"The succession to Doctor Franklin at the court of France was an
excellent school of humility.” So Thomas Jefferson reflected as
he prepared notes for a eulogy that would be read in memory of
Benjamin Franklin (January 17 (January 6 O.S.), 1706-April 17,
1790) at the American Philosophical Society on March 1, 1791.
Yet this “school of humility” was never one that Jefferson
seemed to begrudge. He lauded Franklin as scientist, statesman,
and a “great and dear friend, whom time will be making greater
while it is sponging us from its records.” As neither man has
been expunged from history, it is interesting to consider the
nine months they spent together in Paris, a time when they
renewed the relationship begun in the Continental Congress of
1775-76 and when the younger Jefferson again had the opportunity
to work closely with Franklin, seasoned veteran of international
diplomacy, science, and letters. When Jefferson arrived in
August 1784 to assist in the negotiation of commercial treaties,
Franklin had been in F