[ithkuil]

I found a scan of the article in french:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Franklin-...

The article starts in the "E C O N O M I E" section.

(note: the shape of the printed lowercase s looks like an f)

Don't be surprised that the he was able to write in French, as educated people of that time knew French, much as educated people today know English. Moreover he was ambassador to France during 1776–1785.

[DavidWoof]

Thank you very much!! I stand corrected. And with this to search with, I found the complete original on Google Books (along with what seems to be a complete set of Journal de Paris from the 18th century; I'm going to waste the whole day reading bits of these.)

I'm not surprised at all that Jefferson and Franklin spoke French -- I always assumed they did -- what surprises me is that we (at least in the US) see so little evidence of it and that translations are presented as originals so often.

This letter is a good example. Is the English translation even Franklin's? And yet it's everywhere, while this French original doesn't even show up on the Library of Congress Franklin site. That's what I find bizarre.

[ithkuil]

Don't worry, I suspected it was a recent prank too the first time I read it. Wonder why we are so suspicious these days ...