November 24th
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“If I retain any memory of what has passed here, I shall with it retain the esteem, respect, and affection, with which I have long been, my dear friend, yours most sincerely.”
Benjamin Franklin, 1785
National Portrait Gallery
To George Washington
From Benjamin Franklin
Philadelphia, 16 September 1789
Dear Sir,
My malady renders my sitting up to write rather painful to me; but I cannot let my son-in-law Mr. Bache* part for New York, without congratulating you by him on the recovery of your health, so precious to us all, and on the growing strength of our new government under your administration.** For my own personal ease, I should have died two years ago; but, tho’ those years have been spent in excruciating pain, I am pleased that I have lived them, since they have brought me to see our present situation. I am now finishing my 84th [year], and probably with it my career in this life; but in whatever state of existence I am placed hereafter, if I retain any memory of what has passed here, I shall with it retain the esteem, respect, and affection, with which I have long been, my dear friend,
Yours most sincerely,
BFranklin
* Richard Bache (Benjamin Franklin Bache’s father)
** Washington had suffered from a “tumor” on his thigh.
“If to be venerated for benevolence, if to be admired for talents, if to be esteemed for patriotism, if to be beloved for philanthropy, can gratify the human mind, you must have the pleasing consolation to know, that you have not lived in vain.”
Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky
Philadelphia Museum of Art
To Benjamin Franklin
New York, 23 September 1789
Dear Sir,
The affectionate congratulations on the recovery of my health, and the warm expressions of personal friendship, which were contained in your letter of the 16th instant, claim my gratitude. And the consideration, that it was written when you were afflicted with a painful malady, greatly increases my obligation for it.
Would to God, my dear Sir, that I could congratulate you upon the removal of that excruciating pain, under which you labor, and that your existence might close with as much ease to yourself, as its continuance has been beneficial to our country and useful to mankind; or, if the united wishes of a free people, joined with the earnest prayers of every friend to science and humanity, could relieve the body from pains or infirmities, that you could claim an exemption on this score. But this cannot be, and you have within yourself the only resource to which we can confidently apply for relief, a philosophic mind.
If to be venerated for benevolence, if to be admired for talents, if to be esteemed for patriotism, if to be beloved for philanthropy, can gratify the human mind, you must have the pleasing consolation to know, that you have not lived in vain. And I flatter myself that it will not be ranked among the least grateful occurrences of your life to be assured, that, so long as I retain my memory, you will be recollected with respect, veneration, and affection by your sincere friend,
G:o Washington
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