BIB_ID
343421
Accession number
MA 152.11
Creator
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790.
Display Date
1763 Dec. 19.
Credit line
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1905.
Description
1 item (3 p.) ; 32.3 cm
Notes
Benjamin Mecom was a printer and a nephew of Benjamin Franklin; James Parker was a printer and often completed commissions for one another.
In the postscript, referring to the war with the Indians, the words "the Villains", in Franklin's hand, have been crossed out, and above it "these Barbarians" written; the insertion possibly in the hand of William Strahan.
Part of a collection of letters of Benjamin and William Franklin to William Strahan; see collection-level record for more information.
In the postscript, referring to the war with the Indians, the words "the Villains", in Franklin's hand, have been crossed out, and above it "these Barbarians" written; the insertion possibly in the hand of William Strahan.
Part of a collection of letters of Benjamin and William Franklin to William Strahan; see collection-level record for more information.
Provenance
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan at the Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker sale in Philadelphia, December 14, 1905, lot. 284.
Summary
Referring to monies owed to Strahan from Mecom and Parker; thanking him for the "Feast of Politicks you gave me in your last [letter];" reminding him that he [Franklin] accurately predicted the success of the King of Prussia; adding that "You now fear for our virtuous young King [George III], that the Faction forming will overpower him, and render his Reign uncomfortable. On the contrary, I am of Opinion, that his Virtue, and the Consciousness of his sincere Intentions to make his People happy, will give him Firmness and Steadiness in his Measures and in the Support of the honest Friends he has chosen to serve him; and when that Firmness is fully perceiv'd, Faction will dissolve and be dissipated like a Morning Fog before the rising Sun, leaving the rest of the Day clear, with a Sky serene and cloudless. Such, after a few of the first Years, will be the future Course of his Majesty's Reign, which I predict will be happy and truly glorious;" adding, in a postscript, a report of the situation with the Indians at Fort Detroit.
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