Note 121 — LETTER XVIII

Constantin François Chasseboeuf Volney, View of the Climate and Soil of the United States of America, translated from the French (London, 1804). Volney (1759-1820) was a journalist, scholar, and statesman, who wrote on a great variety of subjects. He spent four years in America (1795-1799), and intended to publish a criticism of American institutions, but was dissuaded, it is said, by his friendship for Franklin. After his return to France, he was made a member of the Academy in 1813, and a peer by Louis XVIII in 1814.—Ed.