From Benjamin Vaughan
Incomplete ALS: Library of Congress
[September 19, 1777?]

The compliment in that letter to Lord Chatham I thought necessary; and it certainly excuses him somewhat, to suppose that he was not informed upon those points upon which almost every man of his nation is so ignorant.

Begging you not to be alarmed about the mention of an appendix (which I will hereafter explain to you) and entreating your forgiveness for all my liberties, believe me, my dearest sir, with attachments towards you not in the least impaired by this interview, your devoted, your most affectionate, and grateful pupil,

Benjn: Vaughan

Verte. p.s. I forgot to mention that I endeavored to mark my candor by blaming, or rather not approving, wherever I could; and you will see too that I have done it once too often. To answer likewise the false impressions of the day, I was greedy to pick up every testimony to the integrity of your character. Not that I did not feel the caprices of living fame, and saw that the greatest characters had been for a part of their lives and with particular people oppressed in their fame, nay that even that oppression had made a part of their lasting fame and was usually a consequence of the best founded title to it; but really my affection for your person made me sensible to all the insults (though temporary only) cast upon you, and I saw also that some of the influence of your writings depended upon the estimation in which you were held for your motives. Excuse this scrawl. I should have said all this in person, but your situation prevents it, which [I] did not fully see till last night, and I [have] not now the opportunity to transcribe.
Addressed: Dr: Franklin.
Notation: Vaughn
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