To Benjamin Franklin from the Earl of Morton, [11 December 1766]
From the Earl of Morton
AL: American Philosophical Society
Thursday 9 o’Clock [December 11, 1766?]7
Lord Morton woud have spoke with Dr. Franklin but he was gone immediately after the Counsil; Should be oblig’d if the Dr. could breakfast with him to morrow about 10 and will send for an answer earlier.
Addressed: To / Dr Franklin / Craven Street
7. The phraseology of this note suggests that Lord Morton, president of the Royal Society from 1764 until his death, Oct. 12, 1768, scrawled it after one of the meetings of the Society’s Council during the years 1765–68 when BF served on that body. Regular meetings were held on Thursdays, though special meetings might be held on other days. The minutes record one Thursday meeting in 1765 that BF attended, two in 1766, six in 1767, and nine in 1768 before Morton’s death. It is probable that the meeting of Thursday, Dec. 11, 1766, is the earliest to which this note may have related, though it could have been almost any of the others. Among the Franklin Papers, APS, are ten printed notices of Council meetings during these years. Only five of them coincide with meetings at which he is recorded as being present: Dec. 11, 1766; July 15, Nov. 19, Dec. 10, and Dec. 14, 1767.