"In 1776, being then in Congress, I received a letter from Mr. Lee, acquainting me that M. Beaumarchais had applied to him in London, informing him that 200,000 guineas had been put into his hands, and was at the disposal of the Congress; Mr. Lee added that it was agreed between them that he, M. Beaumarchais, should remit the same in arms, ammunition, etc., under the name of Hortalez & Co. Several cargoes were accordingly sent. Mr. Lee understood this to be a private aid from the government of France; but M. Beaumarchais has since demanded from Congress payment of a gross sum, as due to him, and has received a considerable part, but has rendered no particular account. I have, by order of Congress, desired him to produce his account, that we might know exactly what we owed, and for what; and he has several times promised it, but has not yet done it; and in his conversation he often mentions, as I am told, that we are greatly in his debt. These accounts in the air are unpleasant, and one is neither safe nor easy under them. I wish, therefore, you could help me to obtain a settlement of them. It has been said that Mr. Deane, unknown to his colleagues, wrote to Congress in favor of M. Beaumarchais's demand; on which Mr. Lee accuses him of having, to the prejudice of his constituents, negotiated a gift into a debt. At present all that transaction is in darkness;[44] and we know not whether the whole, or a part, or no part, of the supplies he furnished were at the expense of government, the reports we have had being so inconsistent and contradictory; nor, if we are in debt for them, or any part of them, whether it is the king or M. de Beaumarchais who is our creditor."[45] [Note 44: Light was first let in upon this darkness by Louis de Lomenie, 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.] [Note 45: Hale's _Franklin in France_, i. 53.]