Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790) to Jane Mecom
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01721 Author/Creator: Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790) Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 4 November 1787 Pagination: 2 p. : address ; 23 x 19 cm. Order a Copy
Writes to his sister in Boston about his feelings on his life of public service. Tells her that she should be direct in letting him know what she needs as he is willing to help her in any way. States that he planned to decline serving another year as President (possibly of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania) but that the country demanded him. Informs that he has been in public office for 50 years now. Writes that upon being sent to France, he observed to a friend that " ... the Publick having as it were eaten my Flesh, seem'd now resolv'd to pick my Bones ..." He gently complains of being unanimously elected a third time to state office but remarks, "This universal and unbounded Confidence of a whole People, flatters my Vanity much more than a Peerage would do." Marked no. 2 at the top of the first page. With some cross-outs on second page.
Signer of the U.S. Constitution.
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