It is firmly established that the American Revolution could not have succeeded without the material and military support of France.

In 1776 the Continental Congress sent Brother Ben Franklin to France as its chief representative in order to secure aid from and alliance with France.  At the time France was ruled by King Louis XVI, who was himself a Mason.  Franklin was very successful, witnessed by the British surrender at the last battle of the American Revolution at Yorktown in 1781 which was accomplished with the aid of the French naval blockade and the participation of a significant number of French soldiers and officers.  It is true that the American Revolution would have failed without the aid of the French. Many of the French officers and men were Masons, including the admiral of the French Fleet.

Ben Franklin and Paris’ Masonic Lodge of the 9 Sisters (the Muses)

This unique and amazing lodge was founded to include the elite of the arts, sciences, thought, and statesmen.  The 9 muses are sisters in Greek mythology, but from the days of Ancient Greece through the Renaissance, many creative people sought them for inspiration.  Being that he was an “elite” in many of these disciplines, Franklin was invited to join, did, and was very prominent.

There was some very eccentric activity in the Lodge of the 9 Sisters which annoyed King Louis XVI (also a Mason), who worked through the other Masonic lodges to have that lodge expelled.

From W. Isaacson, loc sit, p,356: “After months of controversy, the situation was resolved when the Nine Sisters reorganized itself and Franklin took over as its Grand Master.  During the ensuing years Franklin would induct many Americans into the Lodge, including …. John Paul Jones. He also helped create from within the lodge a group somewhat akin to his American Philosophical Society, known as the Societe’ Apollonienne.