service." The speaker remaining firm in his refusal, the House resolved, that "Benjamin Franklin be, and he is hereby appointed agent of this province, to solicit and transact the affairs thereof in Great Britain ;" and, a few days after, "that William Franklin have leave to resign his office of clerk of this House, that he may accompany his father, appointed one of the commissioners to negotiate our affairs in England, and that another person be chosen to serve as clerk during the absence of the said Franklin."

To defray the expenses of the voyage, and of a residence in London, the Assembly voted the sum of fifteen hundred pounds. As the commissioner expected to finish the business in a few months this provision he considered sufficient.

CHAPTER V.

TO ENGLAND.

Ir was seldom an easy matter in the olden times to get across the Atlantic when France and England were at war. Our commissioner and his son, besides the ordinary difficulties, encountered some that were unexpected and unusual. One obstacle presented itself more obstructing to any useful progress than sand-bars and sunken rocks, more perilous than pirates and enemy's men-of-war, namely, a tenth-rate man in a first-rate place. Franklin was five months in getting from Philadelphia to London.

His preparations for the voyage were soon completed. Passage was engaged for father and son in a New York packet ship, and their stores were embarked. A few days before the time fixed for their departure, Lord Loudoun arrived at Philadelphia, having come from New York, as he said, for the purpose of attempting an accommodation between the Governor and the Assembly, in order that the king's service might be no longer obstructed by their dissensions. Hoping much from the interposition of this important personage, Franklin deferred his departure, and the packet sailed without him.

This Lord Loudoun was the obstructing man to whom allusion has just been made. His appointment to a post so difficult and so responsible as that of commander-in-chief of the king's forces in America, was doubtless owing, as most appointments then were, to some ministerial necessity of the moment. "On the whole," wrote Franklin afterwards, "I wondered much how such a man came to be intrusted with so important a business as the conduct of a great army: but having since seen more of the great world, and the means of obtaining, and motives for giving places and employments, my wonder is diminished." What a force of satire in that quiet passage.

Lord Loudoun, being ready to begin his mediation, requested Governor Denny and Mr. Benjamin Franklin to meet him, saying that he wished to hear what could be advanced on both sides. The meeting occurred, and the subject was discussed. Franklin, on the part of the Assembly, gave his lordship the substance of the arguments with which in so many a striking paper he had plied the Governors and their masters. Governor Denny, on his part, could only do what he had always done when hard pressed, plead his instructions and his bond, proving by them that to yield to the Assembly was certain ruin to himself. Nevertheless, he intimated a willingness to hazard the consequences of compliance, if he could be permitted to urge in his defense that Lord Loudoun had advised it. The irresolute mind of his lordship was perplexed; for Franklin's reasoning was as difficult to set aside as Governor Denny's bond. "Once," says Franklin, "I thought I had nearly prevailed with him, but finally, he rather chose to urge the compliance of the Assembly; and he entreated me to use my endeavors with them for that purpose."

In view of the extreme urgency of the occasion, and the hope of speedy redress from the crown, Franklin advised the Assembly to yield once more, and adapt their legislation to the proprietary instructions. They did so, under protest, and Lord Loudoun received the credit of having restored harmony between the Governor and his unmanageable parliament. He thanked Franklin for the assistance he had rendered him, and soon returned to New York, whither the commissioner and his son prepared to follow him.

The leave-taking, indeed, was somewhat abrupt. There were two packet ships at New York ready to sail, and waiting only for

Lord Loudoun to give the word. Franklin asked him to name the precise time of the departure of the first packet, so that he might be in no danger of missing it. The reply was: "I have given out that she 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 longer!"

Father and son set out on the fourth of April. Franklin bade farewell to a home in which he had been happy for twenty-six years. His family then consisted of his wife, his wife's aged mother, his daughter, one or two nieces, and an old nurse of the family (frequently mentioned in Franklin's letters by the name of " Goody," or "Goody Smith.") His wife was a comely, prudent, cheerful dame, to whom he willingly confided all his affairs during his absence. His daughter Sarah was a beautiful child of twelve years, most tenderly beloved by her parents. She was evidently much in her father's thoughts as he rode away across the province of New Jersey. From Trenton he wrote back to his wife: "About a dozen of our friends accompanied us quite hither, to see us out of the province, and we spent a very agreeable evening together. I leave home and undertake this long voyage the more cheerfully, as I can rely on your prudence in the management of my affairs and the education of our dear child; and yet I cannot forbear once more recommending her to you with a father's tenderest concern."

There was some hindrance at one of the ferries on the road, which prevented their arrival at Newark until Monday noon, and Franklin was alarmed lest the ship had sailed without him. On reaching the Hudson, however, he was relieved to hear that she was still lying at anchor, and would sail the next day.

Such, indeed, was the captain's desire and purpose. But he could not sail without the permission of the commander-in-chief, and it was eleven weeks before that permission could be obtained. Lord Loudoun was a marvel of dilatoriness and procrastination. Never were great interests so trifled with as by him. Some of the instances given by Franklin of his indecision and indolence, are almost beyond belief. During this delay of eleven weeks, his dispatches, for which the packet waited, were always to be ready tomorrow. A third packet arrived at length, and soon after all three vessels were ready to sail, and had passengers engaged for England. Still the to-morrow of the general would not dawn, and the packets

lay at anchor in the harbor. "Going myself one morning," says Franklin, "to pay my respects, I found in his antechamber one Innis, a messenger of Philadelphia, who had come thence express, with a packet from Governor Denny for the general. He delivered to me some letters from my friends there, which occasioned my inquiring when he was to return, and where he lodged, that I might send some letters by him. He told me he was ordered to call tomorrow at nine for the general's answer to the governor, and should set off immediately; I put my letters into his hands the same day. A fortnight after I met him again in the same place. 'So you are soon returned, Innis!' 'Returned; no, I am not gone yet.' 'How so?' 'I have called here this and every morning these two weeks past for his lordship's letters, and they are not yet ready.' 'Is it possible, when he is so great a writer? for I see him constantly at his escritoir.' 'Yes,' said Innis, but he is like St. George on the signs; always on horseback, but never rides on.""

Another example is related by Franklin: "Captain Bound, who commanded one of those packets, told me, that, when he had been detained a month, he acquainted his lordship that his ship was grown foul, to a degree that must necessarily hinder her fast sailing, a point of consequence for a packet-boat, and requested an allowance of time to heave her down and clean her bottom. His lordship asked how long time that would require. He answered, three days. The general replied, 'If you can do it in one day, I give leave; otherwise not; for you must certainly sail the day after to-morrow.' So he never obtained leave, though detained afterwards from day to day during full three months."

It was incompetency such as this, contrasted with the vigor and direct sense of their own Shirleys, Washingtons and Franklins, that first gave the colonies a certain confidence in themselves, a certain distrust of the wisdom and invincibility of Englishmen. The only object Lord Loudoun appears to have had in detaining the packets, was to send home, all at once, a striking quantity of intelligence.*

During this long delay, Franklin was as near being miserable as a man so formed for happiness could be. His only employments

* Grenville Papers, i., 202.

were to dance attendance upon Lord Loudoun, and correspond with his friends. He endeavored to induce his dilatory lordship to make due compensation to the Pennsylvania farmers for the enlistment of their bound-servants; but after many long conversations with him upon the subject, he gave up the attempt as hopeless. He also tried, but tried in vain, to procure the settlement of his account for provisions furnished to Gen. Braddock's army. The general-in-chief treated him with the utmost politeness, often inviting him to dinner, and sometimes asking his advice; but upon no matter of business could he ever induce him to do any thing but put it off.

Among the many pleasing letters written by Franklin at this time, there is one to Mrs. Jane Mecom, that is most tenderly considerate and wise. It related to their sister, Mrs. Dowse, who was very old, poor, and infirm, but yet could not be persuaded to give up her house, and live with her relatives. It seems, also, that she clung to a few articles of finery, relics of her happy days. Franklin, having been consulted upon these points, wrote thus to his sister Jane:

"As having their own way is one of the greatest comforts of life to old people, I think their friends should endeavor to accommodate them in that as well as any thing else. When they have long lived in a house, it becomes natural to them; they are almost as closely connected with it as the tortoise with his shell: they die if you tear them out of it. Old folks and old trees, if you remove them, 'tis ten to one that you kill them, so let our good old sister be no more importuned on that head: we are growing old fast ourselves, and shall expect the same kind of indulgences; if we give them, we shall have a right to receive them in our turn. And as to her few fine things, I think she is in the right not to sell them, and for the reason she gives, they will fetch but little, and when that little is spent, they would be of no further use to her; but perhaps the expectation of possessing them at her death may make that person tender and careful of her, and helpful to her to the amount of ten times their value. If so, they are put to the best use they possibly can be. I hope you visit sister as often as your affairs will permit, and afford her what assistance and comfort you can in her present situation. Old age, infirmities, and poverty joined, are afflictions enough. The neglect and slights of friends and near relations should