Page:Dramatic Moments in American Diplomacy (1918).djvu/33

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IN AMERICAN DIPLOMACY
13

tively for his discretion. As it is of consequence that this operation should not be detected, or at least imputed to the government, I propose, if your majesty consents, to call hither the Sieur Montaudoin.

And meantime it happened that a genial Frenchman of leisure quite casually turned up in Philadelphia calling upon his old friend Francis Daymon, librarian of the Philadelphia library. He came from England and was filled with curiosity and good will. What was more natural than that this visitor, M. Bonvouloir, should be introduced to the famous philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, who was a member of the American Secret Committee on Correspondence with Foreign Powers? He showed such an interest in the struggling Congress that the members of the Committee met him in a secluded place after dark, each arriving by a different road. He told them that he could promise, offer, and answer for nothing, and that he was merely acting as a well-