ANNEXED TO NO. IO Acco't of Cash paid out of Franklin's and Deane's Money on public Account or to persons who are to account with the Public Paid Silas Deane for an Express to Nantes M. Deane's Coffee House Bill To M. Lee to pay for silk stockings. To M. Deane M. Duportal for Instruments pur- M. Parker by order of B. Franklin to To M. Israel Potter and Edw'd Grif 6th Bark for M. A. Lee For Silver Goblet & spoon for M. Carriage of Muskets For 2 Tin Cases to send the plan of Paid Wm. Carmichael for his Journey W. T. Franklin by Order of Comm's a French Sailor who escaped from M. Kendall a distressed American M. Deane's Coachman PASSY, October 4, 1778. No. I 2 The Hon'ble the Congress of the United To my Salary as one of the Commis- 3 To my Expences paid out of Money 5 To my half of joint Expences with M. 6 To my half of joint Expences with M. 7 To amount of Disbursements out of PASSY, October 4, 1778. Errors Excepted. States in Acco't with B. Franklin. 8 66 66 No. By Cash received of Gruel at Nantes, By ditto rece'd of do. per my order in By ditto recvd. of do. with Messrs. 8. of which I received By ditto received at Sundry Times 10 By ditto received from Banker 11 By ditto recvd. from Banker jointly Balance due their time, seemingly as regardless of the shortness of life as if they had been sure of living a month. Happy people! thought I; you are certainly under a wise, just, and mild government, since you have no public grievances to complain of, nor any subject of contention but the perfections and imperfections of foreign music. I turned my head from them to an old gray-headed one, who was single on another leaf, and talking to himself. Being amused with his soliloquy, I put it down in writing, in hopes it will likewise amuse her to whom I am so much indebted for the most pleasing of all amusements, her delicious company and heavenly harmony. "It was," said he, "the opinion of learned philosophers of our race, who lived and flourished long before my time, that this vast world, the Moulin Joly, could not itself subsist more than eighteen hours; and I think there was some foundation for that opinion, since, by the apparent motion of the great luminary that gives life to all nature, and which in my time has evidently declined considerably towards the ocean at the end of our earth, it must then finish its course, be extinguished in the waters that surround us, and leave the world in cold and darkness, necessarily producing universal death and destruction. I have lived seven of those hours, a great age, being no less than four hundred and twenty minutes of time. How very few of us continue so long! I have seen generations born, flourish, and expire. My present friends are the children and grandchildren of the friends of my youth, who are now, alas, no more! And I must soon follow You may remember, my dear friend, that when we lately spent that happy day in the delightful garden and sweet society of the Moulin Joly, I stopped a little in one of our walks, and stayed some time behind the company. We had been shown numberless skeletons of a kind of little fly, called an ephemera, whose successive generations, we were told, were bred and expired within the day. I happened to see a living company of them on a leaf, who appeared to be engaged in conversation. You know I understand all the inferior animal tongues. My too great application to the study of them is the best excuse I can give for the little progress I have made in your charming language. I listened through curiosity to the discourse of these little creatures; but as they, in their national vivacity, spoke three or four together, I could make but little of their conversation. I found, however, by some broken expressions that I heard now and then, they were disputing warmly on the merit of two foreign musicians, one a cousin, the other a moscheto; in which dispute they spent |