M. Franklin to Mme. E.

A letter written in French by Benjamin Franklin was discovered by Professor Proquot in the private diary of the wife of Colonel le Comte Labedoyere (who was shot for having facilitated Napoleon's return from Elba). It is believed that this is the first time that this letter has ever been published, and so far the original document has not been discovered.

The letter was published by Le Figaro in Paris, and is headed "From Dr. Franklin to a lady friend in France." It is a delightful and original satire on the futility of fame and the human lust for knowledge. Some excerpts:

" You will no doubt remember, my worthy friend, the agreeable day which we passed in the delightful gardens of the Moulin Joli in charming company. You will, perhaps, also remember that after dinner . . . I let the rest of the company proceed and remained behind alone in an alley. Here an indefinite number of dead frames of little flies had been pointed out to us, belonging to the species of ephemaries whose generations succeed one another day by day. These insects only exist for ten hours.

" As you are aware, I understand the different tongues of insects . . . ' Happy people,' I said to myself, ' you must certainly live under a very just, wise and kindly government, . . . you can spend your life discussing the qualities and defects of the music of your neighbors.

" Turning my eyes in another direction, I saw an old, white-haired ephemary walking all alone on another leaf, talking to himself. As this monologue seemed to me of interest, I wrote it down.

"' It was,' said he, ' in the opinion of our wisest philosophers, held that the world of the Moulin Joli could only last 18 hours, and this opinion seems to me well founded.'

" ' I have lived during seven hours, which is a great age, seeing that it amounts to no less than 420 minutes. . . . According to the laws of nature, even though I am well, I cannot expect to live more than seven or eight hours. What use will my work be to me? What use will be to me those political discussions to which I have devoted my life in the design to instruct my compatriots inhabiting this bush?

"' Alas! How slow is the progress which we make in philosophy, and, alas! how difficult the acquisitions of knowledge while life is so short. My friends endeavor to console me by making me hope that my name will survive. . . . But of what use is a name to an ephemary who perishes? And what will become of all history in 18 hours, when the Moulin Joli and the whole world will come to an end, when all things will be enveloped in universal ruin? As for me, . . . one real pleasure remains, . . . and that is the conviction I have tried during my whole life to do good, and a delightful memory of having enjoyed the amiable conversation of ephemary ladies and of having from time to time listened to the divine notes of charming Madame B., who has some-times smiled upon my endeavors.'" " BENJAMIN FRANKLIN"