territory as far west as the Mississippi, and both France and England were opposed either to our catching or to our curing fish on the shores of Newfoundland. In regard to making compensation to Loyalists (or Tories), which England at first strongly insisted upon, Franklin was firm in his refusal. He said that it was like the man who heated a poker red-hot to run his neighbor through; the neighbor refused in the most emphatic way to allow the weapon to be thrust into him even so much as a single inch, and the man who had heated the poker then demanded that his neighbor should at least pay him for the time and fuel he had spent in getting the iron red-hot! This ridicule had its effect, and Great Britain said no more about Loyalist claims.

On the other points the debate went on for months. John Adams and John Jay, who, with Franklin, represented the United States, both doubted the good faith of France which, notwithstanding her friendliness during the war, they believed to be bent on cutting us off from all territory west of the Alleghanies, and even of depriving us of the navigation of the Mississippi. Jay was disgusted, and urged that the matter be postponed or dropped. "What, asked Franklin, "would you break off negotiations now?" "Yes," answered the resolute Jay, “just as I break the pipe I am smoking"; and with that he tossed it into the fire. But Franklin felt that it would be inexpedient to anger France at such a juncture. His politic management soothed all irritated feelings, and on Sept. 3, 1783,1 a final treaty of

1 A preliminary treaty had been signed, without the knowledge of France, in 1782. Franklin admitted that this was an irregularity, but asserted that the provisional treaty was conditioned on its final acceptance by France.

A reduced copy of the signature of the English and American commissioners to the final treaty (with their respective seals) is shown on preceding page.

peace was signed and sealed between Great Britain and America. As the last commissioner affixed his signature to the important document, the United States took her place as a free and independent republic among the nations of the world. An anecdote is current in Paris in regard to the treaty which, whatever may be its claim to truth, has at least the merit of being a tribute to Franklin's ready wit. The story goes that, at a grand dinner given in honor of the successful arrangement of terms between the countries, the English ambassador drank the health of King George III., whose power, said he, like that of the sun at midday, illumines the world. Next came the French minister, who responded in behalf of Louis XVI., whom he compared to the moon riding in splendor, and dissipating the shades of night. All eyes were now turned on Franklin. What was there left for him to say? The philosopher slowly rose, and, filling his glass to the brim, called on the company to join him in a toast to George Washington, President of the United States, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, who, like Joshua of old, commanded the sun and moon to stand still, and they obeyed him!

To the credit of England it should be said that the government finally accepted the situation without weak repining. When, a few years later, John Adams was presented to George III. as the first minister from the United States at the court of Great Britain, the king received him with much emotion, saying that though he had been the last to consent to a separation, he would now be the first to welcome the friendship of the United States as an independent power.

In the summer of 1785 Franklin turned his face toward home. He was then so feeble that he could not bear even

the motion of a carriage, but was transported from Passy, the suburb of Paris, where he had resided for nine years, to Havre, a distance of upwards of one hundred and fifty miles, in the queen's litter, a kind of covered couch borne between two mules.

On the voyage he spent much of his time in writing some papers on "Improvement in Navigation" and on "Smoky Chimneys"; he also repeated his experiments in regard to the temperature of the Gulf Stream. He landed at Philadelphia on the 14th of September amid the ringing of bells and the firing of cannon in joy at his safe return.

§ 19. Franklin and the Constitution, 1785-1787.

Franklin had been at home but a few weeks when he was elected President of the State of Pennsylvania, the office being the same as that of governor in the other States. He was annually chosen for three successive years, that is, for the full time that, by the state constitution, the position could be held consecutively by one person. As he said, in a playful letter 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 very bones." The entire salary which Franklin received as President, amounting in all to about $30,000, he regularly spent for some public and benevolent objects. In fact, during his whole life, though he had always been thrifty, he had never been selfish or mean. His motto was, "We should save in order that we may give." To that motto he was always true. When in England he once

lent a considerable sum to a needy French gentleman, saying, “When you are able, lend the same amount to some one else who asks help, on condition that he shall do likewise; in this way the money will be kept in circulation, and so do much good."

Sparks says that “if the whole fifty years of his public life are taken together, it is believed that his receipts, in the form of compensation or salaries, did not defray his necessary expenses."

He was always ready with an encouraging word to those less fortunate than himself. When the times were hard and people despondent, he issued his "Consolation for America," declaring that farming and the fisheries were inexhaustible sources of wealth. “Every man,” said he, "who puts a seed into the ground is tecompensed fortyfold; every one that draws a fish out of the waters draws up a piece of silver."

But old and broken in bodily health as Franklin was, the country could not spare his services. He had been clerk of the Assembly, member of the legislature, delegate to the Colonial Congress, agent abroad for American interests for twenty-six years, signer of the Declaration of Independence, postmaster-general, member of Congress of the United States, minister at the court of France, commissioner to draft the treaty of peace, and governor of Pennsylvania. He thought now that his work was done. But no! his State had yet another request to make, — that he should act as delegate to the convention which was to meet in Philadelphia, May, 1787, to frame the Constitution of the Republic.

The need of a constitution had become imperative. When the country emerged from the Revolution, it was