three days; and the commons of Paris, as an extraordinary tribute of honor to his memory, assisted in a body at the funeral oration, delivered by the Abbé Fauchet in the rotunda of the cornmarket, which was hung with black, illuminated

Antiquity would have elevated altars to that mortal who, for the advantage of the human race, embracing both heaven and earth in his vast and extensive mind, knew how to subdue thunder and tyranny!

"Enlightened and free, Europe at least owes its remembrance and its regret to one of the greatest men who has ever served the cause of philosophy and of liberty.

"I propose, that a decree do now pass, enacting, that the National Assembly shall wear mourning during three days, for Benjamin Franklin.”

M. M. de la Rochefoucault and La Fayette immediately. rose, in order to second this motion.

The Assembly adopted it at first by acclamation; and afterwards decreed, by a large majority, amidst the plaudits of all the spectators, that on Monday the 14th of June it should go into mourning for three days; that the discourse of M. Mirabeau should be printed; and that the president should write a letter of condolence, upon the occasion, to the Congress of America.

The Congress of the United States thus expressed their sentiments in return.

"RESOLVED, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be requested to cause to be communicated to the National Assembly of France, the peculiar sensibility of Congress, to the tribute paid to the memory of Benjamin Franklin, by the enlightened and free representa

with chandeliers, and decorated with devices analogous to the occasion.

"Dr. Smith, provost of the College of Philadelphia, and Mr. Rittenhouse, one of its members, were selected by the Philosophical Society to prepare an eulogium to the memory of its founder; and the subscribers to the city library, who had just erected a handsome building for containing their books, left a vacant niche for a statue of their benefactor.

"This has since been placed there by the munificence of an estimable citizen of Philadelphia. It was imported from Italy; the name of the artist is Francis Lazarini; it is composed of Carara marble, and cost 500 guineas.

"It was the first piece of sculpture of that size, which had been seen in America. Franklin is represented in a standing posture; one arm is supported by means of some books; in his right hand

tives of a great nation, in their decree of the eleventh June, one thousand seven hundred and ninety.

he wields an inverted sceptre, an emblem of his anti-monarchical principles; and in his left, a scroll of paper. He is dressed in a Roman toga. The resemblance is correct: the head is a copy from the excellent bust produced by the chisel of Houdon. The following inscription is engraven on the pedestal :

THIS STATUE

OF

DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

WAS PRESENTED BY

WILLIAM BINGHAM, Esq.

1792.

"Franklin's life," says the anonymous writer of the foregoing," affords one of the finest moral lessons that can be offered up to the admiration, the applause, or the imitation of mankind.

"As a man, we have beheld him practising and inculcating the virtues of frugality, temperance, and industry.

"As a citizen, we have seen him repelling the efforts of tyranny, and ascertaining the liberty of his countrymen.

"As a legislator, he affords a bright example of a genius soaring above corruption, and continually aiming at the happiness of his constituents.

"As a politician, we survey him, on one hand, acquiring the aid of a powerful nation, by means of his skilful negotiations; and on the other, calling

forth the common strength of a congress of republics, by fixing a central point to which they could all look up, and concentrating their common force, for the purposes of union, harmony, legislation, and defence.

"As a philosopher, his labors and his dis coveries are calculated to advance the interests of humanity: he might, indeed, have been justly termed the friend of man, the benefactor of the universe!

"The pursuits and occupations of his early youth afford a most excellent and instructive example to the young; his middle life, to the adult; his advanced years, to the aged. From him the poor may learn to acquire wealth, and the rich to adapt it to the purposes of beneficence.

"In regard to his character, he was rather sententious than fluent; more disposed to listen, than to talk; a judicious, rather than an engaging com→ panion. He was what perhaps every able man is, impatient of interruption; for he used to mention the custom of the Indians with great applause, who, after listening with a profound attention to the observations of each other, preserve a respectful silence for some minutes, before they begin their own reply.

"He was polite in his manners, and never gave a pointed contradiction to the assertions of his friends or his antagonists, but treated every argument with great calmness, and conquered his

adversaries rather by the force of reason than assertion."

.

The following character of Dr. Franklin, by one of his intimate friends, is so ably and accurately drawn, that we cannot refrain adding it to the foregoing.

"There is, in the character of every distinguished person, something to admire, and something to imitate. The incidents that have marked the life of a great man, always excite curiosity, and often afford improvement. If there be talents

which we can never expect to, equal, if there be a series of good-fortune which we can never expect to enjoy, we still need not lose the labor of our biographical inquiries. We may probably become acquainted with habits which it may be prudent to adopt-and discover virtues which we cannot fail to applaud. It will be easy for the reader to make a full application of these remarks in his contemplations upon the late celebrated DR. FRANKLIN. By his death, one of the best lights of the world may be said to be extinguished. I shall not attempt any historical details of the life of this illustrious patriot and philosopher, as I have nothing further in view than to make a few comments upon the most striking traits of his character.

"Original genius was peculiarly his attribute. The native faculties of his mind qualified him to penetrate into every science: and his unremitted