510 DOCTOR FRANKLIN [1770. 



London, March 18th, 1770. 



SIR : 



I was duly favoured with jours of October 30th, and glad to 

 hear that some of the colours, on experience, were found useful. 

 I showed the specimens you sent me to an ingenious, skilful French 

 chemist, who has the direction of the Royal Porcelaine Manu- 

 facture, at Sevres, near Paris, and he assured me that one of those 

 white earths would make a good ingredient in that kind of ware. 



Our people in Philadelphia have done well in keeping, as you 

 say they do, steady to their agreements for non-importation. The 

 duties on paper, glass, and colours, are now repealed ; and if our 

 merchants continue their resolutions another year, there is good 

 reason to believe all the rest will follow. Should any of the mer- 

 chants give way, and import, which I trust they will not, I hope 

 the country people will have the good sense and spirit not to buy ; 

 and then the others will soon be weary of importing. 



Certainly we are under small obligation to the merchants here, 

 who grow rich by our folly, and yet moved in this affair but slowly ; 

 and under none to the manufacturers, who refused to move 

 at all. 



The nation are all besotted with the fancy that we cannot 

 possibly do without them, and must of course comply at last. 

 But, if we encourage necessary manufactures among ourselves, and 

 refrain buying the superfluities of other countries, a few years will 

 make a surprising change in our favour, in the plenty of real 

 money that must flow in among us, and the rising value of our 

 estates. 



Immediately on the receipt of your letter, I ordered a reflecting 

 telescope for you, which was made accordingly. Dr. Fothergill 

 has since desired me to add a microscope and thermometer, and will 

 pay for the whole. They will go with Captain Falconer. 



I thank you for the seeds, with which I have obliged some 

 curious friends. 



I am, sir, your most obedient servant, 



B. Franklin. 



