160 Original Letters of Dr. Franklin, 



8 PHirAPELPHiA, Feb. 12, 1752, 



Dear Sir, 



I received your favour per my son, and return my thanks 

 for your kind entertainment of him at your house. I de- 

 livered yours to my friend Bartram, and enclose you his 

 answer; he is much pleased with the prospect of a contin- 

 ued correspondence with yoii: is a man of no letters, but 

 a curious observer of nature. 



I like very well the paragraph you propose to insert con- 

 cerning Mr. Jackson's papers ; except the last line, to wit, 

 the improvement of it must be deferred till another year ; in- 

 stead of which, 1 would say, it cannot now be inserted but 

 shall be in our next. My reasons are, that I think in the 

 first place, your essays ought to be more frequent than once 

 a year; next, that 'tis pit}, if Mr. Jackson's papers would 

 be advantageous to the public, a whole year's benefit of 

 them should be lost ; thirdly, I think he will be at a loss to 

 know why, since your essay was not quite finished and pub- 

 lished, his papers might not as well have been added now ; 

 and indeed I think you had best add them, unless you in- 

 tend speedily another essay. Lastly, I object to the word 

 improvement, which in the sense you use it is peculiar to 

 New-England, and will not be understood elsewhere. It 

 will look as if you proposed to alter it for the better, cor- 

 rect or amend it, such being the conimon meaning of the 

 word improve. Every Colony has some peculiar expres- 

 sions, familiar to its own people, but strange and unintel- 

 ligible to others. But this is not to be wondered at, since 

 the same may be observed in the different Counties of Eng- 

 land. I know you will excuse this freedom, and that I need 

 make no apology for it. 



I am, with great respect, dear Sir, 



Your most humble servant, 



B. FRANKLIN. 



9 Philadelphia, Dec. 19, 1752- 



Dear Sir, 



I received your affectionate letter of the 1st. and am sur- 

 prised to find that my letters do not of late get to your hand. 

 I do not keep copies, but I remember well, that in one I 



