Original Letters of Dr. Franklin. 161 



acknowledged the receipt of the select transactions, and in 

 another I complained of the long delay of your fourth Essay, 

 and desired that if Mr. Green would not do it, you would 

 send it to me, and it should be despatched in a trice. To 

 this I own I have long wondered that there came no answer; 

 but now the reason appears you never received it. I am 

 not indeed the most punctual of correspondents, but am 

 however less negligent than I have of late appeared to you 

 to be. To converse in this manner with my friends is one 

 of my greatest pleasures ; but much business does some- 

 times interfere and occasion delays, which makes me more 

 yeady to excuse others, as I have frequent occasion to be ex- 

 cused. At present however, I am not to be blamed, but some 

 defect in the conveyance, which I cannot now guess at ; 

 but to prevent the miscarriage of this, I send it under cover 

 to Dr. Johnson, and reque,st him to forward it by some safe 

 hand, for having exchanged many letters lately with that 

 gentleman on occasion of my printing his book, and not 

 observing any of them to miscarry, 1 have reason to expect 

 this will at least get safe as far as Stratford. — By the way, 

 are you not a letter in debt to our friend Bartram ? If not I 

 fear a long one of his to you, enclosed in one of mine has 

 miscarried also. 



Our friend Mr. Jackson wrote to me last year, for an 

 account of the number of Palatings imported here within 

 ten years, which I accordingly sent him, and accompany- 

 ed it with a sheet or two on the subject of peopling of coun- 

 tries, propagation of mankind, Uc. in answer to which I have 

 lately received a long and curious letter from him, which I 

 will send for your perusal together with my paper, as soon 

 as I find it can be done without danger of being lost. 



In the mean time, I send you a meterological paper of 

 mine, wrote in order to digest and methodise a few of my 

 own thoughts, and to procure the corrections of my Friends, 

 I beg your sentiments and criticisms, on such parts as you 

 find wrong; and if you can give me any light into the na- 

 ture of those meteors we commonly cdM falling stars,^ pray 

 do; for I am extremely at a loss to know what to think of 

 them. Also any thing that has come to your knowledge of 

 the nature and effects of whirl-winds and water-spouts; con- 

 cerning which I have seen only imperfect accounls. 



I know you will be pleased to hear that our Academy 

 flourishes, and therefore I inform you that we have now 



Vol. v.. ..No. f. 21 



