Paine arrived in Philadelphia on 30 November 1774, so ill with what he described as a ‘putrid fever’, probably typhus, caught on board ship that he had to be carried ashore. Fortunately the references he brought with him from Benjamin Franklin so impressed a Dr Kearsley that he provided him with accommodation. Paine acknowledged that the letters of recommendation had ‘obtained me many friends and much reputation’. It took six weeks for him to recover enough to wait upon Richard Bache, Franklin's son-in-law, to whom one of the letters was addressed. It suggested that Paine was ‘very capable’ of being employed as a clerk, or assistant tutor in a school, or assistant surveyor. Although several gentlemen offered to employ him as a tutor to their sons, in the event he accepted an invitation from Robert Aitken, a printer and bookseller, to assist him in publishing a newly launched journal, the Pennsylvania Magazine: or American Monthly Museum. He helped with the production of the second number, copies of which he sent to Franklin and George Lewis Scott, boasting to them that he had boosted circulation of the magazine from 600 to 1500. It is not clear in what capacity he assisted Aitken, some claiming that he acted as editor while others deny that he edited the publication. Aitken appears to have paid Paine for his assistance, a total of £35 2s. 6d.