dr. Franklin. In the beginning of the year 1783, he formally proposed the same to the British government, through the medium of one of its envoys, as appears by his letter to Mr. Oswald of the 14th January, 1783, to which is subjoined his motives and arguments at length, in favor of this improvement of the law of nations. The article then proposed was nearly the same as that which he afterwards actually introduced, and constituted as part of the treaty with Prussia; it runs thus:

ARTICLE 23.

"IF war should arise between the two contracting parties, the merchants of either country then residing in the other, shall be allowed to remain nine months, to collect their debts and settle their affairs, and

VOL. I.

See Vol. V. p. 191, of this edition.
3 M

1

may depart freely, carrying off all their effects without molestation or hindrance. And all women and children, scholars of every faculty, cultivators of the earth, artizans, manufacturers, and fishermen, unarmed, and inhabiting unfortified towns, villages, and places; and in general all others whose occupations are for the common subsistence and benefit of mankind, shall be allowed to continue their respective employments, and shall not be molested in their persons; nor shall their houses or goods be burnt or otherwise destroyed, nor their fields wasted by the armed force of the enemy, into whose power, by the events of the war, they may happen to fall: but if any thing is necessary to be taken from them for the use of such armed force, the same shall be paid for at a reasonable price. And all merchant and trading vessels, employed in exchanging the products of different places, and thereby rendering the necessaries, conveniences, and comforts of human life, more easy to be obtained, and more general, shall be allowed to pass free and unmolested; and neither of the contracting powers shall grant or issue any commission to any private armed vessels, empowering them to take or destroy such trading vessels, or interrupt such commerce."

During Dr. Franklin's residence in France, notwithstanding the important and multifarious concerns attending his public situation, he nevertheless found time to write several papers on philosophical and other subjects; which will appear in their appropriate places.

A few days before he left Passy, he received an additional proof of the personal esteem entertained for him at the court of France, by the following letter from the marechal duc de Castries, the minister of the marine.

A son Excellence M. Franklin.

Versailles, le 10 Juillet, 1785. JE n'ai appris, monsieur, que depuis trés-peu de jours, les dispositions que vous avez faites pour votre départ. Si j'en eusse été informé plutôt, je me serois empressé à proposer

This Prussian treaty, entered into on the 9th July, 1785, to continue in force ten years; a new treaty was entered into the 11th July, 1799; in which the humane clause was specially abandoned, upon the pretence of "the article respecting free ships making free goods not being suffi. "ciently respected during the two last wars;" John Quincy Adams being the negotiator, and John Adams being president of the United States.

Phila. Edit.

au roi de destiner une frégate pour vous transporter dans votre patrie, d'une manière à lui faire connoître la considération que les services distingués que vous avez rendus vous ont acquis en France, et les bontés particulières de sa majesté pour vous. Je vous prie, monsieur, d'agréer mes regrets, et une nouvelle assurance de la plus parfaite considération avec laquelle j'ai l'honneur d'être, monsieur, votre très-humble et trèsobéissant serviteur, LE MARL. DE CASTRIES.

The infirmity under which Dr. Franklin labored, was such, that he could not support the motion of a carriage. In consequence, the queen's litter, borne by Spanish mules was kindly offered and gratefully accepted, to convey him from Passy to Havre-de-Grace, where he proposed embarking. In this easy vehicle he made that journey, followed by his family and some friends in carriages. On the road, he experienced every mark of respect, attention, and kindness, from several of the nobility and gentry whose chateaux lay adjoining, and particularly from the cardinal de la Rochefoucault at Gaillon, where he passed a night with his accompanying friends and attendants. He arrived safe at Havre, without having experienced any material inconvenience from the journey, and there embarked in a small packet, crossed the British channel, and landed at Southampton. Here he remained a

TRANSLATION.

To his Excellency Mr. Franklin.

Versailles, 10 July, 1785.

I WAS not apprized, sir, until within a few hours of the arrangements which you have made for your departure. Had I been informed of it sooner, I should have proposed to the king to order a frigate to convey you to your own country, in a manner suitable to the known importance of the services you have been engaged in, to the esteem you have acquired in France, and the particular esteem which his majesty entertains for you.

I pray you, sir, to accept my regrets and a renewed assurance of the most entire consideration, with which I have the honor to be, sir, your very humble and very obedient servant,

LE MARECHAL DE CASTRIES.

few days, and had the satisfaction of seeing his son, the former governor of New Jersey; and receiving the visits of several of his English friends. Among these were the bishop of St. Asaph (Dr. Shipley), Mr. Benjamin Vaughan, &c. &c. He embarked on board a Philadelphia ship called the London Packet, captain Thomas Truxton, on the 27th July, and after a prosperous voyage arrived at Philadelphia on the 14th September. But his own account of his journey from Passy, to Havre, and his subsequent voyage to Southampton and thence to America, as taken from his pocket journal, may not perhaps be entirely void of interest. It is as follows.

Private Journal.

"HAVING staid in France about eight and a half years I took leave of the court and my friends, and set out on my return home, July 12, 1785, leaving Passy with my two grandsons, at four P. M.; arrived about eight at St. Germains. M. de Chaumont, with his daughter Sophia, accompanied us to Nanterre. M. le Veillard will continue with us to Havre. We met at St. Germains the Miss Alexanders with Mrs. Williams our cousin, who had provided a lodging for me at M. Benoit's. I found that the motion of the litter, lent me by the duc de Coigny, did not much incommode me. It was one of the queen's, carried by two very large mules, the muleteer riding another; M. le Veillard and my children in a carriage. We drank tea at M. Benoit's, and went early to bed.

Wednesday, July 13. Breakfast with our friends, take leave and continue our journey, dine at a good inn at Meulan, and get to Mantes in the evening. A messenger from the cardinal de Rochefoucault meets us there, with an invitation to us to stop at his house at Gaillon the next day, acquainting us at the same time, that he would take no excuse, for being all-powerful in his archbishopric, he would stop us nolens volens at his habitation, and not permit us to lodge any where else. We consented. Lodged at Mantes. Found myself very little fatigued with the day's journey, the mules going only foot pace.