3191. FRANKLIN (Benjamin), America's Reception of.—
At a large table where I dined the other
day, a gentleman from Switzerland expressed
his apprehensions for the fate of Dr. Franklin,
as he said he had been informed that he would
be received with stones by the people, who were
generally dissatisfied with the Revolution, and
incensed against all those who had assisted in
bringing it about. I told him his apprehensions
were just and that the people of America
would probably salute Dr. Franklin with the
same stones they had thrown at the Marquis
Lafayette. The reception of the Doctor is an
object of very general attention, and will
weigh in Europe as an evidence of the satisfaction
or dissatisfaction of America with their
Revolution.
To James Monroe. Washington ed. i, 407.
Ford ed., iv, 87.
(P.
1785)
