Before Edward Everett went abroad to study, however, American scholars had begun to seek wider cultural advantages at the centres of learning in Europe.[4] They were mostly theological students, or men more or less closely connected with the diplomatic service. The most prominent among the latter class was John Quincy Adams, who spent several years in Europe. His interest in German literature is shown by the fact that he translated Wieland's _Oberon_, which however was not published, because Sotheby's translation had just appeared in London.[5] [Footnote 4: Benjamin Franklin's visit to the University of Göttingen is described in the _Göttingische Anzeigen_ for Sept. 13, 1766, which states that the session of the Royal Society of Sciences held on the 19th of the preceding July was more impressive than usual. "The two famous English scholars, the royal physician, Mr. Pringle, and Mr. Benjamin Franklin, from Pennsylvania, who happened to be at that time in Göttingen on a trip through Germany, took their seats as members of the society." Cf. the account by Dr. E. J. James (_The Nation_, Apr. 18, 1895, p. 296), reprinted in B. A. Hinsdale's article _Foreign Influence upon Education in the United States_, published in the _Report of the Commissioner of Education_, 1897-98. Vol. I, pp. 604-607. Cf. also, L. Viereck, _German Instruction in American Schools_, ibid., 1900-1901. Vol. I, p. 543.] [Footnote 5: Adams wrote also an account of his journey to Silesia in July, 1800. This was in the form of twenty-nine letters to his brother, written during the trip, and thirteen more added after his return to Berlin. Although they were private communications, the editor of the _Port Folio_ secured them for his magazine and printed them anonymously, without suppressing personal references, as the author would have done, had he known of the publication. "Whether these passages ever came under the observation of the persons affected is not certain. So long as they remained confined to the columns of an American publication of that day, the probabilities would favor the negative. But they were not so confined. Again, without the knowledge or consent of the author, an individual, unknown to him, but fully aware of the facts in the case nevertheless took the collection from the _Portfolio_ to London, and there had them printed for his own benefit, in an octavo volume, in the year 1804. From this copy they were rendered into German, and published at Breslau the next year, with notes, by Frederick Albert Zimmerman; and in 1807 a translation made into French, by J. Dupuy, was published in Paris by Dentu.