Franklin's valuable services were generally recognized throughout the colonies, and he was appointed agent also for Georgia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. In reality he was the representative of all America, and was so regarded in England. For several years he continued to labor earnestly to bring about a reconciliation between the colonies and the mother country. But it proved to be an impossible task. The feeling of hostility was becoming each year more intense and bitter on both sides. The Stamp Act had been repealed, not because it was unjust, but because it was injuring English trade, and the government continued busily to devise new measures of oppression that could be successfully enforced. Franklin's spirit was always hopeful, and he believed, almost to the last, that the object so near his heart, the restoration of peace and harmony, would be accomplished. Yet in 1768 he wrote sadly : 66 Being born and bred in one of the countries, and having lived long and made many agreeable connections of friendship in the other, I wish all prosperity to both; but I have talked and written so much and so long on the subject, that my acquaintances are weary of hearing and the public of reading any more of it, which begins to make me weary of talking and writing; especially as I do not find that I have gained any point in either country, except that of rendering myself suspected by my impartiality; in England of being too much an American, and in America of being too much an Englishman."

The position of Franklin became more and more difficult as the spirit of resistance increased in America. His opinion was still sought by English statesmen upon all questions pertaining to the colonies. But finally, when they saw that his sympathies were entirely enlisted upon the American side, and that he could not be flattered or bribed into a change of conviction, they turned against him with the spirit of bitterest enmity and hatred. The office of postmaster was taken from him; he was attacked by the newspapers, and threatened with arrest for treason; Lord Sandwich denounced him in the House of Lords as 66 one of the

bitterest and most mischievous enemies this country has ever known." His friends warned him of the danger of remaining longer in England, but he did not leave until it was certain that he could do nothing more for the colonies.

To friends at home he wrote: "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." His last official act was to place in the hands of the ministry the Declaration of Rights. His last day in London was spent with his friend Dr. Priestley, who says that much of the time he was looking over a number of American newspapers, directing me what to extract from them for the English ones; and in reading them he was frequently not able to proceed for the tears literally running down his cheeks." His departure signified that all hope of reconciliation and peace was gone forever.

66

He reached Philadelphia May 5, 1775, and found things strangely changed. His wife had died during his absence, his son was alienated by politics, his daughter had grown to womanhood and was married to a man whom he had never seen. The country was in a turmoil of excitement; war had already begun, the battles of Lexington and Concord having occurred while he was on the ocean. The effect of these events upon Franklin's feelings is shown by the letter he wrote, a few weeks later, to one of his closest friends in England:

"Mr. Strahan:-You are a member of Parliament, and one of that majority which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns and murder our people. Look upon your hands; they are stained with the blood of your relations! You and I were long friends; you are now my enemy, and I am yours.

"B. FRANKLIN.”

In a letter to his friend Dr. Priestley he wrote: "Tell our dear, good friend Dr. Price, who sometimes has his doubts and despondencies about our firmness, that America is determined and unanimous, a very few Tories and placemen excepted, who will probably soon export themselves. 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's Hill she gained a mile of ground, half of which she lost again by our taking post at Ploughed Hill. During the same time sixty thousand children have been born in America. From these data his mathematical head will easily calculate the time and expense necessary to kill us all, and conquer our whole territory."

On the day after his landing Franklin was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress, of which he was a member fourteen months. He was appointed to all the important committees, and presented the "first sketch of a plan of confederation" which is known to have been presented to Congress. He was made postmaster-general, was sent to Cambridge to confer with Washington upon military affairs, and to Montreal to consult with General Arnold in regard to possible aid from Canada. This last was almost a cruel task to put upon one so old, but he answered cheerfully every demand made upon him for his country's good. On reaching Saratoga he wrote : "I begin to apprehend that I have undertaken a fatigue that at my time of life may prove too much for me; so I sit down to write to a few friends by way of farewell." From this perilous and fruitless undertaking he returned to be at once made presiding officer of a convention to frame a constitution

for the independent State of Pennsylvania. As the war advanced it became important to establish commercial relations with the friendly nations of Europe, and especially to obtain loans of money for the support of the armies. France particularly, it was believed, would aid the new nation, being herself an enemy of England. Accordingly Congress, by a unanimous vote, sent Franklin to test the good-will of the French people and the generosity of their king. When the vote was announced, he whispered to a friend: “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.'' He was now seventy years old, and was about to undertake the most difficult and responsible mission of his whole public career. He did not set out, however, until he had signed his name to that remarkable document, the Declaration of Independence.

During the discussion of the Declaration, Jefferson, its chief author, was much annoyed by the criticisms of the members, and Franklin, sitting near him at the time, consoled him in the following manner: "I have made it a rule, whenever in my power, to avoid becoming the draughtsman of papers to be reviewed by a public body. I took my lesson from an incident which I will relate to you. When I was a journeyman printer, one of my companions, an apprenticed hatter, having served out his time, was about to open 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, with a figure of a hat subjoined. 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 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 use

less, as it was not the custom of the place to sell on credit. Every one who purchased expected to pay. They were parted with, and 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 ultimately reduced to John Thompson, with the figure of a hat subjoined."

Franklin sailed late in October, 1776, and reached France in safety, although the passage was stormy and the little ship Reprisal was several times chased by English cruisers. Soon after landing he wrote good-naturedly to a lady friend in England: "You are too early, hussy, as well as too saucy, in calling me rebel; you should wait for the event which will determine whether it is a rebellion or only a revolution . . . . I know you wish you could see me; but, as you cannot, I will describe myself to you. Figure me in your mind as jolly as formerly, and as strong and hearty, only a few years older; very plainly dressed, wearing my thin, gray, straight hair, that peeps out under my only coiffure, a fine fur cap, which comes down over my forehead almost to my spectacles. Think how this must appear among the powdered heads of Paris!" The French people received this "plainly dressed representative of the new republic with enthusiasm and even extravagant demonstrations of delight. Crowds filled the streets to see him pass; nobles and statesmen, philosophers and men of fashion, all united in welcoming the American Solon; his face was seen in every print-shop, and on finger-rings, bracelets, and snuff-boxes. Poets wrote sonnets upon him; women of rank and fashion placed Franklin portraits upon their mantles and Franklin stoves in their chambers. The jokes and wise sayings of "Bonhomme Richard" were circulated by the newspapers throughout the kingdom. The "Way to Wealth" was translated and used in the schools. His fame, said John Adams, seemed "more universal than that of Leibnitz or Newton, Frederic or Voltaire." To one who was lamenting