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diff --git a/old/30406.txt b/old/30406.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a5fc773 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30406.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9462 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Benjamin Franklin, A Picture of the +Struggles of Our Infant Nation One Hundred Years Ago, by John S. C. Abbott + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Benjamin Franklin, A Picture of the Struggles of Our Infant Nation One Hundred Years Ago + American Pioneers and Patriots Series + +Author: John S. C. Abbott + +Release Date: November 5, 2009 [EBook #30406] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BENJAMIN FRANKLIN *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + +_AMERICAN PIONEERS AND PATRIOTS._ + + BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. + + A PICTURE OF THE + + STRUGGLES OF OUR INFANT NATION, + + ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. + + BY + + JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. + + "Print me as I am."--CROMWELL. + + ILLUSTRATED. + + NEW YORK: + DODD, MEAD & COMPANY. + 751 BROADWAY. + + + + + COPYRIGHT, + + DODD, MEAD & COMPANY. + + 1876 + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Next to George Washington, we must write, upon the Catalogue +of American Patriots, the name of Benjamin Franklin. He had so +many virtues that there is no need of exaggerating them; so few +imperfections that they need not be concealed. The writer has +endeavored to give a perfectly accurate view of his character, and of +that great struggle, in which he took so conspicuous a part, which +secured the Independence of the United States. Probably there can no +where be found, within the same limits, so vivid a picture of Life in +America, one hundred years ago, as the career of Franklin presents. + +This volume is the twelfth of the Library Series of Pioneers and +Patriots. The series presents a graphic history of our country from +its discovery. + +1. _Christopher Columbus_ reveals to us the West Indies, and gives a +narrative of wonders unsurpassed in fact or fable. + +2. _De Soto_ conducts us to Florida, and leads us through scenes of +romance, crime, blood and woe--through many Indian tribes, across the +continent, to the Mississippi, where he finds his melancholy grave. + +3. _La Salle_, and his heroic companions, traversed thousands of miles +of majestic lakes and unknown rivers, and introduces us to innumerable +barbaric tribes. There is no other writer, who, from his own personal +observation, can give one so vivid an idea of Life in the Indian +village and wigwam. + +4. _Miles Standish_ was the Captain of the Pilgrims. He conducts us in +the May Flower, across the Atlantic, lands us at Plymouth, and tells +the never to be forgotten story of the heroism of our fathers in +laying the foundations of this great republic. + +5. _Captain Kidd_, and the Buccaneers, reveal to us the awful +condition of North and South America, when there was no protecting law +here, and when pirates swept sea and land, inflicting atrocities, the +narrative of which causes the ear which hears it to tingle. + +6. _Peter Stuyvesant_ takes us by the hand, and introduces us to the +Dutch settlement at the mouth of the Hudson, conveys us, in his +schooner, up the solitary river, along whose forest-covered banks +Indian villages were scattered; and reveals to us all the struggles, +by which the Dutch New Amsterdam was converted into the English New +York. + +7. _Benjamin Franklin_ should chronologically take his place +here. There is probably not, in the compass of all literature, a +biography more full of entertainment and valuable thought, than +a truthful sketch of the career of Benjamin Franklin. He leads us to +Philadelphia, one hundred and fifty years ago, and makes us perfectly +familiar with life there and then. He conducts us across the Atlantic +to the Court of St. James, and the Court of Versailles. There is no +writer, French or English, who has given such vivid sketches of the +scenes which were witnessed there, as came from the pen of Benjamin +Franklin. For half a century Franklin moved amid the most stupendous +events, a graphic history of which his pen has recorded. + +8. _George Washington_ has no superior. Humanity is proud of his name. +He seems to have approached as near perfection as any man who ever +lived. In his wonderful career we became familiar with all the +struggles of the American Revolution. With a feeble soldiery, +collected from a population of less than three millions of people, he +baffled all the efforts of the fleets and armies of Great Britain, the +most powerful empire upon this globe. + +9. _Daniel Boone_ was the Cowper of the wilderness; a solitary man +loving the silent companionship of the woods. He leads us across the +Alleghanies to the fields of Kentucky, before any white man's foot +had traversed those magnificent realms. No tale of romance could ever +surpass his adventures with the Indians. + +10. _Kit Carson_ was the child of the wilderness. He was by nature a +gentleman, and one of the most lovable of men. His weird-like life +passed rapidly away, before the introduction of railroads and +steamboats. His strange, heroic adventures are ever read with +astonishment, and they invariably secure for him the respect and +affection of all who become familiar with his name. + +11. _Paul Jones_ was one of the purest patriots, and perhaps the most +heroic naval hero, to whom any country has given birth. He has been so +traduced, by the Tory press of Great Britain, that even the Americans +have not yet done him full justice. This narrative of his astonishing +achievements will, it is hoped, give him rank, in the opinion of every +reader, with Washington, Franklin, Jefferson and Lafayette. + +12. _David Crockett_ was a unique man. There is no one like him. Under +no institutions but ours could such a character be formed. From a log +hut, more comfortless than the wigwam of the savage, and without being +able either to read or write, he enters legislative halls, takes his +seat in Congress, and makes the tour of our great cities, attracting +crowds to hear him speak. His life is a wild romance of undoubted +truth. + +Such is the character of this little library of twelve volumes. The +writer, who has now entered the evening of life, affectionately +commends them to the young men of America, upon whose footsteps their +morning sun is now rising. The life of each one, if prolonged to three +score years and ten, will surely prove a stormy scene. But it may end +in a serene and tranquil evening, ushering in the glories of an +immortal day. + + JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. + + FAIR HAVEN, CONN. + +As this is not improbably the last book I shall write, it may not be +improper for me to state that, at the age of twenty-four, I commenced +the career of an author, by writing "The Mother At Home." I have now +attained the age of three score years and ten. In the meantime I have +written fifty-four volumes of History or Biography. In every one it +has been my endeavor to make the inhabitants of this sad world more +brotherly,--better and happier. + +The long series is probably closed with the biography of Benjamin +Franklin. Every page has been penned under this impression. A theme +more full of instruction and interest could not be chosen. + +And now, in my declining years, as I feel that the battle has been +fought and, I hope, the victory won, it is an unspeakable comfort for +me to reflect, that, in all these fifty-four volumes, there is not one +line which, "dying, I could wish to blot." + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER I. + + _Parentage and Early Life._ + + PAGE + + The parentage of Franklin--His parents emigrate to America--Character + of his father--Abiah Folger, his mother--Birth and baptism--Influence + of his Uncle Strong--Of the Whistle--Childish exploits--Uncongenial + employment--Skill in swimming--Early reading--Boston at that time--An + indentured apprentice--Form of Indenture--Enters a printing + office--Fondness for reading--Anecdotes--Habits of study--Fondness for + argument--Adopts a vegetable diet--The two creeds. 11 + + + CHAPTER II. + + _Developments of Character._ + + Views of the Sabbath--Writings of Collins and Shaftsbury--The creed + of Collins--Franklin at sixteen--The Courant--Denunciations of the + paper--Franklin's mode of acquiring the art of composition--His + success as a writer--The Editor prosecuted--Benjamin becomes Editor + and Publisher--Jealousy of his brother--The runaway apprentice--The + voyage to New York--Great disappointment--Eventful Journey to + Philadelphia--Gloomy prospects--The dawn of brighter days. 31 + + + CHAPTER III. + + _Excursion to England._ + + Attention to dress--Receives a visit from Gov. Keith--His visit to + Boston--Collins returns to Philadelphia with him--Sir William Keith's + aid--Excursions on the Sabbath--Difficulty with Collins--Spending Mr. + Vernon's money--His three friends--Engagement with Deborah + Read--Voyage to England--Keith's deceit--Ralph--Franklin enters a + printing house in London. 52 + + + CHAPTER IV. + + _Mental and Moral Conflicts._ + + Faithfulness to work--Neglect of Deborah Read--Treatise on Liberty + and Necessity--Skill in swimming--Return to America--Marriage of Miss + Read--Severe sickness--Death of Mr. Denham--Returns to Keimer's + employ--The Junto--His Epitaph--Reformation of his treatise on + Liberty and Necessity--Franklin's creed. 75 + + + CHAPTER V. + + _The Dawn of Prosperity._ + + Franklin takes a house--His first job--His industry--Plans a + Newspaper--Enters the list as a writer--Advocates a Paper + currency--Purchases Keimer's paper--Character of Meredith--Struggles + of the firm--Unexpected assistance--Dissolves partnership with + Meredith--Franklin's energetic conduct--His courtship, and + marriage--Character of Mrs. Franklin--Increase of luxury--Plans for + a library--Prosperity of Pennsylvania--Customs in Philadelphia--Style + of dress in 1726--Franklin's social position in Philadelphia--His + success--A hard student. 101 + + + CHAPTER VI. + + _Religious and Philosophic Views._ + + Studious habits--New religion--Personal habits--Church of the Free + and Easy--His many accomplishments--The career of Hemphall--Birth + and Death of Franklin's son--The Ministry of Whitefield--Remarkable + friendship between the philosopher and the preacher--Prosperity of + Franklin--His convivial habits--The defense of Philadelphia--Birth of + a daughter--The Philadelphia Academy. 126 + + + CHAPTER VII. + + _The Tradesman becomes a Philosopher._ + + Franklin appointed Indian commissioner--Effects of Rum--Indian + logic--Accumulating honors--Benevolent enterprises--Franklin's + counsel to Tennent--Efforts for city improvement--Anecdotes--Franklin + appointed postmaster--Rumors of War--England enlists the Six Nations + in her cause--Franklin plans a Confederacy of States--Plans + rejected--Electrical experiments--Franklin's increase of + income--Fearful experiments--The kite--New honors--Views of the + French philosopher--Franklin's Religious views--His counsel to a + young pleader--Post-office Reforms. 147 + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + _The Rising Storms of War._ + + Aristocracy--Anecdote--Conflicting laws of Nations--Franklin's scheme + of colonization--Proposal of the British Court--The foresight of + Franklin--Braddock's campaign--Remonstrances of Franklin and + Washington--Franklin's interviews with Braddock--Franklin's + efficiency--Confidence of Braddock--The conflict with the + Proprietaries--The non-resistant Quakers--Fate of the + Moravian villages--The winter campaign--The camp of + Gaudenhutton--Anecdote--Renewal of the strife with the + Proprietaries--Franklin recalled to assist the Assembly--Destruction + of the Fort--Claim of the Proprietaries--The great controversy. 168 + + + CHAPTER IX. + + _Franklin's Mission to England._ + + New marks of respect--Lord Loudoun--Gov. Denny and Franklin--Visit + the Indians--Franklin commissioner to England--His constant good + nature--Loudoun's delays--Wise action of an English captain--The + voyagers land at Falmouth--Journey to London--Franklin's style of + living in London--His electrical experiments--He teaches the Cambridge + professor--Complimentary action of St. Andrews--Gov. Denny displaced, + and dark clouds arising--Franklin's successful diplomacy--His son + appointed Governor of New Jersey--Great opposition--The homeward + voyage--Savage horrors--Retaliating cruelties--Franklin's efforts in + behalf of the Moravian Indians. 190 + + + CHAPTER X. + + _Franklin's Second Mission to England._ + + Fiendish conduct of John Penn--Petition to the crown--Debt of + England--Two causes of conflict--Franklin sent to England--His + embarkation--Wise counsel to his daughter--The stamp act--American + resolves--Edmund Burke--Examination of Franklin--Words of Lord + Chatham--Dangers to English operatives--Repeal of the stamp act--Joy + in America--Ross Mackay--New taxes levied--Character of George + III--Accumulation of honors to Franklin--Warlike preparations--Human + conscientiousness--Unpopularity of William Franklin--Marriage of + Sarah Franklin--Franklin's varied investigations--Efforts to civilize + the Sandwich Islands. 215 + + + CHAPTER XI. + + _The Intolerance of King and Court._ + + Parties in England--Franklin the favorite of the opposition--Plans + of the Tories--Christian III--Letter of Franklin--Dr. + Priestley--Parisian courtesy--Louis XV--Visit to Ireland--Attempted + alteration of the Prayer Book--Letter to his son--Astounding letters + from America--Words of John Adams--Petition of the Assembly--Violent + conspiracy against Franklin--His bearing in the + court-room--Wedderburn's infamous charges--Letter of Franklin--Bitter + words of Dr. Johnson--Morals of English lords--Commercial value of + the Colonies--Dangers threatening Franklin. 240 + + + CHAPTER XII. + + _The Bloodhounds of War Unleashed._ + + The mission of Josiah Quincy--Love of England by the + Americans--Petition to the king--Sickness and death of Mrs. + Franklin--Lord Chatham--His speech in favor of the colonists--Lord + Howe--His interview with Franklin--Firmness of Franklin--His + indignation--His mirth--Franklin's fable--He embarks for + Philadelphia--Feeble condition of the colonies--England's expressions + of contempt--Franklin's reception at Philadelphia--His letter to + Edmund Burke--Post-office arrangements--Defection and conduct of + William Franklin--His arrest. 265 + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + _Progress of the War, both of Diplomacy and the Sword._ + + Letter of Henry Laurens--Franklin visits the army before + Boston--Letter of Mrs. Adams--Burning of Falmouth--Franklin's journey + to Montreal--The Declaration of Independence--Anecdote of the + Hatter--Framing the Constitution--Lord Howe's Declaration--Franklin's + reply--The Conference--Encouraging letter from France--Franklin's + embassy to France--The two parties in France--The voyage--The + reception in France. 292 + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + _The Struggles of Diplomacy._ + + Anecdote of Gibbon--John Adams--Residence at Passy--Lafayette + introduced--Cruise of the Reprisal--Paul Jones--Capture of + Burgoyne--Alliance with France--Anecdote of the Cake--Excitement + in England--Franklin's introduction to the king--Joy in + America--Extraordinary letter of Count Wissenstein--The + reply--Injustice to Paul Jones--French troops in America--Character + of John Adams--Franklin's mature views of human nature--Anecdote of + the Angel--Capture of Cornwallis--Its effect in England--Prejudices + of Mr. Jay--Testimony of Dr. Sparks--Jealousy of Franklin--Shrewd + diplomatic act--The treaty signed. 322 + + + CHAPTER XV. + + _Life's Closing Scenes._ + + Advice to Thomas Paine--Scenes at Passy--Journey to the Coast--Return + to America--Elected Governor of Pennsylvania--Attends the + Constitutional Convention--Proposes prayers--Remarkable + speech--Letter to Dr. Stiles--Christ on the Cross--Last sickness and + death. 356 + + + + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +_Parentage and Early Life._ + + The parentage of Franklin--His parents emigrate to + America--Character of his father--Abiah Folger, his + mother--Birth and baptism--Influence of his Uncle Strong--Of + the Whistle--Childish exploits--Uncongenial employment--Skill + in swimming.--Early reading--Boston at that time--An + indentured apprentice--Form of Indenture--Enters a printing + office--Fondness for reading--Anecdotes--Habits of + study--Fondness for argument--Adopts a vegetable diet--The + two creeds. + + +About the year 1685, Josiah Franklin, with his wife and three +children, emigrated from Banbury, England, to seek his fortune in this +new world. He was in all respects a very worthy man, intelligent, +industrious, and influenced to conduct by high moral and religious +principles. Several of Josiah Franklin's neighbors accompanied him in +his removal. + +Boston was then a straggling village, of five or six thousand +inhabitants. In front spread out its magnificent bay, with its +beautiful islands. In the rear the primeval forest extended, almost +unbroken, through unexplored wilds to the Pacific. His trade was that +of a dyer. Finding, however, but little employment in that business, +he set up as a tallow chandler and soap boiler. Four years of life's +usual joys and sorrows passed away when Mrs. Franklin died, leaving +six children. The eldest was but eleven years of age. This motherless +little family needed a maternal guardian. Within the year, Mr. +Franklin married Abiah Folger, of Nantucket. She was the youngest +daughter of Peter Folger, a man illustrious for many virtues, and of +whom it has been well said, that "he was worthy to be the grandfather +of Benjamin Franklin." She proved to be a noble woman, and was all +that either husband or children could wish for. Ten children were the +fruit of this union. Benjamin was born on the sixth of January, (O. +S.) 1706. + +He was born in the morning of a Sabbath day. His father then resided +directly opposite the Old South Church, in Milk street. The same day, +the babe, whose renown it was then little imagined would subsequently +fill the civilized world, was wrapped in blankets, and carried by his +father across the street through the wintry air, to the Old South +Church, where he was baptized by the Rev. Dr. Willard. He was named +Benjamin, after a much beloved uncle then residing in England. This +uncle was a man of some property, of decided literary tastes, and of +the simple, fervent piety, which characterized the best people of +those days. He took an ever increasing interest in Benjamin. He +eventually came over to this country, and exerted a powerful influence +in moulding the character of his nephew, whose brilliant intellect he +appreciated. + +Soon after the birth of Benjamin, his father removed to a humble but +comfortable dwelling at the corner of Hanover and Union streets. Here +he passed the remainder of his days. When Franklin had attained the +age of five years, a terrible conflagration took place, since known as +the Great Boston Fire. Just as the cold blasts of winter began to +sweep the streets, this great calamity occurred. The whole heart of +the thriving little town was laid in ashes. Over a hundred families +found themselves in destitution in the streets. + +An incident took place when Franklin was about seven years of age, +which left so indelible an impression upon his mind, that it cannot be +omitted in any faithful record of his life. He gave the following +account of the event in his autobiography, written after the lapse of +sixty-six years: + + "My friends, on a holiday, filled my pockets with coppers. I + went directly to a shop where they sold toys for children; + and being charmed with the sound of a whistle that I met by + the way in the hands of another boy, I voluntarily gave all + my money for one. I then came home and went whistling all + over the house, much pleased with my whistle, but disturbing + all the family. My brothers and sisters and cousins, + understanding the bargain I had made, told me that I had + given four times as much for it as it was worth; put me in + mind what good things I might have bought with the rest of + the money; and laughed at me so much for my folly, that I + cried with vexation; and the reflection gave me more chagrin + than the whistle gave me pleasure." + +This story, as published by Franklin, with his keen practical +reflections, has become as a household word in all the families of +England and America; and has been translated into nearly all the +languages of modern Europe. + +From early childhood Franklin was celebrated for his physical beauty, +his athletic vigor and his imperturbable good nature. His companions +invariably recognized him as their natural leader. He was in no +respect what would be called a religious boy, but in many things he +had a high sense of honor. + +There was a marsh, flooded at high tides, where the boys used to fish +for minnows. Much trampling had converted the spot into a quagmire. A +man was about to build a house near by, and had carted a large +quantity of stones for the cellar. Franklin called the boys together +and suggested that they should go in the evening, take those stones, +and build a wharf upon which they could stand with dry feet. It was +done. And under the skilful engineering of the youthful Franklin, it +was quite scientifically done. Complaints and detection followed. +Josiah Franklin severely reproved Benjamin for the dishonest act, but +it does not appear that the conscience of the precocious boy was much +troubled. He argued very forcibly that the utility of the measure +proved its necessity. + +At the age of eight years, Benjamin entered the Boston Grammar School. +His progress was very rapid, and at the close of the year he was at +the head of his class. The father had hoped to give his promising boy +a liberal education; but his large family and straitened circumstances +rendered it necessary for him to abandon the plan. At the age of ten +years his school life was completed, and he was taken into his +father's shop to run of errands, and to attend to the details of +candle-making, cutting wicks, filling moulds, and waiting upon +customers. He could write a good hand, could read fluently, could +express himself with ease on paper, but in all arithmetical studies +was very backward. + +There is scarcely any sport which has such a charm for boys as +swimming. Franklin excelled all his companions. It is reported that +his skill was wonderful; and that at any time between his twelfth and +sixtieth year, he could with ease have swum across the Hellespont. In +his earliest years, in all his amusements and employments, his +inventive genius was at work in searching out expedients. To +facilitate rapidity in swimming he formed two oval pallets, much +resembling those used by painters, about ten inches long, and six +broad. A hole was cut for the thumb and they were bound fast to the +palm of the hand. Sandals of a somewhat similar construction were +bound to the soles of the feet. With these appliances Franklin found +that he could swim more rapidly, but his wrists soon became greatly +fatigued. The sandals also he found of little avail, as in swimming, +the propelling stroke is partly given by the inside of the feet and +ankles, and not entirely by the soles of the feet. + +In the vicinity of Boston there was a pond a mile wide. Franklin made +a large paper kite, and when the wind blew strongly across the pond, +he raised it, and entering the water and throwing himself upon his +back was borne rapidly to the opposite shore. "The motion," he says, +"was exceedingly agreeable." A boy carried his clothes around. +Subsequently he wrote to M. Dubourg, + + "I have never since that time practiced this singular mode + of swimming; though I think it not impossible to cross in + this manner from Dover to Calais. The packet boat, however, + is still preferable."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Sparks' Life and Works of Franklin, Vol. 6, p. 291.] + +The taste for reading of this wonderful boy was insatiable. He had +access, comparatively, to few books, but those he devoured with the +utmost eagerness. Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress was, so to speak, his +first love. Having read and re-read it until his whole spirit was +incorporated with its nature, he sold the volume and purchased +Burton's Historical Collections. This consisted of quite a series of +anecdotes and adventures, written in an attractive style, and +published at a low price. In those early years he read another book +which exerted a powerful influence in the formation of his character. +When eighty years of age he alludes as follows to this work in a +letter to Mr. Samuel Mather, who was son of the author, Cotton Mather, + + "When I was a boy I met with a book entitled 'Essays to do + Good,' which I think was written by your father. It had + been so little regarded by a former possessor that several + leaves of it were torn out; but the remainder gave me such a + turn of thinking, as to have an influence on my conduct + through life; for I have always set a greater value on the + character of a doer of good, than on any other kind of a + reputation; and if I have been, as you seem to think, a + useful citizen, the public owe the advantage of it to that + book."[2] + +[Footnote 2: This volume has been republished by the Mass. S. S. +Society.] + +When Franklin was twelve years of age, the population of Boston had +increased to about ten thousand. An incident is recorded of Franklin +at this time, which strikingly illustrates the peculiarity of his +mental structure and the want of reverence with which he gradually +accustomed himself to regard religious things. His father's habit, in +the long graces which preceded each meal, rather wearied the temper of +his son. The precocious young skeptic, with characteristic +irreverence, ventured to say, + +"I think, father, that if you were to say grace over the whole cask, +once for all, it would save time."[3] + +[Footnote 3: Works of Dr. Franklin by W. Temple Franklin. Vol. I, p. +447.] + +This was the remark of a boy but twelve years of age. Though it does +not indicate a very devout spirit, it certainly gives evidence of an +intellect of unusual acuteness. + +Franklin ever spoke of his boyhood as the very happy period of a +remarkably happy life. His peculiar temperament enabled him to be +happy under circumstances in which others would have been very +miserable. His affections in after years ever yearned toward Boston; +he was accustomed to speak of it as "that beloved place." In one of +his letters to John Lathrop he wrote, + + "The Boston manner, the turn of phrase, and even tone of + voice and accent in pronunciation, all please and seem to + revive and refresh me." + +For two years Benjamin continued to assist his father in the business +of soap and candle making. He was continually looking for an +opportunity to escape the drudgery of that employment and enter upon +some more congenial business. Like most adventurous boys, he thought +much of the romance of a sea-life. An elder brother had run away, had +gone to sea, and for years had not been heard from. Benjamin's father +became very anxious as he witnessed the discontent of his son. This +anxiety was increased when an elder brother married, removed to Rhode +Island, and set up a soap and candle establishment for himself. This +seemed to Benjamin to rivet the chains which bound him at home. +Apparently his father could not spare him from the business. Thus he +seemed doomed to spend the remainder of his days in employment which +proved to him increasingly uncongenial. + +The judicious father, apprehensive that his son might be lured +secretly to embark for some distant voyage, visited with his son all +the varied workshops of Boston, that he might select that trade which +to him would seem most desirable. Benjamin examined all these +workshops with intensest interest. He selected the employment of a +cutler, and entered upon the business for a few days; but at that time +a boy who was about to learn a trade was apprenticed to a master. As a +premium for learning the business he usually had to pay about one +hundred dollars. Then after a series of years, during which he worked +for nothing, he was entitled for a time to receive journeyman's wages. +But his father, Josiah Franklin, was unable to settle satisfactorily +the terms of indenture, and the cutlery trade was given up. + +We have mentioned that Franklin was one of a large family of children. +By the two marriages of his father, there were sixteen sons and +daughters around the family hearth. One of the sons, James, had been +sent to London to learn the trade of a printer. He returned to Boston +and set up business on his own account, when Benjamin was eleven +years of age. It was decided to bind Benjamin to this business. +Reluctantly Benjamin consented to place himself in such subordination +to his brother. He was, however, bound to him for a period of nine +years, from twelve to twenty-one. During the last year he was to +receive a journeyman's wages. The following extract from this form of +indenture of apprenticeship, which was in common use in the reign of +George the First, will be read with interest. + + "He shall neither buy nor sell without his master's license. + Taverns, inns, or ale-houses he shall not haunt. At cards, + dice, tables, or any other unlawful game he shall not play. + Matrimony he shall not contract; nor from the service of his + said master day nor night absent himself, but in all things, + as an honest and faithful apprentice, shall and will demean + and behave himself towards his said master and all his, + during said term. And the said James Franklin, the master, + for and in consideration of the sum of ten pounds of lawful + British money to him in hand paid by the said Josiah + Franklin, the father, the receipt of which is hereby + acknowledged, the said apprentice in the art of a printer + which he now useth, shall teach and instruct or cause to be + taught and instructed the best way and manner that he can, + finding and allowing unto the said apprentice, meat, drink, + washing, lodging and all other necessaries during the said + term." + +Benjamin devoted himself with great assiduity to learn the trade of a +printer. The office in which he worked, stood at the corner of +Franklin avenue and Court street. For three years, Franklin was thus +employed, apparently never seeking recreation, and never having a +moment of leisure save such as he could rescue from sleep or from his +meals. There were at that time several bookstores in Boston. The +eminent men of that province had brought with them to the New World, +literary and scientific tastes of a high order. Even then the axe of +the settler had been heard but at a short distance in the primeval +forests, which still encircled all the large towns. Bears were not +unfrequently shot from Long Wharf, as they swam from island to island, +or endeavored to cross the solitary bay. It is said that at that time +twenty bears were often shot in a week. + +Benjamin Franklin, inspired by his love of reading, cultivated +friendly relations with the clerks in the bookstores. From them he +borrowed interesting volumes, which he took home in the evening with +the utmost care, and having spent most of the night in reading, would +return them at an early hour in the morning, before the master of the +shop had time to miss them. + +Something in the demeanor of Franklin attracted the attention of a +merchant in Boston by the name of Matthew Adams. He invited him to his +library and loaned him books. The lad's Uncle Benjamin, in England, +who was very fond of composing rhymes which he called poetry, sent +many of his effusions to his favorite nephew, and opened quite a brisk +correspondence with him. Thus Benjamin soon became a fluent rhymester, +and wrote sundry ballads which were sold in the streets and became +quite popular. There was a great demand at that time for narratives of +the exploits of pirates, the doom of murderers, and wild love +adventures. It is said that one of the Boston publishers, in the sale +of ballads alone, found a very lucrative business. Benjamin, who found +it very easy to write doggerel verse, wrote one ballad called "The +Light-house Tragedy." It was a graphic, and what would be called at the +present day, a sensational account of a shipwreck, in which the +captain and his two daughters perished. He wrote another which was +still more captivating, and which in all its main features was +historically true. It was an account of the world-renowned pirate, +Edward Teach, usually called Blackbeard. The reader will find a minute +narrative of the career of that monster in the volume of this series +of Pioneers and Patriots entitled "Captain Kidd; or the early American +Buccaneers." One stanza has descended to us which it is said composed +a portion of this ballad, and which is certainly a fair specimen of +the popular style then in vogue. + + "Come all you jolly sailors + You all so stout and brave, + Come hearken and I'll tell you, + What happened on the wave. + Oh 'tis of that bloody Blackbeard + I'm going now for to tell + And as how by gallant Maynard + He soon was sent to Hell. + With a down, down, derry down." + +This was indeed wretched stuff, as Franklin afterwards admitted; but +it is to be remembered he was then but a boy of fifteen. Having +composed the ballad and set in type and printed it, he was then sent +to hawk it through the streets. This was certainly a remarkable +achievement for a lad of his years. The eagerness with which both of +the ballads were seized by the public must have greatly gratified the +self-esteem of the young writer. + +Addison was a bungler in talk, but every sentence from his pen was +elegant. He once said, "I carry no loose change in my pocket, but I +can draw for a thousand pounds." Burke said of Goldsmith, "He writes +like an angel, but he talks like poor Poll." Franklin was by no means +a bungler in his speech, but he was not fluent. He hesitated, and was +at a loss for words, but whatever he wrote had a wonderful flow of +harmony. The right word was always in the right place. Doubtless had +he devoted as much attention to the acquirement of conversational +ease, as he did to skill in writing, he would have been as successful +in the one art as in the other. From early life it was his great +ambition to be not merely a fine but a forcible writer. He did not +seek splendor of diction, but that perspicuity, that transparency of +expression which would convey the thought most directly to the mind. + +An odd volume of the Spectator fell in his way. He was charmed with +the style. Selecting some interesting incident, he would read it with +the closest care; he would then close the book, endeavoring to retain +the thought only without regard to the expression. Then with pen, in +hand, he would sit down and relate the anecdote or the incident in the +most forceful and graphic words his vocabulary would afford. This he +would correct and re-correct, minutely attending to the capitals and +the punctuation until he had made it in all respects as perfect as it +was in his power. He then compared his narrative with that in the +Spectator. Of course he usually found many faults which he had +committed, but occasionally he could not but admit he had improved +upon his original. This encouraged him with the hope that by long +continued practice, he might become an able writer of the English +language. This practice he continued for months, varying it in many +ways. He continued to rhyme, though he admitted that there was little +poetry in his verse. The exercise, however, he thought useful in +giving him a mastery of language. + +Though Franklin wrote ballads, he seemed to be mainly interested in +reading books of the most elevated and instructive character. Locke's +"Essay on the Human Understanding," he studied thoroughly. "The Art of +Thinking," by the Messrs. de Port Royal, engrossed all his energies. +But perhaps there was no book, at that time, which produced so deep +and abiding impression on his mind as the "Memorabilia of Socrates," +by Xenophon. + +Franklin was fond of arguing; he was naturally disputatious. With his +keen intellect, he was pretty sure to come off as victor, at least in +his own judgment, in discussions with his associates. But the Socratic +method of argumentation, so different from that in which he had been +accustomed to indulge, at once secured his approval and admiration. +Socrates was never guilty of the discourtesy of assailing an opponent +with flat contradiction or positive assertion. With a politeness which +never failed him, and a modesty of demeanor which won the regard of +all others, he would lead his fellow disputant, by a series of +questions, to assent to the views which he advocated. Franklin +immediately commenced practicing upon this newly discovered art. He +was remarkably successful, and became one of the most agreeable and +beloved of companions. But ere long he became satisfied of the folly +of these disputations, in which each party struggles, not for +truth, but for victory. It is simply an exercise of intellectual +gladiatorship, in which the man who has the most skill and muscle +discomfits his antagonist. Jefferson warned his nephew to avoid +disputation. He says, "I have never known, during my long life, any +persons' engage in a dispute in which they did not separate, each more +firmly convinced than before of the correctness of his own views." + +Franklin enjoyed marvellous health. His digestive powers were perfect. +He could live upon any thing and almost upon nothing without +experiencing any inconvenience. A book advocating purely vegetable +diet accidentally fell into his hands. It urged the pecuniary economy +and the saving of time in adopting a vegetarian diet. Eagerly he +adopted the views presented. He could safely do so, had the author +advocated raw onions and carrots. The stomach of Franklin would have +received them and assimilated them without any remonstrance. He +succeeded in inducing his brother to relinquish one half of his board +and allow him to board himself. Benjamin found that in this way, he +saved much time and much money. A handful of raisins, a roll of bread, +and a glass of water afforded him a dinner. This he could dispose of +in from five to ten minutes, and have the remainder of the dinner hour +for reading. + +The hours of the night were his own. He often sat up late and rose +early, his soul all absorbed in intellectual vigils. + +There are two platforms of morality, in some respects inseparably +blended, in others quite distinctly separated from each other. The one +of these platforms constitutes the low standard of mere worldly +morality. It says, + + You must not kill, you must not steal, you must not lie, you + must not slander your neighbor, you must not cheat him in a + bargain. + +But there is another platform which not only includes all this, but +which introduces principles of an infinitely higher grade. It is the +platform enforced by Jesus Christ as essential to a life which shall +be pleasing to our Heavenly Father. Our Saviour says, You must love +God in whom you live and move and have your being: you must daily +pray to him with gratitude for the favors you receive. In the great +conflict, raging here below, between sin and holiness, your whole +heart must yearn with the desire that God's "kingdom may come and that +His will may be done on earth as in Heaven." Imitating the example of +your Saviour, who was God manifest in the flesh that by His life He +might show men how to live, you must do everything in your power to +lead your neighbors and friends to love God, to avoid everything in +thought, word, or deed, which you think will be displeasing to Him; +and you must do all in your power to prepare your heart for that world +of purity and love where the spirits of the just are made perfect. No +one can be blind to the fact that these principles are infinitely +above the principles of mere worldly morality. They are not a +substitute for those principles, but an addition to them. + +At the age of sixteen, Franklin was disposed to adopt the lower of +these creeds as his rule of life; at times affirming that it was +superior to the teachings of Jesus Christ; while again there would be +the very clear and inconsistent avowal that, in this wicked world, +something more was needed than teachings which he could plainly see +seldom, if ever influenced a lost and degraded man, to be changed +from a Saul of Tarsus to a Paul the Apostle. No one can understand the +peculiar religious and moral character of Benjamin Franklin, without +bearing in mind these distinctions. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +_Developments of Character._ + + Views of the Sabbath--Writings of Collins and + Shaftsbury--The creed of Collins--Franklin at sixteen--The + Courant--Denunciations of the paper--Franklin's mode of + acquiring the art of composition--His success as a + writer--The Editor prosecuted--Benjamin becomes Editor and + Publisher--Jealousy of his brother--The runaway + apprentice--The voyage to New York--Great + disappointment--Eventful Journey to Philadelphia--Gloomy + prospects--The dawn of brighter days. + + +Franklin was never scrupulous in the observance of the Sabbath. Still, +though he but occasionally attended church, he at times very earnestly +urged that duty upon his young friends. It is not probable that the +preaching he heard in those days, was calculated to interest him. +While a child under the parental roof, he ordinarily accompanied his +parents, and seemed to regard it as his duty to do so. + +He now, however, with an increasing sense of independence, very much +preferred to spend his precious hours in his chamber, reading books +which engrossed his most intense interest. Unfortunately many +treatises fell into his hands in which unchristian sentiments were +conveyed to his mind, by men of the highest intellectual character, +and whose writings were invested with the most fascinating charms of +eloquence. + +Robert Boyle, an Irish nobleman of wealth and fervent piety, had +established at Oxford a lectureship, the object of which was to prove +the truth of the Christian religion. These lectures had found their +way in tracts to the little library of Franklin's father. When but +fifteen years of age the boy read them, with a far keener relish than +most school-boys now read the flashy novels of the day. In order to +refute the arguments of the deists, the lecturers were bound to +produce those arguments fairly and forcibly. But to this young boy's +piercing mind, the arguments against Christianity seemed stronger than +those which were brought forward to refute them. Thus the lad became, +not a positive unbeliever, but an honest doubter. He now sought +earnestly for other works upon that all-important subject. + +The two most important, influential and popular writers of that day +were perhaps Anthony Collins and the Earl of Shaftsbury. These were +both men of fortune, of polished education, and of great rhetorical +and argumentative skill. Their influence over young minds was greatly +increased by the courtesy and candor which pervaded all their +writings. They ever wrote like gentlemen addressing gentlemen; and +the views they urged were presented with the modesty of men who were +earnestly seeking for the truth. + +The main attack of both of these men was directed against the miracles +of the Bible. It was very evident that, the Divine authority of the +Bible being overthrown, the whole structure of the Christian religion +and morality must pass away. Mr. Parton, in his admirable Life of +Franklin, says, + + "Any one who will turn over an edition of Shaftsbury, and + try to read it with the mind of this merry and receptive + printer's boy, will perceive how entirely captivating it + must have been to him. The raillery that was always the + raillery of a gentleman; the irony so delicate as really to + deceive some men who passed for acute; the fine urbanity + that pervades even the passages called severe; the genuine + reverence of the author for virtue; the spectacle revealed + of a man uniting in himself all that is good in sense, with + all that is agreeable in the man of the world,--how pleasing + it must all have been to our inky apprentice as he munched + his noon-day crust." + +The practical creed of Collins and Shaftsbury, so far as it can be +gleaned from the obscurity of their brilliant pages, consisted in +the entire renunciation of all that is deemed the spirituality of +the Christian creed, and the simple enforcement of the ordinary +principles of morality in man's intercourse with his brother man. In +substance they said, + + "Be truthful and honest. Do not openly oppose the + institutions of Christianity, for that will render you + obnoxious to your neighbors. Conform to the ordinary usages + of the society in the midst of which you move; and as to + creeds, let them alone as unworthy of a moment's thought." + +Franklin, at sixteen years of age, became a thorough convert to these +views. He was virtually without any God. He had no rule of life but +his own instincts; but those instincts were of a high order, +emboldening his character and restraining him from all vulgar vice. +Thus he wandered for many years; though there are many indications of +an occasionally troubled mind, and though he at times struggled with +great eagerness to obtain a higher state of moral perfection, he +certainly never developed the character of a warm-hearted and devoted +follower of Jesus.[4] + +[Footnote 4: "For some years he wandered in heathenish darkness. +He forsook the safe and good though narrow way of his forefathers, +and of his father and mother, and his gentle Uncle Benjamin, without +finding better and larger ways of his own. He was in danger of +becoming a castaway or a commonplace successful man of the world. +He found in due time, after many trials, and much suffering and +many grievous errors, that the soul of a man does not thrive +upon negations, and that, in very truth a man must _believe_ +in order that he may be saved."--_Parton's Life of Franklin, Vol. I, +p. 71._] + +James Franklin was prosperous in his business. On the 17th of August, +1721, he issued the first number of a newspaper entitled "The New +England Courant." Benjamin set the type, struck off the impression +of two or three hundred, with a hand-press, and then traversed +the streets, carrying the diminutive sheet to the homes of the +subscribers. The Courant soon attracted attention. A knot of sparkling +writers began to contribute to its columns, and while the paper was +with increasing eagerness sought for, a clamor was soon raised against +it. It was denounced as radical in its political tendencies, and as +speaking contemptuously of the institutions of religion. Cotton +Mather, even, launched one of his thunderbolts against it. He wrote, + + "We find a notorious, scandalous paper called 'The Courant' + full freighted with nonsense, unmanliness, raillery, + profaneness, immorality, arrogance, calumnies, lies, + contradictions and what not, all tending to quarrels and + divisions, and to debauch and corrupt the mind and manners + of New England." + +Increase Mather also denounced the paper, in terms still more +emphatic. + +At this time a strong antipathy was springing up between James, and +his apprentice brother. James assumed the airs of a master, and was +arrogant and domineering, at times in his anger proceeding even to +blows. Benjamin was opinionated, headstrong and very unwilling to +yield to another's guidance. As Benjamin compared his own compositions +with those which were sent to the Courant, he was convinced that he +could write as well, if not better, than others. He, therefore, one +evening prepared an article, before he was sixteen years of age, +which, with the greatest care, was written in pure Addisonian diction. +Disguising his hand, he slipped this at night under the door of the +printing office. The next morning several contributors were chatting +together in the editorial office, as Benjamin stood at the printing +case setting his types. The anonymous article was read and freely +commented upon. The young writer was delighted in finding it highly +commended, and in their guesses for the author, the names of the most +distinguished men in Boston were mentioned. + +The singular nom de plume he assumed was "Silence Dogood." Over that +signature he wrote many articles before it was ascertained that he was +the author. These articles attracted so much attention that young +Benjamin could not refrain from claiming their paternity. This led his +brother and others to regard him with far more respect than +heretofore. + +But the Courant, while popular with the masses, became unpopular with +the governmental authorities and with the religious community. As a +slap in the face of the government, a fictitious letter was written, +professedly from Newport, stating that a piratic ship had appeared off +the coast, plundering, burning, and destroying. It was then stated +that the government of Massachusetts was fitting out an armed vessel +to attack the pirate, and that, wind and weather permitting, the +vessel would sail from Boston sometime during the month. + +This reflection upon the dilatoriness of government gave great +offence. The members of the Council summoned Franklin before them to +answer for the libel. He admitted that he was the publisher of the +paper, but refused to give the name of the writer. The Council decided +that the paragraph was a high affront to the government, and ordered +his imprisonment in the Boston jail. Here he was incarcerated for a +week. Crushed by his misfortunes he wrote a very humble letter stating +that his close confinement endangered his life, and begging that he +might enjoy the liberty of the jail-yard. His request was granted, and +for three weeks more he remained a prisoner, though with daily +permission to leave his cell. + +During this time Benjamin conducted the paper, editing it, setting +the type, printing the sheets and distributing the copies to the +subscribers. He was still but a boy of sixteen. James was eventually +released from prison, but the general character of the Courant +remained unchanged. Unworthy professors of Christianity were +incessantly assailed. The virtues of true Christians--of the +multitudes of the disciples of Jesus, who were mothers in Israel, or +who were Israelites indeed in whom there was no guile, were forgotten; +while every mean and contemptible act of hypocrites and apostates was +proclaimed with trumpet resonance. + +At length the Council declared in reference to a peculiarly obnoxious +copy of the paper, that the Courant of that date contained many +passages perverting the Holy Scriptures, and slandering the civil +government, the ministers, and the good people of the land. A +committee of three was appointed to report upon the matter. After two +days they brought in the following decision: + + "We are humbly of opinion that the tendency of said paper, is + to mock religion and bring it into contempt; that the Holy + Scriptures are therein profanely abused; that the revered and + faithful ministers of the Gospel are ignominiously reflected + on; and that His Majesty's government is affronted; and the + peace and good order of His Majesty's subjects of this + province disturbed by this said Courant." + +The committee, therefore, proposed that James Franklin should be +strictly forbidden to print or publish the Courant, or any other paper +of the like nature, unless it were supervised by the secretary of the +province. + +James Franklin and his friends, after this decision, met in the office +of the Courant, and adroitly decided to evade the mandate by canceling +the indentures of apprenticeship of Benjamin, and constituting him the +editor and publisher of the journal. This precocious lad prepared his +inaugural. It contained the following sentiments: + + "Long has the press groaned in bringing forth a hateful brood + of pamphlets, malicious scribbles, and billingsgate ribaldry. + No generous and impartial person then can blame the present + undertaking which is designed purely for the diversion and + merriment of the reader. Pieces of pleasantry and mirth have + a secret charm in them to allay the heats and tumults of our + spirits, and to make a man forget his restless resentment. + The main design of this weekly paper will be to entertain the + town with the most comical and diverting incidents of human + life, which in so large a place as Boston will not fail of a + universal exemplification. Nor shall we be wanting to fill up + these papers with a grateful interspersion of more serious + morals which may be drawn from the most ludicrous and odd + parts of life." + +It cannot be denied that Franklin aimed his keen shafts at many of the +best of men who were consecrating all their energies to the promotion +of the physical, moral, and religious welfare of their fellow +creatures. He had a keen eye to search out their frailties; and though +he seldom if ever, dipped his pen in gall, he did at times succeed in +making them the song of the drunkard, and in turning against them the +derision of all the lewd fellows of the baser sort. + +Benjamin, elated by flattery and success, admits that at seventeen +years of age he became in his treatment of his brother "saucy and +provoking." James was increasingly jealous and exacting. At length a +very violent quarrel arose between them. The elder brother even +undertook to chastise his younger brother, whom he still affected to +regard as his apprentice. The canceling of the terms of indenture, he +regarded as a secret act, intended merely to outwit his opponent. +Franklin, burning with indignation, resolved no longer to continue in +his brother's employment, and went to several other printers in +Boston, hoping to enter into a new engagement. But his brother had +preceded him, giving his own version of the story, and even declaring +his brilliant brother to be an infidel and an atheist. + +Benjamin resolved to run away; for he still felt the binding +obligation of his apprenticeship, while he tried to satisfy his mind +that the unjust conduct of James entitled him to violate the +obligation. There was a vessel about to sail for New York. He sold +some of his books to pay his passage; and going on board secretly at +night, he solicited the captain to aid him in concealing him, with the +_false_ statement that he had become involved in a love adventure with +a young girl; that she had subsequently proved to be a bad character; +that her friends insisted on his marrying her; and that his only +refuge was to be found in flight. + +His passage to New York was swift and pleasant. It is said that having +adopted the vegetarian diet, he doubted our right to deprive an animal +of life for our own gratification in eating. The sloop was one day +becalmed off Block Island. The crew found it splendid fishing ground; +the deck was soon covered with cod and haddock. Franklin denounced +catching the fishes, as murderous, as no one could affirm that these +fishes, so happy in the water, had ever conferred any injury upon +their captors. But Benjamin was blessed with a voracious appetite. The +frying pan was busy, and the odor from the fresh fish was exceedingly +alluring. As he watched a sailor cutting open a fish, he observed in +its stomach a smaller fish, which the cod had evidently eaten. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, "if you can eat one another, I surely have a right +to eat you." + +All his scruples vanished. He sat down with the rest to the sumptuous +repast, and never after seemed to have any hesitancy in gratifying his +appetite. + +Benjamin tells this story in his autobiography, and shrewdly adds, +quoting from some one else, + + "So convenient a thing it is to be a _reasonable_ creature, + since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything + one has a mind to do." + +It was in the beautiful month of October, 1723, when Benjamin landed +on the wharves of New York. He was not quite eighteen years of age; +had but little money in his purse; and was without any letter of +recommendation or any acquaintance in the town. The place consisted of +but seven or eight thousand inhabitants. The streets were the crooked +lanes which we still find in the vicinity of the Battery. Some of the +most important were uncomfortably paved with cobble stones. Most of +the inhabitants were Dutch, reading and speaking only the Dutch +language. There was at that time indeed, but little encouragement for +an English printer. There was but one bookstore then in New York; and +but one printing office, which was conducted by William Bradford. + +The runaway apprentice could find no employment. But William Bradford +had a son in Philadelphia who was also a printer. He said to Benjamin, + +"He may employ you, as he has recently lost an apprentice by death." + +Leaving his chest of clothes to go round by sea to Philadelphia, +Benjamin took passage in a small dilapidated shore boat which crept +along the coast to Amboy. A drunken Dutchman was his only fellow +passenger. The gloom of the primeval forest overshadowed Governor's +Island: not a single cabin as yet had been reared in its solitudes. A +squall struck the boat, split its sail, and pitched the Dutchman +overboard. Franklin caught him by the hair and saved him from +drowning. The sudden tempest increased into a storm, and the boat was +driven fiercely before the gale. The surf dashed so violently upon the +shore that they could not venture to land. Night approached. +Exhausted, drenched and hungry, they cast anchor near the Long Island +shore, where a bend in the land afforded them slight protection while +still they were in great danger. There were one or two log cabins in +the vicinity. Several of the men came to the shore, but could afford +them no relief. They had no provision on board excepting a single +bottle of bad rum. All night long the tempest beat upon them. In the +morning the wind had so far lulled that they were enabled to repair +their sail, and to work their way on to Amboy. + +It was late in the afternoon when they reached the port. For thirty +hours they had been without food or water. Such were the perils of a +passage from New York to Philadelphia in the year 1723. + +Franklin, in the enjoyment of magnificent health, slept quietly that +night in an humble inn, and awoke in the morning with all his +accustomed vigor. There were still fifty miles of land travel before +him, ere he could cross the forest covered plains of New Jersey to +Burlington, on the banks of the Delaware, which were seventeen miles +above Philadelphia. There was neither railroad, stage-coach nor cart +to convey him through the wilderness. Indeed it was thirty-three years +after this before the first line of stages across New Jersey was +established. There was a rude path, probably following an ancient +Indian trail, along which our solitary adventurer trudged on foot. It +rained; but still Benjamin found it necessary, having so slender a +purse, to press on regardless of discomfort. + +Early in the afternoon he came to a hamlet, by the roadside, where he +found himself so exhausted by the unaccustomed toil of walking, and by +exposure to the rain and the miry roads, that he felt it necessary to +remain until the next morning. The aspect he presented was shabby and +dilapidated in the extreme; for he was in his working dress, which by +the wear and tear of travel had become greatly soiled and tattered. He +was not a little mortified to find that the inhabitants of the cabin, +while they treated him kindly, evidently regarded him with suspicion +as a runaway apprentice. + +In the gloom of that night, poor Benjamin bitterly repented the step +he had taken, and earnestly wished himself back again in the home +which he had forsaken. Clouds and darkness had gathered around his +path and he could see but little bright beyond. Early the next morning +he resumed his travels, pressing vigorously along all day. When the +shades of night enveloped him he had reached a point within ten miles +of Burlington. He passed the night comfortably in a settler's cabin, +and early the next morning pressed on to the little village of +Burlington, from which he was informed that a boat started every +Saturday, to descend the still silent and almost unfrequented shores +of the Delaware to Philadelphia. Much to his disappointment he reached +Burlington just after the regular Saturday boat had gone, and was +informed that there was no other boat to leave until the next Tuesday. +He made his united breakfast and dinner upon gingerbread, which he +bought in the street of an old woman. + +Burlington was on the east side of the river, Philadelphia was on the +west. There was no road between the two places, the communication +being by the river only. It seemed impossible for Benjamin to toil +that distance through the pathless, tangled forest. He had but five +shillings in his pocket. With the utmost economy that would not defray +his expenses at Burlington, for three days, and leave a sufficient sum +to pay his passage down the river. + +In his distress and perplexity, our young philosopher, whose renown +for wisdom subsequently filled all Christian lands, turned back to the +poor, aged woman of whom he had bought his gingerbread and solicited +her advice. The good old soul, not insensible to the charms of the +frank and manly looking boy, with motherly tenderness insisted on his +going to her own humble home. Gladly he accepted the invitation. The +dinner consisted of what is called ox-cheek; Franklin contributed a +pot of beer. + +Walking out early in the evening upon the banks of the river, he +found, to his great joy, a chance boat had come along, bound to +Philadelphia and containing many passengers. Eagerly Franklin joined +them, and bidding adieu to his kind entertainer, was soon drifting +slowly down the stream. The night was dark, there was no wind, and no +cheerful gleam from the white man's cabin or the Indian's wigwam met +the eye. It was necessary to resort to rowing. At length, a little +after midnight, several of the passengers insisted that they must have +passed Philadelphia without seeing it, and refused to row any farther. +They therefore ran the boat into a little creek, built a rousing fire, +for the night was damp and chill, and ranging themselves around its +genial warmth awaited the dawn of the morning. The light revealed to +them Philadelphia but a few miles below them. It was Sunday morning. +At nine o'clock the boat was made fast at Market street wharf, and +Franklin, with one silver dollar and one shilling in copper coin in +his pocket, stepped on shore. All his copper coin he paid for his +passage. + +Such was the introduction of the future Governor of Pennsylvania to +the realm over which he was eventually to preside as Governor, and of +which he became its most illustrious citizen. + +He was unquestionably dressed in the peculiar and picturesque costume +of the times. He wore knee breeches of buckskin, and a voluminous +overcoat, lined with pockets of astonishing capacity, which pockets +were crammed with shirts and stockings. A low, battered, broad-brimmed +hat covered his clustering ringlets. His coarse woolen stockings +displayed to advantage the admirably moulded calves of his legs. +Every article of this costume was draggled, shabby, soiled, and much +of it tattered. + +With an indescribable feeling of loneliness, exhausted with the +toilsome and sleepless night, and with the cravings of hunger, he +sauntered up into the town. Coming across a baker's shop, he stepped +in, and called for three pennyworth of bread. In Philadelphia, food +was abundant and bread was cheap. To his surprise three long rolls +were given to him. He took one under each arm, and in his hunger the +homeless boy walked along devouring the other. Philadelphia was then a +village widely spread out, with surrounding vegetable gardens, and +containing a population of about seven thousand inhabitants. + +Benjamin walked listlessly along as far as Fourth street. He chanced +to pass the house of a Mr. Read, whose very pretty daughter, Deborah, +was standing at the front door. She was eighteen years of age, and was +much amused at the comical appearance which the young man presented as +he passed by. + +[Illustration] + +It is not easy to imagine in these days, the state of society in these +early settlements, hewn out from the forests on the river's banks, and +with the unexplored wilderness spreading out to unimagined regions +in the interior. At night, even from the houses of the village, the +howling of the wolves could be heard as they rushed after their prey. +Bears and deers were shot in abundance. And Indian bands, painted and +plumed, were ever swarming through the streets. + +Franklin walked along, devouring his rolls, and returned to the river +for a drink of water. Such was his first breakfast in Philadelphia. In +the boat was a poor woman with her child. Franklin gave to her the two +remaining rolls, which he could not conveniently carry about with him. + +Not knowing what to do, and led by curiosity to explore the town, he +returned to Market street, then one of the chief avenues of the city. +It was a little after ten o'clock in the morning. The street was +crowded with well-dressed people, pressing along to church. There was +one important edifice called the "Great Meeting House" of the Quakers. +It stood at the corner of Second and Market streets. + +Franklin joined the crowd, and took his seat with the vast assembly. +He soon fell soundly asleep. The hour passed away. The congregation +dispersed, and Benjamin was left still asleep. Some one then kindly +awoke the tired traveler, and he again stepped out into the streets so +lonely, where there was not an individual whom he knew, and where +almost without money he could find no refuge which he could call a +home. + +As he walked toward the river, he met a young Quaker whose countenance +pleased him. Of him he inquired where he could find a respectable and +comfortable lodging. The friendly Quaker led him to a tavern, near +Chestnut street, called the "Crooked Billet." Franklin ordered a +frugal dinner, threw himself upon the bed, and slept till supper time, +and immediately after supper went to bed and slept soundly till the +morning. + +He had now been from home eleven days. His money was nearly expended. +His clothes were worn; and almost the only hope remaining was the very +visionary one that Mr. Bradford's son might possibly have some +employment for him. Early in the morning he carefully brushed his +travel-worn clothes, his shoes, his hat, and making himself as +respectable in appearance as possible, went to the house of the +printer, Andrew Bradford. To his surprise and gratification he found +the father there, who had just arrived, having traveled from New York +to Philadelphia on horseback. + +Benjamin met with a courteous reception, was invited to breakfast. He +was, however, greatly disappointed in being informed that Andrew +Bradford had just engaged another apprentice to take the place of the +one who was lost. Mr. Bradford, however, stated that there was a man, +by the name of Keimer, who had recently commenced the printing +business in the town, and might have employment for him. The old +gentleman kindly offered to go to the office with Benjamin, and +introduce him to Keimer. + +They found Keimer a very eccentric looking individual, in a small +office, with an old dilapidated press, and with a few worn-out types. +He asked the young man a few questions, put a composing stick into his +hands, and professed himself satisfied with his work. He then told +Franklin that he could find no work for him immediately, but he +thought ere long he could employ him. It seems, however, that at once +Benjamin went to work, repairing the dilapidated old press, while he +continued to board at Mr. Bradford's, paying for his board by the work +which he performed. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +_Excursion to England._ + + Attention to dress--Receives a visit from Gov. Keith--His + visit to Boston--Collins returns to Philadelphia with + him--Sir William Keith's aid--Excursions on the + Sabbath--Difficulty with Collins--Spending Mr. Vernon's + money--His three friends--Engagement with Deborah + Read--Voyage to England--Keith's deceit--Ralph--Franklin + enters a printing house in London. + + +The eccentric Keimer soon found that Franklin was a workman whose +services would be invaluable to him. He had no home of his own, but +became very unwilling that Benjamin, while in his employ, should board +in the family of a rival printer. He therefore made arrangements for +him to board at Mr. Read's, whose pretty daughter, Deborah, had made +herself merry but a few days before in view of his uncouth appearance. + +Fortunately for the young man, who was never regardless of the +advantages of a genteel dress, his chest had arrived bringing his +clothing. He was thus able to present himself before the young lady in +attractive costume. And his address was always that of an accomplished +gentleman. As we have mentioned, he was ever in his youth, middle +life, and old age, remarkable for his personal beauty. + +Bright and sunny days now dawned upon Franklin. His employer +appreciated his varied and wonderful merits. He received good wages. +The family in which he resided was highly attractive, and he there +found a home congenial with his pure and refined tastes. Several +months passed away before he heard from the friends he had left in +Boston. The tyranny of his brother had so greatly offended him, that +for a time he endeavored to exclude from his mind all thoughts of his +home. He heard, however, that one of his sisters had married Captain +Robert Holmes, the captain of a vessel sailing between Boston and the +ports on the Delaware. + +In those piratical days, when the master of a ship was compelled to +sail with guns loaded to the muzzle, and with sharpened sabres, he was +deemed a personage of great importance. No weak or ordinary man could +discharge the responsibilities of such a post. Captain Holmes, +influenced by the love of his wife, wrote to Benjamin informing him of +the grief his departure had caused the family, entreating him to +return, and assuring him that all the past should be forgotten. + +Benjamin, in his reply, wrote with such precision and force of logic, +that Captain Holmes became satisfied that he was by no means so much +in the wrong as he had supposed. It so chanced that when the captain +received this letter, he was in company with Sir William Keith, then +the Governor of Pennsylvania. He read the letter to the Governor. Sir +William was charmed with its literary and rhetorical ability; and +could scarcely believe that the writer was but eighteen years of age. + +"The Philadelphia printers," said he, "are wretched ones. Keimer is a +compound of fool and rogue. But this young man is manifestly of great +promise and ought to be encouraged." + +One day Benjamin and his master were working together, when they saw +two well-dressed gentlemen approaching. They proved to be the Governor +of Pennsylvania, Sir William Keith, and Franklin's brother-in-law, +Captain Holmes, whom he probably had never before seen. Keimer ran +down stairs to meet them, supposing, of course, that he must be the +man who was entitled to the honor of their visit. To his surprise they +inquired for his apprentice, and went up the stairs to the printing +office to see him. + +Benjamin was quite overwhelmed by the honors with which he was +greeted. The Governor paid him many compliments, expressed an earnest +desire to make his acquaintance, and politely censured him for +not calling at the gubernatorial mansion upon his arrival in +Philadelphia. The interview was terminated by taking Franklin with +them to a neighboring tavern to dine. There the three met upon +apparently perfect social equality, and very freely discussed many +important matters as they drank their wine. + +The Governor, a very plausible, unreliable man, ever lavish of +promises without performance, proposed that Franklin, aided by funds +from his father, should open a printing office for himself. He +promised to exert his influence to secure for his young protege the +public printing of both the provinces of Pennsylvania and Delaware. +When Franklin suggested that he feared his father would be either +unable or unwilling to furnish the needed funds, the Governor promised +to write to him with his own hand, explaining the advantages of the +scheme. + +During the protracted interview, it was decided that Benjamin should +return to Boston by the first vessel. He was to take with him Sir +William's letter, and thus aided, endeavor to win over his father to +their plans. + +A week or two elapsed before there was a vessel ready to sail for +Boston. At that time the social rank of a printer was decidedly above +that of other mechanic arts. There was something sacred attached to +the employment, and it was regarded as near akin to the learned +professions. Franklin was frequently invited to dine with the +Governor. His perfect self-possession, his careful dress and polished +address, united with his wonderful conversational powers, rendered him +a great favorite with all the distinguished guests whom he was +accustomed to meet at the table of the Governor. + +The latter part of April, 1724, Franklin, then eighteen years of age, +took passage in a small vessel for Boston. His friends in Philadelphia +generally understood that he was going home merely to visit his +friends. It was deemed expedient to throw the veil of great secrecy +over the enterprise in which he was contemplating to engage. + +The voyage was exceedingly tempestuous. The vessel sprang a leak. For +some time passengers and crew worked at the pumps night and day. But +after being buffeted by winds and waves for fourteen dreary days, the +little vessel cast anchor in the harbor of Boston. Franklin had then +been absent from home seven months. + +His sudden appearance was a great surprise to all the members of the +numerous family. It is not surprising that the young man, elated by +his brilliant prospects, assumed rather lordly airs. His dress was new +and quite elegant. He had purchased a handsome watch, which he was not +reluctant to display. He had in his pocket twenty-five dollars of +silver coin. + +Franklin's brother James, from whom he had run away, was greatly +annoyed by the airs of superiority assumed by his old apprentice. With +a cold and almost scornful eye, he scanned his person from head to +foot, scarcely offering his hand in greeting, and soon coldly and +silently returned to his work. But the imperial young man was not thus +to be put down. His former acquaintances gathered eagerly around him +and listened with intensest interest to the narrative of his +adventures. In glowing terms, Benjamin described his new home in +Philadelphia, drew out from his pocket handfuls of silver which he +exhibited to them, and with quite lordly dignity gave his former +fellow-journeymen money to go to the ale-house for a treat. + +The candid reader will make some allowances for the conduct of +Benjamin, when he remembers that but a few months before, he had run +away to escape the cudgel of his brother. He will also feel inclined +to make some allowance for James, when informed that he was in +adversity, and struggling severely with pecuniary embarrassment. The +Courant, deprived of the graphic pen of Franklin, was rapidly losing +its subscribers, and soon became extinct. + +Benjamin's father Josiah, who needed in his own business every dollar +of the funds he could raise, silently and almost without remark, read +the letter of Sir William Keith, and listened attentively to the +glowing descriptions of his son. Soon after Captain Holmes arrived. +The judicious father conversed fully with him, and expressed his +opinion that Sir William Keith must be a man of but little discretion +to think of setting up independently, in very responsible business, a +young man of but eighteen years of age. + +Though Captain Holmes earnestly advocated the views of the Governor, +Josiah Franklin, after mature deliberation, decisively declined +furnishing the necessary funds. + +"Benjamin," said he, "is too young to undertake an enterprise so +important. I am much gratified that he has been able to secure the +approbation of the Governor of Pennsylvania, and that by his industry +and fidelity he has been able to attain prosperity so remarkable. If +he will return to Philadelphia and work diligently until he is +twenty-one, carefully laying up his surplus earnings, I will then do +everything in my power to aid him." + +The cautious Christian father then gave his son some very salutary +advice. He entreated him to be more careful in throwing out his arrows +of satire, and to cease presenting, in the aspect of the ridiculous, +so many subjects which religious men regarded with veneration. He +wrote a very courteous letter to Sir William Keith, thanking him for +his kindness to his son, and stating his reasons for declining the +proposed aid. Indeed, Josiah Franklin was intellectually, morally, and +in all sound judgment, immeasurably the superior of the fickle and +shallow royal Governor. + +Sixty years after this visit of Franklin to his paternal home, he +wrote a letter to the son of the Rev. Cotton Mather, from which we +make the following pleasing extract: + + "The last time I saw your father was in the beginning of + 1724, when I visited him after my first trip to Pennsylvania. + He received me in his library; and on my taking leave showed + me a shorter way out of the house through a narrow passage + which was crossed by a beam overhead. We were still talking + as I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, and I, turning + partly toward him, when he said hastily, _stoop, stoop!_ I + did not understand him till I felt my head hit against the + beam. He was a man that never missed any occasion of giving + instruction; and upon this he said to me 'You are young and + have the world before you. Stoop as you go through it, and + you will miss many hard thumps.' This advice, thus beat into + my head, has frequently been of use to me. And I often think + of it when I see pride mortified and misfortunes brought + upon people by their carrying their heads too high." + +There was in Boston a young man by the name of Collins, a reckless, +dissipated spendthrift, of very considerable personal attractions. He +had been quite an intimate friend of Franklin; and was so pleased with +his descriptions of Philadelphia that he decided to remove there. This +proved one of the calamities of Franklin's life. + +Franklin eventually embarked, in a sloop, for his return. It touched +at Newport. His brother John lived there, pursuing the trade of a +candle-maker. Benjamin was received by him with great cordiality. At +Newport, among the other passengers, two young girls were taken on +board for New York. They were showy, voluble, gaudily dressed. All +their arts were exerted to secure intimate association with Franklin. + +A venerable Quaker lady on board called the inexperienced young man +aside, and with motherly tenderness warned him against their wiles. +Though he doubted the necessity of this caution, he was put upon his +guard. When the girls left at New York, he declined their pressing +invitation for him to visit them at their home, and he learned from +the captain that they had undoubtedly stolen from him a silver spoon, +an article then not often seen in common life, and highly prized. +They were charged with the crime, convicted, and it is said that they +were publicly whipped in the market place. + +Upon Franklin's arrival at New York, Collins, the playmate of his +childhood, was one of the first to meet him. In his earlier days he +had been sober, industrious, and was highly esteemed for his mental +powers and attainments. But he had become intemperate and a gambler, +and was every day intoxicated. Reduced almost to beggary, Franklin +felt compelled to furnish him with money to save him from starvation. +Penniless he had come on board the boat at New York, and Franklin paid +his passage to Philadelphia. + +William Burnett was then Governor of New York. He was very fond of +books and had collected a large library. Franklin also had the same +taste and had a large number of books which he was conveying to +Philadelphia. The captain informed the Governor that he had a young +man on board fond of books, and of superior literary attainments. The +Governor begged the captain to bring young Franklin to see him. + +"I waited upon him," wrote Franklin, "and would have taken Collins +with me had he been sober. The Governor received me with great +civility; and we had a good deal of conversation relative to books +and authors. This was the second Governor who had done me the honor to +take notice of me, and to a poor boy like me it was very pleasing." + +Upon reaching Philadelphia, Franklin presented the letter of his +father to Sir William Keith. The Governor, upon reading the letter, +said, + +"Your father is too prudent. There is a great difference in persons. +Discretion does not always accompany years; nor is youth always +without it. But since he will not set you up, I will do it myself. +Give me an inventory of the things necessary to be had from England, +and I will send for them. You shall repay me when you are able. I am +resolved to have a good printer here and I am sure you must succeed." + +Franklin supposed of course, that he could rely upon the word of the +Governor. He drew up an inventory of goods to the amount of about five +hundred dollars. The strange Governor, who found it very easy to talk, +ran his eye over the list and as if money were a consideration of no +moment to him, and suggested that Franklin should go to London in +person. Greatly elated at this idea, young Franklin eagerly embraced +it, and the Governor directed him to be ready to embark in the London +Hope, a ship which sailed regularly between London and Philadelphia, +leaving each port once a year. + +Several months would elapse before the ship would sail. Sir William +enjoined it upon Franklin to keep their plans in the utmost secrecy. +Consequently, Franklin continued to work for Keimer, not giving him +the slightest intimation that measures were in progress for the +establishment in Philadelphia, of a printing house which would +entirely overshadow his own. This secrecy which was practiced also +prevented any one from informing Franklin of the Governor's real +character, as a vain, unreliable, gasconading boaster. + +Six months passed away. They were with Franklin happy months. +He was in perfect health, greatly enjoyed his own physical and +intellectual attributes, was much caressed, and was engaged in +lucrative employment. He was highly convivial in his tastes, very +fond of social pleasures, of the wine cup and of the song: and on +Sundays in particular, the enchanting forests of the Schuylkill +resounded with the songs and the shouts of the merry bacchanals, +led by Franklin, who was ever recognized as their chief. + +There probably never was a young man more skillful than Benjamin +Franklin in plucking the rose and avoiding the thorn. In all his +festivities he was the thoughtful philosopher. Never did he drink to +excess; no money was squandered at the gaming table. Carefully he +avoided all views which he deemed vulgar and degrading; and he made it +the general rule of his life, to avoid everything which would bring +pain to his body, or remorse to his soul. + +Still man is born to mourn. Even Franklin could not escape the general +lot. The drunken Collins became his constant scourge. Franklin felt +constrained to lend his old friend money. He had been entrusted by a +family friend, a Mr. Vernon, to collect a debt of about fifty dollars. +This money he was to retain till called for. But to meet his own +expenses and those of his spendthrift companion, he began to draw +upon it, until it all disappeared. He was then troubled with the +apprehension that the money might be demanded. Bitter were the +quarrels which arose between him and John Collins. His standard of +morality which was perhaps not less elevated than that which the +majority of imperfect professing Christians practice, was certainly +below that which the religion of Jesus Christ enjoins. Had he been a +true Christian according to the doctrines and precepts of Jesus, he +would have escaped these accumulating sorrows. + +[Illustration] + +This breaking in upon his friend Vernon's money, and spending it, +he pronounces in his autobiography, to have been the _first great +error_ of his life. Though it so chanced that the money was not +required until Franklin was able to pay it, yet for several months +he was in the endurance of intense mental anxiety and constant +self-reproach. + +At length, Collins and Franklin became so antagonistic to each other +as to proceed to violence. They were on a pleasure party in a boat +down the river. Collins, as usual, was intoxicated. The wrath of the +muscular Benjamin was so aroused, by some act of abuse, that he seized +the fellow by the collar and pitched him overboard. Collins was a good +swimmer. They therefore kept him in the water till he was nearly +drowned. When pretty thoroughly humbled, and upon his most solemn +promise of good behavior, he was again taken on board. Seldom after +this was a word exchanged between them. Collins, deeply indebted to +Franklin, accepted of some business offer at Barbadoes. He sailed for +that island, and was never heard of more. + +Almost every young man has a few particular friends. The three most +intimate companions of Benjamin Franklin were young men of his own +rank and age, of very dissimilar characters, but having a common taste +for business. They were all clerks. One of these, Joseph Watson, was, +according to Franklin's description, "a pious, sensible young man of +great integrity." It would seem that they were all persons of very +estimable character, though some of them had imbibed Franklin's +skeptical opinions. They spent many of their Sabbaths, wandering on +the banks of the romantic Schuylkill, reading to each other their +compositions in prose and verse. + +James Ralph, who was very emphatic in his deistical views, in his +enthusiasm, decided to devote himself to the art of rhyming. The +sensible Franklin tried to dissuade him from his folly, but in vain. +On one occasion they all agreed to attempt a version of the Eighteenth +Psalm. This sublime production of an inspired pen contains, in fifty +verses, imagery as grand and sentiments as beautiful, as perhaps can +anywhere else be found, within the same compass, in any language. It +certainly speaks well for the intellectual acumen of these young men, +and for their devotional instincts, that they should have selected so +noble a theme. As their main object was to improve themselves in the +command of language, and in the power of expression, they could not +have chosen a subject more appropriate, than the Psalmist's +description of the descent of God to earth. + + "He bowed the heavens also and came down; and darkness was under + his feet. + And He rode upon a cherub and did fly; + Yea he did fly upon the wings of the wind. + He made darkness his secret place. + His pavilion round about him were dark waters, thick clouds of + the skies. + At the brightness which was before him his thick clouds passed. + Hail stones and coals of fire."[5] + +[Footnote 5: The intelligent reader will recall the glowing version of +this Psalm, by Steinhold. + + "The Lord descended from above, + And bowed the heavens most high; + And underneath his feet he cast + The darkness of the sky. + On cherub and on cherubim, + Full royally he rode; + And on the wings of mighty winds, + Came flying all abroad."] + +Joseph Watson died quite young, in the arms of Franklin. Charles +Osborne acquired money and reputation, as a lawyer. Removing to the +West Indies, he died, in the prime of life. + +Franklin and Osborne entered into the agreement, which has so often +been made, that whichever should first die, should, if possible, +return to the other and reveal to him the secrets of the spirit land. +It is hardly necessary to say that Franklin watched long in vain, for +a visit from his departed companion. + +Two months before Franklin sailed for London, Mr. Read, with whom he +boarded, died. With the father, mother, and very pretty and amiable +daughter, Deborah, Franklin had found a happy home. A strong affection +apparently sprang up between the two young people. She was seventeen +years of age, and Franklin eighteen. Their union would be eminently +fitting, as in fortune and position in society, they were on the same +level. + +Franklin, enjoying the patronage of the governor, and with, as he +supposed, very brilliant prospects before him, entered into an +engagement with Deborah, and was anxious to be married before he +embarked for England, designing to leave his young bride at home with +her mother. But Mrs. Read, in consideration of their youth, urged that +the nuptials should be postponed until after his return. + +Sir William Keith continued to invite Franklin to his house, and +lavished commendation and promises upon him. Still he continually +postponed giving him any letters of credit with which he could +purchase types, paper and press. Though, as the hour for sailing +approached, Franklin called again and again to obtain the needful +documents, he was continually met with apologies. At length, the day +for the ship to weigh anchor arrived. It was about the 5th of +November, 1724. + +At that late hour the private secretary of the Governor called +upon Franklin and informed him that Sir William would meet him at +Newcastle, where the vessel was to cast anchor, and would then and +there, deliver to him all the important documents. Franklin went on +board. The ship dropped down the broad and beautiful Delaware, +whose banks were brilliant with foliage in their richest autumnal +brilliance, about thirty-two miles below Philadelphia, to Newcastle. +To the great disappointment of Franklin, the Governor still did not +appear. He however sent his secretary, with a profusion of excuses, +and professing to be pressed with business of the utmost importance, +promised to send the letters to the captain before the vessel would be +permitted to sail. + +Franklin, naturally buoyant and hopeful, did not even then, consider +it possible that the Governor was intending to deceive him. Neither +was it possible to conceive of any motive which would induce Sir +William to betray him by so deceptive a game. At length a bag from the +Governor, apparently filled with letters and dispatches, was brought +on board, and again the vessel unfurled her sails. Franklin, with some +solicitude, asked for those which were directed to him. But Captain +Annis, all engrossed with the cares of embarkation, said that he was +too busy to examine the bag at that time, but that they would, at +their leisure, on the voyage select the letters. + +On the 10th of November, 1724, the good ship, the London Hope, pushed +out from the Delaware upon the broad Atlantic. We know not whether +Franklin was surprised to find on board, as one of the passengers, his +poetical deistical friend James Ralph. This young man, who had +renounced Christianity, in the adoption of principles, which he +professed to believe conducive to the formation of a much higher moral +character, had deliberately abandoned his wife and child to seek +his fortune in London. He had deceived them by the most false +representation. Carefully he concealed from Franklin, his unprincipled +conduct and visionary schemes. + +The voyage was long and rough, as the vessel did not reach London +until the twenty-fourth of November. On the passage he very carefully, +with the captain, examined the letter-bag. But no letter was found +addressed to him. There were several, however, addressed to other +persons, with Franklin's name upon the envelope as if they were in his +care. As one of these was addressed to the king's printer and another +to a stationer in London, the sanguine young man through all the +dreary and protracted voyage, clung to the hope that all was right. + +Upon arriving in London, Franklin hastened first to the stationer's +and presented him with the letter, saying to him, "Here is a letter +from Governor Keith, of Pennsylvania." The stationer looked up with +surprise and said: + +"Governor Keith! I do not know of any such person." Then breaking the +seal, and looking at the signature, he said very contemptuously, +"Riddlesden. I have lately found him to be a complete rascal. I will +have nothing to do with him, nor receive any letters from him."[6] + +[Footnote 6: We both of us happen to know, as well as the stationer, +that Riddlesden, the attorney, was a very knave. He had half ruined +Miss Read's father by persuading him to be bound for him. By +his letter it appeared there was a secret scheme on foot to the +prejudice of Mr. Hamilton; that Keith was concerned in it with +Riddlesden.--Works of Franklin, by Sparks, Vol. i, p. 55.] + +So saying he thrust the letter back into Franklin's hand, and turned +away to serve a customer. Franklin was almost stunned with this +intelligence. He immediately conferred with a Mr. Denham, a judicious +friend whose acquaintance he had made on board the ship. They +ascertained that the infamous Governor, from motives which it is +difficult to comprehend, had not furnished Franklin with a single +document. There was not a bill of credit or a single letter of +introduction, commending the young adventurer to people in London. +Denham then told him that no one who knew Keith had the slightest +confidence in his promises. That the idea that he would furnish him +with any letters of credit was preposterous, since Sir William had no +credit with any body. + +And thus Franklin found himself with his companion James Ralph, alone +in the great world of London, without any letters of introduction, +without any prospect of employment, and almost without money. The +virtues of Franklin had exerted a restraining influence upon the +unprincipled Ralph, and Franklin had not as yet become acquainted with +the true basis of his character. The two young men met together to +consult in this dilemma and to examine their finances. It appeared +that Ralph had scarcely one penny in his pocket. He had intended to be +a hanger-on upon Franklin, in whose ability to take care of himself +and others he had the greatest confidence. Franklin's purse contained +about fifty dollars. + +Again he returned to consult with Mr. Denham. He very wisely advised +Franklin to seek employment in some of the printing offices in London. +He encouraged him with the thought that thus with a few months' labor, +he might not only pay his expenses, but also lay up a sufficient sum +to defray his passage home. + +Franklin gradually perceived to his dismay, what an old man of the sea +he had got upon his shoulders in the person of James Ralph. The +following is his calm comment upon the atrocious conduct of Keith: + +"What shall we think," he writes, "of a governor playing such pitiful +tricks, and imposing so grossly upon a poor ignorant boy? It was a +habit he had acquired; he wished to please every body, and having +little to give, he gave expectations. He was otherwise an ingenuous, +sensible man, a pretty good writer, and a good governor for the +people, though not for his constituents the proprietaries. Several of +our best laws were of his planning, and passed during his +administration." + +The entire absence of anger in this statement, has won for Franklin +great commendation. + +With his dependent protege Ralph, he took humble lodgings in Little +Britain street. Ralph had remarkable powers of conversation, with much +more than ordinary literary talent, and could, whenever he wished, +make himself very agreeable and almost fascinating as a companion. But +he was quite a child as to all ability to take care of himself. +Franklin really loved him at that time. He was a very handsome young +man, graceful in his demeanor; and those who listened to his eloquent +harangues would imagine that he was destined to attain to greatness. + +Franklin immediately applied for work at the great printing +establishment of Palmer in Bartholomew Close. Fifty journeymen +were here employed. He promptly entered into a contract with the +proprieter for the remuneration of about six dollars a week. Ralph, +characteristically hurried to the theatre to enter upon the profession +of a play-actor. Being disappointed in that attempt, his next plan was +to edit a newspaper to be called the Spectator. Not being able to find +a publisher, he then went the rounds of the law offices, in search of +copying, but not even this, could he obtain. In the meantime they were +both supported by the purse of Franklin. With fifty dollars in his +pocket, and earning six dollars a week, he felt quite easy in his +circumstances, and was quite generous in his expenditure for their +mutual enjoyment. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +_Mental and Moral Conflicts._ + + Faithfulness to work--Neglect of Deborah Read--Treatise on + Liberty and Necessity--Skill in swimming--Return to + America--Marriage of Miss Read--Severe sickness--Death of + Mr. Denham--Returns to Keimer's employ--The Junto--His + Epitaph--Reformation of his treatise on Liberty and + Necessity--Franklin's creed. + + +Franklin and Ralph were essentially congenial in their tastes. Neither +of them were religiously inclined in the ordinary acceptation of those +words. But the thoughtful philosophy of Franklin has by many been +regarded as the development of an instinctively religious character. +They were both exceedingly fond of amusement and especially of +pleasure excursions on the Sabbath. Very seldom, did either the +intellect or the heart lure them to listen to such teachings as they +would hear from the pulpit. It certainly would have been better for +them both, had they been church-going young men. There was no pulpit +in all London from which they would not hear the reiterated counsel, +Cease to do evil; learn to do well. + +Franklin was faithful in the highest degree to his employer. +Weary with the day's toil, which with his active mind was highly +intellectual as well as mechanical, he almost invariably in the +evening sought recreation with Ralph in the theatre. It is safe to +infer that the best productions of our best dramatists, were those +which would most interest the mind of our young philosopher. Ralph was +daily gaining an increasing influence over his mind. It is said that +we are prone to love more ardently those upon whom we confer favors +than those from whom we receive them. + +To these two young men the pleasures of London seemed inexhaustible. +Franklin began to forget his old home and his friends. He began to +think that London was a very pleasant place of residence, and that it +was doubtful whether he should ever return to America again. He had +constant employment, the prospect of an increasing income, and with +his economical habits he had ample funds to relieve himself from all +pecuniary embarrassment. With his friend Ralph, he was leading a very +jovial life, free from all care. + +His love for Deborah Read began to vanish away. He thought very +seldom of her: seldom could he find time to write to her; and ere +long his letters ceased altogether; and she was cruelly left to the +uncertainty of whether he was alive or dead. Ralph had entirely +forgotten his wife and child, and Franklin had equally forgotten his +affianced. In subsequent years the memory of this desertion seems to +have weighed heavily on him. He wrote in his advanced life in +reference to his treatment of Deborah, + + "This was another of the great errors of my life; which I + could wish to correct were I to live it over again." + +For nearly a year, Franklin thus continued in the employment of Mr. +Palmer, receiving good wages and spending them freely. A very highly +esteemed clergyman of the Church of England named Wollaston, had +written a book entitled, "The Religion of Nature Delineated." It was a +work which obtained much celebrity in those days and was published by +Mr. Palmer. It was of the general character of Butler's Analogy, and +was intended to prove that the morality enjoined by Jesus Christ, was +founded in the very nature of man; and that the principles of that +morality were immutable, even though deists should succeed in +destroying the public faith in the divine authority of Christianity. +It was eminently an amiable book, written with great charity and +candor, and without any dogmatic assumptions. + +It chanced to fall to Franklin to set up the type. As was customary +with him, he made himself thoroughly acquainted with the treatise of +which he thus became the compositor. His mind was in such a state in +reference to the claims of that Christianity which certainly did not +commend the mode of life he was living, that it excited not only +antagonistic but even angry emotions. So thoroughly were his feelings +aroused, that he wrote and published a pamphlet of thirty-two pages, +in refutation of the theory of Mr. Wollaston. + +Franklin dedicated his work, which was entitled "A dissertation +on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain," to James Ralph. +Fortunately, the treatise has descended to us unmutilated. He +commences with the observation: + + "I have here given you my present thoughts upon the general + state of things in the universe." + +The production was certainly a very able one to come from the pen of a +young printer of but nineteen years. Mr. Palmer, while recognizing its +ability, pronounced its principles to be atrocious and demoralizing. +The production of such a work, literary, philosophical and religious, +by probably the youngest companion of the journeymen printers, caused +them all to open their eyes with astonishment, and he was regarded at +once as a great man among them.[7] + +[Footnote 7: In this extraordinary document our young deist writes, +"There is said to be a first mover, who is called God, who is all +wise, all good, all powerful. If he is all good, whatsoever he doeth +must be good. If he is all wise, whatever he doeth must be wise. That +there are things to which we give the name of _Evil_, is not to be +denied--such as theft, murder, etc. But these are not in reality +evils. To suppose anything to exist or to be done contrary to the will +of the Almighty is to suppose him not Almighty. There is nothing done +but God either does or permits. Though a creature may do many actions, +which, by his fellow creatures, will be named evil, yet he can not act +what will be in itself displeasing to God. + +"We will sum up the argument thus, When the Creator first designed the +universe, either it was his will that all should exist and be in the +manner they are at this time, or it was his will that they should be +otherwise. To say it was His will things should be otherwise, is to +say that somewhat hath contradicted His will; which is impossible. +Therefore we must allow that all things exist now in a manner +agreeable to His will; and, in consequence of that, all are equally +good and therefore equally esteemed by Him. No condition of life or +being is better or preferable to another." + +This whole treatise may be found in the appendix to the first volume +of Parton's Life of Franklin.] + +The deists of London, who had united in a club of merry +free-thinkers, holding their meetings at an ale-house, sought out +Franklin and drew him into their convivial gatherings. These men had +no common principle of belief; they were united only in the negative +principle of unbelief in the Christian religion. Ralph had formed a +connection with a young milliner, by whom, through his many +fascinations, he was mainly supported. + +Franklin, with his increasing expenditures, was now disposed to +shake off Ralph, as he needed all his money for his own convivial +enjoyments. Ralph went into the country and opened a school, where he +utterly failed. The unhappy milliner, ruined in character, and with a +little child, wrote to Franklin imploring aid. Her letters touched his +kindly heart. He could never see sorrow without wishing to relieve it. +He furnished her with money, in small sums, to the amount of one +hundred and thirty dollars; and worst of all, we regret to say that he +commenced treating her with such familiarity, that she, still faithful +to Ralph, repulsed him indignantly.[8] + +[Footnote 8: Franklin writes in his autobiography, "I grew fond of her +company, and being at that time under no religious restraint, and +taking advantage of my importance to her, I attempted to take some +liberties with her, another _erratum_, which she repulsed with a +proper degree of resentment. She wrote to Ralph and acquainted him +with my conduct. This occasioned a breach between us; and when he +returned to London, he let me know he considered all the obligations +he had been under to me as annulled."--Works of Franklin, Vol. i, p. +59.] + +Franklin does not conceal these _foibles_, as he regarded them, these +_sins_ as Christianity pronounces them. He declares this simply to +have been another of the great errors of his youth. She informed Ralph +of his conduct. He was enraged, broke off all further communication +with Franklin, and thirty-five years passed away before they met +again. Ralph, goaded to desperation, gained a wretched living in +various literary adventures; writing for any body, on any side, and +for any price. Indeed he eventually gained quite an ephemeral +reputation. He could express himself with vivacity, and several quite +prominent politicians sought the aid of his pen. + +Franklin, thus relieved from the support of Ralph, soon after entered +a more extensive printing house, at Lincoln's Inn Fields. Though he +was exceedingly fond of a sparkling glass of wine in his convivial +hours, he was too much of a philosopher to stupefy his brain in +guzzling beer. His habitual daily beverage was cold water. + + "My companion at the press," he wrote, "drank every day a + pint before breakfast, a pint at breakfast with his bread and + cheese, a pint between breakfast and dinner, a pint at + dinner, and another when he had done his day's work. I + thought it a detestable custom. But it was necessary, he + supposed, to drink strong beer that he might be strong to + labor. I endeavored to convince him that the bodily strength + afforded by beer could only be in proportion to the grain or + the barley dissolved in the water of which it was made; that + there was more flour in a pennyworth of bread, and, + therefore, if he could eat that with a pint of water, it + would give him more strength than a quart of beer. He drank + on, however, and had four or five shillings to pay, out of + his wages, every Saturday night, for that vile liquor; an + expense I was free from; and thus these poor devils keep + themselves always under." + +Again Franklin wrote in characteristic phrase, in reference to the +influence of his example over some of his companions, + + "From my example, a great many of them left their muddling + breakfast of bread, beer and cheese, finding they could, + with me, be supplied from a neighboring house, with a large + porringer of hot water gruel, sprinkled with pepper, + crumbled with bread and a bit of butter in it, for the price + of a pint of beer,--three half-pence. This was a more + comfortable, as well as a cheaper breakfast, and kept their + heads clearer. Those who continued sotting with their beer + all day, were often, by not paying, out of credit at the + ale-house; and used to make interest with me to get beer; + their _light_ as they phrased it being out. I watched the + pay table on Saturday night, and collected what I stood + engaged for them, having to pay sometimes on their account." + +Franklin's skill in swimming, as we have mentioned was very +remarkable. At one time he swam from London to Chelsea, a distance of +four miles. Several of his companions he taught to swim in two +lessons. His celebrity was such that he was urged to open a swimming +school.[9] The life of self-indulgence he was now living in London, +was not such as even his loose religious principles could approve. He +had abandoned the faith of his fathers, and had adopted, for his rule +of conduct, the principle, that it was right to yield to any +indulgences to which his passions incited him. He became tired of +London, and probably found it necessary to break away from the +influences and associates with which he had surrounded himself. + +[Footnote 9: "On one of these days I was, to my surprise, sent for by +a great man I knew only by name, Sir William Wyndham. He had heard of +my swimming from Chelsea to Blackfriars and of my teaching Wygate and +another young man to swim in a few hours. He had two sons about to set +out on their travels. He wished to have them first taught swimming, +and proposed to gratify me handsomely if I would teach them. They were +not yet come to town, and my stay was uncertain, so I could not +undertake it. But from the incident I thought it likely that if I were +to remain in England and opened a swimming-school I might get a good +deal of money. And it struck me so strongly that had the overture been +made me sooner, probably I should not so soon have returned to +America."--Autobiography, Vol. I. p. 66.] + +Mr. Denham, his companion of voyage, had decided to return to +Philadelphia, and open an extensive store. He offered Franklin two +hundred and fifty dollars a year as book-keeper. Though this was less +than the sum Franklin was then earning, as compositor, there were +prospects of his advancement. This consideration, in addition to his +desire to escape from London, led him to accept the offer. He was now +twenty years of age. It does not appear that he had thus far formed +any deliberate plan for his life's work. He floated along as the +current of events drifted him. + +On the twenty-first of July, 1726, Franklin embarked on board the ship +Berkshire for Philadelphia. He had been absent from America but little +more than a year and a half. During this time he had not increased his +fortune, for he had spent his money as fast as he had earned it. After +a voyage of eighty days, the ship cast anchor before Philadelphia. At +that time ships were often from three to seven months effecting the +passage across the Atlantic. + +As usual Franklin kept a diary punctually during his long voyage. Its +pages were replete with pithy remarks of wit and wisdom. He was very +fond of a game of checkers, and in that amusement beguiled many weary +hours. We find the following striking comments upon the diversion in +his journal: + + "It is a game I much delight in. But it requires a clear head + and undisturbed. The persons playing, if they would play + well, ought not much to regard the _consequences_ of the + game; for that diverts and withdraws the mind from the game + itself, and makes the player liable to make many false, open + moves. I will venture to lay it down for an infallible rule + that if two persons equal in judgment, play for a + considerable sum, he that loves money most, shall lose. His + anxiety for the success of the game confounds him. Courage is + almost as requisite for the good conduct of this game as in a + real battle; for if the player imagines himself opposed by + one that is much his superior in skill, his mind is so intent + on the defensive part, that an advantage passes unobserved." + +The Governor of the Isle of Wight had died, leaving the reputation +of having been one of the most consummate scoundrels who ever +exercised despotic power. Franklin, in his treatise upon "Liberty and +Necessity," written but a few months before, had assumed that there +was no such thing as good and evil; that God ordered and controlled +every event; and that consequently every event was in accordance with +His will, and alike pleasing in His sight. But now we find the +following record in his journal, which most readers will recognize as +inconsistent with the young philosopher's theological opinions. He +writes: + + "At the death of this governor, it appeared that he was a + great villain, and a great politician. There was no crime so + damnable, which he would stick at in the execution of his + designs. And yet he had the art of covering all so thick, + that with almost all men in general, while he lived he passed + for a saint. In short, I believe it is impossible for a man, + though he has all the cunning of a devil, to live and die a + villain, and yet conceal it so well as to carry the name of + an honest fellow to the grave with him, but some one by some + accident or other, shall discover him. Truth and sincerity + have a certain distinguishing, native lustre about them, + which cannot be perfectly counterfeited. They are like fire + and flame that cannot be painted." + +We should infer, from some intimations in Franklin's diary, that he +was troubled by some qualms of conscience, in view of his abandonment +of Miss Read, and his irregular life in London. He has left a paper in +which he stated that he had never formed any regular plan for the +control of his conduct: that he was now about to enter on a new life; +and that he was resolved that henceforth he would speak the truth, be +industrious in his business, and speak ill of no man. These were +rather meagre resolutions for a young man under these circumstances to +adopt. + +Soon after landing at Philadelphia, Franklin chanced to meet Sir +William Keith in the streets. The governor seemed much embarrassed, +and passed by without speaking. It does not appear that the +acquaintance was ever resumed. The governor lived nearly twenty-five +years afterward, a dishonored and ruined man, and died in the extreme +of poverty. + +Poor Miss Read, heart-broken, and deeming herself forever abandoned, +yielded to the importunities of her friends and married a mechanic by +the name of Rogers. He proved to be a thoroughly worthless fellow. His +unconcealed profligacy, and unfaithfulness to his wife, compelled her, +after a few months of wretchedness, to return to her mother, and to +resume her maiden name. The profligate husband fled from his creditors +to the West Indies. Rumors soon reached Philadelphia of his death, +leaving probably another wife. + +Franklin entered upon his duties as clerk of Mr. Denham, with his +accustomed energy and skill. He carried into his new vocation, all his +intellectual sagacity, and speedily won not only the confidence but +the affection of his employer. He lived with Mr. Denham, and being +always disposed to look upon the bright side of everything, even of +his own imperfections, notwithstanding his infidelity to Miss Read, he +seems to have been a very happy and even jovial young man. + +Four months after Franklin had entered upon his mercantile career, +both Mr. Denham and Franklin were seized with the pleurisy. Mr. Denham +died. Franklin, though brought near to the grave, recovered. He +writes: + + "I suffered a great deal; gave up the point in my own mind; + and was at the time rather disappointed when I found myself + recovering; regretting in some degree that I must now, + sometime or other, have all that disagreeable work to do over + again." + +The death of Mr. Denham broke up the establishment, and Franklin was +thrown out of employment. Keimer, in whose service he had formerly +been engaged, again made him an offer to superintend a printing +office. Franklin accepted the proposition. There were five inefficient +hands, whom Franklin was expected to transform into accomplished +printers. With these, and a few others, he organized a literary club, +called the "Junto; or the Leathern Apron Club," as nearly every member +was a mechanic. + +The club met every Friday evening, and the wine cup, to stimulate +conviviality, passed freely among them. There were twenty-four +questions, which were every evening read, to which answers were to be +returned by any one who could answer them. Between each question, it +was expected that each member would fill, and empty, his glass. One +would think that the wine must have been very weak, or the heads of +these young men very strong, to enable them to quaff twenty-four +glasses unharmed. We give a few of the questions as specimens of their +general character. + + 1. "Have you met with anything in the author you last read? + + 3. "Has any citizen in your knowledge failed, and have you + heard the cause? + + 7. "What unhappy effects of intemperance have you lately + observed? + + 12. "Has any deserving stranger arrived in town since your + last meeting? + + 16. "Has anybody attacked your reputation lately? + + 23. "Is there any difficulty which you would gladly have + discussed at this time?" + +Debates, declamation, and the reading of essays added to the +entertainment of these gatherings. Stories were told, and bacchanal +songs sung. No man could tell a better story, and few men could sing a +better song than Benjamin Franklin. No one was deemed a suitable +member of the club, who would not contribute his full quota to the +entertainment or instruction. The questions proposed by Franklin for +discussion, developed the elevated intellectual region his thoughts +were accustomed to range. We give a few as specimens. + + "Can any one particular form of government suit all mankind? + + "Should it be the aim of philosophy to eradicate the + passions? + + "Is perfection attainable in this life? + + "What general conduct of life is most suitable for men in + such circumstances as most of the members of the Junto are?" + +The Junto was limited to twelve members. It soon became so popular +that applications for admission became very frequent. Six months +passed rapidly away, when Keimer, who was an exceedingly immoral and +worthless man, and was fast going to ruin, in some fit of drunkenness, +or ungovernable irritation, entered the office, and assailed Franklin +with such abuse, that he took his hat, and repaired to his lodgings, +resolved never to return. + +Franklin was twenty-one years of age. He had laid up no money. He was +still but a journeyman printer. The draft which he had received from +Mr. Vernon for fifty dollars had not yet been paid. He was exceedingly +mortified when he allowed himself to reflect upon this delinquency +which certainly approached dishonesty. In this emergence he conferred +with a fellow journeyman by the name of Hugh Meredith, whose father +was a gentleman of considerable property. Meredith proposed that they +should enter into partnership, he furnishing the funds, and Franklin +the business capacity. + +At that time Franklin, remembering his narrow escape from the grave +by the pleurisy, wrote his own epitaph which has been greatly +celebrated. It has generally been admired; but some of more sensitive +minds perceive in it a tone which is somewhat repulsive. + + "The Body + of + BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, + _Printer_, + (Like the cover of an old book, + Its contents torn out, + And stripped of its lettering and gilding,) + Lies here, food for worms. + Yet the work itself shall not be lost, + For it will, as he believed, appear once more, + In a new + And more beautiful edition, + Corrected and amended + By + THE AUTHOR." + +The excellencies of Franklin did not run in the line of exquisite +sensibilities. At the early age of fifteen he began to cast off the +restraints of the religion of his father and mother. Nearly all his +associates were what were called Free-thinkers. He could not be blind +to their moral imperfections. Mr. Parton writes, + + "His old friend Collins, he remembered, was a Free-thinker, + and Collins had gone astray. Ralph was a Free-thinker, and + Ralph was a great sinner. Keith was a Free-thinker, and + Keith was the greatest liar in Pennsylvania. Benjamin + Franklin was a Free-thinker, and how shamefully he had + behaved to Ralph's mistress, to Mr. Vernon and Miss Read, + whose young life had been blighted through him."[10] + +[Footnote 10: Parton's Life of Franklin, Vol. I, p. 168.] + +Franklin's creed thus far, consisted only of negations. He had no +belief; he had only unbelief. Indeed he seems to have become quite +ashamed of his treatise upon Liberty and Necessity, published in +London, and felt constrained to write a refutation of it.[11] As this +strange young man in his discontent looked over the religions of +the world, he could find no one that met his views. He therefore +deliberately and thoughtfully sat down to form a religion of his own. +Many such persons have appeared in the lapse of the ages, and almost +invariably they have announced their creeds with the words, "Thus +saith the Lord." But our young printer of twenty-two years, made no +profession whatever, of any divine aid. He simply said, "Thus saith my +thoughts." One would think he could not have much confidence in those +thoughts, when it is remembered that at this time he was writing a +refutation of the opinions, which he had published in London but a few +months before. + +[Footnote 11: "My arguments perverted some others, especially Collins +and Ralph. But each of these having wronged me greatly without the +least compunction; and recollecting Keith's conduct towards me, who +was another Free-thinker, and my own towards Vernon and Miss Read, +which at times gave me great trouble, I began to suspect that this +doctrine, though it might be true, was not very useful. My London +pamphlet, printed in 1725, and which had for its motto, + + "'Whatever is is right,' + +and which from the attributes of God, His infinite wisdom, goodness +and power, concluded that nothing could possibly be wrong in the +world, and that vice and virtue were empty distinctions, no such +things existing, appeared now not so clever a performance, as I once +thought it; and I doubted whether some error had not insinuated itself +unperceived into my argument." + +In the year 1779, Dr. Franklin wrote to Dr. Benjamin Vaughn respecting +this pamphlet. + +"There were only one hundred copies printed, of which I gave a few to +friends. Afterwards, disliking the piece, I burnt the rest, except one +copy. I was not nineteen years of age when it was written. In 1730, I +wrote a piece on the other side of the question, which began with +laying for its foundation that almost all men, in all ages and +countries, have at times made use of prayer. + +"Thence I reasoned that if all things are ordained, prayer must be +among the rest ordained; but as prayer can procure no change in things +that are ordained, praying must then be useless and an absurdity. God +would, therefore, not ordain praying if everything else was ordained. +But praying exists, therefore all other things are not ordained. This +manuscript was never printed. The great uncertainty I found in +metaphysical reasoning disgusted me, and I quitted that kind of +reading and study for others more satisfactory."--Autobiography, p. +76.] + +The book which Franklin thus prepared was entitled "Articles of +Belief, and Acts of Religion." His simple creed was that there was one +Supreme God who had created many minor gods; that the supreme God was +so great that he did not desire the worship of man but was far above +it. + +The minor gods are perhaps immortal, and perhaps after the ages lapse +they are changed, others supplying their place. Each of these +subordinate gods has created for himself a sun with its planetary +system, over which he presides and from the inhabitants of which he +expects adoration. He writes, + + "It is that particular wise and good God, who is the author + and owner of our system that I propose for the object of my + praise and adoration. It is to be inferred that this God is + not above caring for us, is pleased with our praise, and + offended when we slight him." + +He then prepares an invocation to this god of our solar system. It is +founded on the style of the Psalms, but is immeasurably inferior to +most of those sublime utterances of the Psalmist of Israel. And still +the sentiments breathed were ennobling in their character; they proved +that Franklin was vastly superior to the thoughtless, reckless deists +who surrounded him, and that his soul was reaching forth and yearning +for higher and holier attainments. In this invocation, the whole of +which we cannot quote, he writes, + + "O Creator! O Father! I believe that thou art good; and that + thou art pleased with the pleasure of thy children. Praised + be thy name forever. By thy power thou hast made the + glorious sun with his attending worlds. By thy wisdom thou + hast formed all things. Thy wisdom, thy power, and thy + goodness are everywhere clearly seen. Thou abhorrest in thy + creatures treachery and deceit, malice, revenge, + intemperance, and every other hurtful vice. But thou art a + lover of justice and sincerity, of friendship and + benevolence, and every virtue. Thou art my friend, my + father, and my benefactor. Praised be thy name; O God, + forever. Amen." + +The prayer which followed, doubtless giving utterance to his most +inward feelings, is beautiful. + + "Inasmuch," he wrote, "as by reason of our ignorance, we + cannot be certain that many things, which we often hear + mentioned in the petitions of men to the Deity, would prove + real goods if they were in our possession, and as I have + reason to hope and believe that the goodness of my Heavenly + Father will not withhold from me a suitable share of temporal + blessings, if by a virtuous and holy life I conciliate his + favor and kindness; therefore I presume not to ask such + things; but rather humbly and with a sincere heart, express + my earnest desire that he would graciously assist my + continual endeavors and resolutions of eschewing vice and + embracing virtue, which kind of supplication will at the same + time remind me in a solemn manner of my extensive duty." + +He then added the supplication that he might be preserved from +atheism, impiety and profaneness; that he might be loyal to his +prince; that he might be gracious to those below him; that he might +refrain from calumny and detraction; that he might be sincere in +friendship, just in his dealings, grateful to his benefactors, patient +in affliction; that he might have tenderness for the weak, and that, +rejoicing in the good of others, he might become truly virtuous and +magnanimous. + +It is very evident that some unexplained circumstances had called the +attention of Franklin very earnestly to the subject of religion. He +wrote very much upon that theme, and published a new version of the +Lord's Prayer, and a lecture upon Providence and Predestination. He, +however, admits that he very seldom attended any public worship, +adding, + + "I had still an opinion of its propriety and its utility, + when rightly conducted; and I regularly paid my annual + subscription for the support of the only Presbyterian + minister." + +Rumors soon reached Franklin's good father of Boston, of his son's +free-thinking, and he wrote to his son in much alarm. In Franklin's +reply, he said, + + "All that should be expected from me, is to keep my mind + open to conviction; to hear patiently and examine + attentively whatever is offered me for that end. And if + after all I continue in the same errors, I believe your + usual charity will induce you rather to pity and excuse, + than to blame me. In the meantime, your care and concern for + me, is what I am very thankful for. My mother grieves that + one of her sons is an Arian, and another an Arminian. What + an Arminian or an Arian is, I cannot say that I very well + know. The truth is, I make such distinctions very little my + study. I think vital religion has always suffered when + orthodoxy is more regarded than virtue. And the Scriptures + assure me that at the last day we shall not be examined what + we thought but what we did." + +Franklin, having no revealed religion to guide him, and having no +foundation for his faith, but the ever-changing vagaries of his own +fantastic imagination, could have no belief to-day, of which he had +any certainty that he would hold the same to-morrow. He was +continually abandoning one after another of the articles of his +fantastical creed, and adopting others in their place. At length he +settled down upon the following simple belief, which with very +considerable tenacity, but without any attempt to promulgate it, he +adhered to for many years. It consisted of the six following articles +which we give in briefest language. + + 1. "There is one God. + + 2. "He governs the world. + + 3. "He ought to be worshipped. + + 4. "Doing good is the service most acceptable to him. + + 5. "Man is immortal. + + 6. "In the future world the souls of men will be dealt with + justly." + +It is very evident that Franklin had no great confidence in his +theological opinions. He studiously avoided all writing upon the +subject, and as far as possible all conversation. Still, with his keen +sense of humor, he could not refrain from occasionally plunging a +pretty sharp dagger's thrust into the palpable imperfections of the +various and contending sects. + +There was very little moral power, in the creed he professed, to +arrest young men, of glowing passions, and exposed to the most +difficult temptations, in their downward career. No voice of Franklin +was heard with potency calling upon those who were thronging the broad +road. In a lecture upon Providence, to his companions of the Junto, +which was subsequently published, and which reflects some considerable +honor upon the earnestness of his thoughts, he wrote, + + "I am especially discouraged when I reflect that you are all + my intimate pot-companions, who have heard me say a + thousand silly things in conversation, and therefore have + not that laudable partiality and veneration for whatever I + shall deliver that good people have for their spiritual + guides; that you have no reverence for my habit, nor for the + sanctity of my countenance; that you do not believe me + inspired, nor divinely assisted; and therefore will think + yourself at liberty to assert, or dissert, approve or + disapprove of anything I advance, canvassing and sifting it + as the private opinion of one of your acquaintance." + +Though it was Franklin's assumption that his religion was one of works +and not of faith, still it must be admitted that his life was very +inconsistent with those principles of purity, moral loveliness and +good report which the Gospel enjoins. With his remarkable honesty of +mind, in strains which we are constrained, though with regret to +record, he writes, + + "That hard-to-be governed passion of youth had hurried me + frequently into intrigues with low women that fell in my + way, which were attended with some expense and great + inconvenience, besides a continual risk to my health by + distemper, which of all things I dreaded, though by great + luck I escaped it." + +Mr. Parton writes, "It was perhaps owing to his frequent delinquencies +in this way, that his liturgy contains no allusion to a vice, which is +of all others the most alluring to a youth of Franklin's temperament. +He was too sincere and logical a man to go before his God and ask +assistance against a fault which he had not fully resolved to +overcome, and that immediately. About a year after the date of his +liturgy was born his illegitimate son William Franklin, who became +Governor of New Jersey. If laws were as easily executed as enacted, +Benjamin Franklin would have received, upon this occasion, twenty-one +lashings at the public whipping-post of Philadelphia." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +_The Dawn of Prosperity._ + + Franklin takes a house--His first job--His industry--Plans a + Newspaper--Enters the list as a writer--Advocates a Paper + currency--Purchases Keimer's paper--Character of + Meredith--Struggles of the firm--Unexpected + assistance--Dissolves partnership with Meredith--Franklin's + energetic conduct--His courtship, and marriage--Character of + Mrs. Franklin--Increase of luxury--Plans for a + library--Prosperity of Pennsylvania--Customs in + Philadelphia--Style of dress in 1726--Franklin's social + position in Philadelphia--His success--A hard student. + + +Franklin had now reached the end of life as an apprentice and a +journeyman. With his friend Meredith he hired a house in the lower +part of Market street, at the rent of about one hundred and twenty +dollars a year. A large portion of this house he prudently re-let to +another mechanic who was a member of the Junto. It would seem that +Meredith was disappointed in the amount of money he expected to raise. +Consequently after utterly exhausting their stock of cash, they still +found it necessary to run deeply into debt for those appurtenances of +a printing office which were absolutely necessary. + +Just as they got ready for work, quite to their delight, a countryman +came in introduced by one of the Junto, George House, who wanted a +five shilling job executed. + +"This man's five shillings," writes Franklin, "being our first fruits, +and coming so seasonably, gave me more pleasure than any crown I have +since earned. And from the gratitude I felt toward House, has made me +often more ready, than perhaps I otherwise should have been, to assist +young beginners." + +The two young men devoted themselves to their work, with assiduity +which was a sure precursor of success. Often Franklin was found +diligently employed until eleven o'clock at night. His industry and +energy soon attracted attention. A gentleman living near the office +said to some of his friends: + +"The industry of that Franklin is superior to anything I ever saw of +the kind. I see him still at work when I go home from the club, and he +is at work again before his neighbors are out of bed." + +This statement produced such an impression upon a merchant who was +present, that he called upon the young men and offered to supply them +with stationery on credit. Franklin's literary taste, and his +remarkable success as a writer, led him ever to cherish, as a darling +project, the idea of the establishing of a newspaper. In a few months +he had quite deliberately formed his plan; but in some way Keimer got +wind of it, and immediately issued a prospectus for the establishment +of a paper of his own. Though he was totally unqualified for the task +of editorship, yet his project was quite hurtful to the plans of +Franklin. + +Very much annoyed by the treachery which had revealed his plans to +Keimer, and perceiving that his paper was unpopular and heavy, +Franklin very wisely decided to establish his own reputation as a +vivacious writer, before entering upon the important undertaking of +issuing a journal in his own name. There was a small paper then +published in the city called "The Mercury." He commenced writing a +series of very witty and satirical articles over the signature of +"Busy Body." The first number contained the following sentences as +intimations of what was to come. + + "It is probable that I may displease a great number of your + readers who will not very well like to pay ten shillings a + year for being told of their faults, but as most people + delight in censure when they themselves are not the object of + it, if any are offended at my publicly exposing their private + vices, I promise they shall have the satisfaction in a very + little time, in seeing their good friends and neighbors in + the same circumstances." + +These sparkling contributions of Franklin attracted much attention, +and created for him a growing literary reputation. The subject of +paper money which agitated our country, was then being discussed in +Pennsylvania with intense interest. Franklin wrote a carefully studied +pamphlet entitled "A Modest Inquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a +Paper Currency." + +This treatise, written by a young printer of but twenty-three years, +upon one of the most difficult questions of finance, displayed great +ability. Warmly he advocated a paper currency. His arguments, however, +were such as would not now probably exert much influence upon the +public mind. The main proposition he endeavored to sustain was, that +there was not a sufficiency of gold and silver in Pennsylvania, for +carrying on the trade of the province. He therefore argued that all +branches of industry must languish unless the currency were increased +by an issue of paper.[12] + +[Footnote 12: This pamphlet may be found in Sparks' "Works of +Franklin," Vol. ii, p. 253.] + +It has been suggested that Franklin might have been unconsciously +influenced in his views, by the fact that he had been very successful +in printing paper money, and that he anticipated still more +employment in that line. It is certain that Franklin's pamphlet +exerted a powerful influence at the time, and a new issue of paper +currency was ordered. Franklin thought that the effect was highly +conducive to the prosperity of the province, and he never swerved from +the views which he had so earnestly and successfully urged in his +pamphlet. + +Franklin's sun was rapidly rising. Keimer's was as rapidly sinking. +After publishing thirty-nine numbers of the "Universal Instructor" and +the subscription list having dwindled to ninety, he gladly sold the +paper for a trifle to Franklin and Meredith. The genius of Franklin +was immediately displayed in the improved literary character of the +paper, and in its mechanical execution. The name was changed to the +"Pennsylvania Gazette." The first number issued by him was on Oct. 2, +1729. + +The subject of religion was almost entirely ignored. Franklin seems to +have become weary of the darkness and the fogs through which his +unillumined mind had been so long painfully floundering, without +coming to any results upon which he could place reliance. Christianity +he generally treated with respect, though he could not refrain from +occasionally giving a sly thrust at those imperfections of Christians +which were so palpable to his observant mind. And though he never +assailed that which was not inherently bad, it cannot be denied that +occasionally his keen sarcasms brought Christianity itself into +reproach, as if it were a religion which produced no better fruits, +perhaps not so good, as no religion at all. + +The business of this young firm of Franklin and Meredith, viewed in +the light of the grand printing enterprises of the present day, was +indeed trivial. The two young men did all the work themselves without +even a boy to help them. In fact Meredith, who at the best was a poor +workman, and who fell into intemperate habits, neglected his business, +frequented the ale-houses, and left all responsibility resting upon +the efficient shoulders of his partner. + +Franklin, who endeavored to be perfect in every thing he undertook, +printed his paper so admirably that it is said that there is probably +not a journal now in Philadelphia which is issued in better style than +"The Pennsylvania Gazette" of 1729. + +For seven years Franklin had been embarrassed by the thought of the +fifty dollars which he had received from Mr. Vernon, and which had not +yet been repaid. Mr. Vernon wrote him a very gentle intimation, +stating that it would be very convenient for him to receive the money. +Franklin returned a contrite and magnanimous letter. He made no +attempt to extenuate his fault, promised immediately to strain every +nerve to meet the debt, and in a few months paid the whole, principal +and interest. + +Still the infant firm was struggling with adversity. The partners had +commenced operations with scarcely any capital excepting promises. +Their outfit cost about a thousand dollars. Mr. Meredith had been +unfortunate in business, and found himself unable to pay the second +instalment promised of five hundred dollars. The stationers who +furnished paper began to be uneasy, for they could not but see that +Meredith was fast going to ruin. + +Franklin was seldom in the habit of dwelling upon his misfortunes. In +these dark hours he wrote, + + "In this distress two true friends whose kindness I have + never forgotten, nor ever shall forget while I can remember + anything, came to me separately, unknown to each other, and + without any application from me, offered each of them to + advance me all the money that should be necessary to take + the whole business upon myself; but they did not like my + continuing in partnership with Meredith, who, as they said, + was often seen drunk in the street, playing at low games in + ale-houses, much to our discredit." + +Franklin generously was very reluctant to throw aside Meredith. +Dissolute as the young man had become, he could not forget that he +was the son of a man who had been his friend; but after carefully +pondering the question and seeing ruin stare him in the face, he said +one day to Meredith, + +"Perhaps your father is dissatisfied at the part you have undertaken +in this affair of ours; and is unwilling to advance for you and me, +what he would for you. If that is the case tell me, and I will resign +the whole to you and go about my business." + +Meredith replied, + +"My father has really been disappointed, and is really unable. I am +unwilling to distress him further. I see this is a business I am unfit +for. I was bred a farmer and it was folly in me to come to town, and +put myself at thirty years of age an apprentice to learn a new trade. +Many of our Welsh people are going to settle in North Carolina where +land is cheap. I am inclined to go with them, and follow my old +employment. If you will take the debts of the company upon you, return +to my father the hundred pounds he has advanced, pay my little +personal debts, and give me thirty pounds and a new saddle, I will +relinquish the partnership, and leave the whole in your hands." + +These were hard terms; but there was no other way in which Franklin +could escape from the embarrassments of this untoward partnership. He +accepted the proposal at once; borrowed the needful money of his +friends; and became his own sole partner. + +True prosperity now began to attend his indomitable industry, +frugality, and wisdom. The advance of the young man was necessarily +slow, but it was sure. Well aware that his reputation with the +community would be invaluable to him, he not only endeavored to be +industrious, but to let it be seen by his neighbors that he left no +stone unturned to accomplish his purposes. + +He would trundle, through the streets of Philadelphia, in a +wheel-barrow, the paper which he purchased, by no means seeking +by-streets where his more fashionable companions would not see him. He +dressed with the utmost simplicity, but always in clean garments, well +cut, and which presented his admirable form to great advantage. Never +did he allow himself to sink to the vulgarity of a slatternly +appearance. He was ever ready, when engaged in the most busy +employments of his office, to receive without a blush, any guests, +however high, who might chance to call. + +The tranquil months glided on. Franklin was prospered in business, +paid his debts, and began to accumulate a little property. Our young +philosopher was never an impassioned lover. As he would contemplate, +in his increasing prosperity, removing to another more commodious +office, so he now thought, having reached the age of twenty-four, that +it might be expedient for him to have a home of his own, and a wife to +take care of his domestic affairs. + +He had let a portion of the house which he used for his printing +office, to a mechanic of the Junto by the name of Godfrey. He +conferred with Mrs. Godfrey upon the subject. She had a relative, a +very pretty girl, Miss Godfrey, whom she highly recommended and +brought, as it were by accident, to take tea with Franklin. She was +graceful, amiable, and a child of parents well to do in the world. +Franklin was a remarkably handsome and fascinating young man. The +courtship proceeded successfully and rapidly. + +The reader will be interested in seeing Franklin's own account of this +affair. He writes, in his Autobiography: + + "Mrs. Godfrey projected a match with a relation's daughter, + took opportunities of bringing us often together, till a + serious courtship on my part ensued; the girl being, in + herself, very deserving. The old folks encouraged me by + continual invitations to supper, and by leaving us together, + till at length it was time to explain. Mrs. Godfrey managed + our little treaty. I let her know I expected as much money + with their daughter as would pay off my remaining debt for + the printing house; which I believe was not then above a + hundred pounds. She brought me word they had no such sum to + spare; I said they might mortgage their house in the + loan-office. The answer to this, after some days, was, that + they did not approve the match; that, on inquiry of Mr. + Bradford, they had been informed the printing business was + not a profitable one, the types would soon be worn out, and + more wanted; that Keimer and David Harvy had failed one after + the other, and I should probably soon follow them; and + therefore I was forbidden the house, and the daughter was + shut up." + +Occasionally Franklin had gone to the home of Mrs. Read, the mother of +the unhappy Deborah. His conscience reproached him for his conduct to +that good girl. She was always dejected and solitary, and with a +broken heart clung to her mother, her only friend. It is doubtful +whether she were ever legally married to Rogers. It was rumored that +at the time of their marriage, he was the husband of one, if not more +wives. If legally married, there was another serious obstacle in her +path. Rogers had run away to the West Indies. Rumor alone had +announced his death. He might be still living. + +Franklin's sympathy gradually became excited in her behalf. And at +length he proposed that, regardless of all the risks, they should be +married. It seems that he had announced to her very distinctly that he +had a living child, and very honorably he had decided that that child +of dishonor was to be taken home and trained as his own. + +These were sad nuptials. The world-weary wife knew not but that she +had another husband still living, and a stigma, indelible, rested upon +Franklin. The marriage took place on the first of September, 1730. It +subsequently appears that Rogers, the potter, was really dead. The +child was taken home and reared with all possible tenderness and care. +It is a little remarkable that nothing is known of what became of the +mother of that child. The boy grew up to manhood, espoused the Tory +cause, when the Tories were hunting his father to hang him, and by his +ungrateful, rebellious conduct, pierced his heart with a thousand +empoisoned daggers. + +Mrs. Franklin proved in all respects an excellent woman, and an +admirable wife for her calm, philosophic and unimpassioned husband. +Franklin never had a journeyman in his office who performed his +functions more entirely to his satisfaction, than his wife discharged +her responsible duties. She was always amiable, industrious and +thrifty. + +There was a little shop attached to the printing office which +Mrs. Franklin tended. She also aided her husband in folding and +distributing the papers, and with a mother's love trained, in the +rudiments of education, the child whose mother was lost. + +Franklin, in his characteristic, kindly appreciation of the services +of all who were faithful in his employ, speaks in the following +commendatory terms of the industrial excellencies of his wife. When +far away dazzled by the splendors, and bewildered by the flattery of +European courts, he wrote to her, + + "It was a comfort to me to recollect that I had once been + clothed, from head to foot, in woolen and linen of my wife's + manufacture, and that I never was prouder of any dress in my + life." + +In Franklin's Autobiography, as published by Sparks, we read, "We have +an English proverb that says, 'He that would thrive, must ask his +wife.' It was lucky for me that I had one as much disposed to industry +and frugality as myself. She assisted me cheerfully in my business, +folding and stitching pamphlets, tending shop, purchasing old linen +rags, for the paper-makers, etc. We kept no idle servants; our table +was plain and simple, our furniture of the cheapest. For instance, my +breakfast was, for a long time, bread and milk, (no tea) and I ate it +out of a two-penny earthern porringer, with a pewter-spoon. + +"But mark how luxury will enter families, and make a progress in spite +of principle. Being called one morning to breakfast, I found it in a +china bowl, with a spoon of silver. They had been bought for me +without my knowledge, by my wife, and had cost her the enormous sum of +three and twenty shillings; for which she had no other excuse or +apology to make, but that she thought her husband deserved a silver +spoon and china bowl, as well as any of his neighbors. This was the +first appearance of plate or china in our house; which afterward, in a +course of years, as our wealth increased, augmented gradually to +several hundred pounds in value."[13] + +[Footnote 13: Life of Franklin, by Sparks, p. 102.] + +While thus engaged he conceived the idea of establishing a public +subscription library. His knowledge of human nature taught him that if +he presented the enterprise as his own, feelings of jealousy might be +excited, and it might be imagined that he was influenced by personal +ambition. He therefore said that a number of gentlemen had adopted the +plan, and had requested him to visit the lovers of books and of +reading, and solicit their subscriptions. Each subscriber was to +contribute two pounds to start the enterprise, and to pay a yearly +assessment of ten shillings. + +By the arduous labors of five months, Franklin obtained fifty names. +With this the enterprise commenced. Such was the origin of the +Philadelphia Library, now one of the most important institutions of +the kind in our land. In the year 1861, seventy thousand volumes were +reported as on its shelves. + +Philadelphia contained a population of nearly ten thousand people. +Pennsylvania was decidedly the central point for European emigration. +Its climate was delightful; its soil fertile; and William Penn's +humane policy with the Indians had secured for the colony peace and +friendship with the native inhabitants for more than fifty years. + +The white man, on this continent, has told his own story. The Indians +have had no historians. But nothing is more clear than that in almost +every instance they were goaded to war by the unendurable wrongs which +were inflicted upon them.[14] Until Braddock's dreadful defeat, +Pennsylvania had scarcely known a single alarm. In the summer of 1749, +twelve thousand Germans landed at Philadelphia. This was the average +number for many years. The policy of William Penn had been to +establish upon the banks of the Delaware, an extended and beautiful +village, where every house should have its lawn and its garden for +vegetables and flowers. In the year 1732, when Franklin was twenty-six +years of age, the dwellings of this village were mostly of brick or +stone, and were spread along the banks of the river for the distance +of a mile, with streets running back into the interior to the distance +of about half a mile. + +[Footnote 14: "No other British colony admits of the evidence of an +Indian against a white man; nor are the complaints of Indians against +white men duly regarded in other colonies; whereby these poor people +endure the most cruel treatment from the very worst of our own people, +without hope of redress. And all the Indian wars in our colonies were +occasioned by such means." + +Importance of the British Plantations in America to these Kingdoms, +London. 1731.] + +The prosperity of Philadelphia, indeed of Pennsylvania, was +remarkable. Provisions and the most delicious fruits were in great +abundance. Even the pigs were fattened upon the most luscious peaches. +Each family in the city kept its cow, which grazed upon the common +lands on the outskirts of the town. The Philadelphia of that period +was a green village, beautifully shaded by trees, and presenting to +every visitor an aspect of rare attractions. Professor Peter Kalm, who +published an exceedingly interesting account of his travels in North +America between the years 1748 and 1751, writes, + + "There were fine orchards all about the city. The country + people in Sweden and Finland guard their turnips more + carefully than the people here do the most exquisite fruits. + A Philadelphian has so much liberty and abundance that he + lives in his house like a king." + +The Quakers, or as they prefer to be called, the Friends, at that time +composed about one-third of the population of Philadelphia, and +one-half of the State of Pennsylvania. They were a remarkably +intelligent, industrious and worthy people. Probably a better and more +thrifty community was never colonized on this globe. + +The state of society has greatly changed since that day, and customs, +which were then deemed essential, have since become obsolete. For +instance, the whipping-post, the pillory, and the stocks, were +prominent in the market-place and were in frequent use. There was a +public whipper, who, for his repulsive services, received a salary of +fifty dollars a year. Until as late as 1760, women were frequently +publicly whipped. It is said that a whipping occurred on an average, +twice a month. + +The dress of gentlemen was gaudy and extravagant, unsurpassed by that +of French or British courtiers. Immense wigs, with their profusion of +waves or curls, were in use by the gentry. Very tight knee-breeches +were worn, with silk stockings, and shoes embellished with immense +silver buckles, highly polished. Their coats were richly embroidered, +often of silk velvet, and their full flow reached below the knees. +Ruffled shirts and ruffled wrist-bands of linen, of snowy whiteness, +added to the beauty of the dress. A jewelled scabbard containing a +polished sword hung by the side. A three-cornered hat completed this +showy attire. There is not a Rocky Mountain Indian in his most +gorgeous war-dress of paint and plumes, who would attract more +attention walking down Broadway, than would Benjamin Franklin as he +was painted in 1726. + +His portrait was taken when he was in London, working as a journeyman +printer. Contrary to the general impression, Franklin was then, and +through all his life, fully conscious of the advantages which dress +confers. When surrounded by the homage of the court of Versailles, +there was no courtier in those magnificent saloons more attentive to +his attire than was Benjamin Franklin. His keen sagacity taught him +the advantage of appearing in a dress entirely different from that of +the splendid assembly around him, and thus he attracted universal +observation. But never did he appear in the presence of these lords +and ladies but in a costly garb to which he had devoted much +attention. + +[Illustration] + +Mr. Parton, speaking of the portrait which Franklin then had painted +in London, says, + + "The fair, full, smiling face of Franklin is surrounded in + this picture by a vast and stiff horse-hair wig; and his + well-developed figure shows imposingly in a voluminous and + decorated coat that reaches nearly to his heels. Under his + left arm he carries his cocked hat. His manly bosom heaves + under snowy ruffles, and his extensive wrist-bands are + exposed to view by the shortness of his coat sleeves." + +Between the years 1740 and 1775, while abundance reigned in +Pennsylvania, and there was peace in all her borders, a more happy and +prosperous population could not perhaps be found on this globe. In +every home there was comfort. The people generally were highly moral, +and knowledge was extensively diffused. Americans, who visited Europe, +were deeply impressed by the contrast. In the Old World they saw +everywhere indications of poverty and suffering. Franklin wrote, after +a tour in Great Britain in 1772, + + "Had I never been in the American colonies, but were to form + my judgment of civil society by what I have lately seen, I + should never advise a nation of savages to admit of + civilization. For, I assure you, that in the possession and + enjoyment of the various comforts of life, compared with + these people, every Indian is a gentleman; and the effect of + this kind of civil society seems to be the depressing + multitudes below the savage state, that a few may be raised + above it." + +Yet let it not be supposed that the effects of the fall were not +visible here, or that man's inhumanity to man had ceased. There were +bickerings, and heart burnings, and intense political struggles, in +which the strong endeavored to extend their power, and the weak +endeavored to throw off the shackles with which they were bound. +William Penn complains of the ambitious politicians who he said +thought--"nothing taller than themselves but the trees." John Adams +denounced in severest terms the tricks of the petty politicians; and +speaking of the more ambitious ones who sought the positions of +governor or custom-house officers, he writes: + + "These seekers are actuated by a more ravenous sort of + ambition and avarice." + +For twenty years Franklin continued a prosperous but uneventful life, +as an active business man in Philadelphia. His integrity, his +sagacity, and his prosperity, rapidly increased the esteem in which he +was held. But still he was engaged in business as a printer and a +shop-keeper, which would not now give him admission into what he +called the higher circles of society. + +He not only edited, printed and published his newspaper, but he also +kept books for sale and a small quantity of stationery, and also was a +binder of books. He made and sold ink; was an extensive dealer in +rags; and soap and feathers could be purchased at his shop. We find in +his advertisements the announcement of coffee and other groceries for +sale. + +And still his printing office gradually became the nucleus for the +gathering of the most intelligent and influential men. If any +important project was on foot, it was deemed essential to consult +Benjamin Franklin. His Gazette proved a great success, and was +incomparably the ablest paper published in the colonies.[15] + +[Footnote 15: Life and Works of John Adams, Vol. ii, p. 165.] + +Franklin's editorials were very sparkling, and are considered as among +the most brilliant of his intellectual efforts. He was almost +invariably good natured, and the design of all he wrote, was to +promote integrity and kindly feeling. He would write an article, as if +from a correspondent, which would give him an opportunity to return an +amusing article in the next number. A complete file of the paper is +preserved in the Philadelphia Library. + +In 1732, Franklin issued the first number of the Almanac, called Poor +Richard, which subsequently attained such wide renown. The popularity +of the work was astonishing; for twenty-five years it averaged ten +thousand copies a year. This was a wonderful sale in those times. +Everybody was quoting the pithy sayings of Poor Richard.[16] + +[Footnote 16: "And now after the lapse of one hundred and thirty +years, we find persons willing to give twenty-five dollars for a +single number, and several hundred dollars for a complete set. Nay, +the reading matter of several of the numbers, has been republished +within these few years, and that republication already begins to +command the price of a rarity."--_Parton's Life of Franklin_, Vol. i, +p. 231.] + +Franklin was an extensive reader. He had a memory almost miraculous; +and his mind was so constituted, that it eagerly grasped and retained +any sharp or witty sayings. Thus, though many of the maxims of Poor +Richard originated with him, others were gleaned from the witticisms +of past ages, upon which Franklin placed the imprint of his own +peculiar genius. I give a few of those renowned maxims which soon +became as household words, in every shop and dwelling of our land. + + "There is no little enemy." "Three may keep a secret if two + of them are dead." "He is no clown who drives the plough, but + he that does clownish things." "Wealth is not his that has + it, but his that enjoys it." "The noblest question in the + world is, 'what good may I do in it.'" "Keep your eye wide + open before marriage; half shut afterward." + +Franklin was not a poet. He could scheme easily, but even his rhymes +were poor. His sense of delicacy was quite obtuse, but perhaps not +more so, than we ought to expect from the unrefined times in which he +lived.[17] + +[Footnote 17: "Poor Richard, at this day, would be reckoned an +indecent production. All great humorists were all indecent, before +Charles Dickens. They used certain words which are now never +pronounced by polite persons, and are never printed by respectable +printers; and they referred freely to certain subjects which are +familiar to every living creature, but which it is now agreed among +civilized beings, shall not be topics of conversation. In this respect +Poor Richard was no worse, and not much better than other colonial +periodicals, some of which contain things incredibly obscene, +as much so as the strongest passages of Sterne, Smollet and De +Foe."--_Parton._] + +The increasing circulation of the Pennsylvania Gazette, the extensive +sale of Poor Richard, and the success of many of the small books which +Franklin published, soon placed the finances of Franklin in a very +flourishing condition. This enabled him to send for every important +work published in England. As he was never an hour in idleness, and +seldom entered any place of popular amusement, he found time to study +all these solid and useful works. The superior powers with which God +had endowed him, enabled him to glean from their pages, and store up +in his memory, all that was most valuable. By these indefatigable +studies, he was rapidly becoming one of the most learned of men, and +was preparing himself for that brilliant career, in which, as a +statesman and a philosopher, he stood in the first ranks of those who +had been deemed the great men of earth. + +His first entrance to public life was as Clerk to the General +Assembly, which was then the Legislature of the Pennsylvania Colony. +This was an office of but little emolument or honor. His first +election was unanimous. The second year, though successful, he was +opposed by an influential member. + +Franklin, who wished to have every one his friend, was anxious to +conciliate him. He accomplished his purpose shrewdly--perhaps +cunningly, is not too strong a word to use. Having heard that the +gentleman had a very rare and valuable book in his library, he wrote +him a very polite and flattering letter, soliciting the loan of it. No +man could pen such an epistle more adroitly than Franklin. + +After a few days he returned the book with one of his most exquisite +notes of thanks. The gentleman was caught in the trap. Charmed with +the urbanity Franklin displayed in the correspondence, the next time +he met the philosopher, he grasped him cordially by the hand. Though +he had never spoken to him before, he invited him to his house. + +Franklin, commenting upon this adventure, writes, + + "He ever after manifested a readiness to serve me on all + occasions, so that we became great friends, and our + friendship continued to his death. This is another instance + of the truth of an old maxim I had learned, which says 'He + that hath once done you a kindness will be more ready to do + you another than he whom you yourself have obliged,' and it + shows how much more profitable it is prudently to remove + than to resent, return, and continue inimical proceedings." + +There was something in this transaction, an apparent want of +sincerity, an approach to trickery, which will impress many readers +painfully. It was a shrewd manoeuvre, skillfully contrived, and +successfully executed. The perfect sincerity of a friendly and +magnanimous mind is the safest guide in all the emergencies of life. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +_Religious and Philosophic Views._ + + Studious habits--New religion--Personal habits--Church of + the Free and Easy--His many accomplishments--The career of + Hemphall--Birth and Death of Franklin's son--The Ministry of + Whitefield--Remarkable friendship between the philosopher + and the preacher--Prosperity of Franklin--His convivial + habits--The defense of Philadelphia--Birth of a + daughter--The Philadelphia Academy. + + +Franklin was a perservering and laborious student, for whatever he +read he studied. With increasing intellectual tastes, he found time +every day to devote many hours to his books. His reading was of the +most elevated and instructive kind. It consisted almost exclusively of +scientific treatises, and of history, biography, voyages and travels. + +His mind was still struggling and floundering in the midst of +religious and philosophical speculations. He seems, from some +unexplained reason, to have been very unwilling to accept the religion +of Jesus Christ; and yet he was inspired undeniably by a very noble +desire to be a good man, to attain a high position in morality. +Earnestly he endeavored to frame for himself some scheme which would +enable him to accomplish that purpose. + +At this time he wrote, + + "Few in public affairs act from a mere view of the good of + their country, whatever they may pretend. Fewer still in + public affairs act with a view to the good of mankind. There + seems to me, at present, great occasion to raise a 'United + Party for Virtue,' by forming the virtuous and good of all + nations into a regular body, to be governed by suitable good + and wise rules, which good and wise men may probably be more + unanimous in their obedience to, than common people are to + common laws. I at present, think, that whoever attempts this + aright, and is well qualified, cannot fail of pleasing God, + and of meeting with success." + +Influenced by these exalted motives, he concentrated all the energies +of his well informed mind to the organization of a new religion. To +this church he gave the name of "The Society of the Free and Easy." +The members were to be Free from vice, and consequently, Easy in mind. +The first article of his creed was that he would have no creed. And +yet this religion, which drew an antagonistic distinction between +faith and works, denouncing all faith at the same time announced that +its fundamental and absolutely essential faith was that piety +consisted in cherishing the ordinarily recognized virtues. These were +Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, +Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquillity, Charity and +Humility. + +His ritual consisted in devoting one week to the cultivation of each +of these virtues. He had no Sabbath, no preached Gospel, no +Sacraments. But his creed, with its corresponding practice, certainly +exerted a very powerful influence, and in many respects beneficial, +upon his own mind. + +With his list of virtues before him, this remarkable young man +commenced the effort vigorously to attain perfection. The Christian +reader will not be at all surprised to read from Franklin's pen the +following account of the result: + + "I was surprised to find myself so much fuller of faults than + I had imagined. But I had the satisfaction of seeing them + diminish. After a while I went through one course only in a + year, and afterwards only one in several years; till at + length I omitted them entirely, being employed in voyages and + business abroad, with a multiplicity of affairs that + interfered." + +Franklin was a very proud man. He could not but be conscious of his +great superiority over most of those with whom he associated. He avows +that the virtue of humility he never could attain. The semblance of +that virtue he could easily assume, but he says that the pride of his +heart was such that had he attained it, he would have been proud of +his humility. He adopted the following as the ordinary routine of +life. + +He rose at five, very carefully performed his ablutions, and then +offered a brief prayer to a being whom he called "Powerful Goodness." +Why he should have preferred that address to the more simple one of +"Our Heavenly Father," we know not. He then laid out the business of +the day, and for a short time directed his mind to the especial virtue +which he intended that day and week to cherish.[18] + +[Footnote 18: "It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous +project of arriving at moral perfection. I wished to live without +committing any fault at any time. As I knew, or thought I knew what +was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one +and avoid the other. But I soon found that I had undertaken a task of +more difficulty than I had imagined."--Autobiography, p. 105.] + +In the freshness of all his morning energies he devoted himself to his +books for an hour and a half. This brought him to breakfast-time. At +eight o'clock he commenced work in his shop, to which he devoted +himself assiduously until twelve. An hour was then allowed for dinner +and rest. At one he returned to the arduous labors of his shop, labors +which engrossed all his energies, and continued the employment until +six. His day's hard work was then ordinarily closed. He took his +supper, received his friends, or more commonly read and studied until +ten o'clock at night, when almost invariably he retired to his bed. + +His mind still for a time continued much interested in his plan for +the church of the Free and Easy. We find among his papers that he +decided that candidates for admission should, after a careful +examination, to ascertain that their creed was, to have no creed, and +that their faith was, to abjure all faith, be subject to a probation +of thirteen weeks. It seems that no candidate ever applied for +admission. There were no apostles to wander abroad proclaiming the new +gospel. Increasing business absorbed Franklin's time, and the new +church was forgotten. + +The sole motive which Franklin urged to inspire to action, was +self-interest. "You should be honest," he would say, "because it is +politic. You abstain from vice for the same reason that you should not +drink poison, for it will hurt you." In the enforcement of these views +he writes, + + "It was my design to explain and enforce this doctrine, + _that vicious actions are not hurtful because they are + forbidden, but forbidden because they are hurtful_. It was, + therefore, every one's interest to be virtuous who wished to + be happy in this world. And I should from this circumstance + (there being always in the world a number of rich + merchants, nobility, states and princes, who have need of + honest instruments for the management of their affairs, and + such being so rare) have endeavored to convince young + persons that no qualities are so likely to make a poor man's + fortune as those of probity and integrity." + +It may be doubted whether such considerations ever made a truly good +man. Virtue must be loved for its own sake. Vice must be deserted for +its inherent baseness, even though it may bring a great reward. + +Franklin, in the prosecution of his studies, devoted himself to +French, Spanish, Italian, and even to Latin. In all these he became a +proficient. His mind was wonderfully prompt in the acquisition of +knowledge. He could hardly have devoted himself more assiduously and +successfully to these studies, had some good angel whispered in the +ear of the young printer the astounding intelligence, "You are yet to +be the ambassador of the United States to European courts. You are to +appear in those glittering assemblages as the equal of the highest +noble; and are to enjoy the hospitalities of kings and queens. +Familiarity with these languages, and the intellectual culture you are +thus acquiring will be of more value to you than mines of gold." + +This remarkable man prized all branches of knowledge; and seemed to +excel in all. He devoted much attention to music. With much skill he +played upon the harp, the guitar, the violin, and the violincello. + +In the year 1734, a young preacher by the name of Hemphall came to +Philadelphia from England. He was deemed by the orthodox clergy, very +heterodox in his opinions. Probably suspicions of his orthodoxy were +enhanced from the fact that he brought high testimonials of eloquence +from several of the most prominent deists and free-thinkers in +England. He was very fluent, at times very eloquent, and Franklin was +charmed with the man and his doctrines. + +Boldly denouncing all creeds, and all religious faith, he announced it +as _his_ creed and _his_ faith that piety consists in conduct alone. +Crowds flocked to hear him. One day, after preaching a very eloquent +sermon, some one discovered that he had stolen that sermon from Dr. +James Foster, the most popular preacher in London. An investigation +took place, in which he was compelled to acknowledge that he had +stolen every one of his sermons. Franklin writes, + + "This detection gave many of our party disgust, who + accordingly abandoned his cause, and occasioned our more + speedy discomfiture in the synod. I stuck by him, however. I + rather approved his giving us good sermons composed by + others, than bad ones of his own, though the latter was the + practice of our common teachers." + +Had the young man said frankly, "I am rehearsing to you the most +eloquent sermons of the most eloquent English divines," no one could +have found any fault. But for him to assume that the sermons were his +own, and that he personally was entitled to the credit of whatever +power they exhibited, was certainly practicing deception. It was a +gross violation of Franklin's cardinal virtue of sincerity. It was +unworthy of Franklin, in his charitable regard for the offender, to +gloss over the real criminality of the offence. + +A year after Franklin's marriage, a son was born to him, to whom +he gave the name of Francis Folger Franklin. All accounts agree +in describing the child as endowed with remarkable beauty and +intelligence. Probably Franklin never loved any being as he loved that +child. In the year 1736, when this wonderful boy was but four years of +age, he was seized with the small-pox and died. Even the philosophic +Franklin was almost crushed by the terrible calamity. The cheering +views of the Christian faith could not sustain him. He had no vivid +conception of his cherub boy an angel in Heaven awaiting his father's +arrival. He could only say that "I am _inclined to believe_ that my +child has not passed away into utter annihilation; but who knows? Many +of the wisest and best on earth utterly discard the idea of a future +existence. They deem the thought the conceit of ignorance and +fanaticism." + +We read the following epitaph on his little grave-stone with much +sympathy for the bereaved father. He could only write + + Francis F. + Son of Benjamin and Deborah + Franklin. + Deceased November 12, 1736, + Aged four years, one month and one day. + The delight of all who knew him. + +In the year 1739, Rev. George Whitefield arrived in Philadelphia. It +is remarkable that a warm friendship should have sprung up between men +so very diverse in character. But Franklin could not be insensible to +the wonderful power of this preacher, in promoting public morals, and +in transforming the worst of men into valuable citizens, faithfully +performing all the duties of life. It is surprising that this effect +of the Gospel did not teach him that Christianity is the "wisdom of +God, and the power of God to salvation." _Love_ was emphatically the +message which Whitefield, with tearful eyes and throbbing heart, +proclaimed to the wicked and the sorrowing. "God so _loved the world_, +that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him +should not perish but should have everlasting life." Christ "came not +into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him +might be saved." + +Such were the themes which this apostolic preacher unfolded, and which +moved human hearts, in these new colonies as seventeen hundred years +ago they were moved by the preaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, and his +disciple Paul, upon the plains of Asia. + +Whitefield taught that _belief_ controlled conduct. As a man sincerely +believes so will he act. Franklin, with his accustomed candor, in his +Autobiography, wrote in the following terms, the effects of the +preaching of this remarkable reformer: + + "The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended + his sermons were enormous. It was wonderful to see the + change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From + being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seemed + as if all the world were growing religious; so that one + could not walk through the town, in an evening, without + hearing psalms sung in different families of every street. + + "Mr. Whitefield, on leaving us, went preaching all the way + through the colonies to Georgia. The settlement of that + province had been lately begun; but instead of being made + with hardy, industrious husbandmen, accustomed to labor, the + only people fit for such an enterprise, it was with families + of broken shop-keepers, and other insolvent debtors; many of + indolent and idle habits, taken out of the jails who, being + set down in the woods, unqualified for clearing land, and + unable to endure the hardships of a new settlement, perished + in numbers, leaving many helpless children unprovided for. + + "The sight of their miserable situation inspired the + benevolent heart of Mr. Whitefield with the idea of building + an Orphan House there in which they might be supported and + educated. Returning northward, he preached up this charity, + and made large collections. + + "I did not disapprove of the design; but as Georgia was then + destitute of materials and workmen, and it was proposed to + send them from Philadelphia at a great expense, I thought it + would have been better to have built the house at + Philadelphia, and brought the children to it. This I + advised. But he was resolute in his first project, rejected + my counsel, and I therefore refused to contribute. + + "I happened soon after to attend one of his sermons, in the + course of which I perceived he intended to finish with a + collection, and I silently resolved he should get nothing + from me. I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three + or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold, (about + twenty-five dollars). As he proceeded I began to soften, and + concluded to give the copper; another stroke of his oratory + made me ashamed of that, and determined me to give the + silver; and he finished so admirably that I emptied my + pockets wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all. + + "Some of Mr. Whitefield's enemies affected to suppose that + he would apply these collections to his own private + emolument. But I, who was intimately acquainted with him, + being employed in printing his sermons and journals, never + had the least suspicion of his integrity; but am to this day + decidedly of the opinion, that he was in all his conduct a + perfectly honest man; and methinks my testimony ought have + the more weight, as we had no religious connection. He used, + indeed, sometimes to pray for my conversion, but never had + the satisfaction of believing that his prayers were heard. + Ours was a friendship sincere on both sides, and lasted to + his death."[19] + +[Footnote 19: "Autobiography of Franklin," as given by Sparks, p. +139.] + +At one time Franklin wrote to Whitefield, in Boston, inviting him, as +he was about to come to Philadelphia, to make his house his home. The +devout preacher replied, + +"If you make this offer for Christ's sake you will not lose your +reward." + +Promptly the philosopher rejected any such motive, and rejoined, + +"Do not be mistaken. It was not for Christ's sake I invited you, but +for your own sake." + +In all the numerous letters, essays, and philosophical and religious +disquisitions of Franklin, we seldom, I think, find a sentiment +indicative of any high appreciation of the character of Jesus Christ; +or the debt of gratitude we owe to him, either for his teaching or for +his example. As Franklin discarded all idea of the Atonement, he of +course could not express any gratitude for that which is, to the +Christian, the crowning act even of divine love. This Saviour, to +millions who cannot be counted, has proved, even if the comfort be a +delusion, in temptation, disappointment, and death, more precious than +it is in the power of words to declare. + +One article from Franklin's newspaper, published in the year 1740, +gives an idea of the extraordinary interest which the preaching of +Whitefield excited. + + "On Thursday last the Reverend Mr. Whitefield left this city, + and was accompanied to Chester by about one hundred and + fifty horse; and preached there to about seven thousand + people. On Friday he preached twice at Willings Town to about + five thousand. On Saturday, at Newcastle, to about two + thousand five hundred; and the same evening at Christiana + Bridge to about three thousand; on Sunday at White Clay + Creek, he preached twice, resting about half an hour between + the sermons, to eight thousand, of whom three thousand, it is + computed, came on horseback. It rained most of the time, and + yet they stood in the open air." + +The keenness of the scrutiny with which Franklin watched all the +operations of nature, led him to the discovery of the before unknown +fact that the fierce north-east storms which sweep our Atlantic coast +invariably begin in the south-west, and move backwards, diminishing in +violence as they go. He also, about this time, invented the Franklin +stove, which in the day when wood was the only fuel consumed has +invested so many firesides with a rare aspect of cheerfulness. He +wrote a very ingenious pamphlet, elucidating the philosophy of +house-warming. + +There is great moral power in prosperity, when wisely accepted and +enjoyed. Franklin was now a prosperous man. His income was constantly +increasing. His virtues, and they were great ones, proved in all +respects promotive of his worldly welfare. His journal was the +leading paper, certainly in all that region, and had not its superior +in any of the colonies. His renowned almanac, Poor Richard, attained +an unexampled sale. The work executed in his printing office was so +excellent as to bring in to him many orders even from the other +provinces. The various books and pamphlets he had published had all +been successful. Philadelphia had already become the chief town of the +Colonies. + +Notwithstanding Franklin's devotion to books, to business, and to +philosophical research, he is represented to have been at this time, a +jovial man, very fond of convivial gatherings. He could not only write +a good song, but he could sing it, to the acceptance of his +companions. One of these songs entitled "The Old Man's Wish" he says +he sang over a thousand times. We give the concluding stanza, +illustrative of its general character. + + "With a courage undaunted, may I face the last day, + And when I am gone may the better sort say,-- + In the morning when sober, in the evening when mellow, + He has gone and not left behind him his fellow, + For he governed his passions with absolute sway." + +There was, as usual, war in Europe. Enormous armies were burning +cities and villages, drenching the trampled harvest fields with blood, +and filling the humble hamlets of the poor with misery. There was +every reason to fear that these awful storms, raised by the passions +of depraved men, would reach the peaceful shores of the Delaware. +Philadelphia was entirely undefended. It is said that there was not an +available cannon in Pennsylvania. + +A well-armed privateer could at any hour, seize and sack the city. +Quaker influence so far prevailed that the legislature could not be +induced to raise a battery, or purchase a gun. Franklin wrote a very +powerful pamphlet, called Plain Truth, urging the necessity of +adopting some measures of defence. He showed how the colony could, at +any time, be ravaged by a few vessels from any European nation then in +conflict with England. I give a few extracts from this admirable +pamphlet: + + "On the first alarm, terror will spread over all. Many will + seek safety by flight. Those that are reputed rich will + flee, through fear of torture to make them produce more than + they are able. The man that has a wife and children, will + find them hanging on his neck, beseeching him to quit the + city, and save his life. All will run into confusion, amid + cries and lamentations, and the hurry and disorder of + departures. The few that remain, will be unable to resist. + + "Sacking the city will be the first; and burning it, in all + probability, the last act of the enemy. This I believe will + be the case, if you have timely notice. But what must be + your condition, if suddenly surprised without previous + alarm, perhaps in the night. Confined to your houses, you + will have nothing to trust but the enemy's mercy. Your best + fortune will be to fall under the power of commanders of + king's ships, able to control the mariners, and not into the + hands of licentious privateers. + + "Who can without the utmost horror, conceive the miseries of + the latter when your persons, fortunes, wives and daughters, + shall be subject to the wanton and unbridled rage, rapine, + and lust, of negroes, mulattoes, and others, the vilest and + most abandoned of mankind?" + +This warning effectually roused the community. A public meeting was +summoned, in the immense building erected to accommodate the crowds +who flocked to hear Whitefield. Here Franklin harangued the multitude. +An Association of Defence was organized. Ten thousand persons enrolled +their names. In a few days nearly every man in the province, who was +not a Quaker, had joined some military organization. Each man +purchased for himself a weapon, and was learning how to use it. + +Eighty companies were organized and disciplined. The companies in +Philadelphia united in a regiment, and chose Franklin their colonel. +Wisely he declined the office, "conceiving myself unfit," he says. A +battery was thrown up below the town. Some cannon were sent for from +Boston. Several eighteen-pounders were obtained in New York, and more +were ordered from London. In manning the battery, Franklin took his +turn of duty as a common soldier. + +There was not a little opposition to these measures, but still the +strong current of popular opinion was in their favor. Even the young +Quakers, though anxious to avoid wounding the feelings of their +parents, secretly gave their influence to these preparations of +defence. The peace of Aix la Chapelle in 1748, terminated these +alarms. But the wisdom and energy which Franklin had displayed, caused +him to be regarded as the most prominent man in Pennsylvania. The +masses of the people regarded him with singular homage and confidence. + +In 1744, Franklin had a daughter born, to whom he gave the name of +Sarah. His motherless son William, who was destined to give his father +great trouble, was growing up, stout, idle, and intractable. Early in +the war he had run away, and enlisted on board a privateer. With much +difficulty his father rescued him from these engagements. Franklin was +evidently embarrassed to know what to do with the boy. He allowed him, +when but sixteen years of age, to enlist as a soldier in an +expedition against Canada. + +About this time Franklin wrote to his sister Jane, whose son had also +run away to enlist as a privateer. He wished to console her by the +assurance that it was not in consequence of unkind treatment, that the +boys were induced thus to act. He wrote: + + "When boys see prizes brought in, and quantities of money + shared among the men, and their gay living, it fills their + heads with notions that half distract them; and puts them + quite out of conceit with trades and the dull ways of getting + money by working. My only son left my house unknown to us + all, and got on board a privateer, from whence I fetched him. + No one imagined it was hard usage at home that made him do + this. Every one that knows me thinks I am too indulgent a + parent, as well as master." + +The father of Benjamin Franklin died in Boston, at the great age of +eighty-nine years. He had secured, in a very high degree, the respect +of the people, not only by his irreproachable morals, but by his +unfeigned piety. The Boston News Letter, of January 17, 1745, in the +following brief obituary, chronicles his death: + + "Last night died Mr. Josiah Franklin, tallow chandler, and + soap maker. By the force of steady temperance he had made a + constitution, none of the strongest, last with comfort to the + age of eighty-nine years. And by an entire dependence on his + Redeemer, and a constant course of the strictest piety and + virtue, he was enabled to die as he lived, with cheerfulness + and peace, leaving a numerous posterity the honor of being + descended from a person who, through a long life, supported + the character of an honest man." + +In the year 1743 Franklin drew up a plan for an Academy in +Philadelphia. In consequence of the troubled times the tract was not +published until the year 1749. It was entitled, "Proposals Relating to +the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania." The suggestions he presented +indicated a wide acquaintance with the writings of the most eminent +philosophers. He marked out minutely, and with great wisdom, the +course of study to be pursued. It is pleasant to read the following +statement, in this programme. Urging the study of History, he writes, + + "History will also afford frequent opportunities of showing + the necessity of a _public religion_, from its usefulness to + the public; the advantages of a religious character among + private persons; the mischiefs of superstition and the + excellency of the _Christian religion_ above all others, + ancient and modern." + +Perhaps this tribute to the excellence of Christianity ought in some +degree to modify the impression left upon the mind, by Franklin's +studious avoidal, in all his writings, of any allusion to the name of +Jesus Christ its founder. + +Twenty-five thousand dollars were speedily raised for this +institution. All the religious sects harmoniously united. One +individual from each sect was appointed, to form the corporate body +intrusted with the funds. But almost the entire care and trouble of +rearing the building, and organizing the institution fell upon +Franklin. He was found to be fully adequate to all these +responsibilities. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +_The Tradesman becomes a Philosopher._ + + Franklin appointed Indian commissioner--Effects of + Rum--Indian logic--Accumulating honors--Benevolent + enterprises--Franklin's counsel to Tennent--Efforts for city + improvement--Anecdotes--Franklin appointed + postmaster--Rumors of War--England enlists the Six Nations + in her cause--Franklin plans a Confederacy of States--Plans + rejected--Electrical experiments--Franklin's increase of + income--Fearful experiments--The kite--New honors--Views of + the French philosopher--Franklin's Religious views--His + counsel to a young pleader--Post-office Reforms. + + +In the year 1740, Franklin, then forty-four years of age, was +appointed on a commission to form a treaty with the Indians at +Carlisle. Franklin, knowing the frenzy to which the savages were +plunged by intoxication, promised them that, if they would keep +entirely sober until the treaty was concluded, they should then have +an ample supply of rum. The agreement was made and faithfully kept. + + "They then," writes Franklin, "claimed and received the rum. + This was in the afternoon. They were near one hundred men, + women and children, and were lodged in temporary cabins, + built in the form of a square, just without the town. In the + evening, hearing a great noise among them, the commissioners + walked to see what was the matter. + + "We found that they had made a great bonfire in the middle of + the square; that they were all drunk, men and women + quarreling and fighting. Their dark-colored bodies, + half-naked, seen only by the gloomy light of the bonfire, + running after and beating one another with firebrands, + accompanied by their horrid yellings, formed a scene the most + resembling our ideas of hell, that could well be imagined. + There was no appeasing the tumult, and we returned to our + lodgings. At midnight a number of them came thundering at our + door demanding more rum, of which we took no notice. + + "The next morning they all seemed very much ashamed of the + disgraceful orgies in which they had indulged. There was a + law written in their own hearts, which told them that they + had done wrong. Three chiefs were appointed to call upon the + commissioners with an humble apology. With downcast looks + they confessed their fault, and then with logic which more + intelligent men sometimes use, endeavored to throw the blame + upon God. In remarkable speech one of them said, + + "'The Great Spirit, who made all things, made everything for + some use. Whatever use he designed anything for, that use it + should be always put to. Now, when he made rum, he said, "Let + this be for the Indians to get drunk with! and it must be + so."'" + +The Governor at this time appointed Franklin a Justice of Peace. +Franklin says he was much flattered by these accumulating honors. Soon +he was elected to a seat, as one of the Legislators in the Assembly. +Mainly through his influence, a hospital for the sick was established +in Philadelphia. Though the measure encountered much opposition, he +carried it; and the institution proved of incalculable benefit. + +The Rev. Gilbert Tennent solicited Franklin's aid in raising money for +building a Meeting House. As Franklin had been so continually engaged +in asking for money for various objects of benevolence, he was afraid +he should become obnoxious to his fellow-citizens, and declined. Mr. +Tennent then requested him to give him a list of the names of those +influential persons upon whom it would be well for him to call. Every +Christian minister who reads this, will appreciate the nature of his +embarrassment. Franklin says that he thought it would be unbecoming in +him, after having emptied the purses of his friends, to send other +beggars to them, with renewed importunities. This request he therefore +declined. Mr. Tennent then urged him to give him some advice. +Franklin replied, + +"That I will willingly do. In the first place, I advise you to apply +to all those who you know will do something; next, to those who you +are uncertain whether they will give anything or not, and show them +the list of those who have given; and lastly, do not neglect those who +you are sure will give nothing, for in some of them you may be +mistaken." + +Mr. Tennent laughed heartily, and declared that he would rigorously +follow out this advice. He did so. His success was wonderful; a much +larger sum was raised than he had anticipated, and soon a capacious +and beautiful Meeting House rose in Arch street. + +The streets of Philadelphia, though laid out with great regularity, +were unpaved, and in wet weather were almost impassable quagmires. +Franklin, by talking with his friends, and by urging the subject in +his paper, at length succeeded in having a sidewalk paved with stone, +upon one of the most important streets. It gave great satisfaction, +but the rest of the street not being paved, the mud was thrown by +passing carriages upon it, and as the city employed no street +cleaners, the sidewalk soon ceased to afford a clean passage to +pedestrians. + +Franklin found an industrious man who was willing to sweep the +pavement twice a week, carrying off the dirt from before all the +doors, for the sum of sixpence a month, to be paid by each house. + +The philosophic Franklin then, having started this enterprise, printed +on a sheet of paper the great advantages of keeping the sidewalk +clean, and sent one of these papers to each house. He urged that much +of the soiling of the interior of the houses would thus be avoided, +that an attractive sidewalk would lure passengers to the shops; and +that, in windy weather, their goods would be preserved from the dust. + +After a few days he called, in person, at each house and shop to see +who would subscribe sixpence a month. It was a great success. The +cleanliness of the pavement in the important streets surrounding the +market, greatly delighted the people, and prepared the way for +carrying a bill which Franklin presented to the Assembly for paving +and lighting all the important streets of the city. + +A gentleman, by the name of John Clifton, had placed a lamp before his +door. This suggested the idea. Lamps were sent for from London. Globes +were furnished. They were expensive. The smoke circulated in the globe +and obstructed the light. They had to be wiped clean each day. An +accidental stroke demolished the whole globe. Franklin suggested four +flat panes. One might be broken, and easily replaced. Crevices were +left below to admit a current of air, and a funnel to draw off the +smoke. Thus for a long time the glass remained undimmed. + +Wherever Franklin went, he carried with him this spirit of +improvement. When in London, he found the streets wretchedly dirty. +One morning he found a poor woman at his door in Craven street, +sweeping the sidewalk with a wretched broom. Her pallid and exhausted +appearance touched the sympathies of Franklin. He asked who employed +her. She replied: + +"Nobody. I am poor and in distress. I sweeps before gentlefolks's +doors, and hopes they will give me something." + +Franklin immediately engaged her to sweep the whole street. It was +nine o'clock in the morning. She was so languid and debilitated that +he thought it would take her nearly all day. But in three hours she +came for her shilling. Franklin thought she could not have done her +work faithfully. He sent his servant to examine. He reported that the +work was thoroughly done. A new problem rose before Franklin: If this +feeble woman could in so short a time sweep such a street, a strong +man, with a suitable broom, could certainly do it in half of the +time. He therefore drew up a plan for cleaning the streets of London +and Westminster, which was placed in the hands of one of the most +influential of the public-spirited men of London. + +Franklin apologizes for speaking in his autobiography of such trifles. +Very truly, he says, + + "Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of + good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages + that occur every day. Thus if you teach a poor young man to + shave himself and keep his razor in order, you may + contribute more to the happiness of his life than in giving + him a thousand guineas. This sum may be soon spent, the + regret only remaining of having foolishly consumed it. But + in the other case, he escapes the frequent vexation of + waiting for barbers, and of their sometimes dirty fingers, + offensive breath, and dull razors. He shaves when most + convenient to him, and enjoys daily the pleasure of its + being done with a good instrument." + +Nearly all the important offices in the colonies were filled by +appointments from the British Crown. For some time, Franklin had been +employed as an assistant to the Postmaster General, in simplifying and +bringing regularity into his accounts. Upon the death of the American +Postmaster, Franklin, in 1753, was appointed jointly with Sir William +Hunter to succeed him. The appointment was made by the Postmaster +General in England. + +The post-office department had scarcely been self-supporting. It had +never paid anything to the crown. The salary offered to the two +postmasters was three thousand dollars a year each, if they could save +that sum from the profits of the office. Franklin writes, + + "To do this a variety of improvements was necessary. Some of + these were inevitably, at first, expensive; so that in the + first four years, the office became above nine hundred + pounds in debt to us. But it soon after began to repay us. + And before I was displaced by a freak of the ministers, of + which I shall hereafter speak, we had brought it to yield + three times as much clear revenue to the crown as the + post-office of Ireland. Since that imprudent transaction, + they have received from it not one farthing." + +Again there were menaces of war, insane and demoniac, to fill the +world with tears and woe. As we read the record of these horrid +outrages which through all the centuries have desolated this globe, it +would seem that there must be a vein of insanity as well as of +depravity, in the heart of fallen man. England and France were again +marshaling their armies, and accumulating their fleets, for the +terrible conflict. + +It was certain that France, in Canada, and England, in her colonies, +could not live in peace here, while the volcanic throes of war were +shaking the island of Great Britain, and the Continent of Europe. + +In the heart of New York, then almost an unbroken wilderness, there +were six exceedingly fierce and war-like tribes called the Six +Nations. Like the wolves they delighted in war. The greatness of a man +depended on the number of scalps with which he could fringe his dress. +These savage warriors were ready and eager to engage as the allies of +those who would pay them the highest price. Mercy was an attribute of +which they knew not even the name. + +It was not doubted that France would immediately send her emissaries +from Canada to enlist these savages on her side. Awful would be the +woes with which these demoniac men could sweep our defenceless +frontiers; with the tomahawk and the scalping knife, exterminating +families, burning villages, and loading their pack-horses with +plunder. To forestall the French, and to turn these woes from our own +frontier to the humble homes of the Canadian emigrants, the English +government appointed a commissioner to visit the chiefs of these +tribes in the year 1754. + +The all important council was to be held in Albany. Governor Hamilton +appointed four commissioners, of whom Franklin was one, to act in +behalf of Pennsylvania. They were furnished with rich gifts with which +to purchase the favor of the Indians. It was a long and tedious +journey from Philadelphia to Albany. + +Franklin, on this journey, was deeply impressed with the importance of +a union of the colonies for self-defence. He therefore drew up a plan +for such union. Several gentlemen of the highest intelligence in New +York, having examined it, gave it their cordial approval. He +accordingly laid it before Congress. + +There were several other persons in other colonies who were impressed +as deeply as Franklin with a sense of the importance of such a +confederacy, and they also sent in their suggestions. + +Congress appointed a committee of one from each province, to consider +the several plans. The committee approved of Franklin's plan, and +reported accordingly. While the commissioners were conferring with the +Indians in Albany, Congress was engaged in discussing the plans of a +confederacy. Franklin's plan was finally rejected. It did not meet the +views either of the Assembly, or of the British Court. And here we +see, perhaps the germs of the great conflict which soon culminated in +the cruel war of the Revolution. + +The Assembly objected to the plan as too aristocratic, conferring too +much power upon the crown. The court emphatically rejected it as too +democratic, investing the people with too much power. Franklin ever +affirmed that his plan was the true medium. Even the royalist governor +of Pennsylvania warmly commended the compromise he urged. + +In visiting Boston he was shown an electric tube, recently sent from +England. With this tube some very surprising electrical experiments +were performed, ushering in a new science, of which then but very +little was known. Franklin became intensely interested in the subject. +Upon his return to Philadelphia, he devoted himself, with great +assiduity, to experimenting with electric tubes. At this time he wrote +to a friend, + + "I never was before engaged in any study that so totally + engrossed my attention and my time, as this has lately done; + for what with making experiments when I can be alone, and + repeating them to my friends and acquaintances, who, from + the novelty of the thing, come continually in crowds to see + them, I have little leisure for anything else." + +This was during the winter of 1746-7. Franklin suggested that the +electricity was collected, not created by friction. He also +propounded the theory of positive and negative electricity. He was, at +this time, comparatively a wealthy man, and consequently could afford +to devote his time to philosophical investigation. It is estimated +that his income, from his estates, amounted to about seven hundred +pounds a year; this was equal to about six or seven thousand dollars +at the present time. Mr. Parton writes, + + "Besides this independence, Franklin was the holder of two + offices, worth together perhaps one hundred and fifty pounds + a year. His business, then more flourishing than ever, + produced an annual profit, as before computed, of two + thousand pounds; bringing up his income to the troublesome + and absurd amount of nearly three thousand pounds; three + times the revenue of a colonial governor." + +Under these prosperous circumstances, Franklin withdrew from active +business, became a silent partner in the firm, and devoted nearly all +his time to the new science. He wrote, in the autumn of 1748, to his +friend Cadwallader Colden of New York, + + "I have removed to a more quiet part of the town, where I am + settling my old accounts, and hope soon to be quite master + of my own time, and no longer, as the song has it, 'at every + one's call but my own.' + + "Thus you see I am in a fair way of having no other tasks + than such as I shall like to give myself, and of enjoying + what I look upon as a great happiness, leisure to read, + study, make experiments, and converse at large with such + ingenious and worthy men, as are pleased to honor me with + their friendship or acquaintance, on such points as may + produce something for the common benefit of mankind, + uninterrupted by the cares and fatigues of business." + +He wrote a treatise upon thundergusts, which displayed wonderful +sagacity, and which arrested the attention of nearly all the +philosophers in Europe and America. The all-important topics of this +exceedingly important document, were the power of points to draw off +electricity, and also the similarity of electricity and lightning. He +therefore urged that metallic rods might be attached to buildings and +ships, which, pushing their needle points above roofs and masts, might +draw the electric fire harmlessly from the clouds. He confesses that +he cannot imagine why the points should possess this curious power, +but urges that facts seem to demonstrate it. + +One day, for the entertainment of his friends, he had made +arrangements to kill a turkey with an electric shock. Two large jars +were heavily charged. Incautiously manipulating, he took the shock +himself. In the following language, he describes the effect: + + "The flash was very great, and the crack was as loud as a + pistol; yet my senses being instantly gone, I neither saw + the one nor heard the other; nor did I feel the stroke on my + hand, though I afterwards found it raised a round swelling + where the fire entered, as big as half a pistol bullet. + + "I then felt what I know not well how to describe, a + universal blow throughout my whole body from head to foot, + which seemed within as well as without; after which the + first thing I took notice of was a violent, quick shaking of + my body, which gradually remitting, my sense as gradually + returned, and then, I thought the bottle must be discharged, + but could not conceive how, till at last I perceived the + chain in my hand, and recollected what I had been about to + do. + + "That part of my hand and fingers which held the chain, was + left white as though the blood had been driven out; and + remained so eight or ten minutes after, feeling like dead + flesh; and I had numbness in my arms and the back of my neck + which continued to the next morning, but wore off." + +Franklin was much mortified at his awkwardness in this experiment. He +declared it to be a notorious blunder, and compared it with the folly +of the Irishman, who wishing to steal some gun-powder, bored a hole +through the cask with red hot iron. But notwithstanding this warning, +not long afterwards, in endeavoring to give a shock to a paralytic +patient, he received the whole charge himself, and was knocked flat +and senseless on the floor. + +In the spring of 1752, Franklin tried his world renowned experiment +with the kite. A June thunder cloud was rising in all its majesty. +Franklin, accompanied by his son, repaired to a field secretly, being +afraid of the ridicule of the people. Here he raised the kite, made of +a large silk handkerchief. The top of the perpendicular stick was +pointed with a sharp metallic rod. The string was hemp with the +exception of the part held in the hand, which was silk; at the end of +the hempen string a common key was suspended. With intense anxiety and +no slight apprehension of danger, he held the line. Soon he observed +the fibres of the hempen string to rise and separate themselves, as +was the case of the hair on the head, when any one was placed on an +insulating stool. He applied his knuckle to the key, and received an +unmistakable spark. As the story is generally told, with occasionally +slight contradictions, he applied his knuckle again and again to the +key with a similar result. He charged a Leyden jar with the fluid and +both he and his son took a shock. He then drew in his kite, packed up +his apparatus and returned to his laboratory probably the most +exultant and happy man in this wide world. + +Most of the English and many of the French philosophers were very +unwilling to believe that an obscure American, in what they deemed the +savage and uncultivated wilds of the New World, was outstripping them +in philosophical research. They were unwilling to acknowledge the +reality of his experiments; but in France, where an American would +receive more impartial treatment, three of the most eminent +philosophers, Count de Buffon, M. Dalibard and M. de Lor, at different +places, raised the apparatus Franklin had recommended to draw +electricity from the clouds. Their success was unmistakable; the +results of these experiments were proclaimed throughout Europe. + +Franklin had now obtained renown. No one could deny that he merited a +high position among the most eminent philosophers. The experiments he +had suggested were tried by scientists in the philosophical circles of +every country in Europe. + +Both Yale and Harvard, in this country, conferred upon him the +honorary degree of Master of Arts, and the Royal Society, in Europe, +by a unanimous vote, elected him a member, remitting the usual +initiation fee of five guineas, and the annual charge of two and a +half guineas. The next year this Society conferred upon him the Copley +medal. + +For seven years Franklin continued to devote himself almost +exclusively to this science, and he became, without doubt, the most +accomplished electrician in the world. At the same time his mind was +ever active in devising new schemes for the welfare of humanity. The +most trivial events would often suggest to him measures conducive to +the most beneficial results. It is said that Franklin saw one day in a +ditch the fragments of a basket of yellow willow, in which some +foreign commodity had been imported to this country. One of the twigs +had sprouted. He planted it; and it became the parent of all the +yellow willows in our country. + +Franklin was best loved where he was best known. And this was right; +for he was ever conferring deeds of kindness upon his neighbors. His +religious views excited sorrow among his Christian friends. Others, +composing perhaps a majority, cared nothing about what he believed. In +conversation he ever frankly avowed himself a deist, though generally +he made no attempt to convert others to his views. It is not +improbable that he was in some degree influenced by the beneficial +effect produced upon the popular mind by the preaching of his friend +Mr. Whitefield. + +The writer was once, in Paris, conversing with one of the most +illustrious of the French philosophers. He said to the philosopher, "I +am much interested to ascertain the views of gentlemen of your +intellectual position respecting the Christian religion." He with +perfect frankness replied, "I think that there are no men of high +culture in France, with a few exceptions, who believe in the divine +origin of Christianity. But there is no philanthropist who will say +so. We have been taught, by the horrors of the French Revolution, that +the masses of the people can only be restrained from violence by the +superstitious restraints which Christianity presents. We therefore +think that every man, who is a gentleman, will do what he can to +sustain the church and the clergy. Men of culture and refinement, are +governed by principles of honor, and they do not need the +superstitious motives of Christianity to influence them." + +I may remark, in passing, that this gentlemanly philosopher had +abandoned his own wife, and was then living with the wife of another +man. It is not improbable that Franklin, as he looked upon the +tumultuous and passion-tossed young men of Philadelphia, did not deem +it expedient to say to them, + +"The Bible is a fable. The Sabbath is no more sacred than any other +day. The church is merely a human club without any divine authority. +Marriage is an institution which is not founded upon any decree which +God has issued, but one of the expediency of which each individual +must judge for himself. The Sacraments of Baptism, and the Lord's +Supper, are mere human contrivances. The preaching of the Gospel had +better be laid aside for literary and scientific disquisitions." + +With the eye of a benevolent philosopher, Franklin, as we have seen, +had watched the effect of the preaching of Mr. Whitefield, and had +candidly acknowledged its power in reforming society. It is improbable +that, in his heart, he felt that the preaching of pure deism could +ever secure such results. In 1753 he wrote to Mr. Whitefield, in reply +to a communication from him upon the Christian faith: + + "The faith you mention certainly has its use in the world. I + do not desire to see it diminished, nor would I endeavor to + lessen it in any man." + +Franklin had resolved to decline all office, that he might devote +himself to his studies. But his reputation for wisdom was such, that +he found it very difficult to persevere in this plan. Menaces of war +were continually arising. The majority of the members, in the +Assembly, were Quakers. It was a small body consisting of but forty +delegates. The Quakers opposed every measure for public defence. +Franklin, as we have mentioned, became a Justice of the Peace. Soon +after he was an Alderman, and then he took his seat in the General +Assembly. + +"I was a bad speaker," he writes, "never eloquent; subject to much +hesitation in the choice of words; and yet I generally carried my +point." + +He adds, in language which every young man should treasure up in his +memory, "I retained the habit of expressing myself in terms of modest +diffidence; never using, when I advanced anything that might possibly +be disputed, the words, _certainly_, _undoubtedly_, or any others that +give the air of positiveness to an opinion; but rather, I _conceive_, +or _apprehend_ a thing to be so and so. _It appears to me_, or, _I +should not think it so for such and such reasons_, or, _I imagine it +to be so_, or, _It is so if I am not mistaken_. This habit, I believe, +has been of great advantage to me when I have had occasion to +inculcate my opinions; and to persuade men into measures that I have +been from time to time proposing." + +When Franklin assumed the charge of the post-office, the department +was in a feeble and peculiar condition. As late as the year 1757, the +mail-bag in Virginia was passed from planter to planter. Each one was +required to forward it promptly, under the penalty of forfeiting a +hogshead of tobacco. Every man took, from the bag, what belonged to +his family, and sent on the rest. The line of post-offices then +extended from Boston, Mass., to Charleston, S. C. It was twenty years +after this, before any governmental mail penetrated the interior. + +In the year 1753, Franklin visited every post-office excepting that +of Charleston. His wisdom introduced reforms, some of which have +continued to the present day. A newspaper was charged nine pence +a year, for a distance of fifty miles, and eighteen pence for +one hundred miles or more. In the large towns a penny post was +established, and all letters left remaining in the office were +advertised. + +A mail was conveyed from Philadelphia to New York once a week in +summer, and once in two weeks in winter. Franklin started a mail to +leave each of these cities three times a week in summer, and twice in +winter. It generally required six weeks to obtain an answer from a +letter sent to Boston. Most of the roads, into the interior, consisted +of narrow passages, cut through the forest, called Bridle Paths, +because the pack horses were led through them, in single file by the +bridle. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +_The Rising Storms of War._ + + Aristocracy--Anecdote--Conflicting laws of + Nations--Franklin's scheme of colonization--Proposal of the + British Court--The foresight of Franklin--Braddock's + campaign--Remonstrances of Franklin and + Washington--Franklin's interviews with Braddock--Franklin's + efficiency--Confidence of Braddock--The conflict with the + Proprietaries--The non-resistant Quakers--Fate of the + Moravian villages--The winter campaign--The camp of + Gaudenhutton--Anecdote--Renewal of the strife with the + Proprietaries--Franklin recalled to assist the + Assembly--Destruction of the Fort--Claim of the + Proprietaries--The great controversy. + + +With increasing wealth the spirit of aristocratic exclusiveness gained +strength in the higher circles of Philadelphia. Some of the more +opulent families planned for a series of dancing entertainments during +the winter. It was proposed among other rules that no mechanic, or +mechanic's wife or daughter, should be invited. The rules were shown +to Franklin. He glanced his eye over them and pithily remarked, + +"Why these rules would exclude God Almighty!" + +"How so?" inquired the manager. + +"Because," Franklin replied, "the Almighty, as all know, is the +greatest mechanic in the universe. In six days he made all things." +The obnoxious article was stricken out. + +The following incident, narrated by Franklin, illustrates a very +important principle in political economy, which those are apt to +ignore, who denounce all the elegancies and luxuries of life. + +Mrs. Franklin received some small favor from the captain of a little +coaster, which ran between Cape May and Philadelphia. He declined to +receive any remuneration for his trifling services. Mrs. Franklin, +learning that he had a pretty daughter, sent her a new-fashioned +Philadelphia cap or bonnet. Three years after, the captain called +again at the house of Mr. Franklin. A very plain but intelligent +farmer accompanied him. The captain expressed his thanks to Mrs. +Franklin for the gift she had sent his daughter, and rather +discourteously added, + +"But it proved a dear cap to our congregation. When my daughter +appeared with it at meeting, it was so much admired that all the girls +resolved to get such caps from Philadelphia. And my wife and I +computed that the whole could not have cost less than a hundred +pounds." + +The farmer, with far higher intelligence, said, "This is true; but +you do not tell the whole story. I think the cap was nevertheless an +advantage to us. It was the first thing that put our girls upon +knitting worsted mittens, for sale at Philadelphia, that they might +have wherewithal to buy caps and ribbons there. And you know that that +industry has continued and is likely to continue and increase, to a +much greater value, and answer better purposes." + +"Thus by a profitable exchange, the industrious girls at Cape May had +pretty bonnets, and the girls at Philadelphia had warm mittens." + +For seventy-five years it had been the constant design of the British +government to drive the French from North America. England claimed the +whole country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, because her ships had +first sailed along the Atlantic coast. It was one of the recognized +laws of nations that a newly discovered region belonged to the nation +who had first raised upon it its flag. + +France, admitting the claim of England to the Atlantic coast, asserted +her right to the great valleys of the interior, those of the Ohio and +the Mississippi, because her boatmen had first discovered those +magnificent rivers, had explored them throughout, and had established +upon them her trading and military posts. It was a recognized law of +nations, that the power which discovered, explored, and took +possession of a new river, was the rightful possessor of the valley +which that river watered. Thus the conflict of claims originated. + +To add to the intensity of the insane strife, which caused an amount +of blood and misery which no tongue can tell, religious bitterness was +aroused, and the French Roman Catholic was arrayed against the British +Protestant. + +Three wars, bloody and woful, had already ravaged this continent. We +have before alluded to the menace of a new war in the year 1754, and +to Franklin's mission to Albany to enlist the chiefs of the Six +Nations to become allies of the English. We have also alluded to the +plan, which Franklin drew up on this journey, for the union of the +colonies, and which was rejected. The wisdom of this plan was, +however, subsequently developed by the fact that it was remarkably +like that by which eventually the colonies were bound together as a +nation. + +Assuming that the English were right in their claim for the whole +continent, Franklin urged the eminently wise measure of establishing +strong colonies, in villages of a hundred families each, on the +luxuriant banks of the western rivers. But the haughty British +government would receive no instructions from American provincials. + +Governor Shirley, of Boston, showed Mr. Franklin a plan, drawn up in +England, for conducting the war. It developed consummate ignorance of +the difficulties of carrying on war in the pathless wilderness; and +also a great disregard of the political rights of the American +citizens. According to this document, the British court was to +originate and execute all the measures for the conduct of the war; and +the British Parliament was to assess whatever tax it deemed expedient +upon the American people to defray the expenses. The Americans were to +have no representation in Parliament, and no voice whatever in +deciding upon the sum which they were to pay. + +Franklin examined the document carefully, and returned it with his +written objections. In this remarkable paper, he anticipated the +arguments which our most distinguished statesmen and logicians urged +against the Stamp Act--against Taxation without Representation. A +brief extract from this important paper, will give the reader some +idea of its character: + + "The colonists are Englishmen. The accident of living in a + colony deprives them of no right secured by Magna Charta. The + people in the colonies, who are to feel the immediate + mischiefs of invasion and conquest by an enemy, in the loss + of their estates, lives and liberties, are likely to be + better judges of the quantity of forces necessary to be + raised and maintained, and supported, and of their own + ability to bear the expense, than the Parliament of England, + at so great a distance. Compelling the colonists to pay money + without their consent, would be rather like raising + contributions in an enemy's country, than taxing of + Englishmen for their own public benefit. It would be treating + them as a conquered people, and not as true British + subjects." + +At length the brave, but self-conceited and haughty General Braddock +came with his army of British Regulars. Frenchmen, Indians, and +Americans, he alike regarded with contempt. His troops were +rendezvoused at Fredericktown, in Maryland. A bridle path led through +the wilderness to this place, from Philadelphia, a distance of a +hundred and twenty miles. + +Intelligent American gentlemen were much alarmed, by the reckless and +perilous measures which the ignorant British general declared his +intention to pursue. He became very angry with Pennsylvanians, because +they were so unwilling to fall in with his plans. It was said that, in +his anger, he manifested more desire to ravage Pennsylvania than to +defeat the French. + +The Assembly at Philadelphia appointed a commission, consisting of +Benjamin Franklin and his son, a resolute, insubordinate man of thirty +years, and of the Governors of New York and Massachusetts, to visit +the arrogant British officer, and to endeavor, in some way, to +influence him to wiser measures. It was the middle of April, a +beautiful season in that climate, of swelling buds, and opening +leaves. + +Each of the four gentlemen was attended by servants, as was customary +in those days. They were all finely mounted. Joyfully they rode along, +seeking entertainment each night at the residence of some planter. A +courier was always sent forward to announce their coming, and the +planter, accompanied by one or two of his servants, would generally +ride forward a few miles to meet them, and escort them to his +hospitable home. + +Franklin was received by Gen. Braddock with the condescension with +which, in that day, English gentlemen were ever accustomed to regard +Americans of whatever name or note. The little army, which was to +march upon Fort Duquesne, was to traverse the dreary and pathless +ridges and ravines of the Alleghany mountains, and force their way +through a tangled wilderness, for a distance of several hundred miles. +During all this march they were hourly exposed to be attacked by an +overpowering force of French and Indians. The French could easily +descend to the Ohio, in their boats from Canada, and nearly all the +Indians of this vast interior, were in alliance with them. + +Braddock insisted upon encumbering his march with heavily laden +wagons, which were to penetrate savage regions through which he must, +every mile, construct his road. There was a young American in the camp +by the name of George Washington. He was a man of the highest rank, +and of commanding influence, having obtained much experience in Indian +warfare. Modestly, but warmly, he remonstrated against this folly. He +not only feared, but was fully assured that such a measure would lead +to the inevitable destruction of the army. He urged that pack horses +only should be employed, and as few of them as possible; and that thus +they should hurry along as rapidly and in as compact a mass as they +could. + +But Braddock was inexorable. He demanded his two hundred and fifty +wagons, and a large train of pack horses, to be laden with sumptuous +provisions for his officers. The farmers of Maryland and Virginia were +reluctant to expose the few wagons and teams they had, to such +inevitable destruction. Neither had they any confidence that the +British Government would ever remunerate them in case of their loss. + +Four-wheeled vehicles were very scarce in the colonies. There were +many people who had never seen one. The general, after exhausting all +his efforts, could obtain but twenty-four. One day as he was giving +vent to his indignation, Franklin suggested that it would probably be +much more easy to obtain wagons in the more densely settled parts of +Pennsylvania. Braddock immediately urged him to undertake the +enterprise. Unwisely, we think, he consented. With his son he hastened +to Pennsylvania, and selected Lancaster, York, and Carlisle as his +centres of operation. + +Whatever Franklin undertook, he was pretty sure to accomplish. In +twenty days he obtained one hundred and fifty four-horse wagons, and +two hundred and fifty-nine pack-horses. He did not accomplish this +feat however, until he had exhausted all the money which Braddock had +furnished him, had spent over a thousand dollars of his own money, and +had given bonds for the safe return of horses and wagons, whose money +value was estimated at one hundred thousand dollars. + +Braddock was lavish in his compliments. Franklin dined with him daily. +The idea seemed never to have entered Braddock's mind that British +Regulars, under his command, could ever be seriously annoyed by bands +of French and Indians. He said one day, + +"After taking Fort Duquesne, I shall go to Niagara. Having taken that, +if the season will permit, I shall proceed to Fort Frontenac. Fort +Duquesne can hardly detain me more than three or four days." + +Franklin, who was well aware that Braddock was entering upon a far +more formidable campaign than he anticipated, ventured very modestly +to suggest, + +"To be sure, sir, if you arrive well before Duquesne with the fine +troops so well provided with artillery, the fort, though completely +fortified, and assisted with a very strong garrison, can probably make +but a short resistance. The only danger I apprehend of obstruction to +your march, is of ambuscades of the Indians, who, by constant +practice, are dexterous in laying and executing them. And the slender +line, near four miles long, which your army must make, may expose it +to be attacked by surprise in its flanks, and to be cut like a thread +into several pieces, which, from their distance, cannot come up in +time to support each other." + +Braddock smiled derisively, at this ignorance of a benighted American. +"These savages may indeed," he said, "be a formidable enemy to your +raw American militia. But upon the king's regular and disciplined +troops, it is impossible that they should make any impression." + +Colonel Washington regarded the wagons, and the long array of +pack-horses, as so many nuisances, arresting the rapidity of their +march, and inviting attacks which it would be impossible to repel. At +length the army was in motion. The progress was very slow. Franklin +was continually forwarding supplies; and even advanced between six and +seven thousand dollars, from his own purse, to expedite purchases. A +part of this he never received back. + +The attack upon Braddock's army, and its terrible defeat soon came. A +minute account of the conflict is given in the Life of George +Washington, one of the volumes of this series. The teamsters cut the +traces of their horses, mounted the swiftest, and, in the frenzy of +their panic, rushed for home. The other horses and the wagons, with +their abounding supplies, were left to magnify the triumph of the +exultant Indians. Disastrous as was the campaign, Franklin obtained +much credit for the efficient services he had rendered. + +War, with all its horrors, had now penetrated the beautiful region of +Pennsylvania, which had enjoyed eighty years of peace, through the +Christian philanthropy of William Penn. Nearly all of the Indians, +beyond the mountains, were allies of the French. The news of +Braddock's defeat reached Philadelphia about the middle of July, 1755. +Immediately a violent conflict arose between the royalist governor +Morris, and the Colonial Assembly. The Legislative body voted liberal +taxes for the public defence. But very justly it was enacted that +these taxes should be assessed impartially upon all estates alike, +upon those of the wealthy Proprietaries, as well as upon the +few hundred acres which were owned by the humble farmers. The +Proprietaries, consisting of two of the sons of William Penn, revolted +against this. The Governor, appointed by them, as their agent of +course, united with them in opposition. For many weeks the conflict +between the Assembly and the Governor as agent of the Proprietaries, +raged fiercely. Under these circumstances no military supplies could +be voted, and the peril of the community was very great. + +Franklin warmly espoused and eloquently advocated the claim of the +Assembly. During the months of July and August, the Indians, satiated +with the vast plunder of Braddock's camp, made no attempt to cross the +Alleghanies, in predatory excursions against the more settled portions +of Pennsylvania. But September and October ushered in scenes of horror +and carnage, too awful to be depicted. Villages were laid in ashes, +cottages were burned, families tomahawked and scalped, women and +children carried into captivity, and many poor creatures perished at +the stake, in the endurance of all the tortures which savage ingenuity +could devise. + +And still the Quakers, adhering to their principle of non-resistance, +refused to contribute any money, or in any way to unite in any +military organization for self-defence. But in candor it must be +admitted, that had the principles of the Quakers been adopted by the +British court, this whole disastrous war might have been avoided. It +was a war of invasion commenced by the English. They were determined, +by force of arms, to drive the French out of the magnificent valleys +beyond the mountains. In the conflict which ensued, both parties +enlisted all the savages they could, as allies. Will not England at +the judgment be held responsible for this war and its woes? + +To rouse the Quakers to a sense of shame, the bodies of a whole +murdered family, mutilated and gory, were brought to Philadelphia and +paraded through all its streets, in an open wagon. In November, as the +Indians, often led by French officers, were sweeping the frontier in +all directions, killing, burning, destroying, the antagonistic parties +in the Assembly, for a time laid aside their quarrels, and with the +exception of the Quakers, adopted vigorous military measures. The +Quakers were generally the most opulent people in the State. It is not +strange that the common people should be reluctant to volunteer to +defend the property of the Quakers, since they refused either to +shoulder a musket, or to contribute a dollar. + +The pen of Franklin rendered wonderful service in this crisis. With +his accustomed toleration, he could make allowance for the frailties +of conscience-bound men. He wrote a very witty pamphlet which was very +widely read, and produced a powerful impression. Its character may be +inferred from the following brief quotation: + + "'For my part,' says A., 'I am no coward; but hang me if I + fight to save the Quakers.' + + "'That is to say,' B. replied, 'you will not pump the + sinking ship, because it will save the rats as well as + yourselves.'" + +The dialogue ends with the following admirable words: + + "O! my friends, the glory of serving and saving others is + superior to the advantage of being served and secured. Let + us resolutely and generously unite in our country's cause, + in which to die is the sweetest of all deaths; and may the + God of armies bless our honest endeavors." + +The colonists of Pennsylvania now generally rushed to arms. There +were, on the frontiers, several flourishing Moravian villages. They +were occupied by a peculiarly industrious and religious people. The +traveller through their quiet streets heard, morning and evening, the +voice of prayer ascending from many firesides, and the melody of +Christian hymns. Guadenhutton, perhaps the most flourishing of them, +was attacked by the Indians, burned, and the inhabitants all massacred +or carried into captivity. Terrible was the panic in the other +villages. They were liable at any day, to experience the same fate. + +Under these circumstances the Governor raised five hundred and forty +volunteers, and placed them under the command of Franklin, with the +title of General. He was to lead them, as rapidly as possible, to +Northampton county, for the protection of these people. His son, +William, was his aid-de-camp. He proved an efficient and valiant +soldier. + +It was the middle of December when this heroic little band commenced +its march. Snow whitened the hills. Wintry gales swept the bleak +plains, and moaned through the forests. The roads were almost +impassable. Fierce storms often entirely arrested their march. The +wilderness was very thinly inhabited. It required the toil of a month, +for Franklin to force his way through these many obstructions to the +base of his operations, though it was distant not more than ninety +miles. + +The troops moved very cautiously to guard against ambush. The +philosopher, Franklin, though he had never received a military +education, and was quite inexperienced in military affairs, was the +last man to be drawn into such a net as that in which the army of +Braddock was destroyed. + +Franklin, as a philosopher, could appreciate the powerful influence of +religious motives upon the mind. Rev. Mr. Beatty was his chaplain, +whose worth of character Franklin appreciated. Before commencing their +march, all the troops were assembled for a religious service. After an +earnest exhortation to fidelity and duty, a fervent prayer was +offered. + +The march was conducted with great regularity. First, scouts advanced +in a semi-circular line, ranging the woods. Then came the advanced +guard, at a few hundred paces behind. The centre followed, with all +the wagons and baggage. Then came the rear guard, with scouts on each +flank, and spies on every hill. + +Upon reaching Guadenhutton, an awful scene of desolation and carnage +met the eye. The once happy village presented now but a revolting +expanse of blackened ruins. The mangled bodies of the dead strewed the +ground, mutilated alike by the savages and the howling wolves. +Franklin ordered huts immediately to be reared to protect his troops +from the inclemency of the weather. No man knew better than he, how to +make them comfortable and cheerful with the least expense. + +A fort was promptly constructed, which he called Fort Allen, and which +could easily repel any attack the Indians might make, unless they +approached with formidable French artillery. There were many +indications that the Indians, in large numbers, were hovering around, +watching all their movements. But the sagacity of Franklin baffled +them. They kept concealed without any attack. The savages were very +cautious men; they would seldom engage in a battle, unless they were +sure of victory. + +A trifling incident occurred at this time, worthy of record as +illustrative of the shrewdness of General Franklin. + +The chaplain complained that the men were remiss in attending prayers. +Franklin suggested that though it might not be exactly consistent with +the dignity of the chaplain to become himself the steward of the rum, +still, if he would order it to be distributed immediately after +prayers, he would probably have all the men gathering around him. + +"He liked the thought," Franklin wrote, "under took the task, and +with the help of a few hands to measure out the liquor, executed +it to satisfaction. Never were prayers more generally and more +punctually attended. So that I think this method preferable to the +punishment inflicted by some military laws for non-attendance on +divine worship." + +Bitter quarrels were renewed in the Assembly. The presence of Franklin +was indispensable to allay the strife. Governor Morris wrote +entreating him immediately to return to Philadelphia. It so happened +at this time, that Col. Clapham, a New England soldier of experience +and high repute, visited the camp at Guadenhutton. Franklin placed him +in command, and warmly commending him to the confidence of the troops, +hurried home. He reached Philadelphia on the 10th of February, 1756, +after two months' service in the field. Universal applause greeted +him. Several military companies, in Philadelphia, united in a regiment +of about twelve hundred men. Franklin was promptly elected their +colonel, which office he accepted. + +In tracing the disasters of war, it is interesting to observe how many +of those disasters are owing to unpardonable folly. Some months after +Franklin's departure, on a cold, bleak day in November, a large part +of the garrison, unmindful of danger, were skating, like school-boys +on the Lehigh river. The vigilant Indians saw their opportunity. Like +howling wolves they made a rush upon the fort, entered its open +gates, and killed or captured all its inmates. The skaters fled into +the woods. They were pursued. Some were killed or captured. Some +perished miserably of cold and starvation. Probably a few escaped. The +triumphant savages, having plundered the fort and the dwellings of all +their contents, applied the torch, and again Guadenhutton was reduced +to a pile of ashes. + +The controversy which arose between the Governor and the Assembly +became acrimonious in the extreme. The principles there contended for, +involved the very existence of anything like American liberty. For +fifteen years the pen and voice of Franklin were influential in this +controversy. He probably did more than any other man to prepare the +colonists to resist the despotism of the British court, and to +proclaim their independence. + +On the 5th of January, 1681, King Charles the Second had conferred +upon William Penn twenty-six million acres of the "best land in the +universe." This land was in the New World, and received the name of +Pennsylvania. In return for this grant, Penn agreed to pay annually, +at Windsor Castle, two beaver skins, and one-fifth of the gold and +silver which the province might yield. He also promised to govern the +province in conformity with the laws of England. + +He could treat with the savages, appoint ordinary magistrates, and +pardon petty crimes. But he could lay no tax, and impose no law +without consent of the freemen of the province, represented in the +Assembly. + +Of this whole wide realm, Penn was the absolute proprietor. He refused +to sell a single acre, absolutely, but in all the sales reserved for +himself what may be called a ground-rent. Immense tracts were sold at +forty shillings, about ten dollars, for one hundred acres, reserving a +rent of one shilling for each hundred acres. He also reserved, +entirely to himself, various portions of the territory which promised +to become the site of important cities and villages. All these rights +descended to the heirs of William Penn. + +Seventy-four years passed away, when the estate thus founded, was +estimated to be worth ten millions sterling, and popular belief +affirmed that it produced a revenue of one hundred thousand pounds. + +Penn, when he died, bequeathed the province to his three sons, John, +Thomas, and Richard. To John he gave a double part, or one-half of +Pennsylvania. John died and left his half to Thomas, who thus became +proprietor of three-fourths of the province, while Richard held +one-fourth. Thus there were but two proprietors, Thomas and Richard +Penn. They were both weak men; resided in England, were thoroughly +imbued with Tory principles, and, in the consciousness of their vast +estates, assumed to be lords and princes. + +They ruled their province by a deputy-governor. His position was +indeed no sinecure. The two proprietaries, who appointed him, could at +any time deprive him of office. The Assembly could refuse to vote his +salary, and if he displeased the king of England, he might lose, not +only his office, but his head. + +The controversy which had arisen, in consequence of these involvements +between the proprietaries and the people, engrossed universal +attention. During the four years between 1754 and 1758, the ravaged +colony of Pennsylvania had raised the sum of two hundred and eighteen +thousand pounds sterling, (over a million of dollars,) for defending +its borders. And still the two lordly proprietaries demanded that +their vast possessions should be entirely exempt from taxation. + +To an earnest remonstrance of the Assembly, they returned an insulting +answer, in which they said, + +"We are no more bound to pay taxes than any other chief governor of +the King's colonies. Your agitation of this matter is a new trick to +secure your re-election. We advise you to show us the respect due to +the rank which the crown has been pleased to bestow upon us. The +people of Pennsylvania, in ordinary times, are so lightly taxed, that +they hardly know that they are taxed. What fools you are to be +agitating this dangerous topic of American taxation. It is beneath the +dignity of the Assembly to make trouble about such small sums of +money. We do not deny that you have been at some expense in pacifying +the Indians, but that is no affair of ours. We already give the +province a larger sum per annum, than our share of the taxes would +amount to. One of us, for example, sent over four hundred pounds' +worth of cannon, for the defence of our city of Philadelphia." + +Such was their answer. It was conveyed in sixteen sentences which were +numbered and which were very similar to the ones we have given. The +communication excited great displeasure. It was considered alike false +and insolent. Even the tranquil mind of Franklin was fired with +indignation. He replied to the document with a power of eloquence and +logic which carried the convictions of nearly all the colonists. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +_Franklin's Mission to England._ + + New marks of respect--Lord Loudoun--Gov. Denny and + Franklin--Visit the Indians--Franklin commissioner to + England--His constant good nature--Loudoun's delays--Wise + action of an English captain--The voyagers land at + Falmouth--Journey to London--Franklin's style of living in + London--His electrical experiments--He teaches the Cambridge + professor--Complimentary action of St. Andrews--Gov. Denny + displaced, and dark clouds arising--Franklin's successful + diplomacy--His son appointed Governor of New Jersey--Great + opposition--The homeward voyage--Savage horrors--Retaliating + cruelties--Franklin's efforts in behalf of the Moravian + Indians. + + +The general impression, produced throughout the colonies, by the +controversy with the proprietaries, was that they were very weak men. +Indeed it does not appear that they were much regarded even in London. +A gentleman, writing from that city, said, "They are hardly to be +found in the herd of gentry; not in court, not in office, not in +parliament." + +In March, Franklin left his home for a post-office tour. Some forty of +the officers of his regiment, well mounted, and in rich uniform, +without Franklin's knowledge, came to his door, to escort him out of +the village. Franklin says, + + "I had not previously been made acquainted with their + project, or I should have prevented it, being naturally + averse to the assuming of state on any occasion." + +The proprietaries in London heard an account of this affair. They were +very much displeased, saying they had never been thus honored, and +that princes of the blood alone were entitled to such distinction. The +war was still raging. Large bodies of troops were crossing the ocean +to be united with the colonial forces. + +Lord Loudoun was appointed by the court commander-in-chief for +America. He was an exceedingly weak and inefficient man; scarcely a +soldier in the ranks could be found more incompetent for the +situation. Governor Morris, of Pennsylvania, worn out with his +unavailing conflicts with the Assembly, was withdrawn, and the +proprietaries sent out Captain William Denny as their obsequious +servant in his stead. The Philadelphians, hoping to conciliate him, +received him cordially, and with a public entertainment. William +Franklin wrote: + + "Change of devils, according to the Scotch proverb, is + blithesome." + +At the close of the feast, when most of the party were making +themselves merry over their wine, Governor Denny took Franklin aside +into an adjoining room, and endeavored, by the most abounding +flattery, and by the bribe of rich promises, to induce him to espouse +the cause of the proprietaries. But he soon learned that Franklin +could not be influenced by any of his bribes. + +There was but a brief lull in the storm. Governor Denny had no power +of his own. He could only obey the peremptory instructions he had +received. These instructions were irreconcilably hostile to the +resolves of the Assembly. Franklin was the all-powerful leader of the +popular party. There was something in his imperturbable good nature +which it is difficult to explain. No scenes of woe seemed to depress +his cheerful spirits. No atrocities of oppression could excite his +indignation. He could thrust his keen dagger points into the vitals of +his antagonist, with a smile upon his face and jokes upon his lips +which would convulse both friend and foe with laughter. He was the +most unrelenting antagonist of Governor Denny in the Assembly, and yet +he was the only man who remained on good terms with the governor, +visiting him, and dining with him. + +Governor Denny was a gentleman, and well educated, and few men could +appear to better advantage in the saloons of fashion. But he was +trammeled beyond all independent action, by the instructions he had +received from the proprietaries. He was right in heart, was in +sympathy with Franklin, and with reluctance endeavored to enforce the +arbitrary measures with which he was entrusted. + +Franklin was one of the most companionable of men. His wonderful +powers of conversation, his sweetness of temper, and his entire +ignoring of all aristocratic assumption, made him one of the most +fascinating of guests in every circle. He charmed alike the rich and +the poor, the learned and the ignorant. + +In November, 1756, he accompanied Governor Denny to the frontier to +confer with the chiefs of several Indian tribes. The savages, to say +the least, were as punctilious in the observance of the laws of honor, +in securing the safety of the ambassadors on such an occasion, as were +the English. + +The governor and the philosopher rode side by side on horseback, +accompanied by only a few body servants. The governor, familiar with +the clubs and the wits of England, entertained Franklin, in the +highest degree, with the literary gossip of London, and probably +excited in his mind an intense desire to visit those scenes, which he +himself was so calculated to enjoy and to embellish. On the journey +he wrote the following comic letter to his wife. He had been +disappointed in not receiving a line from her by a certain messenger. + + "I had a good mind not to write to you by this opportunity, + but I never can be ill-natured enough even when there is + most occasion. I think I won't tell you that we are well, + and that we expect to return about the middle of the week, + nor will I send you a word of news; that's poz. My duty to + mother, love to the children, and to Miss Betsy and Gracie. + I am your _loving_ husband. + + "P. S. I have _scratched out the loving words_, being writ + in haste by mistake, when I forgot I was angry." + +Gov. Denny, unable to accomplish his purposes with the Assembly, +resolved to make a final appeal to the king. The House promptly +decided to imitate his example. Its Speaker, Mr. Norris, and Benjamin +Franklin, were appointed commissioners. The Speaker declined the +office, and Franklin was left as sole commissioner. He probably was +not at all reluctant to be introduced to the statesmen, the +philosophers, and the fashionable circles of the Old World. To defray +his expenses the Assembly voted a sum of nearly eight thousand +dollars. He had also wealth of his own. By correspondence, he was +quite intimately acquainted with very many of the scientific men of +England and France. It was very certain that he would have the +_entree_ to any circle which he might wish to honor with his presence. + +It was at that time a very serious affair to cross the Atlantic. The +ocean swarmed with pirates, privateers, and men-of-war. On the fourth +of April, 1757, Franklin, with his son William, set out from +Philadelphia. His cheerfulness of spirits did not forsake him as he +left a home where he had been remarkably happy for twenty-six years. +The family he left behind him consisted of his wife, his wife's aged +mother, his daughter Sarah, a beautiful child of twelve years, one or +two nieces, and an old nurse of the family. + +Franklin had written to the governor to ascertain the precise time +when the packet would sail. The reply he received from him was, + + "I have given out that the ship is to sail on Saturday next. + But I may let you know _entre nous_ that if you are there by + Monday morning you will be in time; but do not delay any + longer." + +Franklin was accompanied by a number of his friends as far as Trenton, +where they spent a very joyful evening together. At one of the ferries +on this road, they were delayed by obstructions so that they could not +reach the Hudson River until noon of Monday. Franklin feared that the +ship might sail without him; but upon reaching the river he was +relieved by seeing the vessel still in the stream. + +Eleven weeks passed before Lord Loudoun would issue his permission for +the ship to sail. Every day this most dilatory and incompetent of men +announced that the packet would sail to-morrow. And thus the weeks +rolled on while Franklin was waiting, but we do not hear a single word +of impatience or remonstrance from his lips. His philosophy taught him +to be happy under all circumstances. With a smiling face he called +upon Lord Loudoun and dined with him. He endeavored, but in vain, to +obtain a settlement of his claims for supplies furnished to Braddock's +army. + +He found much in the society of New York to entertain him. And more +than all, and above all, he was doing everything that could be done +for the accomplishment of his mission. Why, then, should he worry? + +"New York," he records, "was growing immensely rich by money brought +into it from all quarters for the pay and subsistence of the troops." + +Franklin was remarkably gallant in his intercourse with ladies. He +kept up quite a brisk correspondence with several of the most +brilliant ladies of the day. No man could more prettily pay a +compliment. To his lively and beautiful friend Miss Ray he wrote upon +his departure, + + "Present my best compliments to all that love me; I should + have said all that love you, but that would be giving you + too much trouble." + +At length Lord Loudoun granted permission for the packet to drop down +to the Lower Bay, where a large fleet of ninety vessels was assembled, +fitted out for an attack upon the French at Louisburg. Franklin and +his friends went on board, as it was announced that the vessel would +certainly sail "to-morrow." For six weeks longer the packet rode there +at anchor. Franklin and his companions had for the third time consumed +all the provisions they had laid in store for the voyage. Still we +hear not a murmur from our imperturbable philosopher. + +At length the signal for sailing was given. The whole squadron put to +sea, and the London packet, with all the rest, was swept forward +toward Louisburg. After a voyage of five days, a letter was placed in +the hands of the captain, authorizing him to quit the fleet and steer +for England. + +The days and nights of a long voyage came and went, when the packet at +midnight in a gale of wind, and enveloped in fogs, was approaching +Falmouth. A light-house, upon some rocks, had not been visible. +Suddenly the lifting of the fog revealed the light-house and the +craggy shore, over which the surf was fearfully breaking, at the +distance of but a few rods. A captain of the Royal Navy, who chanced +to be near the helmsman, sprang to the helm, called upon the sailors +instantly to wear ship, and thus, at the risk of snapping every mast, +saved the vessel and the crew from otherwise immediate and certain +destruction. + +There was not, at that time, a single light-house on the North +American coast. The event impressed the mind of Franklin deeply, and +he resolved that upon his return, light-houses should be constructed. + +About nine o'clock the next morning the fog was slowly dispersed, and +Falmouth, with its extended tower, its battlemented castles, and the +forests of masts, was opened before the weary voyagers. It was Sunday +morning and the bells were ringing for church. The vessel glided into +the harbor, and joyfully the passengers landed. Franklin writes, + + "The bell ringing for church, we went thither immediately, + and with hearts full of gratitude returned sincere thanks to + God far the mercies we had received." + +We know not whether this devout act was suggested by Franklin, or +whether he courteously fell in with the arrangement proposed, perhaps, +by some religious companion. It is, however, certain that the sentence +which next followed, in his letter, came gushing from his own mind. + + "Were I a Roman Catholic, perhaps I should, on this + occasion, vow to build a chapel to some saint. But as I am + not, if I were to vow at all it should be to build a + _light-house_." + +It required a journey of two hundred and fifty miles to reach London. +Franklin and his son _posted_ to London, which was the most rapid mode +of traveling in those days. They seem to have enjoyed the journey in +the highest degree, through blooming, beautiful, highly cultivated +England. Almost every thing in the charming landscape, appeared +different from the rude settlements which were springing up amid the +primeval forests of the New World. + +They visited the Cathedral at Salisbury, Stonehenge, Wilton Hall, the +palatial mansion of the Earl of Pembroke. England was in her loveliest +attire. Perhaps there could not then be found, upon this globe, a more +lovely drive, than that through luxuriant Devonshire, and over the +Hampshire Downs. + +Peter Collinson, a gentleman of great wealth, first received the +travelers to his own hospitable mansion. Here Franklin was the object +of marked attentions from the most distinguished scientists of +England. Other gentlemen of high distinction honored themselves by +honoring him. Franklin visited the old printing house, where he had +worked forty years before, and treated the workmen with that beer, +which he had formerly so efficiently denounced in that same place. + +Soon he took lodgings with a very agreeable landlady, Mrs. Stevenson, +No. 7, Craven street, Strand. He adopted, not an ostentatious, but a +very genteel style of living. Both he and his son had brought with +them each a body servant from America. He set up a modest carriage, +that he might worthily present himself at the doors of cabinet +ministers and members of parliament. + +The Proprietaries received him very coldly, almost insolently. They +were haughty, reserved and totally uninfluenced by his arguments. He +presented to them a brief memorandum, which very lucidly explained the +views of the Assembly. It was as follows, + + 1. "The Royal Charter gives the Assembly the power to make + laws; the proprietary instructions deprive it of that power. + 2. The Royal Charter confers on the Assembly the right to + grant or withhold supplies; the instructions neutralize that + right. 3. The exemption of the proprietary estate from + taxation is unjust. 4. The proprietaries are besought to + consider these grievances seriously and redress them, that + harmony may be restored." + +The Penn brothers denounced this brief document, as vague, and +disrespectful. It was evident that Franklin had nothing to hope from +them. He therefore directed all his energies to win to his side the +Lords of Trade, and the members of the King's Council, to whom the +final decision must be referred. Twelve months elapsed, during which +nothing was accomplished. But we hear not a murmur from his lips. He +was not only contented but jovial. For two whole years he remained in +England, apparently accomplishing nothing. These hours of leisure he +devoted to the enjoyment of fashionable, intellectual and scientific +society. No man could be a more welcome guest, in such elevated +circles, for no man could enjoy more richly the charms of such +society, or could contribute more liberally to its fascination. +Electricity was still a very popular branch of natural science. The +brilliant experiments Franklin performed, lured many to his +apartments. His machine was the largest which had been made, and would +emit a spark nine inches in length. He had invented, or greatly +improved, a new musical machine of glass goblets, called the Armonica. + +It was listened to with much admiration, as it gave forth the sweetest +tones. He played upon this instrument with great effect. + +The theatre was to Franklin an inexhaustible source of enjoyment. +Garrick was then in the meridian of his fame. He loved a good dinner, +and could, without inconvenience, empty the second bottle of claret. +He wrote to a friend, + + "I find that I love company, chat, a laugh, a glass, and + even a song as well as ever." + +At one time he took quite an extensive tour through England, visiting +the University at Cambridge. He was received with the most flattering +attentions from the chancellor and others of the prominent members of +the faculty. Indeed every summer, during his stay in England, Franklin +and his son spent a few weeks visiting the most attractive scenes of +the beautiful island. Wherever he went, he left an impression behind +him, which greatly increased his reputation. + +At Cambridge he visited the chemical laboratory, with the +distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Hadley. Franklin suggested +that temperature could be astonishingly reduced by evaporation. It was +entirely a new idea to the Professor. They both with others repaired +to Franklin's room. He had ether there, and a thermometer. To the +astonishment of the Professor of Chemistry in Cambridge University, +the printer from Philadelphia showed him that by dipping the ball into +the ether, and then blowing upon it with bellows to increase the +evaporation, the mercury rapidly sunk twenty-five degrees below the +freezing point. Ice was formed a quarter of an inch thick, all around +the ball. Thus, surrounded by the professors of one of the most +distinguished universities of Europe, Benjamin Franklin was the +teacher of the teachers. + +The father and the son visited the villages where their ancestors had +lived. They sought out poor relations, and examined the tombstones. In +the spring of 1769, they spent six weeks in Scotland. The University +of St. Andrews conferred upon Franklin the honorary title of doctor, +by which he has since been generally known. Other universities +received him with great distinction. The corporation of Edinburgh +voted him the freedom of the city. All the saloons of fashion were not +only open to receive him, but his presence, at every brilliant +entertainment, was eagerly sought. The most distinguished men of +letters crowded around him. Hume, Robertson and Lord Kames became his +intimate friends. + +These were honors sufficient to turn the head of almost any man. But +Franklin, who allowed no adversity to annoy him, could not be unduly +elated by any prosperity or flattery. + + "On the whole," writes Franklin, "I must say, that the time + we spent there (Scotland) was six weeks of the _densest_ + happiness I have met with in any part of my life." + +Still it is evident that occasionally he felt some slight yearnings +for the joys of that home, over which his highly esteemed wife +presided with such economy and skill. He wrote to her, + + "The regard and friendship I meet with from persons of worth, + and the conversation of ingenuous men give me no small + pleasure. But at this time of life, domestic comforts afford + the most solid satisfaction;[20] and my uneasiness at being + absent from my family and longing desire to be with them, + make me often sigh, in the midst of cheerful company." + +[Footnote 20: Franklin was then 53 years of age.] + +An English gentleman, Mr. Strahan, wrote to Mrs. Franklin, urging her +to come over to England and join her husband. In this letter he said, + + "I never saw a man who was, in every respect, so perfectly + agreeable to me. Some are amiable in one view, some in + another; he in all." + +Three years thus passed away. It must not be supposed that the +patriotic and faithful Franklin lost any opportunity whatever, to urge +the all important cause with which he was entrusted. His philosophy +taught him that when he absolutely could not do any thing but _wait_, +it was best to wait in the most agreeable and profitable manner. + +It was one of his strong desires, which he was compelled to abandon, +to convert the proprietary province of Pennsylvania into a royal +province. After Franklin left Philadelphia, the strife between +the Assembly, and Governor Denny, as the representative of the +proprietaries, became more violent than ever. The governor, worn out +by the ceaseless struggle, yielded in some points. This offended the +proprietaries. Indignantly they dismissed him and appointed, in his +place, Mr. James Hamilton, a more obsequious servant. + +By the royal charter it was provided that all laws, passed by the +Assembly and signed by the governor, should be sent to the king, for +his approval. One of the bills which the governor, compelled as it +were by the peril of public affairs, had signed, allowed the Assembly +to raise a sum of about five hundred thousand dollars, to be raised by +a _tax on all estates_. This was a dangerous precedent. The +aristocratic court of England repealed it, as an encroachment upon the +rights of the privileged classes. It was a severe blow to the +Assembly. The speaker wrote to Franklin: + + "We are among rocks and sands, in a stormy season. It depends + upon you to do every thing in your power in the present + crisis. It is too late for us to give you any assistance." + +When Franklin received the crushing report against the Assembly he +was just setting off for a pleasant June excursion in Ireland. +Immediately he unpacked his saddle-bags, and consecrated all his +energies to avert the impending evils. He enlisted the sympathies of +Lord Mansfield, and accomplished the astonishing feat in diplomacy, of +inducing the British Lords of Commission to reverse their decision, +and to vote that the act of the Assembly should stand unrepealed. + +His business detained Franklin in London all summer. In the autumn he +took a tour into the west of England and Wales. The gales of winter +were now sweeping the Atlantic. No man in his senses would expose +himself to a winter passage across the ocean, unless it was absolutely +necessary. Indeed it would appear that Franklin was so happy in +England, that he was not very impatient to see his home again. Though +he had been absent three years from his wife and child, still two +years more elapsed before he embarked for his native land. + +On the 25th of October George II. died. His grandson, a stupid, +stubborn fanatically conscientious young man ascended the throne, with +the title of George III. It would be difficult to compute the +multitudes in Europe, Asia and America, whom his arrogance and +ambition caused to perish on the battle field. During these two years +there was nothing of very special moment which occurred in the life of +Franklin. Able as he was as a statesman, science was the favorite +object of his pursuit. He wrote several very strong pamphlets upon the +political agitations of those tumultuous days, when all nations seem +to have been roused to cutting each other's throats. He continued to +occupy a prominent position wherever he was, and devoted much time in +collecting his thoughts upon a treatise to be designated "The Art of +Virtue." The treatise, however, was never written. + +His influential and wealthy friend, Mr. Strahan, was anxious to unite +their two families by the marriage of his worthy and prosperous son to +Mr. Franklin's beautiful daughter, Sarah. But the plan failed. +Franklin also made an effort to marry his only son William, who, it +will be remembered, was not born in wedlock, to a very lovely English +lady, Miss Stephenson. But this young man, who, renouncing revealed +religion, was a law unto himself, had already become a father without +being a husband. Miss Stephenson had probably learned this fact and, +greatly to the disappointment of Franklin, declined the alliance. The +unhappy boy, the dishonored son of a dishonored father, was born about +the year 1760. Nothing is known of what became of the discarded +mother. He received the name of William Temple Franklin. + +Benjamin Franklin, as in duty bound, recognized him as his grandson, +and received him warmly to his house and his heart. The reader will +hereafter become better acquainted with the character and career of +this young man. In the spring of 1762, Franklin commenced preparations +for his return home. He did not reach Philadelphia until late in the +autumn. Upon his departure from England, the University of Oxford +conferred upon him the distinction of an honorary degree. + +William Franklin, though devoid of moral principle, was a man of +highly respectable abilities, of pleasing manners, and was an +entertaining companion. Lord Bute, who was in power, was the warm +friend of Dr. Franklin. He therefore caused his son William to be +appointed governor of New Jersey. It is positively asserted that +Franklin did not solicit the favor. Indeed it was not a very desirable +office. Its emoluments amounted to but about three thousand dollars a +year. The governorship of the colonies was generally conferred upon +the needy sons of the British aristocracy. So many of them had +developed characters weak and unworthy, that they were not regarded +with much esteem. + +William Franklin was married on the 2d of September, 1762, to Miss +Elizabeth Downes. The announcement of the marriage in London, and of +his appointment to the governorship of New Jersey, created some +sensation. Mr. John Penn, son of one of the proprietaries, and who was +soon to become governor of Pennsylvania, affected great indignation in +view of the fact that William Franklin was to be a brother governor. +He wrote to Lord Stirling, + + "It is no less amazing than true, that Mr. William Franklin, + son of Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia, is appointed to be + governor of the province of New Jersey. I make no doubt that + the people of New Jersey will make some remonstrances at + this indignity put upon them. You are full as well + acquainted with the character and principles of this person + as myself, and are as able to judge of the impropriety of + such an appointment. What a dishonor and a disgrace it must + be to a country to have such a man at the head of it, and to + sit down contented. I should hope that some effort will be + made before our Jersey friends would put up with such an + insult. If any _gentleman_ had been appointed, it would have + been a different case. But I cannot look upon the person in + question in that light by any means. I may perhaps be too + strong in my expressions, but I am so extremely astonished + and enraged at it, that I am hardly able to contain myself + at the thought of it." + +Franklin sailed from Portsmouth the latter part of August. Quite a +fleet of American merchantmen sailed together. The weather during a +voyage of nine weeks, was most of the time delightful. Often the +vessels glided along so gently over a waveless sea, that the +passengers could visit, and exchange invitations for dinner parties. + +On the first of November, Franklin reached his home. He had been +absent nearly six years. All were well. His daughter, whom he had left +a child of twelve, was now a remarkably beautiful and accomplished +maiden of eighteen. Franklin was received not only with affection, but +with enthusiasm. The Assembly voted him fifteen thousand dollars for +his services in England. + +His son William, with his bride, did not arrive until the next +February. Franklin accompanied him to New Jersey. The people there +gave the governor a very kind greeting. He took up his residence in +Burlington, within fifteen miles of the home of his father. + +Franklin had attained the age of fifty-seven. He was in perfect +health, had an ample fortune, and excelled most men in his dignified +bearing and his attractive features. Probably there never was a more +happy man. He had leisure to devote himself to his beloved sciences. +It was his dream, his castle in the air, to withdraw from political +life, and devote the remainder of his days to philosophical research. + +In the year 1763 terminated the seven years' war. There was peace in +Europe, peace on the ocean, but not peace along the blood crimsoned +frontiers of the wilderness of America. England and France had been +hurling savage warriors by tens of thousands against each other, and +against the helpless emigrants in their defenceless villages and their +lonely cabins. The belligerent powers of Europe, in their ambitious +struggles, cared very little for the savages of North America. Like +the hungry wolf they had lapped blood. Plunder had become as +attractive to them as to the privateersman and the pirate. During the +summer of 1763, the western regions of Pennsylvania were fearfully +ravaged by these fierce bands. Thousands of settlers were driven from +their homes, their buildings laid in ashes, and their farms utterly +desolated. + +In all the churches contributions were raised, in behalf of the +victims of this insane and utterly needless war. Christ Church alone +raised between three and four thousand dollars; and sent a missionary +to expend the sum among these starving, woe-stricken families. The +missionary reported seven hundred and fifty farms in Pennsylvania +alone, utterly abandoned. Two hundred and fifty women and children, +destitute and despairing, had fled to Fort Pitt for protection. + +In the midst of these awful scenes, Governor Hamilton resigned, and +the weak, haughty John Penn arriving, took his place. The Assembly, as +usual, gave him a courteous reception, wishing, if possible, to avert +a quarrel. There were many fanatics in those days. Some of these +assumed that God was displeased, because the heathen Indians had not +been entirely exterminated. The savages had perpetrated such horrors, +that by them no distinction was made between those friendly to the +English, and those hostile. The very name of Indian was loathed. + +In the vicinity of Lancaster, there was the feeble remnant of a once +powerful tribe. The philanthropy of William Penn had won them to love +the English. No one of them had ever been known to lift his hand +against a white man. There were but twenty remaining, seven men, five +women and eight children. They were an industrious, peaceful, harmless +people, having adopted English names, English customs and the +Christian religion. + +A vagabond party of Scotch-Irish, from Paxton, set out, in the morning +of the 14th of December, for their destruction. They were well mounted +and well armed. It so happened that there were but six Indians at +home. They made no defence. Parents and children knelt, as in prayer, +and silently received the death blow. Every head was cleft by the +hatchet. These poor creatures were very affectionate, and had greatly +endeared themselves to their neighbors. This deed of infamous +assassination roused the indignation of many of the most worthy people +in the province. But there were thousands of the baser sort, who +deemed it no crime to kill an Indian, any more than a wolf or a bear. + +Franklin wrote, to the people of Pennsylvania, a noble letter of +indignant remonstrance, denouncing the deed as atrocious murder. +Vividly he pictured the scene of the assassination, and gave the +names, ages and characters of the victims. A hundred and forty +Moravian Indians, the firm and unsuspected friends of the English, +terrified by this massacre, fled to Philadelphia for protection. The +letter of Franklin had excited much sympathy in their behalf. The +people rallied for their protection. The Paxton murderers, several +hundred in number, pursued the fugitives, avowing their determination +to put every one to death. The imbecile governor was at his wits' end. +Franklin was summoned. + +He, at once, proclaimed his house headquarters; rallied a regiment of +a thousand men, and made efficient arrangements to give the murderers +a warm reception. The Paxton band reached Germantown. Franklin, +anxious to avoid bloodshed, rode out with three aids, to confer with +the leaders. He writes, + + "The fighting face we had put on, and the reasonings we used + with the insurgents, having turned them back, and restored + quiet to the city, I became a less man than ever; for I had, + by this transaction, made myself many enemies among the + populace." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +_Franklin's Second Mission to England._ + + Fiendish conduct of John Penn--Petition to the crown--Debt + of England--Two causes of conflict--Franklin sent to + England--His embarkation--Wise counsel to his daughter--The + stamp act--American resolves--Edmund Burke--Examination of + Franklin--Words of Lord Chatham--Dangers to English + operatives--Repeal of the stamp act--Joy in America--Ross + Mackay--New taxes levied--Character of George + III--Accumulation of honors to Franklin--Warlike + preparations--Human conscientiousness--Unpopularity of + William Franklin--Marriage of Sarah Franklin--Franklin's + varied investigations--Efforts to civilize the Sandwich + Islands. + + +It is scarcely too severe to say that Governor John Penn was both +knave and fool. To ingratiate himself with the vile Paxton men and +their partisans, he issued a proclamation, offering for every captive +male Indian, of any hostile tribe, one hundred and fifty dollars, for +every female, one hundred and thirty-eight dollars. For the scalp of a +male, the bounty was one hundred and thirty-eight dollars; for the +scalp of a female fifty dollars. Of course it would be impossible, +when the scalps were brought in to decide whether they were stripped +from friendly or hostile heads. + +Curiously two political parties were thus organized. The governor, +intensely inimical to Franklin, led all the loose fellows who approved +of the massacre of the friendly Indians. Franklin was supported by the +humane portion of the community, who regarded that massacre with +horror. + +There was much bitterness engendered. Franklin was assailed and +calumniated as one of the worst of men. He, as usual, wrote a +pamphlet, which was read far and wide. Earnestly he urged that the +crown, as it had a right to do, should, by purchase, take possession +of the province and convert its government into that of a royal +colony. It should be remembered that this was several years before the +troubles of the revolution arose. The people were in heart true +Englishmen. Fond of their nationality, sincere patriotism glowed in +all bosoms. They ever spoke of England as "home." When the Assembly +met again three thousand citizens, influenced mainly by Franklin's +pamphlet, sent in a petition that the province might revert to the +crown. The Penns succeeded in presenting a counter petition signed by +three hundred. + +The British cabinet, in its insatiable thirst for universal conquest, +or impelled by necessity to repel the encroachments of other nations, +equally wicked and equally grasping, had been by fleet and army, +fighting all over the world. After spending every dollar which the +most cruel taxation could extort from the laboring and impoverished +masses, the government had incurred the enormous debt of seventy-three +millions sterling. This amounted to over three hundred and sixty-five +millions of our money. + +The government decided to tax the Americans to help pay the interest +on this vast sum. But the colonies were already taxed almost beyond +endurance, to carry on the terrible war against the French and +Indians. This war was not one of their own choosing. It had been +forced upon them by the British Cabinet, in its resolve to drive the +French off the continent of North America. The Americans were allowed +no representation in Parliament. They were to be taxed according to +the caprice of the government. Franklin, with patriotic foresight, +vehemently, and with resistless force of logic, resisted the outrage. + +It will be perceived that there were now two quite distinct sources of +controversy. First came the conflict with the proprietaries, and then +rose the still more important strife with the cabinet of Great +Britain, to repel the principle of taxation without representation. +This principle once admitted, the crown could tax the Americans to any +amount whatever it pleased. Many unreflecting people could not +appreciate these disastrous results. + +Thus all the partisans of the Penns, and all the office holders of the +crown and their friends, and there were many such, became not only +opposed to Franklin, but implacable in their hostility. The majority +of the Assembly was with him. He was chosen Speaker, and then was +elected to go again to England, to carry with him to the British +Court the remonstrances of the people against "taxation without +representation," and their earnest petition to be delivered from the +tyranny of the Penns. More unwelcome messages to the British Court and +aristocracy, he could not well convey. It was certain that the Penns +and their powerful coadjutors, would set many influences in array +against him. Mr. Dickinson, in the Assembly, remonstrating against +this appointment, declared that there was no man in Pennsylvania who +was more the object of popular dislike than Benjamin Franklin. + +But two years had elapsed since Franklin's return to America, after an +absence from his home of six years. He still remembered fondly the +"dense happiness" which he had enjoyed in the brilliant circles +abroad. This, added to an intensity of patriotism, which rendered him +second to none but Washington, among the heroes of the Revolution, +induced him promptly to accept the all important mission. He allowed +but twelve days to prepare for his embarkation. The treasury was +empty, and money for his expenses had to be raised by a loan. A packet +ship, bound for London was riding at Chester, fifteen miles below the +city. Three hundred of the citizens of Philadelphia, on horseback, +escorted Franklin to the ship. + +He seldom attended church, though he always encouraged his wife and +daughter to do so. It was genteel; it was politic. A family could +scarcely command the respect of the community, which, in the midst of +a religious people, should be living without any apparent object of +worship. The preacher of Christ Church, which the family attended, was +a partisan of the Penns. Sometimes he "meddled with politics." +Franklin in his parting letter, from on shipboard, wrote to his +daughter: + + "Go constantly to church, whoever preaches. The active + devotion in the common prayer-book, is your principal + business there, and if properly attended to, will do more + towards amending the heart, than sermons generally can do. + For they were composed by men of much greater piety and + wisdom, than our common composers of sermons can pretend to + be. Therefore I wish that you would never miss the prayer + days. Yet I do not mean you should despise sermons, even of + the preachers you dislike; for the discourse is often much + better than the man, as sweet and clear waters come through + very dirty earth." + +The voyage was stormy; it lasted thirty days. On the evening of the +tenth of December, 1764, he again took up his residence in the house +of Mrs. Stephenson and her daughter, where he was received with +delight. He found several other agents of the colonies in London, who +had also been sent to remonstrate against the despotic measures which +the British Cabinet threatened, of taxing the Americans at its +pleasure, without allowing them to have any voice in deciding upon the +sums which they should pay. + +Grenville was prime minister. He was about to introduce the Stamp Act, +as an initiatory measure. It imposed but a trivial tax, in itself of +but little importance, but was intended as an experiment, to ascertain +whether the Americans would submit to the principle. This fact being +once established, the government could then proceed to demand money at +its pleasure. Franklin opposed the tax with all his energies. He +declared it, in his own forceful language, to be the "mother of +mischiefs." With four other colonial agents, he held an interview with +Lord Grenville. The usual arguments were employed on both sides. Lord +Grenville was courteous, but very decided. The Americans he declared +must help England pay the interest on her debt, and the parliament of +Great Britain alone could decide how large an amount of money the +Americans should pay. The bill was introduced to parliament, and +passed by a large majority. The king signed it in a scrawling hand, +which some think indicated the insanity he was beginning to develop. + +The trivial sum expected to be raised by the Stamp Act amounted to +scarcely one hundred thousand pounds a year. It was thought that the +Americans would not venture upon any decisive opposition to England +for such a trifle. Franklin wrote to a friend: + + "I took every step in my power, to prevent the passing of the + Stamp Act. But the tide was too strong against us. The nation + was provoked by American claims of legislative independence; + and all parties joined in resolving, by this act, to settle + the point." + +Thus Franklin entirely failed in arresting the passing of the Stamp +Act. He was also equally unsuccessful in his endeavor to promote a +change of government, from the proprietary to the royal. And still his +mission proved a success. By conversations, pamphlets and articles in +the newspapers, he raised throughout the country such an opposition +to the measure that parliament was compelled to repeal it. The tidings +of the passage of the Stamp Act was received in intelligent America, +with universal expressions of displeasure, and with resolves to oppose +its operation in every possible way. + +It is remarked of a celebrated theological professor, that he once +said to his pupils, + +"When you go to the city to preach, take your best coat; when to the +country, take your best sermon." + +The lords and gentry of England were astonished at the intelligence +displayed in the opposition, by the rural population of America. They +fancied the colonists to be an ignorant, ragged people, living in log +cabins, scattered through the wilderness, and, in social position, two +or three degrees below European and Irish peasantry. Great was their +surprise to hear from all the colonies, and from the remotest +districts in each colony, the voice of intelligent and dignified +rebuke. + +The Act was to go into execution on the first of November, 1765. +Before that time, Franklin had spread, through all the mechanical, +mercantile and commercial classes, the conviction that they would +suffer ten-fold more, by the interruptions of trade which the Stamp +Act would introduce, than government could hope to gain by the +measure. He spread abroad the intelligence which came by every fresh +arrival, that the Americans were resolving, with wonderful unanimity, +that they would consume no more English manufactures, that they would +purchase no more British goods, and that, as far as possible, in food, +clothing, and household furniture, they would depend upon their own +productions. They had even passed resolves to eat no more lamb, that +their flocks might so increase that they should have wool enough to +manufacture their own clothing. + +England had thus far furnished nearly all the supplies for the rapidly +increasing colonies, already numbering a population of between two and +three millions. The sudden cessation of this trade was felt in nearly +every warehouse of industry. No more orders came. Goods accumulated +without purchasers. Violent opposition arose, and vast meetings were +held in the manufacturing districts, to remonstrate against the +measures of the government. Edmund Burke, a host in himself, headed +the opposition in parliament. + +Burke and Franklin were intimate friends, and the renowned orator +obtained from the renowned philosopher, many of those arguments and +captivating illustrations, which, uttered on the floor of parliament, +astonished England, and reaching our shores, electrified America. The +state of affairs became alarming. In some places the stamps were +destroyed, in others, no one could be found who would venture upon the +obnoxious task of offering to sell them. The parliament resolved +itself into a committee of the whole house, and spent six weeks in +hearing testimony respecting the operation of the act in America. The +hall was crowded with eager listeners. The industrial prosperity of +the nation seemed at stake. Franklin was the principal witness. His +testimony overshadowed all the rest. The record of it was read with +admiration. Seldom has a man been placed in a more embarrassing +situation, and never has one, under such circumstances, acquitted +himself more triumphantly. + +He was examined and cross-examined, before this vast and imposing +assemblage, by the shrewdest lawyers of the crown. Every attempt was +made to throw him into embarrassment, to trip him in his speech. But +never for a moment did Franklin lose his self-possession. Never for an +instant, did he hesitate in his reply. In the judgment of all his +friends, not a mistake did he make. His mind seemed to be omnisciently +furnished, with all the needful statistics for as rigorous an +examination as any mortal was ever exposed to. Burke wrote to a +friend, "that Franklin, as he stood before the bar of parliament, +presented such an aspect of dignity and intellectual superiority, as +to remind him of a schoolmaster questioned by school boys." Rev. +George Whitefield wrote, + + "Our worthy friend, Dr. Franklin, has gained immortal honor, + by his behavior at the bar of the house. The answer was + always found equal, if not superior to the questioner. He + stood unappalled, gave pleasure to his friends, and did + honor to his country." + +After great agitation and many and stormy debates, the haughty +government was compelled to yield to the demands of the industrial +classes. Indeed, with those in England, who cried most loudly for the +repeal of the stamp act, there were comparatively few who were +influenced by any sympathy for the Americans, or by any appreciation +of the justice of their cause. The loss of the American trade was +impoverishing them. Selfish considerations alone,--their own personal +interests--moved them to action. + +There were individuals, in and out of Parliament, who recognized the +rights of Englishmen, and regarding the Americans as Englishmen, and +America as a portion of the British empire, were in heart and with all +their energies, in sympathy with the Americans in their struggle for +their rights. When the despotism of the British court led that court +to the infamous measure of sending fleets and armies, to compel the +Americans to submission, and the feeble colonists, less than three +millions in number, performing the boldest and most heroic deeds ever +yet recorded in history, grasped their arms in self-defence, thus to +wage war against the most powerful naval and military empire upon this +globe, Lord Chatham, with moral courage rarely surpassed, boldly +exclaimed in the House of Lords, "Were I an American, as I am an +Englishman, I would never lay down my arms, never, _never_, NEVER." + +In all England, there was no man more determined in his resolve to +bring the Americans to servile obedience, than the stubborn king, +George III. The repeal gave him intense offence. The equally +unprincipled, but more intelligent, ministers were compelled to the +measure, as they saw clearly that England was menaced with civil war, +which would array the industrial classes generally against the +aristocracy. In such a conflict it was far from improbable that the +aristocracy would be brought to grief. Horace Walpole wrote, + + "It was the clamor of trade, of merchants, and of + manufacturing towns, that had borne down all opposition. A + general insurrection was apprehended, as the immediate + consequence of upholding the bill. The revolt of America, + and the destruction of trade, was the prospect in future." + +Still the question of the repeal was carried in the House but by a +majority of one hundred and eight votes. Of course Franklin now +solicited permission to return home. The Assembly, instead of granting +his request, elected him agent for another year. It does not appear +that Franklin was disappointed. + +The report of his splendid and triumphant examination, before the +Commons, and the republication of many of his pamphlets, had raised +him to the highest position of popularity. The Americans, throughout +all the provinces, received tidings of the Repeal with unbounded +delight. Bells were rung, bon-fires blazed, cannon were fired. + +"I never heard so much noise in my life," wrote Sally to her "honored +papa." "The very children seemed distracted." + +The Tory party in England developed no little malignity in their +anger, in view of the discomfiture of their plans. The bigoted Tory, +Dr. Johnson, wrote to Bishop White of Pennsylvania, that if he had +been Prime Minister, instead of repealing the act, he would have sent +a man-of-war, and laid one or more of our largest cities in ashes.[21] + +[Footnote 21: Wilson's Life of Bishop White, p. 89.] + +The king felt personally aggrieved. His denunciations of those who +favored the Repeal were so indecent, that some of his most influential +friends ventured to intimate to him that it was highly impolitic. +Indeed, as the previous narrative has shown, many who were in entire +sympathy with the king, and who were bitterly opposed to any +concession to the Americans, felt compelled to vote for the Repeal. + +To propitiate the unrelenting and half-crazed monarch, with his +obdurate court, a Declaratory Act, as it was called, was passed, which +affirmed the _absolute supremacy_ of Parliament over the colonies. + +We hear very much of the corruption of our own Congress. It is said +that votes are sometimes bought and sold. Sir Nathaniel Wraxall, who +was a member of Parliament during all this period, declares, in his +intensely interesting and undoubtedly honest Memoir, that under +the ministry of Lord Bute, Ross Mackay was employed by him as +"corrupter-general" whose mission it was to carry important measures +of government by bribery. Wraxall writes that Ross Mackay said to him, +at a dinner party given by Lord Besborough, as the illustrious guests +were sipping their wine, + + "The peace of 1763 was carried through and approved by a + pecuniary dispensation. Nothing else could have surmounted + the difficulty. I was myself the channel through which the + money passed. With my own hand I secured above one hundred + and twenty votes on that most important question to + ministers. Eighty thousand pounds were set apart for the + purpose. Forty members of the House of Commons received from + me a thousand pounds each. To eighty others I paid five + hundred pounds a-piece." + +The unrelenting king was still determined that the Americans, +unrepresented in Parliament, should still pay into his treasury +whatever sums of money he might exact. Calling to his aid courtiers +more shrewd than himself, they devised a very cunning act, to attain +that object in a way which would hardly be likely to excite +opposition. They laid a tax, insignificant really in its amount, upon +paper, paint, glass, and tea. This tax was to be collected at the +custom-houses in the few ports of entry in the colonies. The whole +amount thus raised would not exceed forty thousand pounds. It was +thought that the Americans would never make opposition to so trivial a +payment. + +But it established a principle that England could tax the colonies +without allowing those colonies any representation in Parliament. If +the Court had a right thus to demand forty thousand pounds, they had +a right to demand so many millions, should it seem expedient to king +and cabinet so to do. + +The great blunder which the court committed, was in not appreciating +the wide-spread intelligence of the American people. In New England +particularly, and throughout the colonies generally, there was +scarcely a farmer who did not perceive the trick, and despise it. They +deemed it an insult to their intelligence. + +Instantly there arose, throughout all the provinces, the most +determined opposition to the measure. It was in fact merely a renewal +of the Stamp Act, under slightly modified forms. If they admitted the +justice of this act, it was only declaring that they had acted with +unpardonable folly, in opposing the tax under the previous form. + +Dr. Franklin, with honest shrewdness, not with trickery or with +cunning, but with a sincere and penetrating mind, eagerly scrutinized +all the measures of the Court. George III. was a gentleman. He was +irreproachable in all his domestic relations. He was, in a sense, +conscientious; for certainly he was not disposed to do anything which +he thought to be wrong. Conscientious men have burned their +fellow-Christians at the stake. It is said that George the Third was a +Christian. He certainly was a full believer in the religion of Jesus +Christ; and earnestly advocated the support and extension of that +religion. God makes great allowance for the frailties of his fallen +children. It requires the wisdom of omniscience to decide how much +wickedness there may be in the heart, consistently with piety. No man +is perfect. + +During the reign of George III., terrible wars were waged throughout +all the world, mainly incited by the British Court. Millions perished. +The moans of widows and orphans ascended from every hand. This wicked +Christian king sent his navy and his army to burn down our cities and +villages, and to shoot husbands, fathers, and sons, until he could +compel America to submit to his despotism. The population of England +being exhausted by those wide spread wars, he hired, of the petty +princes of Europe, innocent peasantry, to abandon their homes in +Germany, to burn and destroy the homes of Americans. Finding that not +sufficient, he sent his agents through the wilderness to rouse, by +bribes, savage men, who knew no better, to ravage our frontiers, to +burn the cabins of lonely farmers, to tomahawk and scalp their wives +and children. + +Such a man may be a good Christian. God, who can read the secrets of +the heart, and who is infinite in his love and charity, alone can +decide. But if we imagine that man, George Guelph, at the bar of +judgment, and thronging up as witnesses against him, the millions +whose earthly homes he converted into abodes of misery and despair, it +is difficult to imagine in our frail natures, how our Heavenly Father, +who loves all his children alike, and who, as revealed in the person +of Jesus, could weep over the woes of humanity, could look with a +loving smile upon him and say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, +enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." + +Franklin of course continued in as determined an opposition to the new +tax as to the old one. He wrote, + + "I have some little property in America. I will freely spend + nineteen shillings in the pound to defend my right of giving + or refusing the other shilling. And after all, if I cannot + defend that right, I can retire cheerfully with my little + family into the boundless woods of America, which are sure + to afford freedom and subsistence to any man who can bait a + hook or pull a trigger." + +The ability which Franklin had displayed as the agent of Pennsylvania +before the court of St. James, gave him, as we have said, a high +reputation in all the colonies. In the spring of 1768 he was highly +gratified by the intelligence that he was appointed, by the young +colony of Georgia, its London agent. The next year New Jersey +conferred the same honor upon him, and the year after, he was +appointed agent of his native province of Massachusetts. These several +appointments detained him ten years in England. + +During all this time he did not visit home. The equanimity of his +joyful spirit seems never to have been disturbed. His pen describes +only pleasant scenes. No murmurs are recorded, no yearnings of +home-sickness. + +But month after month the animosity of the British Court towards the +Americans was increasing. The king grew more and more fixed in his +purpose, to compel the liberty-loving Americans to submission. Hostile +movements were multiplied to indicate that if the opposition to his +measures was continued, English fleets and armies would soon commence +operations. + +Several thousand troops were landed in Boston. Fourteen men-of-war +were anchored before the town, with the cannon of their broad-sides +loaded and primed, ready, at the slightest provocation to lay the +whole town in ashes. Protected by this terrible menace, two British +regiments paraded the streets, with their muskets charged, with +gleaming sabres and bayonets, with formidable artillery prepared to +vomit forth the most horrible discharges of grape shot, with haughty +English officers well mounted, and soldiers and officers alike in +imposing uniforms. This invincible band of highly disciplined +soldiers, as a peace measure, took possession of the Common, the State +House, the Court House and Faneuil Hall. + +Even now, after the lapse of more than a hundred years, it makes the +blood of an American boil to contemplate this insult. Who can imagine +the feelings of exasperation that must have glowed in the bosoms of +our patriotic fathers! + +Franklin, in England, was treated with ever increasing disrespect. +Lord Hillsborough, then in charge of American affairs, told him +peremptorily, even insolently, that America could expect no favors +while he himself was in power, and that he was determined to persevere +with firmness in the policy which the king was pursuing. The king was +so shielded by his ministers that Franklin knew but little about him. +Even at this time he wrote, + + "I can scarcely conceive a king of better dispositions, of + more exemplary virtues, or more truly desirous of promoting + the welfare of his subjects." + +Franklin never had occasion to speak differently of his domestic +virtues. Nay, it is more than probable that the king daily, in prayer, +looked to God for guidance, and that he thought that he was doing that +which was promotive of the interests of England. Alas for man! He can +perpetrate the most atrocious crimes, honestly believing that he is +doing God's will. He can burn aged women under the charge of their +being witches. He can torture, in the infliction of unutterable +anguish, his brother man--mothers and daughters, under the charge of +heresy. He can hurl hundreds of thousands of men against each other in +most horrible and woe-inflicting wars, while falling upon his knees +and praying to God to bless his murderous armies. + +Franklin had with him his grandson, William Temple Franklin, the +dishonored son of William Franklin, then Governor of New Jersey. He +was a bright and promising boy, and developed an estimable character, +under the guidance of his grandfather, who loved him. + +William Franklin in New Jersey was, however, becoming increasingly the +scourge of his father. It would seem that Providence was thus, in some +measure, punishing Franklin for his sin. The governor, appointed by +the Court of England to his office, which he highly prized, and which +he feared to lose, was siding with the Court. He perceived that the +storm of political agitation was increasing in severity. He felt that +the power of the colonies was as nothing compared with the power of +the British government. Gradually he became one of the most violent of +the Tories. + +The moderation of Franklin, and his extraordinarily charitable +disposition, led him to refrain from all denunciations of his +ungrateful son, or even reproaches, until his conduct became +absolutely infamous. In 1773, he wrote, in reference to the course +which the governor was pursuing, + + "I only wish you to act uprightly and steadily, avoiding + that duplicity which, in Hutchinson, adds contempt to + indignation. If you can promote the prosperity of your + people, and leave them happier than you found them, whatever + your political principles are, your memory will be honored." + +While Franklin was absent, a young merchant of Philadelphia, Richard +Bache, offered his hand to Franklin's only daughter, from whom the +father had been absent nearly all of her life. Sarah was then +twenty-three years of age, so beautiful as to become quite a +celebrity, and she was highly accomplished. Mr. Bache was not +successful in business, and the young couple resided under the roof of +Mrs. Franklin for eight years. The husband, with an increasing family, +appealed to his illustrious father-in-law, to obtain for him a +governmental appointment. Franklin wrote to his daughter, + + "I am of opinion, that almost any profession a man has been + educated in, is preferable to an office held at pleasure, as + rendering him more independent, more a free man, and less + subject to the caprices of his superiors. I think that in + keeping a store, if it be where you dwell, you can be + serviceable to him, as your mother was to me; for you are + not deficient in capacity, and I hope you are not too proud. + You might easily learn accounts; and you can copy letters, + or write them very well on occasion. By industry and + frugality you may get forward in the world, being both of + you very young. And then what we may leave you at our death, + will be a pretty addition, though of itself far from + sufficient to maintain and bring up a family." + +Franklin gave his son-in-law about a thousand dollars to assist him in +the purchase of a stock of merchandise. The children, born to this +happy couple, were intelligent and beautiful, and they greatly +contributed to the happiness of their grandmother, who cherished them +with a grandmother's most tender love. In the year 1862, there were +one hundred and ten surviving descendants of Richard Bache and Sarah +Franklin. Ten of these were serving in the Union army perilling their +lives to maintain that national fabric, which their illustrious +ancestor had done so much to establish. Franklin was by no means a man +of one idea. His comprehensive mind seemed to grasp all questions of +statesmanship, of philanthropy, of philosophy. + +During the ten years of his residence in England he visited the +hospitals, carefully examined their management, and transmitted to his +home the result of his observations. This was probably the origin of +the celebrity which the medical schools of Philadelphia have attained. +He visited the silk manufactories, and urged the adoption of that +branch of industry, as peculiarly adapted to our climate and people. +Ere long he had the pleasure of presenting to the queen a piece of +American silk, which she accepted and wore as a dress. As silk was an +article not produced in England, the government was not offended by +the introduction of that branch of industry. For Hartford college he +procured a telescope, which cost about five hundred dollars. This was, +in those days, an important event. + +The renowned Captain Cook returned from his first voyage around the +world. The narrative of his adventures, in the discovery of new +islands, and new races of men, excited almost every mind in England +and America. Franklin was prominent in the movement, to raise +seventy-five thousand dollars, to fit out an expedition to send to +those benighted islanders the fowls, the quadrupeds and the seeds of +Europe. He wrote, in an admirable strain, + + "Many voyages have been undertaken with views of profit or + of plunder, or to gratify resentment. But a voyage is now + proposed to visit a distant people on the other side of the + globe, not to cheat them, not to rob them: not to seize + their lands or to enslave their persons, but merely to do + them good, and make them, as far as in our power lies, to + live as comfortable as ourselves." + +There can be no national prosperity without virtue. There can not be a +happy people who do not "do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with +God." It was a noble enterprise to send to those naked savages corn +and hoes, with horses, pigs and poultry. But the Christian conscience +awoke to the conviction that something more than this was necessary. +They sent, to the dreary huts of the Pacific, ambassadors of the +religion of Jesus, to gather the children in schools, to establish the +sanctity of the family relation, and to proclaim to all, the glad +tidings of that divine Saviour, who has come to earth "to seek and to +save the lost." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +_The Intolerance of King and Court._ + + Parties in England--Franklin the favorite of the + opposition--Plans of the Tories--Christian III--Letter of + Franklin--Dr. Priestley--Parisian courtesy--Louis XV--Visit + to Ireland--Attempted alteration of the Prayer Book--Letter + to his son--Astounding letters from America--Words of John + Adams--Petition of the Assembly--Violent conspiracy against + Franklin--His bearing in the court-room--Wedderburn's + infamous charges--Letter of Franklin--Bitter words of Dr. + Johnson--Morals of English lords--Commercial value of the + Colonies--Dangers threatening Franklin. + + +Wherever there is a government there must be an opposition. Those who +are out of office wish to eject those in office, that they may take +their places. There was a pretty strong party in what was called the +Opposition. But it was composed of persons animated by very different +motives. The first consisted of those intelligent, high minded, +virtuous statesmen, who were indignant in view of the wrong which the +haughty, unprincipled Tory government was inflicting upon the American +people. The second gathered those who were in trade. They cared +nothing for the Americans. They cared nothing for government right or +wrong. They wished to sell their hats, their cutlery, and their cotton +and woolen goods to the Americans. This they could not do while +government was despotically enforcing the Stamp Act or the Revenue +Bill. Then came a third class, who had no goods to sell, and no +conscience to guide to action. They were merely ambitious politicians. +They wished to thrust the Tories out of office simply that they might +rush into the occupancy of all the places of honor, emolument or +power. + +Franklin was in high favor with the opposition. He furnished their +orators in Parliament with arguments, with illustrations, with +accurate statistical information. Many of the most telling passages in +parliamentary speeches, were placed on the lips of the speakers by +Benjamin Franklin. He wrote pamphlets of marvellous popular power, +which were read in all the workshops, and greatly increased the number +and the intelligence of the foes of the government measures. Thus +Franklin became the favorite of the popular party. They lavished all +honors upon him. In the same measure he became obnoxious to the +haughty, aristocratic Tory government. Its ranks were filled with the +lords, the governmental officials, and all their dependents. This made +a party very powerful in numbers, and still more powerful in wealth +and influence. They were watching for opportunities to traduce +Franklin, to ruin his reputation, and if possible, to bring him into +contempt. + +This will explain the honors which were conferred upon him by one +party, and the indignities to which he was subjected from the other. +At times, the Tories would make efforts by flattery, by offers of +position, of emolument, by various occult forms of bribery, to draw +Franklin to their side. He might very easily have attained almost any +amount of wealth and high official dignity. + +The king of Denmark, Christian VII., was brother-in-law of George III. +He visited England; a mere boy in years, and still more a weak boy in +insipidity of character. A large dinner-party was given in his honor +at the Royal Palace. Franklin was one of the guests. In some way +unexplained, he impressed the boy-king with a sense of his inherent +and peculiar greatness. Christian invited a select circle of but +sixteen men to dine with him. Among those thus carefully selected, +Franklin was honored with an invitation. Though sixty-seven years of +age he still enjoyed in the highest degree, convivial scenes. He could +tell stories, and sing songs which gave delight to all. It was his +boast that he could empty his two bottles of wine, and still retain +entire sobriety. He wrote to Hugh Roberts, + + "I wish you would continue to meet the Junto. It wants but + about two years of forty since it was established. We loved, + and still love one another; we have grown grey together, and + yet it is too early to part. Let us sit till the evening of + life is spent; the last hours are always the most joyous. + When we can stay no longer, it is time enough to bid each + other good night, separate, and go quietly to bed." + +Franklin was the last person to find any enjoyment in the society of +vulgar and dissolute men. In those days, it was scarcely a reproach +for a young lord to be carried home from a festivity in deadly +intoxication. Witticisms were admitted into such circles which +respectable men would not tolerate now. Franklin's most intimate +friends in London were found among Unitarian clergymen, and those +philosophers who were in sympathy with him in his rejection of the +Christian religion. Dr. Richard Price, and Dr. Joseph Priestly, men +both eminent for intellectual ability and virtues, were his bosom +friends. + +Dr. Priestly, who had many conversations with Franklin upon religious +topics, deeply deplored the looseness of his views. Though Dr. +Priestly rejected the divinity of Christ, he still firmly adhered to +the belief that Christianity was of divine origin. In his +autobiography, Dr. Priestly writes: + + "It is much to be lamented that a man of Dr. Franklin's + generally good character and great influence, should have + been an unbeliever in Christianity, and also have done so + much as he did to make others unbelievers. To me, however, + he acknowledged that he had not given so much attention as + he ought to have done to the evidences of Christianity; and + he desired me to recommend him a few treatises on the + subject, such as I thought most deserving his notice." + +Priestly did so; but Franklin, all absorbed in his social festivities, +his scientific researches, and his intense patriotic labors, could +find no time to devote to that subject--the immortal destiny of +man,--which is infinitely more important to each individual than all +others combined.[22] It was indeed a sad circle of unbelievers, into +whose intimacy Franklin was thrown. Dr. Priestly writes, + + "In Paris, in 1774, all the philosophical persons to whom I + was introduced, were unbelievers in Christianity, and even + professed atheists. I was told by some of them, that I was + the only person they had ever met, of whose understanding + they had any opinion, who professed to believe in + Christianity. But I soon found they did not really know what + Christianity was." + +[Footnote 22: Mr. Parton, in his excellent Life of Franklin, one of +the best biographies which was ever written, objects to this +withholding of the Christian name from Dr. Franklin. He writes, + + "I do not understand what Dr. Priestly meant, by saying that + Franklin was an unbeliever in Christianity, since he himself + was open to the same charge from nine-tenths of the + inhabitants of christendom. Perhaps, if the two men were now + alive, we might express the theological difference between + them by saying that Priestly was a Unitarian of the Channing + school, and Franklin of that of Theodore Parker." Again he + writes, "I have ventured to call Franklin the consummate + Christian of his time. Indeed I know not who, of any time, + has exhibited more of the Spirit of Christ."--_Parton's + Franklin Vol. 1. p. 546. Vol. 2. p. 646._] + +It was Franklin's practice to spend a part of every summer in +traveling. In 1767, accompanied by Sir John Pringle, he visited Paris. +With Franklin, one of the first of earthly virtues was courtesy. He +was charmed with the politeness of the French people. Even the most +humble of the working classes, were gentlemanly; and from the highest +to the lowest, he, simply as a stranger, was treated with +consideration which surprised him. He writes, + + "The civilities we everywhere receive, give us the strongest + impressions of the French politeness. It seems to be a point + settled here universally, that strangers are to be treated + with respect; and one has just the same deference shown one + here, by being a stranger, as in England, by being a lady." + +Two dozen bottles of port-wine were given them at Bordeaux. These, as +the law required, were seized by the custom-house officers, as they +entered Paris by the Porte St. Denis; but as soon as it was +ascertained that they were strangers, the wine was remitted. + +There was a magnificent illumination of the Church of Notre Dame, in +honor of the deceased Dauphiness. Thousands could not obtain +admission. An officer, learning merely that they were strangers, took +them in charge, conducted them through the vast edifice, and showed +them every thing. + +Franklin and his companion had the honor of a presentation to the +king, Louis XV., at Versailles. This monarch was as vile a man as ever +occupied a throne. But he had the virtue of courtesy, which Franklin +placed at the head of religious principle. The philosopher simply +records, + + "The king spoke to both of us very graciously and very + cheerfully. He is a handsome man, has a very lively look, + and appears younger than he is." + +In 1772, Franklin visited Ireland. He was treated there with great +honor; but the poverty of the Irish peasantry overwhelmed his +benevolent heart with astonishment and dismay. He writes, + + "I thought often of the happiness of New England, where + every man is a free-holder, has a vote in public affairs, + lives in a tidy, warm house, has plenty of good food and + fuel, with whole clothes from head to foot, the manufacture + perhaps of his own family. Long may they continue in this + situation." + +In the year 1773, Franklin spent several weeks in the beautiful +mansion of his friend, Lord Despencer. We read with astonishment, +that Franklin, who openly renounced all belief in the divine origin of +Christianity, should have undertaken, with Lord Despencer, an +abbreviation of the prayer-book of the Church of England. It is +surprising, that he could have thought it possible, that the eminent +Christians, clergy and laity of that church, would accept at the hands +of a deist, their form of worship. But Franklin was faithful in the +abbreviation, not to make the slightest change in the evangelical +character of that admirable work, which through ages has guided the +devotion of millions. The abbreviated service, cut down one-half, +attracted no attention, and scarcely a copy was sold. + +At this time, Franklin's reputation was in its meridian altitude. +There was scarcely a man in Europe or America, more prominent. Every +learned body in Europe, of any importance, had elected him a member. +Splendid editions of his works were published in London; and three +editions were issued from the press in Paris. + +In France, Franklin met with no insults, with no opposition. All alike +smiled upon him, and the voices of commendation alone fell upon his +ear. + +Returning to England, his reputation there, as a man of high moral +worth, and of almost the highest intellectual attainments, and a man +honored in the most remarkable degree with all the highest offices +which his countrymen could confer upon him, swept contumely from his +path, and even his enemies were ashamed to manifest their hostility. +From London he wrote to his son, + + "As to my situation here, nothing can be more agreeable. + Learned and ingenious foreigners that come to England, + almost all make a point of visiting me; for my reputation is + still higher abroad, than here. Several of the foreign + ambassadors have assiduously cultivated my acquaintance, + treating me as one of their corps, partly, I believe, from + the desire they have from time to time, of hearing something + of American affairs; an object become of importance in + foreign courts, who begin to hope Britain's alarming power + will be diminished by the defection of her colonies."[23] + +[Footnote 23: "For dinner parties Franklin was in such demand that, +during the London season, he sometimes dined out six days in the +week for several weeks together. He also confesses that occasionally +he drank more wine than became a philosopher. It would indeed have +been extremely difficult to avoid it, in that soaking age, when +a man's force was reckoned by the number of bottles he could +empty."--_Parton's Life of Franklin_, Vol. i, p. 540. + +As an illustration of the state of the times, I give the following +verse from one of the songs which Franklin wrote, and which he was +accustomed to sing with great applause. At the meetings of the Junto, +all the club joined in the chorus, + + "Fair Venus calls; her voice obey + In beauty's arms spend night and day. + The joys of love all joys excel, + And loving's certainly doing well. + + _Chorus._ + + Oh! no! + Not so! + For honest souls still know + Friends and the bottle still bear the bell." + +"It is well," Mr. Parton writes, "for us, in these days, to consider +the spectacle of this large, robust soul, sporting in this simple, +homely way. This superb Franklin of ours, who spent some evenings in +mere jollity, passed nearly all his days in labor most fruitful of +benefit to his country."--_Life of Franklin_, Vol. i, p. 262.] + +In the latter part of the year 1772, Franklin, in his ever courteous, +but decisive language, was conversing with an influential member of +Parliament, respecting the violent proceedings of the ministry, in +quartering troops upon the citizens of Boston. The member, in reply, +said, + +"You are deceived in supposing these measures to originate with the +ministry. The sending out of the troops, and all the hostile measures, +of which you complain, have not only been suggested, but solicited, by +prominent men of your own country. They have urged that troops should +be sent, and that fleets should enter your harbors, declaring that in +no other way, than by this menace of power, can the turbulent +Americans be brought to see their guilt and danger, and return to +obedience." + +Franklin expressed his doubts of this statement. "I will bring you +proof," the gentleman replied. A few days after, he visited Franklin, +and brought with him a packet of letters, written by persons of high +official station in the colonies, and native born Americans. The +signatures of these letters were effaced; but the letters themselves +were presented, and Franklin was confidentially informed of their +writers. They were addressed to Mr. William Whately, an influential +member of Parliament, who had recently died. + +Franklin read them with astonishment and indignation. He found the +representation of the gentleman entirely true. Six of the letters were +written by Thomas Hutchinson, Governor of Massachusetts. He was a +native of the colony he governed, a graduate of Harvard, and in his +religious position a Puritan. Four were written by Andrew Oliver, +Lieutenant-governor, and also a native of Massachusetts. + +The rest were written by custom-house officers and other servants of +the Crown. The openly avowed design of these letters was, that they +should be exhibited to the Ministry, to excite them to prompt, +vigorous and hostile measures. They teemed with misrepresentations, +and often with downright falsehoods. The perusal of these infamous +productions elicited from Franklin first a burst of indignation. The +second effect was greatly to mitigate his resentment against the +British government. The ministry, it seemed, were acting in +accordance with solicitations received from Americans, native born, +and occupying the highest posts of honor and influence. + +The gentleman who obtained these letters and showed them to Franklin, +was very unwilling to have his agency in the affair made public. After +much solicitation, he consented to have Franklin send the letters to +America, though he would not give permission to have any copies taken. +It was his hope, that the letters would calm the rising animosity in +America, by showing that the British ministry was pursuing a course of +menace, which many of the most distinguished Americans declared to be +essential, to save the country from anarchy and ruin. Franklin's +object was to cause these traitorous office-holders to be ejected from +their positions of influence, that others, more patriotic, might +occupy the stations which they disgraced. + +On the 2d of December, 1772, Franklin inclosed the letters in an +official package, directed to Thomas Cushing. He wrote, + + "I am not at liberty to make the letters public. I can only + allow them to be seen by yourself, by the other gentlemen of + the Committee of Correspondence, by Messrs. Bowdoin and + Pitts of the Council, and Drs. Chauncy, Cooper, and + Winthrop, and a few such other gentlemen as you may think + fit to show them to. After being some months in your + possession, you are requested to return them to me." + +The reading of the letters created intense anger and disgust. John +Adams, after perusing them, recorded in his diary, alluding to +Hutchinson, "Cool, thinking deliberate villain, malicious and +vindictive." He carried the documents around to read to all his male +and female friends, and was not sparing in his vehement comments. + +Again he wrote, "Bone of our bone; born and educated among us! Mr. +Hancock is deeply affected; is determined, in conjunction with Major +Hawley, to watch the vile serpent, and his deputy, Brattle. The +subtlety of this serpent is equal to that of the old one." + +For two months the letters were privately yet extensively circulated. +Hutchinson himself soon found out the storm which was gathering +against him. The hand-writing of all the writers was known. In June, +the Massachusetts Assembly met. In secret session the letters were +read. Soon some copies were printed. It was said that some one had +obtained, from England, copies of the letters from which the printed +impressions were taken. But the mystery of their publication was never +solved. + +The Assembly sent a petition to the king of England, imploring that +Thomas Hutchinson and Andrew Oliver, should be removed from their +posts, and that such good men as the king might select, should be +placed in their stead. The petition, eminently respectful, but drawn +up in very forcible language, expressive of the ruinous consequences +caused by the measures which these officials had recommended, was +transmitted to Franklin, the latter part of the summer of 1773. He +immediately forwarded it to Lord Dartmouth. With it he sent a very +polite and conciliatory letter, in which he declared, that the +Americans were very desirous of being on good terms with the mother +country, that their resentment against the government was greatly +abated, by finding that Americans had urged the obnoxious measures +which had been adopted; and that the present was a very favorable time +to introduce cordial, friendly relations between the king and the +colonists. + +Lord Dartmouth returned a very polite reply, laid the all-important +petition aside, and for five months never alluded to it, by word or +letter. In the meantime, some of the printed copies reached London. +The Tories thought that perhaps the long sought opportunity had come +when they might pounce upon Franklin, and at least greatly impair his +influence. Franklin had nothing to conceal. He had received the +letters from a friend, who authorized him to send them to America, +that their contents might be made known there. + +In all this he had done absolutely nothing, which any one could +pronounce to be wrong. But the Court, being determined to stir up +strife, began to demand who it was that had obtained and delivered +up the letters. Franklin was absent from London. He soon heard tidings +of the great commotion that was excited, and that two gentlemen, who +had nothing to do with the matter, were each accused of having +dishonorably obtained the letters. This led to a duel. Franklin +immediately wrote, + + "I think it incumbent for me to declare that I alone am the + person who obtained and transmitted to Boston, the letters + in question." + +The Court decided to summon Franklin to meet the "Committee for +Plantation Affairs," to explain the reasons for the petition against +Hutchinson and Oliver. To the surprise of Franklin, it appeared that +they were organizing quite a formidable trial; and very able counsel +was appointed to defend the culprits. + +Thus Franklin, who simply presented the petition of the Assembly, was +forced into the obnoxious position of a prosecutor. The array against +him was so strong, that it became necessary for him also to have +counsel. It was manifest to all the friends of Franklin, that the +British Court was rousing all its energies to crush him. + +The meeting was held on the 11th of January, 1773. Four of the Cabinet +ministers were present, and several Lords of the Privy Council. They +addressed Franklin as a culprit, who had brought slanderous charges +against his majesty's faithful officers in the colonies. He was +treated not only with disrespect but with absolute insolence. But +nothing could disturb his equanimity. Not for one moment did he lose +serenity of mind. + +There was an adjournment, to meet on the 29th of the month. In the +meantime one of the court party, who had received many favors from +Franklin, commenced a chancery suit against him, accusing him of +stealing the letters, and being by trade a printer, of having secretly +published them, and sold immense numbers, the profits of which he had +placed in his own pocket. All this Franklin denied on oath. The charge +was so absurd, and so manifestly malignant, that his foes withdrew the +suit. Franklin was however assured that the Court was clamoring for +his punishment and disgrace. + +All London was agitated by the commotion which these extraordinary +events created. At the appointed day, the Council again met. The +assembly was held in a large apartment in the drawing-room style. At +one end was the entrance door; at the other the fire-place, with +recesses on each side of the chimney. A broad table extended from the +fire-place to the door. The Privy Council, thirty-five in number, sat +at this table. They were inveterate Tories, resolved to bring the +Americans down upon their knees, and, as a preliminary step, to +inflict indelible disgrace upon Franklin. Lord North, the implacable +Prime Minister was there. The Archbishop of Canterbury was present. As +Franklin cast his eye along the line of these haughty nobles, he could +not see the face of a friend. + +The remainder of the room was crowded with spectators. From them many +a sympathizing glance fell upon him. Priestly and Burke gave him their +silent but cordial sympathy. There were also quite a number of +Americans and prominent members of the opposition, whose presence was +a support to Franklin, during the ordeal through which he was to pass. +He stood at the edge of the recess formed by the chimney, with one +elbow resting upon the mantel, and his cheek upon his hand. He was +motionless as a statue, and had composed his features into such calm +and serene rigidity, that not the movement of a muscle could be +detected. As usual, he was dressed simply, but with great elegance. A +large flowing wig, with abundant curls, such as were used by elderly +gentlemen at that day, covered his head. His costume, which was +admirably fitted to a form as perfect as Grecian sculptor ever +chiseled, was of rich figured silk velvet. In all that room, there was +not an individual, who in physical beauty, was the peer of Franklin. +In all that room there was not another, who in intellectual greatness +could have met the trial so grandly. + +It will be remembered that the Assembly of Massachusetts had +petitioned for the removal of an obnoxious governor and lieutenant +governor. Franklin, as the agent in London of that colony, had +presented the petition to the crown. He was now summoned to appear +before the privy council, to bring forward and substantiate charges +against these officers. The council had appointed a lawyer to defend +Hutchinson and Oliver. His name was Wedderburn. He had already +obtained celebrity for the savage skill with which he could browbeat a +witness, and for his wonderful command of the vocabulary of +vituperation and abuse. Before commencing the examination, he +addressed the assembly in a long speech. After eulogizing Governor +Hutchinson, as one of the best and most loyal of the officers of the +crown, who merited the gratitude of king and court, he turned upon +Franklin, and assailed him with a storm of vituperative epithets, +such as never before, and never since, has fallen upon the head of a +man. The council were in sympathy with the speaker. Often his +malignant thrusts would elicit from those lords a general shout of +derisive laughter. + +Such was the treatment which one of the most illustrious and honored +of American citizens received from the privy council of king George +III., when he appeared before that council as a friendly ambassador +from his native land, seeking only conciliation and peace. + +Wedderburn accused Franklin of stealing private letters, of +misrepresenting their contents, that he might excite hostility against +the loyal officers of the king. He accused him of doing this that he +might eject them from office, so as to obtain the positions for +himself and his friends. Still more, he accused him of having in an +unexampled spirit of meanness, availed himself of his skill as a +printer, to publish these letters, and that he sold them far and wide, +that he might enrich himself. Charges better calculated to ruin a man, +in the view of these proud lords, can scarcely be conceived. It is +doubtful whether there were another man in the world, who could have +received them so calmly, and in the end could have so magnificently +triumphed over them. + +During all this really terrific assailment, Franklin stood with his +head resting on his left hand, apparently unmoved. At the close, he +declined answering any questions. The committee of the council +reported on that same day, "the lords of the committee, do agree +humbly to report as their opinion to your majesty, that the said +petition is founded upon resolution's, formed upon false and erroneous +allegations, and that the same is false, vexatious and scandalous; and +calculated only for the seditious purposes of keeping up a spirit of +clamor and discontent in said province." The king accepted the report, +and acted accordingly. Franklin went home alone. We know not why his +friends thus apparently deserted him. + +The next morning, which was Sunday, Priestly breakfasted at Franklin's +table. He represents him as saying that he could not have borne +the insults heaped upon him by the privy council, but for the +consciousness, that he had done only that which was right. On Monday +morning Franklin received a laconic letter from the Postmaster +General, informing him that the king had found it necessary to dismiss +him from the office of deputy Postmaster General in America. + +This outrage, inflicted by the privy council of Great Britain, upon a +friendly ambassador from her colonies, who had visited her court with +the desire to promote union and harmony, was one of the most +atrocious acts ever perpetrated by men above the rank of vagabonds in +their drunken carousals. Franklin, in transmitting an account to +Massachusetts, writes in a noble strain: + + "What I feel on my own account, is half lost in what I feel + for the public. When I see that all petitions and complaints + of grievances, are so odious to government, that even the + mere pipe which conveys them, becomes obnoxious, I am at a + loss to know how peace and union are to be maintained, and + restored between the different parts of the empire. + Grievances cannot be redressed, unless they are known. And + they cannot be known, but through complaints and petitions. + If these are deemed affronts, and the messengers punished as + offenders, who will henceforth send petitions? and who will + deliver them?" + +The speech of Wedderburn gave great delight to all the Tory party. It +was derisively said, "that the lords of the council, went to their +chamber, as to a bull-baiting, and hounded on the Solicitor General +with loud applause and laughter." Mr. Fox, writing of the assault +said, "All men tossed up their hats and clapped their hands, in +boundless delight." + +When the tidings of the affair reached America, it added intensity to +the animosity, then rapidly increasing, against the British +government. The dismissal of Franklin from the post-office, was deemed +equivalent to the seizure, by the crown, of that important branch of +the government. None but the creatures of the Ministry were to be +postmasters. Consequently patriotic Americans could no longer entrust +their letters to the mail. Private arrangements were immediately made +for the conveyance of letters; and with so much efficiency, that the +general office, which had heretofore contributed fifteen thousand +dollars annually to the public treasury, never after paid into it one +farthing.[24] + +[Footnote 24: It may be worthy of record, that Wedderburn became the +hero of the clubs and the favorite of the Tory party. Wealth and +honors were lavished upon him. He rose to the dignity of an earl and +lord chancellor, and yet we do not find, in any of the annals of those +days, that he is spoken of otherwise than as a shallow, unprincipled +man. When his death, after a few hours' illness, was announced to the +king, he scornfully said, "He has not left a worse man behind him."] + +The spirit of the Tories may be inferred from that of one of the most +applauded and influential of their leaders. Dr. Samuel Johnson, who +wrote the notorious "Taxation no Tyranny," said, + +"The Americans are a race of convicts. They ought to be thankful for +any thing we can give them. I am willing to love all mankind except +an American." Boswell in quoting one of his insane tirades writes, +"His inflammable corruption, bursting into horrid fire, he breathed +out threatenings and slaughter, calling them rascals, robbers, +pirates, and exclaiming that he would burn and destroy them." + +It was a day of vicious indulgence, of dissipation in every form, when +it was fashionable to be godless, and to sneer at all the restraints +of the Christian religion. Volumes might be filled with accounts of +the atrocities perpetrated by drunken lords at the gaming table and in +midnight revel through the streets. Such men of influence and rank as +Fox, Lord Derby, the Duke of Ancaster, inflamed with wine, could set +the police at defiance. They were constantly engaged in orgies which +would disgrace the most degraded wretches, in the vilest haunts of +infamy in our cities. Instead of gambling for copper, they gambled for +gold. Horace Walpole testifies that at one of the most fashionable +clubs, at Almack's, they played only for rouleaux of two hundred and +fifty dollars each. There were often fifty thousand dollars in specie +on the gaming tables, around which these bloated inebriates were +gathered. It is said that Lord Holland paid the gambling debts of his +two sons to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars. + +The trade of the colonies had become of immense value to the mother +country. It amounted to six and a half millions sterling a year. +Philadelphia numbered forty thousand inhabitants. Charleston, South +Carolina, had become one of the most beautiful and healthy cities in +America. The harbor was crowded with shipping, the streets were lined +with mansions of great architectural beauty. Gorgeous equipages were +seen, almost rivaling the display in French and English capitals. But +there were many Tories in Charleston, as malignant in their opposition +to the popular cause in America, as any of the aristocrats to be found +in London. + +The unpardonable insult which Franklin had received, closed his +official labors in London. His personal friends and the Opposition +rallied more affectionately than ever around him. But he ceased to +appear at court and was seldom present at the dinner-parties of the +ministers. Still he was constantly and efficiently employed in behalf +of his country. The leaders of the opposition were in constant +conference with him. He wrote many pamphlets and published articles in +the journals, which exerted an extended and powerful influence. He +wrote to his friends at home, in October, 1774, + + "My situation here is thought, by many, to be a little + hazardous; for if by some accident the troops and people of + New England should come to blows, I should probably be + taken up; the ministerial people, affecting everywhere to + represent me as the cause of all the misunderstanding. And I + have been frequently cautioned to secure all my papers, and + by some advised to withdraw. But I venture to stay, in + compliance with the wish of others, till the result of the + Congress arrives, since they suppose my being here might, on + that occasion, be of use. And I confide in my innocence, + that the worst that can happen to me will be an imprisonment + upon suspicion; though that is a thing I should much desire + to avoid, as it may be expensive and vexatious, as well as + dangerous to my health." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +_The Bloodhounds of War Unleashed._ + + The mission of Josiah Quincy--Love of England by the + Americans--Petition to the king--Sickness and death of Mrs. + Franklin--Lord Chatham--His speech in favor of the + colonists--Lord Howe--His interview with Franklin--Firmness + of Franklin--His indignation--His mirth--Franklin's + fable--He embarks for Philadelphia--Feeble condition of the + colonies--England's expressions of contempt--Franklin's + reception at Philadelphia--His letter to Edmund + Burke--Post-office arrangements--Defection and conduct of + William Franklin--His arrest. + + +Young Josiah Quincy, of Boston, one of the noblest of patriots, who +was dying of consumption, visited London, with instructions to confer +with Franklin upon the posture of affairs. He wrote home, in the most +commendatory terms, of the zeal and sagacity with which Franklin was +devoting himself to the interests of his country. Tory spies were +watching his every movement, and listening to catch every word which +fell from his lips. Lord Hillsborough, in a debate in the House of +Lords, said, + +"There are two men, walking in the streets of London, who ought to be +in Newgate or at Tyburn." + +The duke of Richmond demanded their names, saying that if such were +the fact the ministry were severely to be blamed. Hillsborough +declined to give their names; but it was generally known that he +referred to Dr. Franklin and Josiah Quincy. + +The policy of Franklin was clearly defined, and unchanging. He said +virtually, to his countrymen, "Perform no political act against the +government, utter no menace, and do no act of violence whatever. But +firmly and perseveringly unite in consuming no English goods. There is +nothing in this which any one will pronounce to be, in the slightest +degree, illegal. The sudden and total loss of the trade with America, +will, in one year, create such a clamor, from the capitalists and +industrial classes of England, Ireland and Scotland, that the despotic +government will be compelled to retrace its steps." + +Even at this time the Americans had no desire to break loose from the +government of Great Britain. England was emphatically their home. +Englishmen were their brothers. In England their fathers were gathered +to the grave. The Americans did not assume a new name. They still +called themselves Englishmen. They were proud to be members of the +majestic kingdom, which then stood at the head of the world. + +Congress met. Its members, perhaps without exception, were yearning +for reconciliation with the mother-country, and for sincere and +cordial friendship. It was resolved to make another solemn appeal to +the king, whom they had ever been accustomed to revere, and, in a +fraternal spirit, to address their brethren, the people of England, +whom they wished to regard with all the respect due to elder brothers. + +The intelligence of Christendom has applauded the dignity and the +pathos of these documents. The appeal fell upon the profane, gambling, +wine-bloated aristocrats of the court, as if it had been addressed to +the marble statuary in the British Museum. Nay worse. Those statues +would have listened in respectful silence. No contemptuous laughter, +and no oaths of menace, would have burst from their marble lips. The +following brief extract will show the spirit which pervaded these +noble documents. It is one of the closing sentences of the address to +the king: + + "Permit us then, most gracious sovereign, in the name of all + your faithful people in America, with the utmost humility to + implore you, for the honor of Almighty God, whose pure + religion our enemies are undermining; for the glory which + can be advanced only by rendering your subjects happy and + keeping them united; for the interests of your family, + depending on an adherence to the principle that enthroned + it; for the safety and welfare of your kingdom and + dominions, threatened with unavoidable dangers, and + distresses; that your majesty, as the loving father of your + whole people, connected by the same bands of law, loyalty, + faith and blood, though dwelling in various countries, will + not suffer the transcendent relation, formed by these ties, + to be further violated, in uncertain expectation of effects + which, if attained, never can compensate for the calamities + through which they must be gained." + +This petition was sent to Franklin, and the other colony agents, to be +presented by them to the king. They were instructed also to publish +both the Petition and the Address, in the newspapers, and to give them +as wide a circulation as possible. + +Dr. Franklin, with two other agents, Arthur Lee and Mr. Bollan, +presented to Lord Dartmouth the petition to be handed by him to the +king. They were soon informed that the king received it graciously, +and would submit the consideration of it to Parliament. It was thought +not respectful to the king to publish it before he had presented it to +that body. But as usual, the infatuation of both king and court was +such, that everything that came from the Americans was treated with +neglect, if not with contempt. The all-important petition was buried +in a pile of documents upon all conceivable subjects, and not one +word was said to commend it to the consideration of either house. For +three days it remained unnoticed. Dr. Franklin, then, with his two +companions, solicited permission to be heard at the bar of the house. +Their request was refused. This brought the question into debate. + +The House of Commons was at that time but a reflected image of the +House of Lords. It was composed almost exclusively, of the younger +sons of the nobles, and such other obsequious servants of the +aristocracy, as they, with their vast wealth and patronage, saw fit to +have elected. There was an immense Tory majority in the House. They +assailed the petition with vulgarity of abuse, which could scarcely be +exceeded; and then dismissed it from further consideration. Noble +lords made themselves merry in depicting the alacrity with which a +whole army of Americans would disperse at the very sound of a British +cannon. + +While these disastrous events were taking place in England--events, +sure to usher in a cruel and bloody war, bearing on its wings terror +and conflagration, tears and blood, a domestic tragedy was taking +place in the far distant home of Franklin on the banks of the +Delaware. Mrs. Franklin had been separated from her husband for nearly +ten years. She was a cheerful, motherly woman, ever blessing her home +with smiles and with kindly words; and in the society of her daughter +and her grandchildren, she found a constant joy. The lapse of +three-score years and ten, had not brought their usual infirmities. +Though yearning intensely for the return of her husband, she did not +allow the separation seriously to mar her happiness. Every spring she +was confident that he would return the next autumn, and then bore her +disappointment bravely in the assurance that she should see him the +coming spring. + +In December, 1774, she was suddenly stricken down by a paralytic +stroke. Five days of unconscious slumber passed away, when she fell +into that deep and dreamless sleep, which has no earthly waking. Her +funeral was attended by a large concourse of citizens, with every +testimonial of respect. Some of Franklin's oldest friends bore the +coffin to the churchyard, where the remains of the affectionate wife +and mother who had so nobly fulfilled life's duties, were placed by +the side of her father, her mother, and her infant son. + +Feelingly does Mr. Parton write, "It is mournful to think that for so +many years, she should have been deprived of her husband's society. +The very qualities which made her so good a wife, rendered it +possible for him to remain absent from his affairs." + +Franklin, all unconscious of the calamity which had darkened his home, +and weary of the conflict with the British court, was eagerly making +preparations to return to Philadelphia. + +The aged, illustrious, eloquent Earl of Chatham, one of the noblest of +England's all grasping and ambitious sons, sought an interview with +Franklin. He utterly condemned the policy of the British cabinet. His +sympathies were, not only from principles of policy, but from +convictions of justice, cordially with the Americans. He felt sure +that unless the court should retrace its steps, war would ensue, and +American Independence would follow, and that England, with the loss of +her colonies, would find mercantile impoverishment and political +weakness. In the course of conversation, he implied that America might +be even then, contemplating independence. Franklin, in his account of +the interview writes, + + "I assured him that having more than once traveled almost + from one end of the continent to the other, and kept a great + variety of company, eating, drinking and conversing with + them freely, I had never heard in any conversation from any + person, drunk or sober, the least expression of a wish for a + separation, or a hint that such a thing would be + advantageous to America." + +In a subsequent interview, the Earl of Chatham, alluding to the +conduct of Congress, in drawing up the petition and address, said, + +"They have acted with so much temper, moderation and wisdom, that I +think it the most honorable assembly of statesmen since those of the +Greeks and Romans, of the most virtuous times." + +In a subsequent interview, Dr. Franklin expressed, to the earl, his +apprehension that the continuance of the British army in Boston, which +was the source of constant irritation to the people, might eventually +lead to a quarrel, perhaps between a drunken porter and a soldier, and +that thus tumult and bloodshed might be introduced, leading to +consequences which no one could foresee. + +Lord Chatham felt the force of these remarks, which soon received +their striking illustration, in what was called the Boston Massacre. +He therefore declared his intention of repairing to the House of +Lords, to introduce a resolve for the immediate withdrawal of the +troops from Boston. The tidings were soon noised abroad that the +eloquent earl, then probably the most illustrious man in England, was +to make a speech in favor of America. The eventful day arrived. The +hall was crowded. Dr. Franklin had a special invitation from the earl +to be present. The friends of America were there, few in numbers, and +the enemies in all their strength. + +Lord Chatham made a speech, which in logical power and glowing +eloquence, has perhaps never been surpassed. Franklin had impressed +him with the conviction that the determination of the Americans to +defend their rights was such, that if, with fleet and army, the +government were to ravage all the coast and burn all the cities, the +Americans would retreat back into the forests, in the maintenance of +their liberty. Full of this idea, Lord Chatham exclaimed, with +prophetic power, + +"We shall be forced ultimately to retract. Let us retract while we +can, not when we must. I say we must necessarily undo these violent +oppressive acts. You will repeal them. I pledge myself for it. I stake +my reputation on it. I will consent to be taken for an idiot, if they +are not finally repealed." + +Franklin writes, "All availed no more than the whistling of the wind. +The motion was rejected. Sixteen Scotch peers and twenty-four bishops, +with all the lords in possession or expectation of places, when they +vote together unanimously for ministerial measures, as they generally +do, make a dead majority, that renders all debate ridiculous in +itself, since it can answer no end." + +Though the speech produced no impression upon the obdurate House of +Lords, it had a very powerful effect upon the public mind. It was read +in America, in collegiate halls, in the work-shop and at the farmer's +fireside, with delight which cannot be described. A few days after the +speech, Dr. Franklin, writing to Lord Stanhope, said, + + "Dr. Franklin is filled with admiration of that truly great + man. He has seen, in the course of life, sometimes eloquence + without wisdom, and often wisdom without eloquence; in the + present instance he sees both united, and both he thinks in + the highest degree possible." + +Slowly the ministry were awaking to the conviction that American +affairs, if not settled, might yet cause them much trouble. In various +underhand ways, they approached Franklin. It was generally understood +that every man had his price; that the influence of one man could be +bought for a few hundred pounds; that another would require a +lucrative and honorable office. Though the reputation of Franklin was +such, that it was a delicate matter to approach him with bribes, still +some of them now commenced a course of flattery, endeavoring to secure +his cooperation. It was thought that his influence with his countrymen +was so great, that they would accede to any terms he should recommend. + +Lord Howe called upon Franklin, and, in the name of Lord North and +Lord Dartmouth, the two most influential members of the ministry, +informed him that they sincerely sought reconciliation, and that they +were prepared to listen favorably, to any reasonable propositions he +might offer. Lord Howe was the friend of Franklin and of America. +These unexpected and joyful tidings affected Franklin so deeply, that +he could not conceal the tears which rolled down his cheeks. + +Lord Howe then added that he was instructed to say, that the service +he would thus render both England and America, would be of priceless +value, and that though the ministers could not think of influencing +him by any selfish motives, he might expect, in return, _any reward +which it was in the power of government to bestow_. "This," said +Franklin, "was what the French vulgarly called _spitting in the +soup_." + +But again there was a meeting of Parliament. Again it became evident +that the ministry would accede to no terms, which did not secure the +entire subjugation of America. Lord Chatham made a renewed attempt to +conciliate. His propositions were rejected with scorn. In the meantime +Dr. Franklin had presented some Hints, drawn up in the most liberal +spirit of compromise, but which still maintained the American +principle, that the colonists could not be taxed at the pleasure of +the court, without having any voice themselves in the amount which +they were to pay. + +Soon after this, Mr. Barclay called upon Franklin in the name of the +government, and after a long, and to Franklin, disgusting diplomatic +harangue, ventured to say to him, that if he would only comply with +the wishes of the ministry, he might expect almost any reward he could +wish for. Even the imperturbable spirit of Franklin was roused. He +replied, + +"The ministry, I am sure, would rather give me a place in a cart to +Tyburn, than any other place whatever. I sincerely wish to be +serviceable; and I need no other inducement that I might be so." + +In another interview, which soon followed, it appeared that the +government refused to concede a single point which the Americans +deemed essential. They refused to withdraw the troops; refused to +allow the colonial governors to appoint the collectors of the customs; +persisted in building fortresses to hold the people in subjection; and +adhered to the claim of Parliament to legislate for the colonies. +Franklin said, + +"While Parliament claims the power of altering our constitution at +pleasure, there can be no agreement. We are rendered unsafe in every +privilege, and are secure in nothing." + +Mr. Barclay insolently replied, "It would be well for the Americans to +come to an agreement with the court of Great Britain. They ought not +to forget how easy a thing it will be for the British men-of-war to +lay all their seaport towns in ashes." + +"I grew warm," writes Franklin; "said that the chief part of my +little property consisted of houses in those towns; that they might +make bon-fires of them whenever they pleased; that the fear of losing +them would never alter my resolution to resist to the last, such +claims of Parliament; and that it behoved this country to take care +what mischief it did us; for that sooner or later it would certainly +be obliged to make good all damages, with interest." + +Still again these corrupt men, who are selling themselves and buying +others, approached Franklin with attempts to bribe him. "They could +not comprehend that any man could be above the reach of such +influences. It was contemplated sending Lord Howe to America as a +Commissioner. He applied to Franklin to go with him as friend, +assistant or secretary. + +Lord Howe said to Franklin, that he could not think of undertaking +the mission without him; that if he effected any thing valuable, it +must be owing to the advice Franklin would afford him; and that he +should make no scruple of giving him the full honor of it. He assured +him that the ministry did not expect his assistance without a +proper consideration; that they wished to make generous and ample +appointments for those who aided them, and also would give them the +promise of subsequent more ample rewards. + +"And," said he, with marked emphasis, "that the ministry may have an +opportunity of showing their good disposition toward yourself, will +you give me leave, Mr. Franklin, to procure for you, previously, some +mark of it; suppose the payment here, of the arrears of your salary as +agent for New England, which, I understand, they have stopped for some +time past." + +It will be remembered that Lord Howe was sincerely the friend of +America, and that he anxiously desired to see friendly relations +restored. Franklin therefore restrained his displeasure, and +courteously replied, + +"My Lord, I shall deem it a great honor to be, in any shape, joined +with your lordship in so good a work. But if you hope service from any +influence I may be supposed to have, drop all thoughts of procuring me +any previous favors from ministers. My accepting them would destroy +the very influence you propose to make use of. They would be +considered as so many bribes to betray the interests of my country. +Only let me see the propositions and I shall not hesitate for a +moment." + +Repeated interviews ensued, between Franklin and both the friends and +the enemies of the Americans. There were interminable conferences. But +the court was implacable in its resolve, to maintain a supreme and +exclusive control over the colonies. Every hour of Franklin's time was +engrossed. Merchants and manufacturers, Tories and the opposition, +lords temporal, and lords spiritual, all called upon him with their +several plans. There were many Americans in London, including a large +number of Quakers. These crowded the apartment of Franklin. The +negotiations were terminated by a debate in the House of Lords, in +which the Americans were assailed in the vilest language of insult and +abuse which can be coined. Franklin was present. He writes, + + "We were treated with the utmost contempt, as the lowest of + mankind, and almost of a different species from the English + of Britain. Particularly American honesty was abused by some + of the lords, who asserted that we were all knaves, and + wanted only, by this dispute, to avoid paying our debts." + +Franklin returned to his home, with feelings of indignation, which +his calm spirit had rarely before experienced. He resolved no longer +to have any thing to do with the hostile governing powers of England. +He had loved the British empire. He felt proud of its renown, and that +America was but part and parcel of its greatness. But there was no +longer hope, that there could be any escape from the awful appeal to +arms. Though that measure would be fraught with inconceivable woes for +his countrymen, he was assured that they would never submit. They +would now march to independence though the path led through scenes of +conflagration, blood and unutterable woe. His experience placed him in +advance of all his countrymen. + +Franklin immediately commenced packing his trunks. Astonishing, almost +incredible as it may appear, the evidence seems conclusive that +through all these trying scenes, Franklin was a cheerful, it is hardly +too strong a word to use, a _jovial_ man. It has been well said, that +to be angry is to punish one's self for the sins of another. Our +philosopher had no idea of making himself unhappy, because British +lords behaved like knaves. He continued to be one of the most +entertaining of companions. A cloudless sun seemed to shine wherever +he moved. He made witty speeches. He wrote the most amusing articles +for the journals, and the invariable gayety of his mind caused his +society to be eagerly sought for. + +One evening he attended quite a brilliant party at a nobleman's house, +who was a friend to America. The conversation chanced to turn upon +Esop's fables. It was said that that mine of illustration was +exhausted. Franklin, after a moment's thought, remarked, that many new +fables could be invented, as instructive as any of those of Esop, Gay, +or La Fontaine. Can you think of one now, asked a lord. "I think so," +said Franklin, "if you will furnish me with pencil and paper." He +immediately sat down, surrounded by the gay assembly, and wrote, as +rapidly as his pencil could move, + + "THE EAGLE AND THE CAT." + + "Once upon a time an eagle, scaling round a farmer's barn, + and espying a hare, darted down upon him like a sunbeam, + seized him in his claws, and remounted with him into the + air. He soon found that he had a creature of more courage + and strength than the hare; for which he had mistaken a cat. + The snarling and scrambling of his prey were very + inconvenient. And what was worse, she had disengaged herself + from his talons, grasped his body with her four limbs, so as + to stop his breath, and seized fast hold of his throat, with + her teeth. + + "'Pray,' said the eagle, 'let go your hold, and I will + release you.' + + "'Very fine,' said the cat. 'But I have no fancy to fall + from this height, and to be crushed to death. You have taken + me up, and you shall stoop and let me down.' + + "The eagle thought it necessary to stoop accordingly." + +This admirable fable was read to the company; and, as all were in +sympathy with America, it was received with great applause. Little, +however, did any of them then imagine, how invincible was the animal +the British government was about to clutch in its talons, supposing it +to be a defenseless hare. + +Franklin spent his last day in London with Dr. Priestly. The Doctor +bears glowing testimony to his admirable character. Many thought Dr. +Franklin heartless, since, in view of all the horrors of a civil war, +his hilarity was never interrupted. Priestly, alluding to this charge +against Franklin, says, that they spent the day looking over the +American papers, and extracting from them passages to be published in +England. "In reading them," he writes, "Franklin was frequently not +able to proceed for the tears literally running down his cheeks." Upon +his departure, he surrendered his agency to Arthur Lee. It was the +21st of March, 1775, when Franklin embarked at Portsmouth, in a +Pennsylvania packet. + +Franklin was apprehensive until the last moment, that he would not be +permitted to depart; that the court, which had repeatedly denounced +him as a traitor, would arrest him on some frivolous charge. On the +voyage he wrote a minute narrative of his diplomatic career, occupying +two hundred and fifty pages of foolscap. This important document was +given to his son William Franklin, who was daily becoming a more +inveterate Tory, endeavoring to ingratiate himself into favor with the +court, from which he had received the appointment of governor. + +Franklin also sent a copy to Mr. Jefferson, perhaps apprehensive that +his son might not deal fairly with a document which so terribly +condemned the British government. The Governor subsequently published +the narrative. But there is reason to suppose that he suppressed those +passages, which revealed most clearly the atrocious conduct of the +British cabinet. Jefferson wrote some years later, alluding to this +document: + + "I remember that Lord North's answers were dry, unyielding, + in the spirit of unconditional submission, and betrayed an + absolute indifference to the occurrence of a rupture. And he + said to the mediators distinctly, at last, that _a rebellion + was not to be deprecated on the part of Great Britain; that + the confiscations it would produce, would provide for many + of their friends_." + +The idea that the feeble Americans, scattered along a coast more than +a thousand miles in extent, without a fortress, a vessel of war, or a +regiment of regular troops, could withstand the fleets and armies of +Great Britain, was never entertained for a moment. Indeed, as we now +contemplate the fearful odds, it causes one's heart to throb, and we +cannot but be amazed at the courage which our patriotic fathers +displayed. + +It was a common boast in England, that one regiment of British +regulars could march from Boston to Charleston, and sweep all +opposition before them. A band of ten wolves can put a flock of ten +thousand sheep to flight. It was quite a pleasant thought, to the +haughty court, that one or two ships of war, and two or three +regiments could be sent across the Atlantic, seize and hang +Washington, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, and others of our leading +patriots, and confiscate the property of hundreds of others, for the +enrichment of the favorites of the crown. + +[Illustration] + +"There will be no fighting;" these deluded men said, "it will be a +mere holiday excursion. The turbulent and foolhardy Americans will be +brought to their senses, and, like whipped spaniels, will fawn upon +the hand which has chastised them." + +The voyage across the Atlantic occupied six weeks. In the evening +twilight of the 5th of May, the ship dropped anchor in the Delaware, +opposite Philadelphia. Franklin landed, and walked alone through the +darkened streets towards his home. It is difficult to imagine the +emotions with which his heart must have been agitated in that hour. +Ten years had elapsed since he left his home. In the meantime his wife +had reared another dwelling, in Market street, and there she had died. +He had left his daughter Sarah, a child of twelve years. He was to +find her a matron surrounded by her babes. + +Cordially Franklin was welcomed home. The whole country resounded +with the praises he so richly merited. The morning after his arrival +he was unanimously chosen by the Assembly, then in session, as a +member of the Continental Congress, which was to meet on the 10th +of the month, in that city. Sixteen days before Franklin's arrival +the memorable conflicts of Lexington and Concord had taken place. +Probably never were men more astounded, than were the members of +the British cabinet, in learning that the British regulars had been +defeated, routed and put to precipitate flight by American farmers +with their fowling-pieces. In this heroic conflict, whose echoes +reverberated around the world, the Americans lost in killed and +wounded eighty-three. The British lost two hundred and seventy-three. +Franklin wrote to his friend Edmund Burke, + + "Gen. Gage's troops made a most vigorous retreat--twenty + miles in three hours--scarce to be paralleled in history. + The feeble Americans, who pelted them all the way, could + scarce keep up with them." + +On the 10th of May Congress met. There were still two parties, one in +favor of renewed attempts at conciliation, before drawing the sword +and throwing away the scabbard; the other felt that the powers of +conciliation were exhausted, and that nothing now remained, but the +arbitrament of war. + +George Washington was chosen, by the Assembly, Commander-in-Chief of +the American forces. On the 17th of June the battle of Bunker Hill was +fought. Mr. John Dickinson trembled in view of his great wealth. His +wife entreated him to withdraw from the conflict. Piteously she urged +the considerations, that he would be hung, his wife left a widow, and +his children beggared and rendered infamous. He succeeded in passing a +resolution in favor of a second petition to the king, which he drew +up, and which the Tory Governor Richard Penn was to present. John +Adams, who was weary of having his country continue in the attitude of +a suppliant kneeling at the foot of the throne, opposed this petition, +as a "measure of imbecility." + +One of the first acts of Congress was to organize a system for the +safe conveyance of letters, which could no longer be trusted in the +hands of the agents of the British Court. Franklin was appointed +Postmaster General. He had attained the age of sixty nine years. +Notwithstanding his gravity of character and his great wisdom, he had +unfortunately become an inveterate joker. He could not refrain from +inserting, even in his most serious and earnest documents, some +witticism, which men of the intensity of soul of John Adams and Thomas +Jefferson, felt to be out of place. Still the wisdom of his counsels +invariably commanded respect. Upon learning of the burning of +Charleston, he wrote to Dr. Priestly,[25] + + "England has begun to burn our seaport towns, secure, I + suppose, that we shall never be able to return the outrage + in kind. She may, doubtless, destroy them all. But if she + wishes to recover our commerce, are these the probable + means? She must certainly be distracted; for no tradesman, + out of Bedlam, ever thought of increasing the number of his + customers by knocking them in the head; or of enabling them + to pay their debts by burning their houses." + +[Footnote 25: "And here perhaps we have one of the reasons why Dr. +Franklin, who was universally confessed to be the ablest pen in +America, was not always asked to write the great documents of the +Revolution. He would have put a joke into the Declaration of +Independence, if it had fallen to him to write it. At this time he was +a humorist of fifty years standing, and had become fixed in the habit +of illustrating great truths by grotesque and familiar similes. His +jokes, the circulating medium of Congress, were as helpful to the +cause, as Jay's conscience or Adams' fire; they restored good humor, +and relieved the tedium of delay, but were out of place in formal, +exact and authoritative papers."--_Parton's Franklin_, Vol. 2. p. 85.] + +One of Franklin's jokes, in Congress, is very characteristic of the +man. It was urged that the Episcopal clergy should be directed to +refrain from praying for the king. Franklin quenched the injudicious +movement with a witticism. + +"The measure is quite unnecessary," said he. "The Episcopal clergy, to +my certain knowledge, have been constantly praying, these twenty +years, that 'God would give to the king and council wisdom.' And we +all know that not the least notice has been taken of that prayer. So +it's plain that those gentlemen have no interest in the court of +Heaven." + +If we sow the wind we must reap the whirlwind. Terrible was the +mortification and mental suffering which Franklin endured from the +governor of New Jersey. He had lived down the prejudices connected +with his birth and had become an influential and popular man. He, +with increasing tenacity adhered to the British Government, and became +even the malignant opponent of the Americans. He pronounced the idea +of their successfully resisting the power of Great Britain, as utterly +absurd. His measures became so atrocious, as to excite the indignation +of the people of New Jersey. The Assembly finally arrested him and +sent him, under guard, to Burlington. As he continued contumacious and +menacing, Congress ordered him to be removed to Connecticut. The +Constitutional Gazette of July 13th, 1776, contains the following +allusion to this affair: + + "Day before yesterday Governor Franklin, of New Jersey, + passed through Hartford, on his way to Governor Trumbull. + Mr. Franklin is a noted Tory and ministerial tool, and has + been exceedingly busy in perplexing the cause of liberty, + and in serving the designs of the British king and his + ministers. + + "He is son to Dr. Benjamin Franklin, the genius of the day, + and the great patron of American liberty. If his excellency + escapes the vengeance of the people, due to the enormity of + his crimes, his redemption will flow, not from his personal + merit, but from the high esteem and veneration which the + country entertains for his honored father." + +His family was left in deep affliction. Franklin sent them both +sympathy and money. The captive governor resided at Middletown on +parole. Here the infatuated man gathered around him a band of Tories, +many of whom were rich, and held convivial meetings exceedingly +exasperating, when British armies were threatening the people with +conflagration and carnage. + +Inflamed with wine, these bacchanals sang treasonable songs, the whole +company joining in chorus, with uproar which drew large groups around +the house. The Tories professed utterly to despise the patriots, and +doubted not that their leaders would all soon be hung. One midnight +the governor, with his boon companions, having indulged in the wildest +of their orgies, sallied into the streets, with such uproar as to make +night hideous. The watch found it needful to interfere. The drunken +governor called one of them a damned villain and threatened to flog +him. A report of these proceedings was sent to Congress. + +Soon after it was ascertained that he was an active agent for the +British ministry. He was then confined in Litchfield jail, and +deprived of pen, ink and paper. For two years he suffered this +well-merited imprisonment. Mrs. governor Franklin never saw her +husband again. Grief-stricken, she fell sick, and died in New York in +July, 1778. + +After an imprisonment of two years and four months, William Franklin +was exchanged, and he took refuge within the British lines at New +York. He received a pension from the British government, lived +hilariously, and devoted his energies to a vigorous prosecution of the +war against his countrymen. Franklin felt deeply this defection of his +son. After the lapse of nine years he wrote, + + "Nothing has ever affected me with such keen sensations, as + to find myself deserted in my old age by my only son; and + not only deserted but to find him taking up arms in a cause + wherein my good fame, fortune and life were at stake."[26] + +[Footnote 26: Upon the overthrow of the royalist cause, Governor +Franklin with other Tories went to England. Government gave him +outright eighteen hundred pounds, and settled upon him a pension of +eight hundred pounds a year. After the lapse of ten years he sought +reconciliation with his father. He lived to the age of eighty-two and +died in London, in 1813.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +_Progress of the War, both of Diplomacy and the Sword._ + + Letter of Henry Laurens--Franklin visits the army before + Boston--Letter of Mrs. Adams--Burning of + Falmouth--Franklin's journey to Montreal--The Declaration of + Independence--Anecdote of the Hatter--Framing the + Constitution--Lord Howe's Declaration--Franklin's reply--The + Conference--Encouraging letter from France--Franklin's + embassy to France--The two parties in France--The + voyage--The reception in France. + + +The spirit which, almost to that hour, had animated the people of +America,--the most illustrious statesmen and common people, was +attachment to Old England. Their intense desire to maintain friendly +relations with the mother country, their "home," their revered and +beloved home, may be inferred from the following extract from a +letter, which one of the noblest of South Carolinians, Hon. Henry +Laurens, wrote to his son John. It bears the date of 1776. He writes, +alluding to the separation from England, then beginning to be +contemplated: + + "I can not rejoice in the downfall of an old friend, of a + parent from whose nurturing breasts I have drawn my support + and strength. Every evil which befalls old England grieves + me. Would to God she had listened, in time, to the cries of + her children. If my own interests, if my own rights alone + had been concerned, I would most freely have given the whole + to the demands and disposal of her ministers, in preference + to a separation. But the rights of posterity were involved + in the question. I happened to stand as one of their + representatives, and dared not betray their trust." + +Washington, Adams, Jay, would have made almost any conceivable +sacrifice of their personal interest, if they could have averted the +calamity of a separation from the home of their ancestors. But the +conduct of the British Cabinet was not only despotic, in the highest +degree, but it was insolent and contemptuous beyond all endurance. It +seemed to be generally assumed that a man, if born on the majestic +continent of North America, instead of being born on their little +island, must be an inferior being. They regarded Americans as +slave-holders were accustomed to regard the negro. Almost every +interview resolved itself into an insult. Courteous intercourse was +impossible. Affection gave place to detestation. + +On the 13th of September, 1775, Congress assembled in Philadelphia. +Lexington, Bunker Hill, and other hostile acts of our implacable foes, +had thrown the whole country into the most intense agitation. Military +companies were every where being organized. Musket manufactories and +powder mills were reared. Ladies were busy scraping lint, and +preparing bandages. And what was the cause of all this commotion, +which converted America, for seven years, into an Aceldama of blood +and woe? + +It was that haughty, insolent men in England, claimed the right to +impose taxes, to whatever amount they pleased, upon their brother men +in America. They did not blush to say, "It is the prerogative of us +Englishmen to demand of you Americans such sums of money as we want. +Unless, like obsequious slaves, you pay the money, without murmuring, +we will burn your cities and deluge your whole land in blood." + +Washington was assembling quite an army of American troops around +Boston, holding the foe in close siege there. Franklin was sent, by +Congress, as one of a committee of three, to confer with Washington +upon raising and supplying the American army. Amidst all these +terrific excitements and perils this wonderful man could not refrain +from giving expression to his sense of the ludicrous. The day before +leaving Philadelphia, he wrote to Dr. Priestly the following humorous +summary of the result of the British operations thus far. + + "Britain at the expense of three millions, has killed one + hundred and fifty Yankees this campaign, which is twenty + thousand pounds a head. And, at Bunker Hill, she gained a + mile of ground, half of which she lost again by our taking + post on Ploughed Hill. During the same time sixty thousand + children have been born in America. From these data, Dr. + Price's mathematical head will easily calculate the time and + expense necessary to kill us all, and conquer our whole + territory." + +It required a journey of thirteen days, for the Commissioners to pass +from Philadelphia to Cambridge. On the 4th of October they reached the +camp. Mrs. John Adams, who was equal to her husband in patriotism, in +intellectual ability and in self-denial, writes, + + "I had the pleasure of dining with Dr. Franklin, and of + admiring him whose character, from infancy, I had been + taught to venerate. I found him social, but not talkative; + and when he spoke, something useful dropped from his tongue. + He was grave, yet pleasant and affable. You know I make some + pretensions to physiognomy, and I thought that I could read + in his countenance, the virtues of his heart; and with that + is blended every virtue of a Christian." + +The conference lasted four days, and resulted in the adoption of very +important measures. While in the camp, news came of the burning of +Portland, then Falmouth. It was a deed which would have disgraced +American savages. The town was entirely defenceless. It held out no +menace whatever to the foe. The cold blasts of a Maine winter were at +hand. A British man-of-war entered the harbor, and giving but a few +hours notice, that the sick and the dying might be removed, and that +the women and children might escape from shot and shell, to the frozen +fields, one hundred and thirty humble, peaceful homes were laid in +ashes. The cruel flames consumed nearly all their household furniture, +their clothing and the frugal food they had laid in store for their +long and dreary winter. A few houses escaped the shells. Marines were +landed to apply the torch to them, that the destruction might be +complete. + +There were several vessels in the harbor. The freezing, starving, +homeless wives and daughters who had not strength to toil through the +wilderness to seek distant cabins of refuge, might perhaps escape in +them. To prevent this they were burned to the water's edge. It was an +infernal deed. It struck to the very heart of America. Even now, after +a lapse of one hundred years, no American can read an account of this +outrage without the flushed cheek and the moistened eye which +indignation creates. Mrs. Adams wrote, + + "I could not join to-day in the petitions of our worthy + pastor for a reconciliation between our no longer parent, + but tyrant state, and these colonies. Let us separate. They + are no longer worthy to be our brethren. Let us renounce + them, and instead of supplications, as formerly for their + prosperity and happiness, let us beseech the Almighty to + blast their councils and bring to naught all their devices." + +Though Franklin was the sweetest tempered of men, he returned to +Philadelphia with his spirit greatly embittered against the demoniac +foes of his country. For some time no jokes escaped his lips or pen. +In December, Arnold, then a patriot and a brave soldier, had made an +unsuccessful attack upon Quebec. He had retired to Montreal. Franklin +was again appointed one of these commissioners, to visit Arnold and +advise respecting Canadian affairs. + +Most of the Canadians were Catholics. One of the commissioners was +Charles Carroll of Carollton. He had a brother John, a Catholic +priest, a man of high culture, of irreproachable character and a +sincere patriot. He was perfectly familiar with the French language. +By the solicitation of Congress he was induced to accompany his +brother on this mission. It was hoped that he would be able to exert +a powerful influence over the Canadian clergy. Franklin and John +Carroll became intimate and loving friends. It speaks well for both, +that the free-thinking philosopher, and the Catholic priest could so +recognize each other's virtues, as to forget their speculative +differences in mutual regard. + +There was before the commissioners, a very laborious journey of five +hundred miles, much of it leading through an almost unexplored +wilderness. It shows great zeal in Franklin, that at the age of +seventy, he was willing to encounter such exposure. + +Late in March, the commissioners left Philadelphia. In two days they +reached New York. They found the place deserted of its inhabitants. It +was held but by a few soldiers, as it was hourly expected that the +British, from their fleet and batteries, would open upon it a terrific +bombardment. How little can we imagine the sufferings which must +ensue, when thousands of families are driven, in terror, from their +homes, from all their means of support, to go they know not where, and +to live they know not how. + +A few sad days were passed in the ruined town, and on the 2d of April +the party embarked, at five in the afternoon, in a packet for Albany. +At seven o'clock in the morning of the 4th day, after an eventful +voyage, in which they narrowly escaped shipwreck from a gale in the +Highlands, they landed at Albany, where they were hospitably +entertained by General Schuyler. + +After a brief rest, on the 9th, they set out for Saratoga, which was +distant about thirty-two miles. They were conveyed over an exceedingly +rough road of rocks, and corduroy and mire, in a large, heavy, country +wagon. From this place, Franklin wrote, + + "I begin to apprehend that I have undertaken a fatigue + which, at my time of life, may prove too much for me." + +After a short tarry at the country seat of General Sullivan at +Saratoga, the party moved on toward Lake George. In those northern +latitudes the ground was still covered with snow, and the lake was +filled with floating ice. Two days of very exhausting travel brought +them to the southern shore of the beautiful but then dreary lake. Here +they took a large boat, thirty-six feet long, and eight broad. It was +what was called a bateau, which was flat-bottomed, and was but one +foot in depth. There was one mast, and a blanket sail, which was +available when the wind was directly aft. There was no cabin. A mere +awning sheltered partially from wind and rain. + +Thus they crept across the lake, through masses of ice, a distance of +thirty-six miles, in thirty-six hours. There was a neck of land, four +miles in breadth, which separated Lake George from Lake Champlain. The +heavy boat, placed on wheels, was dragged across by six yoke of oxen. +A delay of five days was thus caused, before they were ready to embark +on the latter lake. The navigation of this small sheet of water, +surrounded by the primeval forest, and with scarcely the cabin of a +white man to be seen, must have been romantic indeed. + +They sailed when the wind favored, and rowed when it was adverse. At +night they ran ashore, built their camp fire, which illumined lake and +forest, boiled their coffee, cooked their viands, and, some under the +awning, and some under the shelter of a hastily constructed camp, +slept sweetly. The ice greatly impeded their progress. In three and a +half days, they reached St. John's, near the upper end of the lake. +The toilsome journey of another day, brought them to Montreal. None of +the commissioners were accustomed to thus roughing it. All were +greatly exhausted. + +A council of war was convened. Canada was clearly lost to the +Americans. It was at once decided that nothing remained but to +withdraw the troops. Early in June, Franklin reached Philadelphia, +from his toilsome journey. He had been absent about ten weeks. The +doom of the proprietary government over Pennsylvania, was now sealed. +Congress had voted that all authority derived from the king of +England, was extinct. A conference of delegates was appointed to +organize a new government for the province. Franklin was, of course, +one of these delegates. A committee had been appointed, by Congress, +to draw up a Declaration of Independence. The committee consisted of +Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Livingston, and Sherman. + +The immortal document, as all the world knows, came from the pen of +Jefferson. It was offered to Congress for acceptance. Many frivolous +objections were, of course, presented. One man thought this phrase a +little too severe. Another thought that a little too lenient. Franklin +sat by the side of Jefferson, as the admirable document was subjected +to this assailment. Turning to him he said, in one of the most +characteristic and popular of all his utterances, + +"When I was a journeyman printer, one of my companions, an apprenticed +hatter, was about to open a shop for himself. His first concern was to +have a handsome sign-board, with a proper inscription. He composed it +in these words, + +"John Thompson, Hatter, makes and sells Hats for ready Money." + +But he thought he would submit it to his friends for their amendments. +The first he showed it to, thought the word _hatter_ tautologous; +because followed by the words _makes hats_, which showed that he was a +hatter. It was struck out. The next observed that the word _makes_, +might as well be omitted, because his customers would not care who +made the hats; if good, and to their mind, they would buy, by +whomsoever made. He struck it out. A third said he thought the words, +for _ready money_, were useless; as it was not the custom of the place +to sell on credit. Every one who purchased, expected to pay. They were +parted with. The inscription now stood, + +"John Thompson sells hats." + +"_Sells_ hats," says his next friend. "Why nobody will expect you to +give them away. What then is the use of that word?" It was stricken +out, and _hats_ followed, the rather as there was one painted on the +board. So his inscription was reduced ultimately to _John Thompson_, +with the figure of a hat subjoined." + +It will be remembered the readiness with which Dr. Franklin, on the +spur of the moment, threw off the admirable fable of the Eagle and the +Hare. It is altogether probable that, in the inexhaustible resources +of his genius, he improvised this anecdote to meet the exigencies of +the occasion. + +When the Hessian troops, whom England had hired of a German prince, +arrived, intelligent men in this country pitied rather than blamed +those simple hearted peasants, who had no animosity whatever, against +the Americans. They had been compelled, by their feudal lord, who was +really their slave master, to leave their lowly homes on the Rhine, to +unite with English regulars and painted savages, in burning the homes +and butchering the people struggling for existence in the wilderness +of the New World. + +Again the all availing pen of Franklin was called into requisition. By +direction of Congress he drew up a friendly address to these +unfortunate men, offering every German, who would abandon the +ignominious service to which his prince had sold him, a tract of rich +land sufficient for an ample farm. The address was translated into +German. Various were the devices adopted, to give the document +circulation in the Hessian camp. It doubtless exerted a powerful +influence, in disarming these highly disciplined troops of all +animosity. The effect was perhaps seen in the spectacle witnessed a +few weeks afterwards, when nine hundred of these soldiers were led +through the streets of Philadelphia, prisoners of war. It is not +improbable that many of them were more than willing to throw down +their arms. + +On the 20th of July, 1776, Franklin was chosen by the Convention, +one of nine delegates to represent Pennsylvania in the national +Congress. One of the great difficulties to be surmounted, in a +union of the States, was to give the great States, like New York and +Pennsylvania, their own preponderance in the confederacy, while the +minor states, like New Jersey and Delaware, should not be shorn of +their influence. The difficulty was finally obviated by the present +admirable arrangement, by which each State, great or small, has two +representatives in the Senate, while their representation in the +House depends upon the number of the population. + +Franklin excelled in the art of "putting things." He silenced the +demand of the smaller States, to be, in all respects, on an equality +with the larger, by saying, + +"Let the smaller colonies give equal money and men, and then have an +equal vote. But if they have an equal vote, without bearing equal +burdens, a confederation, upon such iniquitous principles, will never +last long." + +The convention, to form a constitution for the State of Pennsylvania, +met at Philadelphia on the 16th of July, 1776. Franklin was +unanimously chosen President. No pen can describe the intensity of his +labors. All appreciated his consummate wisdom, and yielded readily to +his suggestions. Troops were hurrying to and fro. One hundred and +twenty British war vessels were in New York harbor. No one knew upon +what seaport the thunderbolts of this formidable armament would be +hurled. The Americans had been defeated on Long Island in August, +1776, and had almost miraculously escaped with their field pieces and +stores, across the East River to New York. This brilliant retreat was +deemed, by the Americans, almost equivalent to a victory. + +Lord Howe, the old friend of Franklin and a humane and respected +Englishman, who was sincerely desirous of peace with the Colonies, +was appointed Admiral of the king's naval forces. He accepted +the appointment, with the hope that, by the aid of Franklin, +reconciliation might be effected. Still he was an Englishman and could +not conceive that Americans had any rights which the English +government was bound to respect. The degree of his infatuation may be +inferred from the fact that, as soon as he reached our shores, he +published a Declaration, which he circulated far and wide, stating +that if the Americans would only give up the conflict and return to +implicit submission, the British Government would forgive their sins, +pardon the guilty ones, with a few exceptions, and receive them again +to favor. The weak man seemed really to think, that this was an +extraordinary act of clemency on the part of the English Court. + +The reply, which Franklin drew up, to the Declaration, was grand. And +it was the more grand when we reflect that it was addressed to a man +who was supported by an army, of we know not how many thousand British +regulars, and by a fleet of one hundred and twenty war vessels, many +of which were of gigantic armament. Admiral Howe had written a +courteous private letter to Dr. Franklin, in which he enclosed the +Declaration. Congress gave Franklin permission to reply. He wrote, + + "My lord; the official despatches to which you refer me, + contain nothing more than offers of pardon upon submission. + Directing pardon to be offered to the colonies, who are the + very parties injured, expresses indeed that opinion of our + ignorance, baseness, and insensibility which your uninformed + and proud nation has long been pleased to entertain of us. + It is impossible that we should think of submission to a + government that has, with the most wanton barbarity and + cruelty, burnt our defenseless towns, in the midst of + winter, excited the savages to massacre our farmers, and + our slaves to murder their masters, and is, even now, + bringing foreign mercenaries to deluge our settlements with + blood." + +I have not space to copy the remainder of this admirable letter. It +was delivered to Lord Howe, on board his flag ship in New York harbor, +ten days after its date. As he read it his countenance expressed +surprise, and almost his only remark was, "My old friend has expressed +himself very warmly." + +A few weeks later this good natured but weak man paroled General +Sullivan, who was a prisoner of war, and sent him to Philadelphia, +with a message to Congress which Lord Howe cautiously declined to put +upon paper. General Sullivan reduced the message to writing and +presented it to Congress. It was in substance as follows: + +"The government of England cannot admit that Congress is a legitimate +body, to be recognized by any diplomatic relations whatever. It is but +a tumultous assembly of men who have treasonably conspired against +their lawful sovereign. Still the government is willing that Lord Howe +should confer with some of the members of congress, as private +gentlemen, to see if some terms of accommodation cannot be arranged." + +After much and earnest discussion, in which a great diversity of +opinion prevailed, it was voted that General Sullivan should inform +Admiral Howe, that a committee of three would be sent to ascertain +whether he "has any authority to treat with persons, _authorized by +Congress_ for that purpose." + +Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge composed this +committee. An antique house, nearly a hundred years old, formerly the +abode of wealth and splendor, which stood in a green lawn, but a few +rods from the beach on the western shore of Staten Island, was chosen +as the place for the conference. A two days' journey conveyed the +committee to Amboy, opposite the house. Adams traveled on horseback: +Franklin and Rutledge in a two wheel chaise. + +Admiral Howe sent a boat, under the protection of a flag of truce, +with an officer, who stated that he was to be left behind as a hostage +for their safe return. Promptly they declined manifesting any such +distrust of the honor of Admiral Howe, and took the hostage back in +the boat with them. The barge, propelled by lusty rowers, soon reached +the Staten Island shore. A large apartment of the old stone house had +been richly decorated with moss and branches in honor of the occasion. + +A regiment of Hessians was posted at that spot. The colonel drew them +up in two lines and through this lane of soldiers the commissioners +advanced from the beach to the house. When Admiral Howe saw that the +officer he had sent as a hostage had been returned, he said, + +"Gentlemen, you pay me a high compliment." + +Cordially the kind-hearted admiral received his guests, and invited +them to an ample collation of cold ham, tongues, mutton and wine. Mr. +Henry Strachey, secretary of Lord Howe, wrote a very full report of +the interview, which accords entirely with the narrative which John +Adams presented to Congress. In as sincere and friendly words as human +lips could pronounce, the Admiral assured the American gentlemen of +his earnest desire to promote reconciliation between the colonists and +the mother country. He alluded to the fact that in England he had been +regarded as the friend of America, and to the honor Massachusetts had +conferred upon his family by rearing a monument to his brother, who +had fallen at Ticonderoga. Franklin well knew that Howe was regarded +as the friend of America. + +"I assure you, gentlemen," said Lord Howe, "that I esteem that honor +to my family, above all things in this world. Such is my gratitude and +affection to this country, on that account, that I feel for America as +for a brother. And if America should fall, I should feel and lament it +like the loss of a brother." The reply of Franklin to these sincere +words, seems a little discourteous. Assuming an air of great +indifference and confidence, as though the fall of America was an idea +not to be thought of, he bowed, and with one of his blandest smiles +said, "I assure you, my lord, that we will do everything in our power +to save your lordship from that mortification." + +The admiral was feeling too deeply for jokes. He was wounded by the +rebuke apparently contained in the reply of his old friend. But it +must not be forgotten that Franklin, the sweetest tempered of men, had +not yet recovered from the indignation caused by the barbarities +inflicted by the British government upon the families of Falmouth. +Every day was bringing tidings of the atrocities which England, +through its savage allies, was perpetrating on the frontiers, burning +the cabins of lonely farmers, and tomahawking and scalping women and +children. And he was constrained to look upon Lord Howe as the agent +of that government, commissioned to bear to the patriots of America +only the insulting messages, that the king and his ministers would +graciously pardon them the crime of attempting to resist their +despotism, if they would ask forgiveness, and in future submit +uncomplainingly to the requirements of the crown. + +Thus, while the kind-hearted admiral, with a bosom glowing with +brotherly sympathy, was acting upon the assumption that the Americans +should cherish undying emotions of gratitude to the king, that he was +so ready to forgive their disobedience to his commands, Franklin and +his companions, found it difficult to restrain their emotions of +indignation, in view of the truly diabolical course pursued by the +British government. The court, in their judgment, merited the +execrations not only of Americans but of all humanity. + +Lord Howe very emphatically wished the commissioners to understand +that he met them merely as private individuals, and that he could not, +in the slightest degree, recognize any authority in Congress. Franklin +coldly replied, + +"Your lordship may consider us in any view you may think proper. We, +on our part, are at liberty to consider ourselves in our real +character." + +John Adams replied with warmth, characteristic of his impetuous +nature, "Your lordship may consider _me_ in what light you please. +Indeed I should be willing to consider myself, for a few moments, in +any character which would be agreeable to your lordship, _except that +of a British subject_." + +As the conversation was continued, Franklin said, "We have been +deputed, by Congress, simply to inquire of your lordship what +proposition you have to offer _for the consideration of Congress_. +British troops have ravaged our country and burnt our towns. We cannot +again be happy under the government of Great Britain. All former +attachments are obliterated. America can never return to the +domination of Great Britain." + +Mr. Adams added, "My lord, it is not in our power to treat otherwise +than as _independent states_. For my part, I avow my determination +never to depart from the idea of _independency_." + +Mr Rutledge gave emphasis to these decisive words by saying, "With +regard to the people consenting to come again under the English +government, _it is impossible_. I can answer for South Carolina. The +royal government there was very oppressive. At last we took the +government into our own hands. The people are now settled, and happy, +under that government. They would not now return to the king's +government even if Congress should desire it." + +Here the conference ended, by Lord Howe's stating, that, as they +insisted upon _independence_, no accommodation was possible. Lord Howe +courteously accompanied the American gentlemen to the barge, and they +were rowed over to the New Jersey shore. In the report they made to +Congress they stated, that the commission of Lord Howe only conferred +upon him authority to grant pardon to the Americans, with a few +exceptions, upon their entire submission to the king. + +It required, in those days, a long time to cross the Atlantic. Seldom +could an answer be obtained to a letter in less than four or five +months. To the usual delays and perils attached to the navigation of +that stormy sea, there was now to be added the danger of capture from +the swarm of British cruisers. Congress had several agents on the +continent. But months passed away, during which no letters were +received from them. This painful suspense was relieved, in September, +1776, by a long letter to Dr. Franklin, from a French gentleman, Dr. +Dubourg. He was one of the prominent philosophers of Paris, and, by +the request of Count du Buffon, had translated into French, Franklin's +treatise upon electricity. + +This letter was very cautiously written. It covered many sheets of +paper. The all important substance of the letter was almost concealed +from view by the mass of verbiage in which it was enveloped. But a +careful reading indicated that the French ministry and the nation were +in sympathy with the Americans; that while the ministry wished to +avoid war with England they would gladly, if it could be done +secretly, send the Americans money and powder, cannon and muskets, and +that many French generals of note were eager to join the American +army, and confer upon it the benefit of their experience. + +This news sent a thrill of joy through hearts which recent reverses +had rendered somewhat desponding. It was decided immediately to send +an embassy of highest character to France. Three were to be chosen by +ballot. On the first ballot Dr. Franklin was unanimously elected. He +was seventy years old. And yet probably there was not another man in +America so well qualified to fill that difficult, delicate and +responsible post. Franklin, in the saloons of diplomacy, was fully the +peer of Washington on the field of war. When the result of the ballot +was announced Franklin turned to Dr. Rush, who was at his side, and +said, + +"I am old and good for nothing. But as the store-keepers say of their +remnants of cloth, 'I am but a fag end, and you may have me for what +you please.'" + +Thomas Jefferson, then thirty-three years of age, and as pure a +patriot as ever lived, was next chosen. He was already renowned in +France as the writer of the Declaration of Independence. Silas Deane, +a native of Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale, then one of the +agents in Europe, was the third. + +It required no little courage to cross the ocean, swept by the fleets +of Great Britain. Had Franklin or Jefferson fallen into the hands of +the British government, it is certain that they would have suffered +severe imprisonment; it is by no means improbable that they would have +been promptly hung as traitors. It was a noble sacrifice for country +which led Franklin, having numbered his three-score years and ten, to +incur these perils.[27] + +[Footnote 27: In the year 1780, Mr. Henry Laurens, formerly President +of Congress, was sent as ambassador to Holland. The ship was captured +off Newfoundland, after a chase of five hours. The unfortunate man was +thrown into the Tower, where he was imprisoned fifteen months, "where" +he wrote to Mr. Burke, "I suffered under a degree of rigor, almost if +not altogether unexampled in modern British history."] + +Jefferson was compelled to decline the mission, as his wife, whom he +loved with devotion rarely equalled, and perhaps never surpassed, was +sick and dying. Arthur Lee, then in Europe, was elected in his stead. +He was a querulous, ill-natured man, ever in a broil. A more +unsuitable man for the office could scarcely have been found. + +There were two parties in France who favored the Americans. One +consisted of enthusiastic young men, who were enamored with the idea +of republican liberty. They were weary of Bourbon despotism. The +character of Louis XV., as vile a king as ever sat upon a throne, was +loathsome to them. They had read Jefferson's "Declaration," with +delight; and had engraven its immortal principles upon their hearts. +The Marquis de Lafayette was perhaps the most prominent member of this +party. + +France hated England. That haughty government had long been the most +unpopular on the globe. England had made great conquests from France, +and was rich, intelligent and powerful beyond any other nation. +Prosperity had given her arrogance, and she had placed her heel upon +her humiliated neighbors. There was not a court in Europe which would +not have rejoiced to see England humbled. The despotic court of +France, and the most haughty nobles, were ready to encounter any +perils which held out a reasonable hope that England might be +weakened. Thus the sympathies of all France were united in favor of +America. + +And now the hour had come. By aiding the Americans, who had boldly +declared their independence, they might not only deprive England of +those colonies whose trade was already invaluable to England, and +which were rapidly increasing in population, wealth and power, but +also they might awaken such gratitude in the bosoms of Americans, that +the trade of the new nation would be mainly transferred to France. + +Thus the court and the nobles, intent upon this object, did not +hesitate to aid in the establishment of those principles of liberty, +fraternity and equality in America, which eventually whelmed in ruin +the palaces and the castles of France. + +It was deemed important to conceal, as long as possible, from the +British government the sympathy and aid which France was about to +manifest for the Americans. Arthur Lee reported that an agent of the +French government had promised to send from Holland, two thousand +pounds worth of military stores. They were to be forwarded to one of +the French West India islands, ostensibly for the service of those +islands. The governor was, however, instructed to surrender them to a +secret agent of the American Congress. The plan failed. I have not +space to record all the various stratagems which were devised to aid +the Americans, while the movement was carefully concealed from the +vigilant eyes of the English. + +Franklin, with nobility of soul which should command the love of every +American, as one of his last deeds before he left his country perhaps +never to return, collected all the money he could command, about +twelve thousand dollars, and loaned it to the government, whose +treasury was utterly impoverished. In those dark days, even that small +sum was of essential aid. In one of the last of Franklin's letters, +before he sailed, he wrote, + + "As to our public affairs, I hope our people will keep up + their courage. I have no doubt of their finally succeeding + by the blessing of God; nor have I any doubt that so good a + cause will fail of that blessing. It is computed that we + have already taken a million sterling from the enemy. They + must soon be sick of their piratical project." + +Franklin embarked in the Reprisal, a rapid sailing sloop of war of +sixteen guns. He took with him his grandson, William Temple Franklin, +son of the Tory governor, then a very handsome boy of eighteen, and +Benjamin Franklin Bache, eldest son of his daughter, a lad of seven +years. William Temple Franklin adhered firmly to the political views +of his grandfather. Dr. Franklin intended to place Benjamin in a +school in Paris. + +Tory spies were watching every movement of Congress. This mission to +France was kept a profound secret. Had the British government known +that Benjamin Franklin was about to cross the ocean, almost every ship +in the British navy would have been sent in chase of him. On the 26th +of October, 1776, he left Philadelphia, every precaution having been +adopted to keep his departure a secret. The vessel was at anchor at +Marcus Hook, in the Delaware, three miles beyond Chester. + +Fierce gales drove them rapidly across the Atlantic. Captain Wickes +had received instructions to avoid fighting, if possible. He was to +devote all his energies to transporting his precious passenger as +rapidly as possible, from shore to shore. They were often chased by +cruisers. The vessel was small, and Franklin, in his old age, was +sadly cramped by his narrow accommodations. He says that of all his +eight voyages this was the most distressing. When near the coast of +France they captured an English brig, with a cargo of lumber and wine. +On the afternoon of the same day, they took another brig, loaded with +brandy and flax seed. England was almost delirious with rage, in +finding that the Americans were bearing away their prizes from the +channel itself, thus bidding proud defiance to those frigates and +fortresses of Great Britain which had overawed the world. + +On the 29th of November the Reprisal cast anchor in Quiberon Bay. +Franklin there obtained a post chaise to convey him to Nantes. He +writes, + + "The carriage was a miserable one, with tired horses, the + evening dark, scarce a traveller but ourselves on the road. + And to make it more _comfortable_, the driver stopped near a + wood we were to pass through, to tell us that a gang of + eighteen robbers infested that wood, who, but two weeks ago, + had robbed and murdered some travellers on that very spot." + +Though absolutely no one in Europe knew that Franklin was expected, +his fame had preceded him. The scientists of France were eager to +render him their homage. French statesmen had learned, at the Court of +St. James, to respect his grandeur of character, and his diplomatic +abilities. He was a very handsome man, with a genial smile, which won +love at sight. The invariable remark of every one, who chanced to meet +him for five minutes was, "What a delightful man." Franklin had none +of the brusqueness which characterizes John Bull. He was always a +gentleman, scrupulously attentive to his rich, elegant, yet simple +dress. He manifested his knowledge of human nature, in carefully +preserving his national garb,--the old continental costume. + +Thus wherever he appeared he attracted attention. No man was ever more +courteous. The French Court, at that time, was bound by the shackles +of etiquette, to an almost inconceivable degree. But Franklin was +never embarrassed. He needed no one to teach him etiquette. Instinct +taught him what to do, so that, in the bearing of a well bred +gentleman, he was a model man, even in the court where Louis XIV. and +Louis XV. had reigned with omnipotent sway. The most beautiful +duchess, radiant in her courtly costume, and glittering with jewels, +felt proud of being seated on the sofa by the side of this true +gentleman, whose dress, simple as it was, was in harmony with her own. +The popular impression is entirely an erroneous one, that there was +anything rustic, anything which reminded one of the work shop or the +_blouse_, in the demeanor of Benjamin Franklin, as he moved, +unembarrassed, in the highest circles of fashion then known in the +world. + +Franklin was received to the hospitalities of a French gentleman of +wealth and distinction, by the name of Gruel. His elegant apartments +were always crowded with visitors, eager to manifest their respect for +the trans-Atlantic philosopher. Horace Walpole, a warm friend of the +Americans, wrote, + + "An account came that Dr. Franklin, at the age of 72, or 74, + and, at the risk of his head, had bravely embarked, on board + an American frigate, and, with two prizes taken on the way, + had landed, at Nantes, in France, and was to be at Paris on + the 14th, where the highest admiration and expectation of + him were raised." + +Upon his arrival Mr. Deane exultingly wrote, "Here is the hero and +philosopher, and patriot, all united in this celebrated American, who, +at the age of seventy four, risks all dangers for his country." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +_The Struggles of Diplomacy._ + + Anecdote of Gibbon--John Adams--Residence at + Passy--Lafayette introduced--Cruise of the Reprisal--Paul + Jones--Capture of Burgoyne--Alliance with France--Anecdote + of the Cake--Excitement in England--Franklin's introduction + to the king--Joy in America--Extraordinary letter of Count + Wissenstein--The reply--Injustice to Paul Jones--French + troops in America--Character of John Adams--Franklin's + mature views of human nature--Anecdote of the Angel--Capture + of Cornwallis--Its effect in England--Prejudices of Mr. + Jay--Testimony of Dr. Sparks--Jealousy of Franklin--Shrewd + diplomatic act--The treaty signed. + + +In the journey from Nantes to Paris, a curious incident occurred, +which is well worth recording. It so admirably illustrates the +character of two distinguished men, as to bear internal evidence of +its truthfulness. At one of the inns, at which Franklin stopped, he +was informed that Mr. Gibbon, the illustrious author of the "Decline +and Fall of the Roman Empire," was also tarrying. + +Mr. Gibbon was an Englishman. He was a deist, being in entire sympathy +with Franklin in his views of Christianity. He was also a man of +letters. Mr. Franklin addressed a very polite note to Mr. Gibbon, +sending his compliments, and soliciting the pleasure of spending the +evening with him. Mr. Gibbon, who was never renowned for amiability of +character, replied, in substance, we have not his exact words, + +"Notwithstanding my regard for Dr. Franklin, as a man and a +philosopher, I cannot reconcile it with my duty to my king, to have +any conversation with a revolted subject." + +Franklin responded to this by writing, "Though Mr. Gibbon's principles +have compelled him to withhold the pleasure of his conversation, Dr. +Franklin has still such a respect for the character of Mr. Gibbon, as +a gentleman and a historian, that when, in the course of his writing +the history of the 'Decline and Fall of Empires,' the decline and fall +of the British Empire shall come to be his subject, as will probably +soon be the case, Dr. Franklin would be happy to furnish him with +ample materials, which are in his possession."[28] + +[Footnote 28: This anecdote has had a wide circulation in the +newspapers. Mr. William Cobbett inserts it in his "Works," with the +following comment, characteristic of the spirit of most of the higher +class of Englishmen, in those days: + +"Whether this anecdote record a truth or not I shall not pretend to +say. But it must be confessed, that the expressions imputed to the two +personages were strictly in character. In Gibbon, we see the faithful +subject, and the man of candor and honor. In Franklin the treacherous +and malicious old Zanga, of Boston."--_Works of William Cobbett. Vol. +vii, p. 244._] + +Gibbon was a Tory. He supported Lord North in all his measures. The +government rewarded him with a pension of eight hundred pounds a year. +This was equivalent to considerable more than four thousand dollars +at the present time. Franklin was received, in Paris, by the whole +population, court and _canaille_, with enthusiasm which that excitable +capital had rarely witnessed. The most humble of the population were +familiar with the pithy sayings of Poor Richard. The _savants_ +admitted their obligations to him, for the solution of some of the +most difficult problems of philosophy. The fashionable world +were delighted with his urbanity; and in his society found rare +and unequalled pleasure. The republicans regarded him as the +personification of a free government; and even the nobles and the +ministry were cheered by the hope that, with his aid, haughty England +could be weakened and humbled, and that thus a new era of commercial +prosperity was about to dawn upon France. + +John Adams was not popular in Paris. He was a man of great abilities, +of irreproachable character, and was animated by as pure principles of +patriotism as ever glowed in a human bosom. But he was a genuine +Puritan, inheriting the virtues and the foibles of the best of that +class. Though not wanting in magnanimity, he could not fail from being +disturbed, by the caresses with which Franklin was ever greeted, +contrasted with the cold and respectful courtesy with which he was +received. It was always the same, in the Court, in the saloons, and on +the Boulevards. In Mr. Adams' diary, written some years later, we find +the following insertion, which, in some degree, reveals his feelings. +He is recording a conversation with the French minister. + + "All religions," said Marbois, "are tolerated in America. + The ambassadors have a right, in all the courts of Europe, + to a chapel in their own way. But Mr. Franklin never had + any." + + "No," said I laughing, "because Mr. Franklin has no----" + + I was going to say what I did not say, and will not say + here. I stopped short, and laughed. + + "No," said M. Marbois. "Mr. Franklin adores only great + Nature; which has interested a great many people of both + sexes in his favor." + + "Yes," said I laughing, "all the atheists, deists and + libertines, as well as the philosophers and ladies are in + his train."[29] + +[Footnote 29: Works of John Adams, Vol. III, p. 220.] + +The English lords were exasperated by the reception France had given +Franklin. They fully comprehended its significance. France was in +sympathy with the Americans, in their heroic endeavor to escape from +the despotism of the British crown. Thus the traffic which had +enriched England, would be transferred to France. + +Even the Earl of Chatham said, in one of the most eloquent of his +speeches, + +"France, my lords, has insulted you. She has encouraged and sustained +America. And whether America be wrong or right, the dignity of +this country ought to spurn at the officiousness of the French +interference. The ministers and ambassadors of those who are called +rebels, are in Paris. In Paris they transact the reciprocal business +of America and France. Can there be a more mortifying insult? Can even +our ministers sustain a more humiliating disgrace? Do they dare to +resent it?" + +Franklin was assailed in England, in innumerable pamphlets of abuse. +The sin of his youth still pursued him. Many an envenomed arrow +pierced his heart.[30] + +[Footnote 30: This is a delicate subject, but it must not be ignored. +Mr. Parton writes,--"One penny-a-liner informed the public that Dr. +Franklin had a son, who, though illegitimate, was a much more honest +man than his father. As to the mother of that son, nothing was known +of her, except that her seducer let her die in the streets." + +There was no end to those attacks. They were attended by every +exaggeration of malignity which hatred could engender. It is certain +that Franklin would have been saved from these woes could he, as a +young man, have embraced the _faith_ of the religion of Jesus, and +developed that _faith_ in his _practice_.] + +But it must not be forgotten that there were many of the noblest men +in England, who were the warm friends of Franklin, and who cordially +espoused the American cause. Among these were Fox, Burke, Rockingham, +Shelburne, Chatham, Priestley and Price. + +Many beautiful villages surrounded Paris. One of the most lovely, +embowered in foliage, was Passy. It is now included within the city +walls. It was then but two miles from the centre of the city. A +munificent friend of America, M. de Chaumont, invited Franklin to the +hospitality of one of his sumptuous mansions in that place. Franklin +accepted the invitation, assuring him that at the close of the war, +Congress would insist upon granting him a tract of land, in +recognition of his kindness to America in the hour of need. + +Early in the year 1777, Franklin took up his residence at Passy, and +there he continued to reside while he remained in France. He lived +liberally, had an ample retinue of servants, and entertained his +guests with elegance. His annual expenditures were about thirteen +thousand dollars. This sum would then purchase twice the amount of +conveniences and luxuries which could be purchased by the same sum at +the present day. He had his own servants, and commanded a handsome +carriage with two horses. + +Mrs. Adams writes, "With seven servants, and hiring a charwoman upon +occasion of company, we may possibly keep house. With less we should +be hooted at as ridiculous, and could not entertain any company." + +Though Franklin took every thing by the smooth handle, he did not, on +that account, intermit any intensity of labor to accomplish his +purposes. There were then three American envoys in Paris, Franklin, +Deane, and Lee. Five days after the arrival of Franklin, they, on the +28th of December, 1777, held their first interview with the French +Minister, Count de Vergennes. They were received with all that +cordiality and courtesy which are marked characteristics of the French +people. But still the commissioners were embarrassed. The prospects of +America were doubtful. General Burgoyne was on the eve of sailing for +America with a formidable fleet, and an army of eight or ten thousand +highly disciplined troops. In the course of the conversation, the +minister said that France was not yet ready to enter into open +collision with England, and to declare war. + +"But," said he, "if a _couple of millions_ of francs, to be repaid +without interest after the war, will be of use to you, they are at +your service. Only do not say that you had it from _us_." + +This was indeed, under the doubtful circumstances, a very generous +offer. It was at this dark hour that the noble Lafayette decided to +consecrate his fortune, and to peril his life, for the cause of +American freedom. It was proclaimed that Burgoyne's expedition was +fitted out to rouse the slaves to insurrection, and to lay the +mansions of the planters in ashes. Arthur Lee was very much alarmed. +These splendid estates were generally situated in romantic spots, upon +the banks of the navigable rivers, where the dwellings, often quite +magnificent, could easily be demolished by shot and shell thrown from +any frigate. + +The Reprisal, Captain Wickes, was the first American vessel of war +which ventured into European waters. The channel swarmed with British +vessels. The Reprisal took prize after prize, and conveyed them into +Nantes. As France was not at war with England, Count de Vergennes was +compelled to order the Reprisal, with her prizes, to leave the harbor. +Captain Wickes took some of the Nantes merchants on board his vessel, +and, just outside the port, sold the prizes to them. The French +merchants then returned, with their property, into the harbor. + +Captain Wickes soon united with him the Lexington of fourteen guns, +and a cutter, the Dolphin, of ten guns. With this little fleet the +hero sailed completely around Ireland, capturing or destroying sixteen +prizes. The British were astounded at this audacity. Merchants and +under-writers were quite terror-stricken. They had never dreamed that +the despised Americans could strike _them_ any blows. And when, soon +after, Paul Jones, one of the noblest of all naval heroes, appeared in +their waters, it is not too much to say that _consternation_ pervaded +the coasts of both England and Ireland.[31] + +[Footnote 31: The wonderful achievements of this patriot are fully +recorded in one of the volumes of this series.] + +It requires many and aggravated wrongs to rouse a naturally amiable +man to the highest pitch of indignation. But when thus roused, he is +ready for any vigor of action. Franklin's blood was up. England was +bribing slaves to murder their masters; was rousing the savages to +massacre the families of poor, hard-working frontiersmen; was wantonly +bombarding defenceless seaports, and with inhumanity, rarely known in +civilized warfare, was laying villages in ashes, consigning women and +children to beggary and starvation. In the prison hulks of New York, +our most illustrious men were in the endurance, as prisoners of war, +of woes unsurpassed by Algerine barbarism. Many of our common +sailors, England was compelling, by the terrors of the lash, to man +her ships, and to fight their own countrymen. Maddened by these +atrocities, Mr. Franklin wrote to his English friend, David Hartley, a +member of Parliament, a letter, which all the few friends of America +in England, read with great satisfaction, and which must have produced +a very powerful moral impression in France. It is too long to be +inserted here. In conclusion he said to his friend, + + "In reviewing what I have written, I found too much warmth in + it, and was about to strike out some parts. Yet I let them + go, as it will afford you this one reflection, + + "'If a man naturally cool, and rendered still cooler by old + age, is so warmed by our treatment of his country, how much + must those people in general be exasperated against us. And + why are we making inveterate enemies, by our barbarity, not + only of the present inhabitants of a great country, but of + their infinitely more numerous posterity; who will, in + future ages, detest the name of Englishman, as much as the + children in Holland now do those of Alva and Spaniard.'" + +William Temple Franklin inherited the attractions of person, and the +fascination of manners, so conspicuous in his grandfather. He was a +great favorite in the social circles of the gay metropolis. Dark days +came, with tidings of discomfiture. Franklin devoted twelve hours out +of the twenty-four, to the arduous duties of his mission. Philadelphia +fell. + +"Well, Doctor," said an Englishman in Paris, with the customary +courtesy of his nation, "Howe has taken Philadelphia." + +"I beg your pardon," Franklin replied, "Philadelphia has taken Howe." + +The result proved that Franklin's joke was almost a reality. + +Burgoyne surrendered. His whole army was taken captive. Massachusetts +immediately sent John Loring Austin to convey the rapturous tidings to +Franklin. This great success would doubtless encourage France to open +action. No tongue can tell the emotions excited in the bosoms of +Franklin, Lee and Deane, as Austin entered their presence at Passy, +with the announcement, "_General Burgoyne and his whole army are +prisoners of war._" + +There were no shoutings, no rushing into each other's arms. But tears +filled their eyes. They felt assured that France would come openly to +their aid, and that the independence of their country was no longer +doubtful. Silently they returned to Franklin's spacious apartment, +where they spent the whole day in reading the enrapturing dispatches, +and in preparing for immediate alliance with France. France made no +attempt to conceal its joy. A treaty of alliance was soon formed. +Nobly the Count de Vergennes said, + +"We wish to take no advantage of your situation. We desire no terms +which you may hereafter regret having made; but would enter into +arrangements of mutual interest, which may last as long as human +institutions endure." + +England was now greatly alarmed from fear that the trade of the +colonies might be transferred to France. Envoys were sent to Passy to +offer the American ambassadors everything they had demanded at the +commencement of the conflict. But it was too late. America now +demanded _Independence_, and would accept nothing less. + +A large cake was one day sent to the ambassador's apartment, at Passy, +with the inscription "Le Digne Franklin," the worthy Franklin. Mr. Lee +said, "Well, Doctor, we have to thank you for our accommodations, and +to appropriate your present to our use." + +"Not at all," said Franklin. "This cake is for all the Commissioners. +The French, not being able to write good English, do not spell our +names correctly. The meaning doubtless is Lee, Deane, Franklin." + +The memorable treaty was signed on the 5th of February, 1778. It was +stated that the object of the treaty was to establish the independence +of the United States, and that neither party should conclude either +truce or peace with England, without the consent of the other. + +Tidings of the treaty, which for a short time was kept secret, had +been whispered in England, causing intense excitement. On the 17th of +February, 1778, the House of Parliament was crowded. Lord North, amid +breathless silence, presented a "Conciliation Bill," granting +everything which Franklin had demanded. Fox, who was in the +Opposition, arose and announced the treaty. "The astonishment," writes +Walpole, "was totally indescribable." + +Soon the fact of the treaty of alliance, was formally announced in +France. The American envoys were invited to an audience with the king. +Franklin was richly dressed. His hair was carefully arranged by a +French perruquier. He wore an admirably fitting suit of plain, black, +silk velvet. Ruffles of elaborate embroidery and snowy whiteness +adorned his wrists and bosom. White silk stockings aided in displaying +the perfect proportions of his frame. Large silver buckles were on his +shoes. + +No one could accuse him of failing in due respect for the king, by +appearing in his presence in slatternly dress. His costume was superb, +and was such as was then worn, on important occasions, by American +gentlemen of the highest rank. The audience took place at Versailles, +on the morning of the 20th of March. Each of the American envoys rode +in his own carriage, attended by the usual retinue of servants. On the +way they were cheered with the utmost enthusiasm by the crowd. The +king, Louis XVI., received them with extreme courtesy, and the queen, +Marie Antoinette, was marked in her attentions to Franklin. The +British ambassador, Lord Stormont, was so enraged, that, regardless of +all the claims of courtesy, he immediately returned to England, +without even taking leave of the king. + +Who can describe the exultation, the rapture, the tears, with which +these tidings were received by the patriots of America. On the 6th +of May, George Washington drew up his little band at Valley Forge, +to announce the great event, and to offer to God prayers and +thanksgivings. The tone of the English was immediately changed. They +abandoned threats and tried the effect of entreaties. Several +emissaries, from the government, approached Dr. Franklin, all bearing +in substance the same message. They said, + +"We cannot endure the thought that our beloved colonists should enter +into alliance with our hereditary natural enemy, France. Can you, who +are Protestants, consent to unite with a nation of Roman Catholics? If +you will remain firm in your adhesion to England, we will grant you +all you ever wished for, and even more. But do not forsake your mother +country to swell the pride and power of perfidious France." + +But all these efforts were unavailing. The colonists began to despise +England. They had no wish for war with their unnatural parent, and +they knew that their independence was assured; and that no efforts +which England could possibly make, could now prevent it. All alike +felt disposed to spurn the bribes which England so lavishly offered. + +A very extraordinary letter was sent to Dr. Franklin, which was +signed, Charles de Wissenstein. Franklin, who was accustomed to +sifting evidence, became satisfied that the message came from king +George III. himself. The letter declared that the perfidious French +would certainly deceive the Americans with false promises, and defraud +them. After making the most liberal offers of popular rights, if the +Americans would continue to remain colonists under the British crown, +the document presented the following extraordinary promise to those +American patriots whom England had denounced as traitors, and doomed +to be hung. It was deemed a bribe which human virtue could not resist. + + "As it is unreasonable that their (the American patriots) + services to their country should deprive them of those + advantages which their talents would otherwise have gained + them, the following persons shall have offices or pensions + for life, at their option, namely, Franklin, Washington, + Adams, Hancock, etc. In case his Majesty, or his successors, + should ever create American peers, then those persons, or + their descendants, shall be among the first created if they + choose it." + +Franklin, after conference with his colleagues, replied to the letter. +His soul was all on fire with the insults our country had received, +and the wrongs she had endured. He wrote as if personally addressing +the king. We can only give the concluding paragraph. After stating +that the independence of America was secured, that all attempts of +England to prevent it would be impotent, and that consequently it was +quite a matter of indifference to the Americans whether England +acknowledged it or not, he wrote,[32] + + "This proposition, of delivering ourselves bound and gagged, + ready for hanging, without even a right to complain, and + without a friend to be found afterward among all mankind, + you would have us embrace upon the faith of an Act of + Parliament. Good God! an act of your Parliament. This + demonstrates that you do not yet know us; and that you fancy + that we do not know you. But it is not merely this flimsy + faith that we are to act upon. You offer us hope, the hope + of PLACES, PENSIONS and PEERAGES. + + "These, judging from yourselves, you think are motives + irresistible. This offer to corrupt us, sir, is with me, + your credential; and convinces me that you are not a private + volunteer in your application. It bears the stamp of British + Court character. It is even the signature of your king. But + think, for a moment, in what light it must be viewed in + America. + + "By PLACES, you mean places among us; for you take care, by + a special article, to secure your own to yourselves. We must + then pay the salaries in order to enrich ourselves with + those places. But you will give us PENSIONS, probably to be + paid too out of your expected American revenue, and which + none of us can accept without deserving, and perhaps + obtaining, _suspension_. + + "PEERAGES! Alas! in our long observation of the vast servile + majority of your peers, voting constantly for every measure + proposed by a minister, however weak or wicked, leaves us + small respect for that title. We consider it as a sort of + tar-and-feather honor, or a mixture of foulness and folly, + which every man among us, who should accept it from your + king, would be obliged to renounce, or exchange for that + confessed by the mobs of their own country, or wear it with + everlasting infamy."[33] + +[Footnote 32: In reference to the promises contained in the letter, +Franklin referred to a book which it was said George III. had +carefully studied, called _Arcana Imperii_. A prince, to appease a +revolt, had promised indemnity to the revolters. The question was +submitted to the keepers of the king's conscience, whether he were +bound to keep his promises. The reply was, + +"No! It was right to make the promises, because the revolt could not +otherwise be suppressed. It would be wrong to keep them, because +revolters ought to be punished."] + +[Footnote 33: Sparks' Franklin, Vol. iii, p. 278.] + +In the spring of 1778, Paul Jones entered upon his brilliant career, +bidding defiance, with his infant fleet, to all the naval power of +Great Britain, agitating entire England with the terror of his name. +Franklin was his affectionate friend, and, in all his many trials, he +leaned upon Franklin for sympathy. So tremendously was he maligned by +the English press, that American historians, unconsciously thus +influenced, have never done him justice. As a patriot, and a noble +man, he deserves to take rank with his friends, Washington and +Franklin. + +In 1779, Lafayette, returning to France, from America, brought the +news that Franklin was appointed by Congress as sole plenipotentiary +of the new nation of the United States, to the generous kingdom, which +had acknowledged our independence, and whose fleets and armies were +now united with ours. All France rejoiced. With great eclat the new +ambassadors were presented to the king. + +No man of force of character can escape having enemies. Franklin had +many and bitter ones. A cabal plotted the removal of his excellent +grandson, William Temple Franklin. It gives us an insight to the heart +of this venerable septuagenarian to read from his pen, + + "It is enough that I have lost my son. Would they add my + _grandson_. An old man of seventy, I undertook a winter + voyage, at the command of Congress, with no other attendant + to take care of me. I am continued here, in a foreign + country, where, if I am sick, his filial attention comforts + me. And if I die, I have a child to close my eyes and take + care of my remains. His dutiful behavior toward me, and his + diligence and fidelity in business, are both pleasing and + useful to me. His conduct, as my private secretary, has been + unexceptionable; and I am confident the Congress will never + think of separating us." + +Franklin's great endeavor now was to obtain money. Without it we +could have neither fleet nor army. The treasury of France was empty, +almost to bankruptcy. Never did he struggle against greater obstacles +than during the next three years. It has been truly said, that +Franklin, without intending it, helped to bleed the French monarchy to +death. In addition to the employment of both army and navy, the French +government conferred upon Congress, in gifts or loans, the sum of +twenty-six million francs. + +The French troops were received in America with boundless enthusiasm. +Their discipline was admirable. Their respect for the rights of +property was such, that not a barn, orchard or hen-roost was robbed. + +John Adams was sent to join Franklin, to aid him in framing terms of +peace, whenever England should be disposed to make such advances. He +was a man of great abilities, of irreproachable integrity, but he had +inherited, from his English ancestry, not only repulsive brusqueness, +but also a prejudice against the French, which nothing could remove. +His want of courtesy; his unconcealed assumption that France was +acting out of unmitigated selfishness, and that consequently the +Americans owed the French no debt of gratitude, often caused Franklin +much embarrassment. This blunt man, at one time wrote so uncourteous, +not to say insulting a letter, to M. de Vergennes, that the French +minister declined having any more correspondence with him. Both +Franklin and Congress condemned the incivility of Mr. Adams. He only +escaped a motion of censure from the full conviction of Congress of +the purity of his patriotism, and of his intentions.[34] + +[Footnote 34: Mr. Jefferson, after an intimacy of seven months with +John Adams, in Paris, wrote of him: "He is vain, irritable, and a bad +calculator of the force and probable effect of the motives which +govern men. This is all the ill which can possibly be said of him. He +is as disinterested as the Being who made him."] + +Franklin had been requested to forward the correspondence to Congress. +As in duty bound, he did so; accompanying it with a magnanimous +letter. Mr. Adams was very angry. Every impartial reader will admit +that, in this embarrassing affair, Franklin conducted with delicacy +and discretion. The British troops in America were still conducting +like savages. Congress requested Franklin to prepare a school-book, +with thirty-five prints, each depicting one or more of the acts of +English brutality. The object was to impress the minds of children +with a deep sense of the insatiable and bloody malice with which the +English had pursued the Americans. The plan was never executed. + +In the year 1781, Franklin, then seventy-five years of age, and having +been engaged in public service for fifty years, wrote to Congress, +begging permission to retire from his responsible office. Congress +could not spare his services. They gave him an additional appointment. +He was commissioned to unite with Adams and Jay, in those negotiations +for peace which, it was evident, must soon take place. + +Franklin loved the French, he could smile at their foibles, in +dressing their hair so that they could not wear a hat, but were +compelled to carry it under their arms; also in filling their noses +with tobacco. "These," said he, "are mere follies. There is nothing +wanting, in the character of a Frenchman, that belongs to that of an +agreeable and worthy man." + +It may perhaps be mentioned, as a defect in the character of Franklin, +that when in France he could see nothing but the beautiful. His eye +was turned from every revolting spectacle. In the society of elegantly +dressed, highly educated, refined French ladies,--at dinner parties, +glittering with gold and silver plate,--in social intercourse with men +whose philosophical attainments were of the highest order, and whose +politeness of speech and bearing rendered them delightful companions, +Franklin found his time and thoughts engrossed. In all his voluminous +writings we find no allusion to those tremendous wrongs, which Louis +XIV. and Louis XV. had entailed upon the people,--wrongs which soon +convulsed society with the volcanic throes of the French revolution. + +Jefferson, who succeeded Franklin, was cast in a different mould. He +saw and fully comprehended the misery under which the millions of the +French peasantry were groaning. And this led him to the conviction, +that no people could be safe, unless the government were placed in +their own hands. + +Still Franklin, like his brother deists, Hume and Voltaire, seeing how +impotent were all the motives they could urge to make man virtuous, +became thoroughly disgusted with human nature. He even went beyond +Paul in his description of the hopeless depravity of man. The idea of +reclaiming him by his philosophy was abandoned entirely. And yet he +was not prepared to embrace that gospel, which the experience of ages +has proved to be the "wisdom of God and the power of God unto +salvation." + +"He enlarges," writes Mr. Parton, "upon this theme, in his most +delightful manner, in another letter to Dr. Priestley." In this letter +he says in his usual jocular strain, that the more he studies the +moral part of nature the more he is disgusted; that he finds men very +badly constructed; that they are more prone to do evil than to do +good; that they take great pleasure in killing one another, and that +he doubts whether the species is worth preserving. He intimates that +every attempt to save their souls is "an idle amusement." + +"As you grow older," he writes, "you may perhaps repent of having +murdered, in mephitic air, so many honest, harmless mice, and wish +that, to prevent mischief, you had used boys and girls instead of +them." + +In this singular letter he represents a young angel having been sent +to this world, under the guidance of an old courier spirit. They +arrive over the seas of Martinico, in the midst of the horrible fight +between the fleets of Rodney and De Grasse. + +"When," he writes, "through the clouds of smoke, he (the young angel) +saw the fire of the guns, the decks covered with mangled limbs and +bodies, dead or dying; the ships sinking, burning, or blown into the +air; and the quantity of pain, misery and destruction the crews, yet +alive, were with so much eagerness dealing round to one another, he +turned angrily to his guide and said, + +"'You blundering blockhead; you are ignorant of your business. You +undertook to conduct me to the earth; and you have brought me into +hell.' + +"'No sir,' said the guide, 'I have made no such mistake. This is +really the earth, and these are men. Devils never treat one another in +this cruel manner. They have more sense, and more of what men (vainly) +call humanity.'" + +It was after the study of human nature, under the most favorable of +possible circumstances, for more than three-quarters of a century, +that this philosopher wrote these terrible comments upon our fallen +race. + +The latter part of October, 1781, Lord Cornwallis surrendered his +whole army, of over seven thousand men, at Yorktown. The French fleet +cut off his escape by sea. Seven thousand French soldiers, united with +five thousand American troops, prevented any retreat by land. The +Americans had thus captured two British armies. It was in vain for +England to think of sending a third. The conflict was virtually +decided. + +"The Prime Minister," Lord North, it is said, "received the tidings as +he would have taken a ball in his breast. He threw his arms apart. He +paced wildly up and down the room, exclaiming, from time to time, 'Oh +God! it is all over.'" + +All England now was clamoring against the war. Thousands of persons +had perished in the campaigns, and financial embarrassments had come +to nearly all her institutions of industry. The English government +made vigorous endeavors, offering great bribes, to induce the American +envoys at Paris to abandon their French allies, and make a separate +peace. Franklin wrote to Mr. Hartley, through whom he received these +proposals, + + "I believe there is not a man in America, a few _English + Tories_ excepted, that would not spurn the thought of + deserting a noble and generous friend, for the sake of a + truce with an unjust and cruel enemy." + +British diplomacy tried all its arts of intrigue to separate America +from France in the negotiations for peace, but all in vain. The +British minister, Mr. Grenville, in an interview with Mr. Franklin, +ridiculed the idea that America owed France any gratitude, urging that +France sought only her own selfish interests. + + "I told him," Franklin writes, "that I was so strongly + impressed with the kind assistance afforded us by France, in + our distress, and the generous and noble manner in which it + was granted, without exacting or stipulating for a single + privilege, or particular advantage to herself in our commerce + or otherwise, that I could never suffer myself to think of + such reasonings for lessening the obligation." + +On the 28th of February, 1782, General Conway, one of the leaders of +the Opposition, the same who had moved the repeal of the stamp act, +seventeen years before, presented a resolution in the House of Commons +that, + + "THE REDUCTION OF THE COLONIES BY FORCE OF ARMS IS + IMPRACTICABLE." + +A violent, even fierce debate ensued, which was continued until one +o'clock in the morning. Then the cry of _question_ became general. +The vote was carried by a majority of nineteen. This terminated +the American war. The people of England had decided against it. +"Acclamations," writes Wraxall, "pierced the roof, and might have +been heard in Westminster Hall." + +This great victory was followed by another resolve. It was an address +to George III. soliciting him to "Stop the prosecution of any further +hostilities against the revolted colonies, for the purpose of reducing +them to obedience by force." + +Notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, these votes were immediately +communicated to the king, who was in a pitiable condition, aged, +nearly blind, half crazed, and stubborn even to insanity, in his +determination to subjugate the Americans. The poor old man, in his +rage, threatened to abandon England, to renounce the crown, and to +cloister himself in his estate of Hanover. He was however compelled +to yield, to dismiss his Tory ministers and to accept a whig cabinet. +Edmund Burke wrote a warm, congratulatory letter to Franklin.[35] + +[Footnote 35: Edmund Burke wrote to Dr. Franklin that "The motion was +the _declaration_ of two hundred and thirty four members; but it was +the _opinion_, he thought, of the whole house."] + +And now the final struggle arose respecting the terms of peace. The +three great questions discussed, as diplomatic arrangements, were +gradually and very cautiously entered into, were: 1. What shall be the +boundaries of the United States. 2. Shall the Americans be allowed to +fish on the great banks. 3. What provision shall be made for the +Tories in America, whose estates have been confiscated? + +There were many preliminary meetings, private, semi-official, and +official. There was a general impression that Franklin was the man +whose opinion would entirely control that of his countrymen. He was +approached in every way, and the utmost endeavors were made to induce +the American Commissioners to enter into a private treaty, without +consulting the French ministry. + +A full account of the diplomatic conflict which ensued, would fill a +volume. On one occasion the British minister, Mr. Grenville, said, + +"In case England grants America Independence." + +The French minister, M. de Vergennes, smiled and said, "America has +already won her Independence. She does not ask it of you. There is Dr. +Franklin; he will answer you on that point." + +"To be sure," Franklin said, "we do not consider it necessary to +bargain for that which is our own. We have bought our Independence at +the expense of much blood and treasure, and are in full possession of +it." + +Many of these preliminary interviews took place in Paris. The amount +of money and blood which the pugnacious government of England had +expended in totally needless wars, can not be computed. The misery +with which those wars had deluged this unhappy globe, God only can +comprehend. Mr. Richard Oswald, a retired London merchant, of vast +wealth, was sent, by Lord Shelburne, prime minister, as a confidential +messenger, to sound Dr. Franklin. He was frank in the extreme. + +"Peace," said he, "is absolutely necessary for England. The nation has +been foolishly involved in four wars, and can no longer raise money to +carry them on. If continued, it will be absolutely necessary to stop +the payment of interest money on the public debt." + +Mr. Adams and Mr. Jay were soon associated with Dr. Franklin in these +negotiations. Mr. Jay was in entire sympathy with Mr. Adams in his +antipathy to the French. They both assumed that France was meanly +seeking only her own interests, making use of America simply as an +instrument for the accomplishment of her selfish purposes.[36] + +[Footnote 36: Mr. Adams wrote, in his diary, November, 1782, "Mr. Jay +don't like any Frenchman. The Marquis de la Fayette is clever, but he +is a Frenchman."] + +Dr. Jared Sparks, after carefully examining, in the Office of Foreign +Affairs in London, the correspondence of the French ministers with the +American envoys, during the whole war, writes, + + "After examining the subject, with all the care and accuracy + which these means of information have enabled me to give to + it, I am prepared to express my belief, most fully, that Mr. + Jay was mistaken, both in regard to the aims of the French + court and the plans pursued by them to gain their supposed + ends."[37] + +[Footnote 37: Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, V. +viii, p. 209.] + +Mr. Jay was so insanely suspicious of the French, that he was afraid +that the French ministry would send spies, to pick the locks in his +lodgings, and steal his important papers. He therefore always carried +them about his person. He also believed that Count de Vergennes had +actually proposed to the British minister, that they should unite +their armies, seize the United States, and divide America between +them. + +Such were the colleagues united with Franklin, in the negotiations for +peace. It required all his consummate wisdom to be able to guide +affairs wisely under such difficult circumstances. It may be doubted +whether there was another man in America, who could have surmounted +the obstacles over which he triumphed. Both of Franklin's colleagues +regarded him with suspicion. They believed that he had been won over +to such sympathy with the French, that he would be willing to +sacrifice the interests of his own country to please them. They wrote +letters home severely denouncing him; and they seemed to stand more in +fear of France than of England. + + "Dr. Franklin," wrote Mr. Adams, "is very staunch against the + Tories; more decided, a great deal, upon that point, than Mr. + Jay or myself." + +The British ministers insisted that the confiscated estates of the +American Tories should be restored to them, and all their losses +reimbursed. Franklin silenced the demand by drawing from his pocket +the following articles, which he proposed should be added to the +treaty, + + "It is agreed that his Britannic Majesty will earnestly + recommend it to his Parliament, to provide for and make a + compensation to the merchants and shop-keepers of Boston, + whose goods and merchandise were seized and taken out of + their stores, ware-houses and shops, by order of General + Gage, and others of his commanding officers there; and also + to the inhabitants of Philadelphia for the goods taken away + by his army there; and to make compensation also for the + tobacco, rice, indigo and negroes seized and carried off by + his armies, under Generals Arnold, Cornwallis and others, + from the States of Virginia, North and South Carolina and + Georgia, and for all the vessels and cargoes belonging to + the inhabitants of the said United States, which were + stopped, seized or taken, either in the ports or on the + seas, by his governors or by his ships of war, before the + declaration of war against the United States. And it is + further agreed that his Britannic Majesty will also + earnestly recommend it to his Parliament to make + compensation for all the towns, villages and farms, burnt + and destroyed by his troops, or adherents in these United + States." + +The three British commissioners were confounded by these counter +demands, and said not another word about reimbursing the American +Tories. On the 30th of November, 1782, the preliminaries were signed, +subject to the assent of the French ministers, who were also to submit +their preliminaries to the American envoys. By these articles: 1. The +boundaries were established. 2. The Americans could fish on the banks +of Newfoundland, and cure their fish on the unsettled shores of Nova +Scotia and Labrador. 3. Congress was to recommend to the several +States, to restore the confiscated property of real British subjects. +4. Private debts were to be paid. 5. There were to be no more +confiscations or prosecutions, on either side, for acts during the +war. 6. The British troops were to be withdrawn. 7. The navigation of +the Mississippi was declared to be free. 8. And any place captured, +after the signing of these articles, was to be restored. + +On the 13th of January, Count de Vergennes, and the British minister +Mr. Fitzherbert, signed their preliminaries in the presence of Dr. +Franklin and Mr. Adams. Not till then did the English order +hostilities to be suspended, and declare the senseless war to be at an +end. + +There was universal satisfaction in America. With the exception of the +king and a few of his ministers, there was general satisfaction in +England. It is true that the national pride was sorely humiliated. But +after all these woes which England had inflicted upon America, her own +statesmen, with almost undivided voice, declared that the interests of +both nations were alike promoted, by having a few feeble colonies +elevated into the rich and flourishing republic of the United States. +Thus the war of the American revolution must be pronounced to have +been, on the part of England, which forced it, one of the most +disastrous and senseless of those blunders which have ever accompanied +the progress of our race.[38] + +[Footnote 38: Contemplate the still greater blunder of our civil war. +It was forced upon the nation by the slave traders, that they might +_perpetuate slavery_. And now after the infliction of woes which no +finite imagination can gauge, these very slave-holders declare with +one voice, that nothing would induce them to _reinstate the execrable +institution_. How much misery would have been averted, and what a +comparative paradise would our southern country now have been, if +before, instead of after the war, the oppressed had been allowed to go +free!] + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +_Life's Closing Scenes._ + + Advice to Thomas Paine--Scenes at Passy--Journey to the + Coast--Return to America--Elected Governor of + Pennsylvania--Attends the Constitutional + Convention--Proposes prayers--Remarkable speech--Letter to + Dr. Stiles--Christ on the Cross--Last sickness and death. + + +About this time some one, knowing Dr. Franklin's deistical views, +presented, for his opinion, a treatise denouncing the idea, that there +was any God, who manifested any interest in the affairs of men, that +there was any _Particular Providence_. Though Franklin did not accept +the idea, that Jesus Christ was a divine messenger, and that the Bible +was a supernatural revelation of God's will, he certainly did not, in +his latter years, deny that there was a God, who superintended the +affairs of this world, and whom it was proper to worship. It is +generally supposed that Thomas Paine was the author of this treatise, +and that it was a portion of his Age of Reason. Franklin, in his +memorable reply, wrote, + + "I have read your manuscript with some attention. By the + argument it contains against a particular Providence, though + you allow a _general_ Providence, you strike at the + foundations of all religion. For without the belief of a + providence that takes cognizance of, guards and guides and + may favor particular persons, there is no motive to worship + a deity, to fear his displeasure or to pray for his + protection. I will not enter into any discussion of your + principles, though you seem to desire it. At present I shall + only give you my opinion that, though your reasonings are + subtile, and may prevail with some readers, you will not + succeed so as to change the general sentiments of mankind on + that subject; and the consequence of printing this piece + will be, a great deal of odium drawn upon yourself; mischief + to you and no benefit to others. He that spits against the + wind, spits in his own face. + + "I would advise you, therefore, not to attempt unchaining + the tiger, but to burn this piece before it is seen by any + other person; whereby you will save yourself a great deal of + mortification, by the enemies it may raise against you, and + perhaps a good deal of regret and repentance. If men are so + wicked _with religion_, what would they be if _without it_." + +Franklin testifies to the remarkable courtesy which characterized all +the movements of the French minister, during these protracted and +delicate negotiations. The definitive treaty was signed on the 3d of +September, 1783. It was unanimously ratified by Congress on the 14th +of January, 1784. The king of England gave it his signature on the 9th +of April. Thus two years and three months passed between the beginning +of negotiations and the conclusion of the treaty of peace. + +At the termination of the war crowds of Englishmen flocked to Paris. +Franklin was then recognized as incomparably the most illustrious man +on the continent of Europe. His apartments were ever thronged with men +of highest note from all the nations. He was then seventy-eight years +of age, suffering severely from the gout and the gravel. He often +received his guests in his bed chamber, sitting in his night gown, +wrapped in flannels, and reclining on a pillow. Yet his mind retained +all its brilliance. All who saw him were charmed. Mr. Baynes wrote, + + "Of all the celebrated persons whom, in my life, I have + chanced to see, Dr. Franklin, both from his appearance and + his conversation, seemed to me the most remarkable. His + venerable, patriarchal appearance, the simplicity of his + manner and language, and the novelty of his observations + impressed me as one of the most extraordinary men that ever + existed." + +At this time he wrote several essays, which are esteemed among the +best of his writings. He was awaiting permission from Congress to +return to America. His son, the governor, who was receiving a pension +of eight hundred pounds from the British Government, came over from +England to his illustrious father, soliciting reconciliation. This was +after the separation of many years. Franklin responded kindly, though +he said that nothing had ever wounded him so keenly as to find himself +deserted in his old age, by his only son; and to see him taking up +arms against a cause, upon which he had staked life, fortune and +honor. + +A year passed before Franklin was recalled. He was then so feeble that +he could not walk, and could only ride in a litter. Mr. Jefferson +succeeded him. Upon his arrival in Paris, the Count de Vergennes said, + +"You replace Dr. Franklin, I understand." + +"No!" Mr. Jefferson replied, "I _succeed_ him. No man can _replace_ +him." + +Franklin's infirmities were such that he could not call upon the king +or the minister for an audience of leave. He, however, wrote to Count +de Vergennes a very grateful and affectionate letter, in which he +said, + + "May I beg the favor of you, sir, to express respectfully + for me, to his majesty, the deep sense I have of all the + inestimable benefits his goodness has conferred on my + country; a sentiment that it will be the business of the + little remainder of the life now left me, to impress equally + on the minds of all my countrymen. My sincere prayers are + that God may shower down his blessings on the king, the + queen, their children and all the royal family, to the + latest generations." + +The reply was equally cordial and affectionate. As a parting gift the +king sent Franklin his portrait, decorated with four hundred and eight +diamonds. Its estimated value was ten thousand dollars. + +On the 12th of July, 1785, Franklin, accompanied by many admiring +friends in carriages, commenced his slow journey in a litter, from +Passy to Havre. It was four o'clock in the afternoon. The litter was +borne by two mules. The first night they stopped at St. Germain. +Thence the journey was continued at the rate of about eighteen miles a +day. The motion of the litter did not seriously incommode him. The +cardinal of Rochefoucald, archbishop of Rouen, insisted upon his +accepting the hospitality of his mansion at Gaillon. It was a superb +chateau, commanding a magnificent prospect, with galleries crowded +with paintings and the most valuable works of art. + + "The cardinal," writes Franklin, "is much respected, and + beloved by the people of this country; bearing in all + respects, a most excellent character." + +Though entreated to prolong his visit, Franklin resumed his journey at +an early hour the next morning. At Rouen he was again received with +the most flattering attentions. The _elite_ of the city gave a very +brilliant supper in his honor. Thus journeying in a truly triumphant +march, Franklin reached Havre on the 18th of July. After a delay of +three days he crossed the channel to Southampton. His old friends came +in crowds, and from great distances, to see him. Even the British +government had the courtesy to send an order exempting his effects +from custom-house duties. + +It will be remembered that Franklin was a remarkable swimmer. There +are some human bodies much more buoyant than others. He records the +singular fact that, taking a warm, salt water bath here, he fell +asleep floating on his back, and did not awake for an hour. "This," he +writes, "is a thing which I never did before, and would hardly have +thought possible." + +On the 28th of July, 1785, the ship spread her sails. The voyage +lasted seven weeks. This extraordinary man, then seventy-nine years of +age, wrote, on the passage, three essays, which are estimated among +the most useful and able of any which emanated from his pen. + +On the 13th of September the ship entered Delaware Bay, and the next +morning cast anchor opposite Philadelphia. He wrote, + + "My son-in-law came with a boat for us. We landed at Market + street wharf, where we were received by a crowd of people + with huzzahs, and accompanied with acclamations, quite to my + door. Found my family well. God be praised and thanked for + all his mercies." + +The Assembly was in session, and immediately voted him a +congratulatory address. Washington also wrote to him a letter of +cordial welcome. The long sea voyage proved very beneficial to his +health. He was immediately elected to the Supreme Executive, and was +chosen chairman of that body. It is evident that he was gratified by +this token of popular regard. He wrote to a friend, + + "I had not firmness enough to resist the unanimous desire of + my country folk; and I find myself harnessed again in their + service for another year. They engrossed the prime of my + life. They have eaten my flesh and seem resolved now to pick + my bones." + +Soon after he was elected President, or as we should now say, Governor +of Pennsylvania. The vote rested with the Executive Council and the +Assembly, seventy-seven in all. He received seventy-six votes. +Notwithstanding the ravages of war, peace came with her usual +blessings in her hand. The Tory journals of England, were presenting +deplorable views of the ruin of the country since deprived of the +beneficial government of the British cabinet. Franklin wrote to his +old friend, David Hartley, + + "Your newspapers are filled with accounts of distresses and + miseries, that these states are plunged into, since their + separation from Britain. You may believe me when I tell you + that there is no truth in those accounts. I find all + property in land and houses, augmented vastly in value; that + of houses in town at least four-fold. The crops have been + plentiful; and yet the produce sells high, to the great + profit of the farmer. Working people have plenty of employ, + and high pay for their labor." + +There were many imperfections attending the old Confederacy. In the +year 1787, a convention met in Philadelphia, to frame a new +constitution. There was strong opposition to this movement. Washington +and Franklin were both delegates. Washington took the chair. The good +nature and wisdom of Franklin ruled the house. The convention met in +the State House. Franklin, eighty-one years of age, was regularly in +his seat, five hours a day, for four months. He was thoroughly +democratic in his views, and opposed every measure which had any +tendency to extend aristocratic privilege. He had seen that the +British government was in the hands of the nobles. And silent, as +prudence rendered it necessary for him to be, in reference to the +arbitrary government of France, he could not but see that the +peasantry were subject to the most intolerable abuses. This led him to +detest a monarchy, and to do every thing in his power to place the +government of this country in the hands of the people. + +Much time was occupied in deciding upon the terms of union between the +smaller and the larger States. It will be remembered that this was the +subject of very excited debates in the convention of 1776. The +discussion was earnest, often acrimonious. Such bitterness of feeling +was engendered that, for some time it was feared that no union could +be effected. + +It is evident that Franklin, as he approached the grave, became more +devout, and that he lost all confidence in the powers of philosophical +speculations to reform or regenerate fallen man. He saw that the +interposition of a divine power was needed to allay the intense +excitement in the convention, and to lead the impassioned members to +act under the conviction that they were responsible to God. On the +28th of June, this venerable, patriarchal man offered the following +memorable resolve: + + "Resolved, That henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance + of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held + in the Assembly every morning before we proceed to business; + and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested + to officiate in that service." + +The speech which accompanied this motion will forever be conspicuous +in our annals. He said: + +"Mr. President! The small progress we have made, after four or five +weeks close attendence and continual reasonings with each other; our +different sentiments on almost every question, is, methinks, a +melancholy proof of the imperfection of the human understanding. + +"In this situation of this Assembly groping, as it were, in the dark, +to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when +presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not yet +hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to +illuminate our understandings? + +"In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible +of danger, we had daily prayers, in this room, for divine protection! +Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All +of us, who were engaged in the struggle, must have observed frequent +instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. To that kind +Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting, in peace, on +the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we +now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no +longer need his assistance? + +"I have lived, sir, a long time. And the longer I live, the more +convincing proofs I see of this truth; _That God governs in the +affairs of men_. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without +his notice, is it probable that an Empire can rise without his aid? +We have been assured, sir, in the Sacred Writings, that 'except the +Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.' I firmly +believe this. And I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we +shall succeed in this political building, no better than the building +of Babel." + +It is almost incomprehensible that, under the influence of such an +appeal, the great majority of the Assembly should have voted against +seeking divine aid. In a note appended to this speech, Franklin +writes, + + "The convention, except three or four persons, thought + prayers unnecessary."[39] + +[Footnote 39: Mr. Parton undoubtedly suggested the true reason for +this strange refusal to seek divine guidance. He writes, + + "I think it not improbable that the cause of this opposition + to a proposal so seldom negatived in the United States, was + the prevalence in the Convention of the French tone of + feeling with regard to religious observances. If so, it was + the more remarkable to see the aged Franklin, who was a deist + at fifteen, and had just returned from France, coming back to + the sentiments of his ancestors."--_Parton's Franklin_ Vol. + 2, p. 575.] + +The convention came to a triumphant close, early in September, 1787. +Behind the speaker's chair there was a picture of the Rising Sun. +While the members were signing, Franklin turned to Mr. Madison, and +said, + +"I have often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of +my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at the picture behind the +President, without being able to tell whether the sun were rising or +setting. But now at length, I have the happiness to know that it is a +rising, not a setting sun." + +Washington was universally revered. Franklin was both revered and +loved. It was almost the universal feeling that, next to Washington, +our nation was indebted to Franklin for its Independence. Franklin +occupied, in the arduous field of diplomacy, the position which +Washington occupied at the head of our armies. It was certain that +Franklin had, at one period of his life, entirely renounced his belief +in Christianity, as a divine revelation. His Christian friends, +numbering hundreds, encouraged by some of the utterances of his old +age, were anxious to know if he had returned to the faith of his +fathers. Dr. Ezra Stiles, President of Yale College, was a friend of +Franklin's of many years standing. When the revered patriot had +reached his eighty-fifth year, Dr. Stiles wrote, soliciting his +portrait for the college library. In this letter, he says, + + "I wish to know the opinion of my venerable friend, + concerning Jesus of Nazareth. He will not impute this to + impertinence; or improper curiosity in one, who, for so many + years, has continued to love, esteem and reverence his + abilities and literary character, with an ardor and + affection bordering on adoration." + +What Dr. Stiles, and the community in general, wished to know was, +whether Dr. Franklin recognized the Divine, supernatural origin of +Christianity. Franklin evaded the question. This evasion of course +indicates that he did not recognize, in the religion of Jesus, the +authority of, "Thus saith the Lord." But he wished to avoid wounding +the feelings of his Christian friends by this avowal. He wrote, + + "This is my creed. I believe in God, the Creator of the + Universe; that he governs it by his Providence; that he + ought to be worshiped; that the most acceptable service we + render to him, is doing good to his other children; that the + soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in + another life, respecting its conduct in this. These I take + to be fundamental points in all sound religion, and I regard + them as you do, in whatever sect I meet with them. + + "As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you + particularly desire, I think his system of morals and his + religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever + saw, or is like to see. But I apprehend it has received + various corrupting changes, and I have, with most of the + Dissenters in England, some doubts as to his Divinity; + though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having + never studied it. And I think it needless to busy myself + with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing + the truth with less trouble. + + "I see however no harm in its being believed, if that belief + has the good consequence, as probably it has, of making his + doctrines more respected and observed; especially as I do + not perceive that the Supreme takes it amiss, by + distinguishing the unbelievers in his government of this + world, with any peculiar marks of his displeasure. I shall + only add respecting myself, that, having experienced the + goodness of that Being, in conducting me prosperously + through a long life, I have no doubt of its continuance in + the next, though without the smallest conceit of meriting + such goodness." + +He then adds the following suggestive postscript. "I confide that you +will not expose me to criticism and censures, by publishing any part +of this communication to you. I have ever let others enjoy their +religious sentiments, without reflecting on them, for those that +appeared to me unsupportable, or even absurd. All sects here, and we +have a great variety, have experienced my good will, in assisting them +with subscriptions for the building their new places of worship. And, +as I have never opposed any of their doctrines, I hope to go out of +the world in peace with them all." + +Much of his time, in these hours of sickness, he employed in writing +his Autobiography. The sufferings he endured were at times very +severe. But when he spoke of his approaching departure, it was with +composure. At one time, when his daughter expressed the wish that he +might yet live many years, he replied "I hope not." + +A clerical friend visited him, just as one of his paroxysms of pain +came on. As his friend in consequence was about to retire, he said, + +"Oh no; don't go away. These pains will soon be over. They are for my +good. And besides, what are the pains of a moment in comparison with +the pleasures of eternity." + +There was, in one of the chambers of his house, a very beautiful +painting of Christ on the Cross. He requested his nurse, a very worthy +woman, of the Friends' persuasion, to bring it down, and place it +directly before him. The Rev. David Ritter, a great admirer of +Franklin, called to see him. He had, however, but a few moments +before, breathed his last. Sarah Humphries, the nurse, invited David +into the chamber, to view the remains. Mr. Ritter expressed surprise +in seeing the picture of the Saviour on the cross occupying so +conspicuous a position, saying, "You know, Sarah, that many people +think that Dr. Franklin was not after this sort." + +"Yes," she replied, "but thee knows, David, that many make a great +fuss about religion, who have very little. And many, who say but +little, have a good deal. He was never satisfied, if a day passed away +unless he had done some one a service.[40] Benjamin Franklin was one +of that sort. I will tell thee how the picture came here. Many weeks +ago, as he lay, he beckoned me to him, and told me of this picture, up +stairs, and begged I would bring it to him. I brought it. His face +brightened up, as he looked at it, and he said, + +"'Ay Sarah; there is a picture worth looking at. That is the picture +of him who came into the world to teach men to love one another.'" + +"After looking at it wistfully for some time, he said, 'Sarah, set +this picture up over the mantel-piece, right before me as I lie. I +like to look at it.' + +"When I fixed it up he looked at it very much; and indeed died with +his eyes fixed upon it." + +[Footnote 40: This reminds us of the exclamation of the Emperor Titus, +who, at the close of a day in which he could not perceive that he had +done any good, exclaimed, sadly, "Perdidi Diem." _I have lost a day._ +Beautifully has the sentiment been expressed in the words, which it +would be well for all to treasure up, + + "Count that day lost, whose low descending sun, + Views at thy hand no worthy action done."] + +However deeply Franklin, in these dying hours may have pondered the +sublimities of Immortality--the Resurrection--the Judgment Throne--the +Final Verdict--Heaven--Hell,--he was very reticent respecting those +themes. We certainly see none of the triumph of Paul, and of +thousands of others, who have in varied language, expressed the +sentiment that, + + "Jesus can make a dying bed + Feel soft as downy pillows are." + +A few hours before his death, as some one urged him to change his +position, that he might breathe easier he replied, "a dying man can do +nothing easy." These were his last words. He then sank into a +lethargy, from which he passed into that sleep which has no earthly +waking. It was eleven o'clock at night, April 17, 1790. He had lived +eighty-four years, three months and eleven days. + +But no candid and charitable reader can peruse this narrative, +without the admission that Benjamin Franklin, notwithstanding his +imperfections, was one of the wisest and best of all the fallen +children of Adam. From his dying hour to the present day his memory +has been justly cherished with reverence and affection, throughout the +civilized world. And there is no fear that this verdict will ever be +reversed. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: + +Minor changes have been made to correct obvious typesetters' errors; +otherwise, every effort has been made to remain true to the author's +words and intent. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Benjamin Franklin, A Picture of the +Struggles of Our Infant Nation One Hundred Years Ago, by John S. C. 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