PARIS, August 9, 1787.
SIR,--At the time you honored me with your letter of May the 31st, I
was not returned from a journey I had taken into Italy. This
circumstance, with the mass of business which had accumulated during my
absence, must apologise for the delay of my answer. Every discovery
which multiplies the subsistence of man, must be a matter of joy to
every friend to humanity. As such, I learn with great satisfaction,
that you have found the means of preserving flour more perfectly than
has been done hitherto. But I am not authorized to avail my country of
it, by making any offer for its communication. Their policy is, to
leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their
pursuits. Though the interposition of government, in matters of
invention, has its use, yet it is in practice so inseparable from
abuse, that they think it better not to meddle with it. We are only to
hope, therefore, that those governments who are in the habit of
directing all the actions of their subjects, by particular law, may be
so far sensible of the duty they are under of cultivating useful
discoveries, as to reward you amply for yours, which is among the most
interesting to humanity. I have the honor to be, with great
consideration and respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble
servant.