but they will never be able to confute it. On the 24th of March, at a court of common council, a motion was made and carried, “That the thanks of the court be given to Dr. Price, for his excellent pamphlet of civil liberty; also, that the freedom of the city be presented to him in a gold box.” Three days after, at a court of assistants of the drapers company, a motion was made and carried to present the doctor with the freedom of that company. The doctor has conveyed his acknowledgments to the lord mayor, alderman, and common council; and expressed his hope that their approbation would lead the public to fix their views more on such measures as should save a sinking constitution, and preserve us from impending calamities. You may wish to know the sentiments of the French relative to the American contest. Those of the nobility and gentry, who are tolerably versed in the English language, accustom themselves to the reading of the papers containing the disputes between Britain and the colonies. The generality conceive of the affair as a family quarrel, which the parties will make up after a while. Whatever they may wish, as to its continuance and increase, and however they may covertly contribute towards its support, they will decline, for the present, all public interference, and give the most satisfactory assurances to the court of London, from an apprehension that both sides would otherwise accommodate, unite and fall upon them. Should the late acts which parliament have passed, and the hiring of German auxiliaries, force the congress into a declaration of independence, they will still remain inactive, whatever preparations they may make, until some very favourable occurrences brings them forward. Till then, they will not think of taking the colonies by the hand; lest Britain should, upon its being done, offer every thing short of independence, and thereby unite them afresh to the mother country; which might disgrace France in the eyes of other European powers, if not expose her to worse consequences. You will easily conceive of my eager expectation of hearing from you shortly. The operations in America will soon be extremely interesting. Let your informations be as early and frequent as possible. LETTER III. _Roxbury, July 19, 1776._