B. Franklin.
DCCCCXCVII. TO JOHN INGENHOUSZ
Passy, 2 October, 1781.
It is a long time, my dear friend, since I have had the pleasure of writing to you. I have postponed it too often from a desire of writing a good deal on various subjects, which I could not find sufficient time to think of properly. Your experiments on the conducting of heat was one subject; the finishing my remarks on the stroke of lightning in Italy was another. Then I was taken ill with a severe fit of the gout soon after you left us, which held me near three months, and put my business and correspondence so far behindhand that I was long in getting it up again. Add to this, that I find indolence increases with age, and that I have not near the activity I formerly had. But I cannot afford to lose your correspondence, in which I have always found so much pleasure and instruction. I now force myself to write, and I fancy this letter will be long.
I have now before me your several favors of December 5th, 1780, February 7th, April 7th, May 23d, and August 29th, 1781. I was glad to find by the first that you enjoyed a good state of health, and that you had leisure to pursue your philosophical inquiries. I wish you that continued success, which so much industry, sagacity, and exactness in making experiments have a right to expect. You will have much immediate pleasure by that success, and in time great reputation. But for the present the reputation will be given grudgingly, and in as small a quantity as possible, mixed, too, with some mortification. One would think that a man so laboring disinterestedly for the good of his fellow-creatures, could not possibly by such means make himself enemies; but there are minds who cannot bear that another should distinguish himself even by greater usefulness; and, though he demands no profit, nor any thing in return but the good-will of those he is serving, they will endeavor to deprive him of that, first, by disputing the truth of his experiments, then their utility; and, being defeated there, they finally dispute his right to them, and would give the credit of them to a man that lived three thousand years ago, or at three thousand leagues’ distance, rather than to a neighbor, or even a friend. Go on, however, and never be discouraged. Others have met with the same treatment before you, and will after you. And, whatever some may think and say, it is worth while to do men good, for the self-satisfaction one has in the reflection.
Your account of the experiments you made with the wires gave me a great deal of pleasure. I have shown it to several persons here, who think it exceedingly curious. If you should ever repeat those experiments, I wish your attention to one circumstance. I think it possible that, in dipping them into the wax, and taking them out suddenly, the metal which attracts heat most readily may chill and draw out with it a thicker coat of wax; and this thicker coat might, in the progress of the experiment, be longer melting. They should therefore be kept so long in the wax, as to be all and equally heated. Perhaps you may thus find the progress of heat in the silver quicker and greater. I think, also, that, if the hot oil in which you dipped the ends was not stagnant, but in motion, the experiment would be more complete, because the wire which quickest diminishes the heat of the oil next to it, finds soonest the difficulty of getting more heat from the oil farther distant, which depends on the nature of the oil as a conductor of heat, that which is already cooled interfering between the hotter oil and the wire. In reversing the experiment also, to try which of the metals cools fastest, I think the wires should be dipped in running cold water; for, when stagnant, the hot wires, by communicating heat to the water that is near them, will make it less capable of receiving more heat; and, as the metals which communicate their heat most freely and readily will soonest warm the water round them, the operation of such metals may therefore soonest stop; not because they naturally longer withhold their heat, but because the water near them is not in a state to receive it. I do not know that these hints are founded; I suggest them only as meriting a little consideration. Every one is surprised that the progress of the heat seems to have no connection with the gravity or the levity of the metals.
B. Franklin.
DCCCCXCVIII. FROM JOHN ADAMS
Amsterdam, 4 October, 1781.
Sir:—
Since the 25th of August, when I had the honor to write to you, this is the first time that I have taken a pen in hand to write to anybody, having been confined, and reduced too low to do any kind of business, by a nervous fever.
The new commission for peace has been a great consolation to me, because it removed from the public all danger of suffering any inconvenience, at a time when for many days together there were many chances to one that I should have nothing more to do with commissions of any sort. It is still a great satisfaction to me, because I think it a measure essentially right, both as it is a greater demonstration of respect to the powers whose ministers may assemble to make peace, and as it is better calculated to give satisfaction to the people of America, as the commissioners are chosen from the most considerable places in that country.
It is probable that the French court is already informed of the alteration, nevertheless I should think it proper that it should be officially notified to the Count de Vergennes; and if you are of the same opinion, as you are near, I should be obliged to you if you would communicate to his Excellency an authentic copy of the new commission.
I should think, too, that it would be proper to give some intimation of it to the public in the Gazette or Mercure de France, the two papers which are published with the consent of the court; and if you are of the same opinion, upon consulting the Count de Vergennes, I should be glad to see it done.
Have you any information concerning Mr. Jefferson, whether he has accepted the trust, whether he has embarked, or proposes soon to embark, etc. I saw a paragraph in a Maryland paper, which expressed an apprehension that he was taken prisoner by a party of horse in Virginia. Ref. 012
I feel a strong curiosity to know the answer of the British court to the articles to serve as a basis. I should be much obliged to your Excellency for a copy of it, if to be procured, and for your opinion whether there will be a congress or not. I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, etc.,
John Adams.
DCCCCXCIX. TO JOHN ADAMS
Passy, 12 October, 1781.
Sir:—
I received the letter your Excellency did me the honor of writing to me the 4th instant. I have never known a peace made, even the most advantageous, that was not censured as inadequate, and the makers condemned as injudicious or corrupt. “Blessed are the peace-makers,” is, I suppose, to be understood in the other world, for in this they are frequently cursed. Being as yet rather too much attached to this world, I had therefore no ambition to be concerned in fabricating this peace, and I know not how I came to be put into the commission. I esteem it, however, as an honor to be joined with you in so important a business, and if the execution of it shall happen in my time, which I hardly expect, I shall endeavor to assist in discharging the duty according to the best of my judgment.
Immediately on the receipt of the commission of instructions, I communicated them, as directed, to this court. The steps that have been taken in the mediation were verbally communicated to me, but as yet I have had no copies given me of the papers. I asked if it was not proper to communicate to the ministers of the mediating powers the commission of Congress empowering us to accept their mediation, and was advised to postpone it a little. I will endeavor, on Tuesday next, to obtain for you a copy of the answer of the British court, which you desire, and will consult on the propriety of mentioning our commission in the public papers.
I have heard nothing of Mr. Jefferson. I imagine the story of his being taken prisoner is not true. From his original unwillingness to leave America, when I was sent hither,