My Troubling you, my Good old Friend, with a Recommendatory Letter, by and for my esteemed Dr. Rowley, must have convinc’d you that I depended on the Continuance of your Friendship! Tho, I own, I felt doubts, considering your many months Silence about giving it to him.

That is now all cleared, and done away, by the Favor of your Letter of the 21 of August last, received the 23 September by your Grand Son.

I allow your Plea of much Business to be an Excuse for Inexactness; but Indolence of old Age not. King Alphonsus’s Saying seems to Sanctify this. I am riseing 75. I Shall ask of your Grand Son, when I can catch him, how much more you are. Sorry I am to learn from my Friend Rowley, that you have any thing of the Stone. The Gout is bad; but that, in my aprehension, worse. I only pray to live ’till I die, without Pain: for I am persuaded “Death, a necessary End, will come when it will come.”

It is not impossible, but the oddity of the War with double Letters, may have made Persons, who only look on the Superficies of things, pronounce our Performance of the Principles of Trade to be that of a Queer Genius. You flatter my Vanity in thinking of having a Translation made of it. I have given to your Grand Son one of them; and I Shall with Pleasure send some Copies to America. But to whom send them? I gave half a Dozen or more to a Capt Falconer who was recommended to me by Mr. Comptroller Jackson as your Friend, going to Philadelphia. What his Capacity may have carry’d him to do with them, I know not, but it was upon the Principle of his being your Friend, that I gave them to him.

You know my Idea of the Principle of our Government here; so it is needless to say or to Sing. Folly is too prevalent.

I shou’d be glad to know what the Success may be of the new Institution at Paris of assisting women, so as to suckle their own Children at home. I approve of it much: tho I hold as an Axiom “That the Children of poor or dishonest Persons shou’d be taken Care of by the Public in time least instead of Serving they come to hurt the Public, either thro’ Distress [or] bad Education; if it can be done, without any Violence to the natural Right of the Parent; as it is better to make Men good than to hang those that are bad.”

You see the voluntary sending Children to the Foundling Hospital, takes away the thought of any Violence, to the natural Right and to my mind, from whatever cause Parents may divest themselves of their afection for their offspring, so as to put them away; it is the Duty of the Public to interveen and take such offspring up; upon the certain Principle, that the Number of Subjects is the Riches of a State.

By good luck I find I have kept your original Notes on the Principles of Trade; those we agreed in; those I added to; and those I dissented to and were not published. Moreover some other Ideas you favor’d me with. This I told your Grand Son, and wished to confer with him thereon: as well for his Emolument, and Improvement, as to convey to you what we differd in, and for your Reconsideration. Whether I Shall have the Pleasure of my wish’d for Conference, seems as yet uncertain; but I have prepar’d Copys of those Notes, and Shall hope to collate them with your Grand Son. If not so done you may depend I have faithfull copy’d them.

I find suivant l’Etiquette that I have done wrong in not giving your Grand Son a particular Invitation to a Dinner and then a General one. If I can See him I shall own my Error. Yet shall hint to him; that tho’ Ceremony may be of use, in many purposes, yet it was not made for such Mortals as me.

Death is a Concomitant of our Existence. Your Doctrine of our Riseing from it, or after it, refresh’d, in the Morning is what I do not comprehend. I have long contemplated the Epitaph thought to be of the celebrated Mr. Pope: which allow me to send to you; together with my Paraphrase, if it may be so called:

So sure as we exist so certain is our Dissolution Whether the above Lines be written by the intelligent Mr. Pope for himself and really are so, little does it signify. They S— to convey a Certainty, so far as we possibly can conceive; of our Preexistence, or of our after Existence.

When we have consider’d things, and weigh’d them to [their] utmost Extent of our Facultys; we shall not, I aprehend [be] able to say more, than that we can know nought of what [we] were before we existed: nor can we more certainly, or positively say, what shall become of us on our Dissolution.

It is therefore submitted whether it be not greatly satisfactory to contemplate and to trust in God that what we are we shall be.

It is presumed the utmost of all Religion must be the Trusting in God; consequently this Idea seems not to Mi    against pure Religion.

As to the almost infinite Notions of Mankind, by which the Minds of Men are warp’d and bent; they will be found nothings; if from them we take, as Dean Swift says of what is call’d the Happiness of Mortal Man?, their false Lights, varnish and Tinsel.

By way of speculation I trouble you with a Copy of an Account I got from Paris of the Number of Foundling Children then receiv’d from 1741. the year of our beginning here to the year 1755. I think it was got preparatory to the opening of our Hospital the 2 June 1756 for a general Reception to shew what was done abroad. I shou’d be glad if you cou’d procure the subsequent Years to 1783 inclusive. Whether it may be of any use I know not: nevertheless it wou’d please me to have it.

I keep back to my purpose, of your buying all our Children, when we can maintain them no longer: and were I young enough, I wou’d engage to go, and deliver them my self in America.

I have spoke to Dollond? about your Mention of double spectacles; and by all I can gather, they can only serve for particular Eyes, not in general. Dollond was to furnish me gratis with Spectacles 30 Years ago, in virtue of my disinterested Purchases of Telescopes &c, for no Small Sums, for Conjurors abroad. He has now done it, as I find spectacles are of ease; ’tho I can do without them tolerably; and part of this Letter was wrote so—they as I say give ease, and that is what we ought to covet and desire.

As Procrastination, in my Mind, merits Damnation much as any Sin, I had set off by writing so far without seeing more than once your Grand Son. I call’d several times and lately I left a Note. This brought one from him, exculpatory, on the 5 Instant, I received a Message that he wou’d take pot luck with me that day, if agreable. I assur’d him it was and I luckily got Dr. Rowley. We talk’d a good deal of you, and how much you had been pleased to honor the Doctor with your friendly Entertainment and Conversation. He desired his very respectful Compliments and best wishes for your Health. His Injunctions were for your abstaining from Strong Forces. Your Grand Son own’d, I think, you had taken some Lixurium, that afected your stomach greatly.

I long much to hear how the Philadelphia Bank gets on. If your People will be pleasd to let Justice be the Compass which they Shall sheer, [steer?,] they may do any thing. I think I can prove this to be for their true Interest in every Shape. You know I lay down as a Maxim that Interest shou’d govern as well Public as private Affairs. It is all a Farce to pretend that it not. I hold your Cincinnati Institution to be wrong, not do I think those to blame who are against giving too great a Power to Congress, inconsistant with Liberty: for Men are not to be trusted with Power, but with a jealous Eye; and so guarded as that nought but the General Interest shall be the Rule of Action. If poor states in Union with others, cannot, by reason of their small means, acquiesce in Measures judg’d to be for public Benefit so readily as the richer; these shou’d assist, and help out those who are poor, either by Loan or Gift. I will suppose all Readiness in both Rich and Poor, to do their utmost: for if that be wanting, there is a clear want of Justice, and consequently a deviation from the true Interest of the whole.

It requires a greater Extent of Information than I can possibly have; so that I can only loosely give you my Ideas when Men can be persuaded, that their great God Interest is what must be had in view, they will hardly beat about the Bush so much as they do; and pretend so many Falsitys to be their Rule of Action.

I think l’abbé Raynal in some of his Writings, whether in regard to America or not, has said “Establish no legal Preference amongst the different Forms of Working. Superstition is innocent, whenever it is neither persuaded, nor protracted.” How such a Principle can be brought into Practice is difficult. I fear it cannot. I full well remember, what you told me long ago, of a Place in Philadelphia built for whosoever might chuse to talk in Public. As som Persons of a particular Denomination had been refused holding forth, because they were of a certain Color, How this Doctrine may be relish’d in any Parts I know not: but if Mass has been said in Boston, I hope there has been some Relaxation, at least, in favor of the greater Interest of the State.

Since the above and the 12 Instant I have had the of your Grand Sons drinking Chocolate with me. I have collated with him several Papers you favor’d me with, and have Duplicates, as I have already mention’d for your Reconsideration, shou’d you chuse to direct my Translation of the Principles of Trade. I have lost, or lent, which is just the same, the Collection of your     given me by the Marylander which I mention’d to you last Year. I cou’d not collate them, to see what I may have added to your Remarks. This shou’d not hinder you from inserting any thing [you] may think proper.

Your Grand Son upon my insinuating to him you were desireably situated as not to leave Paris tells me, you thought [you] wou’d be more pleas’d, and happy in America; where you might prosecute your Philosophical Studys. All I can Say to this [is] what I have read somewhere “Happy is he only who in m   lives contented; and he most of all unhappy, whom nothing that he hath can content.” I am sure you cannot have more Health, Happiness, and Contentment, than I sincerely wish you: and Shall   happy in having oportunitys of shewing with what Respect and Regard I am Dear Sir Your very afectionate Friend and most devoted Servant