son had his health and other engagements permitted.
Moreover he was adviser-general to all American officials of any and
every grade and function in Europe; and much as some of these gentlemen
contemned him, they each and all instinctively demanded his guidance in
every matter of importance. Even Arthur Lee deferred to him rather than
decide for himself; Dana sought his instructions for the mission to
Russia; men of the calibre of Jay and independent John Adams sought and
respected his views and his aid, perhaps more than they themselves
appreciated. Surely here was labor enough, and even more responsibility
than labor; but Franklin's great, well-trained mind worked with the ease
and force of a perfectly regulated machine whose smoothness of action
almost conceals its power, and all the higher parts of his labor were
achieved with little perceptible effort. For the matters of
account-keeping and letter-writing, he neglected these things; and one
is almost provoked into respecting him for so doing when it is
remembered that during all the time of his stay in France Congress never
allowed to this aged and overtasked man a secretary of legation, or even
an amanuensis or a copyist. He had with him his grandson, Temple
Franklin, a lad of sixteen years at the time of his arrival in France,
and whom it had been intended to place at school. But Franklin could not
dispense with his services, and kept this youngster as his sole clerk
and assistant. It should be mentioned also in this connection that it
was not only necessary to prepare the customary duplicates of every
document of importance, but every paper which was to be sent across the
Atlantic had to be copied half a dozen extra times, in order to be
dispatched in as many different ships, so great were the dangers of
capture. It was hardly fair to expect a minister plenipotentiary to
display unwearied zeal in this sort of work. Adams himself would have
done it, and grumbled; Franklin did not do it, and preserved his good
temper. In conclusion it may be said that, if Franklin was indolent, as
in some ways he probably was, he had at least much excuse for indolence,
and the trait showed itself only on what may be called the physical side
of his duties; upon the intellectual side, it cannot be denied that
during the period thus far traversed he did more thinking and to better
purpose than any other American of the day.

[Note 71: For example, with Norway, with Denmark, and with