of twenty guineas towards it, for the sake of a share of the seeds, plants, and ores that may be collected; I mean as specimens merely of your productions. I have now a man from Europe travelling through America for the purpose of collecting your productions, particularly of the vegetable kind.

Within the last ten years much rhubarb, of the Turkey kind, has been cultivated in Scotland and England. Its cultivation is becoming more and more general. I sent seeds over a year ago. I have now sent roots, as they vegetated with me in pots; and I hope it may become an object with you to cultivate this useful plant. It is also an ornamental plant in horticulture. I hope also by the same opportunity to transmit some tea plants, which your southern colonies are well calculated for. I am respectfully, &c.

I have received the letter, which you did me the honor to write on the 28th of this month, touching the advance of a million, which you say was made by the Farmers-General to the United States of America, the 3d of June, 1777. I have no knowledge of that advance. What I have verified is, that the King, by the contract of the 25th of February, 1783, has confirmed the gratuitous gift, which his Majesty had previously made, of the three millions hereafter mentioned,

* In answer to a letter from Mr. Grand, respecting an inquiry of Dr. Franklin. See the letter to Mr. Grand, above, p. 265.

viz. one million delivered by the Royal Treasury, the 10th of June, 1776, and two other millions advanced also by the Royal Treasury, in 1777, on four receipts of the Deputies of Congress, of the 17th of January, 3d of April, 10th of June, and 15th of October, of the same year. This explanation will, Sir, I hope, resolve your doubt touching the advance of the 3d of June, 1777. I further recommend to you, Sir, to confer on this subject with M. Gojard, who ought to be better informed than we, who had no knowledge of any advances, but those made by the Royal Treasury. I have the honor to be, &c.

DURIVAL.

FROM M. DURIVAL TO MR. GRAND.

Translation.

SIR,

Versailles, 5 September, 1786

I laid before the Count de Vergennes the two letters which you did me the honor to write, touching the three millions, the free gift of which the King has confirmed in favor of the United States of America. The minister, Sir, observed, that this gift has nothing to do with the million, which the Congress may have received from the Farmers-General in 1777; consequently he thinks, that the receipt, which you desire may be communicated to you, cannot satisfy the object of your view, and that it would be useless to give you the copy which you desire. I have the honor to be, with perfect attachment, &c.

DURIVAL.

FROM MR. GRAND TO B. FRANKLIN.

Translation.

Paris, 9 September, 1786.

MY DEAR SIR,

The letter you honored me with, covered the copies of three letters, which Mr. Thomson wrote you in order to obtain an explanation of a million, which is not to be found in my accounts. I should have been very much embarrassed in satisfying and proving to him, that I had not put that million in my pocket, had I not applied to M. Durival, who, as you will see by the answer enclosed, informs me, that there was a million paid by the Royal Treasury, on the 10th of June, 1776. This is the very million about which Mr. Thomson inquires, as I have kept an account of the other two millions, which were also furnished by the Royal Treasury, viz. the one million in January and April, 1777, the other in July and October of the same year, as well as that furnished by the Farmers-General in June, 1777.

Here, then, are the three millions exactly, which were given by the King before the treaty of 1778, and that furnished by the Farmers-General. Nothing then remains to be known, but who received the first million in June, 1776. It could not be myself, as I was not charged with the business of Congress until January, 1777. I therefore requested of M. Durival a copy of the receipt for the one million. You have the answer, which he returned to me. I have written to him again, renewing my request; but, as the courier is just setting off, I cannot wait to give you his answer, but you will receive it in my next, if I obtain one. In the mean while, I beg you will receive the assurances of the sentiments of respect, with which I have the honor to be, my dear Sir, &c.

GRAND.

FROM. M. DURIVAL TO MR. GRAND.

Translation.

SIR,

Versailles, 10 September, 1786.

I have laid before the Count de Vergennes, as you seemed to desire, the letter which you did me the honor to write yesterday. The minister persists in the opinion, that the receipt, the copy of which you request, has no relation to the business with which you were intrusted on behalf of Congress, and that this document would be useless in the new point of view in which you have placed it. Indeed, Sir, it is easy for you to prove, that the money in question was not delivered by the Royal Treasury into your hands, as you did not begin to be charged with the business of Congress until January, 1777, and the receipt for that money is of the 10th of June, 1776. I have the honor to be, with perfect attachment, Sir, &c.

DURIVAL.

FROM MR. GRAND TO B. FRANKLIN.

Translation.

Paris, 12 September, 1786.

SIR,

I hazard a letter in hopes it may be able to join that of the 9th at L'Orient, in order to forward to you the answer I have just received from M. Durival. You will there see, that, notwithstanding my entreaty, the minister himself refuses to give me a copy of the receipt which I asked for. I cannot conceive the reason for this reserve, more especially since, if there has been a million paid, he who has received it has kept the account, and it must in time be known. I shall

hear with pleasure, that you have been more fortunate in this respect in America than I have been in France; and I repeat to you the assurance of the sentiments of regard, with which I have the honor to be, &c.

GRAND.

FROM THOMAS PERCIVAL TO B. FRANKLIN.

Influence of Manufacturing Establishments on the Purity of the Air.-Priestley, Kippis, Price.

DEAR SIR,

Manchester, 27 October, 1786.

I received, with very great pleasure, your obliging letter by Mr. Vaughan; and delivered to our Literary Society the volume of American Philosophical Transactions which accompanied it. The donation was highly acceptable, both from its intrinsic value, and as a pledge of friendly correspondence with the excellent institution over which you preside. The formal acknowledgment of such favors is the official duty of our secretaries; and they have been directed to return our thanks in the most grateful and respectful terms, together with the present of our Memoirs. The diffusion of the arts and sciences through so many extensive regions of the globe must afford a subject of contemplation peculiarly satisfactory to your mind; as you cannot but feel the delightful consciousness of having been a principal instrument, under Providence, in its accomplishment. And I hope that sun, which has so long blessed the nations, will not set till the interests of truth and knowledge, of civil and religious liberty, are firmly established in the western hemisphere, which it now enlightens.