[44] Light was first let in upon this darkness by Louis de Loménie, in his Beaumarchais et Son Temps; and the story as told by him may be read, in a spirited version, in Parton's Life of Franklin, chapters vii., viii.
[45] Hale's Franklin in France, i. 53.
[46] As an example of the manner in which Franklin sometimes was driven to express himself, his letter to M. Lith is admirable. This gentleman had evidently irritated him somewhat, and Franklin demolished him with a reply in that plain, straightforward style of which he was a master, in which appeared no anger, but sarcasm of that severest kind which lies in a simple statement of facts. I regret that there is not space to transcribe it, but it may be read in his Works, vi. 85.
[47] In fact, Conyngham, being at last captured, narrowly escaped this fate.
[48] Hale's Franklin in France, i. 352.
[49] Parton's Life of Franklin, ii. 307.
[50] Diplomatic Correspondence of the Amer. Rev. i. 156.
[51] Bancroft, Hist. U. S. ix. 484.
[52] Parton's Life of Franklin, ii. 309.
[53] Bancroft, Hist. U. S. ix. 485; Hale's Franklin in France, i. 223.