Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow CCCCVII: TO JONATHAN SHIPLEY, BISHOP OF ASAPH - The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. V Letters and Misc. Writings 1768-1772

Return to Title Page for The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. V Letters and Misc. Writings 1768-1772

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Political Theory

CCCCVII: TO JONATHAN SHIPLEY, BISHOP OF ASAPH - Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. V Letters and Misc. Writings 1768-1772 [1904]

Edition used:

The Works of Benjamin Franklin, including the Private as well as the Official and Scientific Correspondence, together with the Unmutilated and Correct Version of the Autobiography, compiled and edited by John Bigelow (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904). The Federal Edition in 12 volumes. Vol. V (Letters and Misc. Writings 1768-1772).

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


CCCCVII

TO JONATHAN SHIPLEY, BISHOP OF ASAPH

London, 24 June, 1771.

My Lord:—

I got home in good time and well; but on perusing the letters that were sent to me from America during my absence, and considering the business they require of me, I find it not convenient to return so soon as I intended. I regret my having been obliged to leave that most agreeable retirement, which good Mrs. Shipley put me so kindly in possession of.1 I now breathe with reluctance the smoky air of London, when I think of the sweet air of Twyford; and by the time your races are over, or about the middle of next month, if it should not then be unsuitable to your engagements or other purposes, I promise myself the happiness of spending a week or two where I so pleasantly spent the last.

I have taken the liberty of sending by the Southampton stage, which goes to-morrow, a parcel directed to your Lordship, to be left at the turnpike next beyond Winchester, containing one of my books for Miss Georgiana, which I hope she will be good enough to accept as a small mark of my regard for her philosophic genius; and also a specimen of the American dried apples for Mrs. Shipley, that she may judge whether it will be worth while to try the practice. I doubt some dust may have got among them; therefore it will not perhaps be amiss to rinse them a minute or two in warm water, and dry them quick in a napkin; but this is submitted to her better judgment. With great esteem and respect, and many thanks for your abundant civilities, I am, my Lord, &c.,

B. Franklin.

[1 ]It was during this visit to Twyford that Franklin began his Autobiography.