The Papers of Benjamin Franklin

Franklin's arrival in France caused a sensation. By the time he reached Paris the city was buzzing with rumors: he had come with a small fortune in gold, to put his grandsons in school and then buy himself a Swiss chateau for his retirement; he had come to negotiate a treaty with France or, failing that, with Britain; he had come to sue for peace, just as he had earlier tried to reach a settlement with the Howes. These reports went the rounds of the diplomatic corps. The Parisians were so busy with conjecture, the Russian Minister informed St. Petersburg, that the police posted orders in all the taverns and coffee houses not to discuss American affairs.