was, that it was not my business; now, it seemed my business only, and Mr. Deane had nothing to do with it. Both these positions are imaginary. I could never have given any such reasons, being always willing to settle accounts with everybody, and not having the least motive to delay or postpone the settlement of these. Nor could it seem that I should say Mr. Deane had nothing to do with it. He had done what he could towards it, and, being actually gone, could do no more. The infinity of business we have had is the true and only reason, that I know of, why they have not been settled—that is, why we did not meet, sit down, and compare the vouchers with the articles in the banker's account, in order to see that his charges were supported, and that he had given us due credit for the moneys we had put into his hands. This, I apprehend, is all we have to do here. It is to the Congress we are separately to account for the separate drafts we have made on him. This, Mr. Deane can do when he arrives, having taken a copy of the account with him.

If you think we should account to one another for our expenses, I have no objection, though I never expected it. I believe they will be found very moderate. I answer mine will, having had only the necessaries of life, and purchased nothing besides, except the Encyclopædia, nor sent a sixpence' worth of any thing to my friends or family in America. I have the honor to be your obedient servant, B. FRANKLIN.

DCXCIII

TO ARTHUR LEE

PASSY, 6 April, 1778.

SIR: Mr. Williams had orders from Mr. Deane and myself to purchase and make up a large quantity of clothing, and ship the same in pursuance of the orders of Congress. I imagine you were not in France when this measure was taken, and so could not be consulted. But you certainly have been acquainted with it since your return. I never heard that you made any objection to it, and you may at any time have fuller information if desired. I think the orders of any two of us, in these cases, are sufficient, and that, if we have given directions to an agent of ours to draw on our banker in discharge of contracts made properly for the public service, his drafts ought to be honored. The reason of permitting him to draw on our banker, instead of ourselves, was, as I understand it, convenient at that time to mask more effectually our building and equipping vessels of force. If, in a single instance, he is known or suspected to have abused this confidence placed in him, I am ready to join with you in putting a stop to his proceedings by ordering his bills to be protested. If not, I think the public service requires that he should complete his orders, which, as far as I have ever heard, he has hitherto executed with great care, fidelity, and ability.

As to the want of funds with Mr. Grand, I suppose that, before the bills drawn on him become due, which

are charged to his account, and bring the balance against us, he will be fully supplied with what are necessary.

I send you herewith sundry letters relating to our affairs, for your perusal and advice upon them. I have the honor to be, etc., B. FRANKLIN.

DCXCIV

TO THE GRAND PENSIONARY OF HOLLAND

PARIS, 10 April, 1778.

SIR: We have the honor of acquainting your Excellency that the United States of North America being now an independent power, and acknowledged as such by this court, a treaty of amity and commerce is completed between France and the said States, of which we shall speedily send your Excellency a copy, to be communicated, if you think proper, to their High Mightinesses, for whom the United States have the greatest respect, and the strongest desire that a good understanding may be cultivated, and a mutually beneficial commerce established, between the people of the two nations, which, as will be seen, there is nothing in the above-mentioned treaty to prevent or impede.

We have the honor to be, with great respect,

Your Excellency's, etc.

[On a separate paper.]

The above is so written as that you may show it on occasion. We send enclosed a proposed draft of a

letter to the Grand Pensionary; but as we are unacquainted with forms, and may not exactly have hit your idea with regard to the matter and expression, we wish you would consult with our friend upon it, and return it with the necessary corrections.

P. S. The letters you mention coming to you from England are for Mr. William Lee, and you will be so good as to forward them, with his name superscribed, and enclosed to Messrs. Faederic Gontard & Fils, Banquiers à Frankfort sur la Maine.

SIR: We received duly your despatch of the 3d instant, and approve very much the care and pains you constantly take in sending us the best intelligence of foreign affairs. We have now the pleasure of acquainting you that Mr. John Adams, a member of Congress, appointed to succeed Mr. Deane in this Commission, is safely arrived here. He came over in the Boston, a frigate of thirty guns belonging to the

I The occasion of this letter is thus described by John Adams in his Diary, Works of John Adams, Vol. III., p. 124:

"When Mr. Lee arrived at my lodgings one morning, it was proposed that a letter should be written to M. Dumas at the Hague, to inform him of my arrival; and my colleagues proposed that I should write it. I thought it an awkward thing for me to write an account of myself, and asked Dr. Franklin to write it, after we should have considered and agreed upon what should be written, which I thought the more proper, as he was the only one of us who had been acquainted with M.

United States. In the passage they met and made prize of a large English letter-of-marque ship of fourteen guns, the Martha, bound for New York, on whose cargo £70,000 sterling was insured in London. It contains abundance of necessaries for America, whither she is despatched, and we hope will get well into one of our ports.

Mr. Adams acquaints us that it had been moved in Congress to send a minister to Holland, but that although there was the best disposition towards that country, and desire to have and maintain a good understanding with their High Mightinesses and a free commerce with their subjects, the measure was respectfully postponed for the present, till their senti

Dumas. Accordingly, on the 10th of April the letter was produced in these words, which I insert at full length, because it was the only public letter, I believe, which he wrote while I was with him in the Commission."

Charles William Frederick Dumas was a Swiss by birth, though he passed a large portion of his life in Holland. He was a man of letters, skilled in modern as well as the ancient languages, and in 1770, or thereabouts, edited an edition of Vattel's work on the Laws of Nations. When in Holland, shortly before returning to America, Dr. Franklin became acquainted with Dumas, and in 1775 recommended him to the Committee of Secret Correspondence in Congress as a suitable person to act as the secret agent of the committee in Holland. Dr. Franklin, who was a member of the committee, wrote his instructions, which bear date December 19, 1775, and on the 30th of April, 1776, Dumas commenced a correspondence which continued without interruption until John Adams was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary, when Dumas was employed by him as secretary and translator. When Mr. Adams was called to Paris Mr. Dumas acted as Chargé d'Affaires, and in this capacity exchanged with the Dutch government the ratification of the first treaty ever entered into between the United States and the Dutch Government. His communications were published by Mr. Sparks in Vol. IX. of The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, but as was too much his wont, not without some regrettable liberties with their text.—EDITOR.