The British ministry saw, when too late, that it | Successful as the Americans were in their operations would be their best course to attempt the conciliation of the colonies; still they had not the good sense to propose an entire redress of grievances. Lord Howe was dispatched with power to treat with the leaders of the insurrection; and on his arrival on the American coast, a correspondence took place between him and Dr Franklin on the subject of a reconciliation. Dr Franklin was afterwards appointed, together with John Adams and Edward Rutledge, to wait upon the commissioners, in order to learn the extent of their powers, which were found to be only to grant pardons upon submission. These were terms only calculated to excite derision, and the commissioners returned without accomplishing their object.

Hitherto, the American commissioners had been secretly treated with by the French court; but now a formal recognition of their authority took place. On American minister to London. On his return from Europe, he this occasion, Franklin went by invitation to the Palace was appointed vice-president, the duties of which office he dis- of Versailles, where he was presented to the king by charged till 1797, when he succeeded to the presidency vacated by the Count de Vergennes, minister for foreign affairs. It the resignation of Washington. He remained president for his is related by a French historian, that the age, veneterm of four years, during which he was of great service in found-rable appearance, simplicity of dress, and character, of ing the American navy, and in other respects; but his measures Franklin, conspired to render him an object of the being too strong for the democrats, and too weak for the federalists, he lost his re-election, Mr Jefferson being named in his * William Temple Franklin acted as his secretary during his stead by a majority of one vote. After his retirement to his farm residence in France, and he derived much pleasure from his of Quincy, he occupied himself with agricultural pursuits, ob- society; the other grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache, was sent to a boarding-school in Switzerland, for the completion of taining amusement from the literature and politics of the day. He afterwards took a part in public affairs, being in 1820 elected his education. At the period of Franklin's visit to France, he was a widower, his wife having died some time previously.

NEGOTIATES THE INDEPENDENCE OF HIS COUNTRY.

B. FRANKLIN,

35

Minister Plenipotentiary from the Congress of the United States to the Court of France."

warmest regard, on his presentation to Louis XVI. and | can owners. I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your his courtiers. In the evening, he was introduced to most obedient, &c. the queen, Marie Antoinette, and other members of the royal family, by whom he was received with the greatest politeness and affability. We learn from collateral evidence, that on this interesting occasion Franklin wore a suit of Manchester velvet. It was the same suit which he had happened to wear upon the day on which he was made the object of the scandalous attack by Wedderburn, before the British Privy Council; and we may therefore conclude, that he had laid aside and preserved it, to be afterwards worn on such occasions of peculiar honour as the present.*

On the 14th of September 1778, the commission, of which Franklin was a member, was dissolved, and he was appointed by Congress minister plenipotentiary from the United States to the court of Versailles. Mr Adams, the successor of Mr Deane, returned home, and Mr Lee held the appointment of commissioner to the court of Spain. We are furnished with a pleasing view of the benevolence and universal philanthropy of Franklin's character, in a circumstance which occurred at this period. While the war was still vigorously carried on betwixt Britain and America, and while American privateers were sweeping the seas of the enemy's merchant vessels, fears were entertained that the vessel of Captain Cook, then returning from circumnavigating the globe, might fall into the hands of the Americans. To relieve, as far as possible, the general solicitude on this point, as well as to satisfy his own generous feelings, Franklin issued the following official letter:

The generous proceeding of Dr Franklin in writing this letter became well known in England, and the sentiments it manifested were so much approved of by the government there, that when the narrative of Cook's voyage was printed, the Admiralty sent to Dr Franklin a copy of it in three volumes quarto, accompanied with a very polite letter from Lord Howe, signifying that the present was made with his Majesty's express approbation. And the Royal Society having, in honour of that illustrious navigator, who was one of their members, struck some gold medals to be distributed among his friends, and the friends of the voyage, one of these medals was also sent to Dr Franklin, by order of the Society; together with a letter from their president, Sir Joseph Banks, expressing, likewise, that it was sent with the approbation of his Majesty.

The humiliating intelligence of Burgoyne's defeat, occasioned dismay in Great Britain. Till this event, the Americans were spoken of in the most contemptuous terms. Both the ministry and the people now considerably changed their tone. The most ample concessions were proposed, but it was too late. The British government endeavoured to accommodate differences, by commissioning confidential agents to sound and win over Dr Franklin. Their overtures were unavailing. The war proceeded until the British forces were no longer able to cope in the struggle; and to crown the triumph of the Americans, their national independence was formally recognised by George III., and the declaration to that effect subscribed at Paris in November 1782. In about a year afterwards, the whole of the Gentlemen,-A ship having been fitted out from Eng-American forces were disbanded, and their commander, land, before the commencement of this war, to make General Washington, retired into private life.* discoveries of new countries in unknown seas, under

"To all captains and commanders of armed ships, acting by commission from the Congress of the United States of America, now in war with Great Britain.

Virginia, on the 22d of February 1732; and was great-grandson * George Washington was born in Westmoreland county, în of John Washington, a gentleman of the south of England, who had emigrated to America about the middle of the seventeenth century. The education of young Washington extended only to the reading of English, and some of the more practical branches of mathematics. His inclinations, it seems, led him to adopt a sea life, and, when very young, he obtained the commission of midshipman in the British navy, but was soon induced to relinquish that service, by the pressing entreaties of his mother. After this he entered upon the business of land-surveying, and was remarked for his diligence and expertness, but particularly for a certain gravity and dignity of demeanour, that would have graced riper years and a more elevated station. In this humble sphere, however, his countrymen seem early to have discovered his capacity; for, when only nineteen years of age, he was appointed one of the adjutants-general of the Virginia militia, with the rank of major. But the opinion of his prudence and capacity was still more conspicuously displayed by his appointment as envoy to the French commandant on the Ohio, to remonstrate against certain encroachments of his troops upon the province of Virginia. Upon his return, he published a very clear and interesting account of this arduous mission, and was immediately appointed lieutenant-colonel of a regiment which had been ordered to proceed against the French, the answer of the commandant not having proved satisfactory. He had not proceeded far, when the command devolved upon him by the death of the colonel, and his services in this campaign obtained the thanks of the legislature of Virginia. Soon after, he resigned his commission, in consequence of certain regulations which he thought derogatory to the officers of the provincial troops, and retired to Mount Vernon, an estate on the banks of the Potomac, to which he had lately succeeded by the death of his brother, purposing to devote himself to the occupations of a country life.

the conduct of that most celebrated navigator, Captain Cook-an undertaking truly laudable in itself, as the increase of geographical knowledge facilitates the communication between distant nations, in the exchange of useful products and manufactures, and the extension of arts whereby the common enjoyments of human life are multiplied and augmented, and science of other kinds increased, to the benefit of mankind in general; this is therefore most earnestly to recommend to every one of you, that in case the said ship, which is now expected in the European seas on her return, should happen to fall into your hands, you would not consider her an enemy, nor suffer any plunder to be made of the effects contained in her, nor obstruct her immediate return to England, by detaining her or sending her into any other port of Europe or America, but that you would treat the said Captain Cook and his people with all civility and kindness, affording them, as common friends to mankind, all the assistance in your power which they may happen to stand in need of. In so doing, you will not only gratify the generosity of your own dispositions, but there is no doubt of your obtaining the approbation of the Congress, and your own Ameri*The dress which Franklin wore upon this occasion has been a subject of literary controversy-one party insisting that he appeared in a suit of black cloth, in consequence of the court of France at the time being in mourning; while another party maintains that he was dressed in the old suit of Manchester velvet, as mentioned in the text. It is alleged, that before signing the treaty, he left the room for a few minutes to change his dress, and that on his reappearance in the velvet garments, he indulged in a malignant invective against the British monarchy. His military bias, however, did not permit him to remain long This, however, has been satisfactorily disproved (see correspon- in retirement. He was invited once more to defend the frontiers dence in the Gentleman's Magazine, July 1785); and the simple of the provinces from the invasions of the French, and his contruth seems to be, that he did wear the old suit of Manchester duct, during the whole expedition, was so much approved, that, velvet, having dressed himself in it for the occasion, but that he though only twenty-three years of age, he was soon made comvented no ungenerous remarks against either the British sove-mander of all the provincial troops of Virginia. The frontiers reign or his ministers. A small degree of excusable vanity or being in some measure secured from invasion, he again, in 1758, personal pride, seems to have been the sole cause of his appear-resigned his commission, amidst the applauses and regrets of his ing in a dress in which his feelings had suffered unmerited out-soldiers. rage,

Here might have terminated the military career of George

We may here pause for an instant to contemplate | I discovered of the former, the more I adinired them— the proud position which Franklin had now gained. From the condition of an humble mechanic, he had raised himself, in a manner the most honourable, to be an associate of the most learned and powerful of his fellow-creatures. He had just negociated the independence of his country, and placed it on a level with the greatest empires of the earth; and in thus accomplishing what had become the leading object of his existence, was, as he informs us, disposed to ask, in the language of old Simeon, for permission to retire from the present sphere of existence. The day on which he signed the treaty of alliance betwixt his country and France, and on which he visited the royal family at Versailles, was most likely reckoned by him the most important in his life. It was not, however, the mere familiar intercourse with royalty that affected him, but the moral and civil results that he anticipated would flow from that intercourse and its causes. In his juve-in rejoicing at the return of peace. I hope it will be nile days, his venerable father, in inciting him to virtuous pursuits, sometimes reminded him of the cheering proverb of Solomon-"Seest thou a man diligent in his calling, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men." This proverb, he mentions in one of his papers, had a powerful effect in causing him to be diligent in well-doing, although he never imagined that the scriptural admonition would be fulfilled to the letter in his own case. Nevertheless it was so; and he adds, that he lived to stand before five kings, and to sit with one at dinner-to wit, the king of Denmark, whom he had visited in one of his continental tours.

the more I know of the latter, the more I am disgusted with them. Men I find to be a sort of beings very badly constructed, as they are generally more easily provoked than reconciled-more disposed to do mischief to each other than to make reparation-much more easily deceived than undeceived-and having more pride, and even pleasure, in killing, than in saving one another." Many philosophic minds have been similarly affected; but it would not be difficult to show, that, to make such reflections, in consequence of the limited experience of one mind, is not the most philosophic course which might be pursued. Throughout the whole of Franklin's writings, a detestation of war and love of peace prevail. In a communication to Sir Joseph Banks, shortly after the treaty of peace was effected, he has these glowing, and at the same time most just sentences:-"I join with you most cordially lasting, and that mankind will at length, as they call themselves reasonable creatures, have reason and sense enough to settle their differences without cutting throats; for, in my opinion, there never was a good war or a bad peace. What vast additions to the conveniences and comforts of living might mankind have acquired, if the money spent in wars had been employed in works of public utility-what an extension of agriculture-what rivers rendered navigable, or joined by canals-what new roads, edifices, and improvements, rendering Britain a complete paradise, might not have been obtained by spending those millions in doing good, which in the last war have been spent in doing mischief-in bringing misery into thousands of families, and destroying the lives of so many thousands of working people, who might have performed the useful labour!"

The important ends of Dr Franklin's embassy being achieved, and the infirmities of age and disease coming upon him, he became desirous of returning to his native country. However, at the urgent request of Congress, he remained to execute the duty of minister While Franklin remained at Passy, he associated plenipotentiary at the French court, until the year with many of the most enlightened men of France. 1785. During the period of eight years and a half The Abbé Morellet, in his Memoirs, speaks of him in which he thus spent at Passy, he kept up a correspon- the warmest terms of regard, and gives the following dence with many learned men in different parts of pleasing account of his sociality of disposition:-"There Europe; and here a number of his most admired papers took place at this time a great void in our society at were composed. Writing from Passy to his old friend Auteuil, by the departure of Franklin, who returned Dr Priestley, he makes the following observation on to America. He had lived at Passy, and the commuthe general conduct of mankind:-"I should rejoice nication between that place and Auteuil was direct. much if I could once more recover the leisure to search Madame Helvetius,* Cabanis, the Abbé de la Roche, with you into the works of nature-I mean the inani- and myself, used to dine with him once a-week. mate, not the animate or moral part of them: the more He also came to dine very frequently at Auteuil, and our meetings were very gay. He was very fond of Washington, and he might have passed the remainder of his days Scotch songs, and often remembered the powerful and in the quietude of rural affairs, but for the unfortunate quarrel gentle emotions he had received from them. He rewhich took place betwixt Great Britain and her American pos-lated to us, that in travelling in America, beyond the sessions. In constructing an army for their defence, the Americans bestowed the command of the forces on Washington; and the

admirable manner in which he executed his trust is well known. Having largely contributed to give liberty to his country, he retired, as above stated, in 1783, into private life. Unfortunately, dissensions arose in the American commonwealth, through defects in the constitution, as framed at the termination of the war; and by the assistance of Washington, a new constitution was instituted. His services and character were so highly appreciated, that he was, in April 1789, unanimously called to the office of first president. In this important and honourable office, he rendered the country an essential service in consolidating its institutional arrangements and resources. Twice he filled the office of president, and survived his second retirement only two years.

He died on the 14th of December 1799.

It is curious to contrast the language now employed by English

authors in their reference to Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and other distinguished American patriots, with that of the English newspaper writers at the period of the revolution. In one of the newspapers of that era, the following specimen of vulgar insolence occurs:-"The ringleaders in this unnatural rebellion are-George Washington, a Yankie farmer; Benjamin Franklin, a printer; with one Jefferson, one Adams, and such like crew;-fine men to make a government !" As usual, also, it was part of the slang of the loyalist party to attribute the war exclusively to the ambition of those few disinterested men, to whom a people had entrusted the duty of saving them from destruction. It was actually thought, that if Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin, did not exist, the people would gladly resume their allegiance

Alleghany mountains, he accidentally came to the habitation of a Scotchman, living far from society, on account of the loss of his fortune, with his wife, who had been handsome, and a daughter of fifteen or sixteen years of age; and that in a fine evening, seated in front of their door, the woman sung the Scotch air, 'So merry as we've a' been,' in so soft and touching a manner, that he melted into tears, and the impression was still vivid in his mind after a lapse of thirty years. Franklin's manners were in all respects delightful; there was about him perfect good humour and simplicity, an uprightness of mind that appeared in the smallest occurrences, and above all, a gentle serenity, ciety of this great man, who has placed his country in which was easily excited to gaiety. Such was the so

This lady was the daughter of the Count Ligniville, and widow of Helvetius, an eminent French writer on philosophy and literature, who died in 1771. After his death she retired to Auteuil, where her house became the rendezvous of the most distinguished literati and artists of her time. It is observable, from Franklin's epistolary correspondence, that he was an admirer of Madame Helvetius, and that, although he had gained an advanced age, he offered himself in marriage to her. The letter in which this circumstance appears is written in French, with which language Franklin seems to have become familiar. Madame Helvetius rejected his suit, on the plea of her affectionate devotion to the memory of her deceased husband. She died at Auteuil in 1800.

FINAL RETURN TO AMERICA.

"The representatives of the freemen of the commonRETURN TO AMERICA IN 1785, AND DEATH. the most affectionate manner congratulate you on your wealth of Pennsylvania, in general assembly met, in Dr Franklin set out from Passy on his return home, safe arrival in your country, after so long an absence on the 12th of July 1785, having spent nearly nine on the most important business. We likewise conyears in France, as commissioner and minister pleni-gratulate you on the firm establishment of the indepotentiary from the United States. His retirement from office caused unaffected regret to the French court, and all persons who had enjoyed any intercourse with him. He was so infirm in health, and so little able to endure the fatigue of travelling, from the effects of a calculous complaint, which had long afflicted him, that he was carried in a litter, borne by Spanish mules, which had been kindly placed at his service by the Queen. In this manner, and by easy stages, he reached Havre de Grace, whence he sailed in a vessel for Southampton.

was his last public act, and one quite consonant with the tenor of his existence.

His increasing infirmities had already, in 1788, caused him to retire wholly from public life. In the spring of the year 1790, he felt that the termination of his career on earth was approaching; but he was no way dismayed with the prospect of dissolution. His piety and philosophy alike sustained him. Dr Price, a gentleman in England, in writing to a friend in America, on the subject of Franklin's last illness, gives some account of the nature of his feelings on this occasion. "Dr Franklin," says he, " in the last letter I received from him, after mentioning his age and infirmities, observes, that it has been kindly ordered by the Author of Nature, that, as we draw nearer the conclusion of life, we are furnished with more helps to wean us from it, amongst which one of the strongest is the loss of dear friends." There is a truth in this remark which cannot fail to be acknowledged. It was in the beginning of April that his illness assumed a serious appearance, and it has thus been described by his physician, Dr Jones: "The stone, with which he had been afflicted for several years, had confined him chiefly to his bed; and, during the extreme painful paroxysms, he was obliged to take large doses of laudanum to mitigate his tortures -still, in the intervals of pain, he not only amused himself with reading and conversing cheerfully with his family, and a few friends who visited him, but he was often employed in doing business of a public as well as private nature, with various persons who waited on him for that purpose; and in every instance displayed not only that readiness and disposition to do good, which was the distinguishing characteristic of his life, but the fullest and clearest possession of his uncommon mental abilities; and not unfrequently indulged himself in those jeux d'esprit and entertaining anecdotes, which were the delight of all who heard him.

About sixteen days before his death, he was seized with a feverish indisposition, without any particular symptoms attending it, till the third or fourth day, when he complained of a pain in the left breast, which increased till it became extremely acute, attended with a cough and laborious breathing. During this state, when the severity of his pains sometimes drew forth a groan of complaint, he would observe, that he was afraid he did not bear them as he ought-acknowledged his grateful sense of the many blessings he had received from that Supreme Being, who had raised him from small and low beginnings to such high rank and consideration among men and made no doubt but his present afflictions were kindly intended to wean him from a world in which he was no longer fit to act the part assigned him. In this frame of body and mind he continued till five days before his death, when his pain and difficulty of breathing entirely left him, and his family were flattering themselves with the hopes of his recovery, when an imposthumation, which had formed itself in his lungs, suddenly burst, and discharged a great quantity of matter, which he continued to throw up while he had sufficient strength to do it; but, as that failed, the organs of respiration became gradually oppressed a calm lethargic state succeeded and on the 17th of April 1790, about eleven o'clock at night, he quietly expired, closing a long and useful life of eighty-four years and three months."

Thus died Benjamin Franklin, one of the most remarkable of the distinguished men of the eighteenth century; an individual truly original in genius, and possessing an inherent nobility from nature, which far transcended the casual distinctions of rank. The intelligence of his decease fell like a blow upon the political and philosophical world, and all joined in the lamentation of his loss. Throughout the American States the deepest regret prevailed; and to mark its respect for his character, and gratitude for his public services, Congress recommended a general mourning for the space of a month. In France, where he had been so much beloved, the grief for his loss was equally poignant, On the intelli

gence being communicated to the National Assembly by the elder Mirabeau, a gloomy silence of a few minutes prevailed, and the members unanimously concurred in ordering a general mourning among all classes for three days. At his funeral, which took place in Philadelphia, a few days after his death, the largest concourse of persons assembled to do honour in following his remains to the grave, which had ever assembled on any similar occasion in America.

A lapse of nearly half a century has not effaced the memory of Franklin. His character and conduct were so intimately associated with all that is truly excellent and appreciable in human nature, that Time is powerless in shedding over him that obscurity which she gives to so many other things. His personal existence has ceased, but his name and his works live for ever. His reputation also is not confined to a spot, or to the country in which he flourished, but is spread over the whole civilised globe. Out of the mass of thousands of individuals who fluttered and enjoyed their little day of distinction, and who were reputed infinitely greater men than he, but who are now forgotten, Franklin rises prominent, bold, and distinct-an imperishable monument of moral and intellectual greatness. As furnishing an example to the young, as an instance of how much good may be done by one enterprising and well-directed mind, his life is invaluable. "The whole tenor of his existence," justly observes one of his friends, " was a perpetual lecture against the idle, the extravagant, and the proud. It was his principal aim to inspire mankind with a love of industry, temperance, and frugality; and to inculcate such duties as promote the important interests of humanity. He never wasted a moment of his time, or lavished a farthing of money, in folly or dissipation. By a judicious division of time, he acquired the art of doing every thing to advantage; and his amusements were of such a nature, as could never militate with the main objects of his pursuit. In whatever situation he was placed by chance or design, he extracted something useful for himself or others. Every circumstance of his life turned to some valuable account. The maxims which his discerning mind has formed, apply to innumerable cases and characters; and those who move in the lowest, equally with those who move in the most elevated rank in society, may be guided by his instructions."*

The following observations on the character of Franklin and his writings, are from the pen of one of the most eminent of modern critics, and cannot fail to be responded to for the correctness of their application:"The distinguishing feature of his understanding was great soundness and sagacity, combined with extraordinary quickness of penetration. He possessed also a strong and lively imagination, which gave his speculations, as well as his conduct, a singularly original turn. The peculiar charm of his writings, and his great merit aiso in action, consisted in the clearness with which he saw his object, and the bold and steady pursuit of it, by the surest and the shortest road. He never suffered himself, in conduct, to be turned aside by the seductions of interest or vanity, or to be scared by hesitation and fear, or to be misled by the arts of his adversaries. Neither did he, in discussion, ever go out of his way in search of ornament, or stop short from dread of the consequences. He never could be caught, in short, acting absurdly, or writing nonsensically: at all times, and in every thing he undertook, the vigour of an understanding, at once original and practical, was distinctly perceivable.

But it must not be supposed that his writings are devoid of ornament or amusement. The latter especially abounds in almost all he ever composed; only nothing is sacrificed to them. On the contrary, they come most naturally into their places; and they uniformly help on the purpose in hand, of which neither writer nor reader ever loses sight for an instant. Thus, his style has all the vigour and even conciseness of Swift, without any of his harshness. It is in no degree more * Quotation in Memoirs of Franklin, edited by his grandson, vol. ii.