Dr. Franklin's increafing infirmities prevented his regular attendance at the council-chamber; and, in 1788, he retired wholly from public life. His conftitution had been a remarkably good one. He had been little fubject to difeafe, except an attack of the gout occafionally, until about the year 1781, when he was firft attacked with fymptoms of the calculous complaint, which continued during his life. During the intervals of pain from this grievous difeafe, he spent many chearful hours, converfing in the most agreeable and inftructive manner. His faculties were en, tirely unimpaired, even to the hour of his death. His name, as prefident of the Abolition Society, was figned to the memorial prefented to the Houfe of Representatives of the United States, on the 12th of February 1789, praying them to exert the full extent of power vested in them by the conftitution, in difcouraging the traffic of the human fpecies. This was his laft public act. In the debates to which this memorial gave rife, feveral attempts were made to juftify the trade. In the Federal Gazette of March 25th there appeared an effay, figned Hiftoricus, written by Dr. Franklin, in which he communicated a speech, faid to have been delivered in the Divan of Algiers in 1687, in oppofition to the prayer of the petition of a fect called Erika, or purifts, for the abolition of piracy and flavery. This pretended African fpeech was an excellent parody of one delivered by Mr. Jackfon of Georgia. All the arguments urged in favour of negro flavery, are applied with equal force to juftify the plundering and enflaving of Europeans. It affords, at the fame time, a demonftration of the futility of the arguments in defence of the flave trade, and of the ftrength of mind and ingenuity of the author, at his advanced period of life. It furnished too a no a no less convincing proof of his power of imitating the ftyle of other times and nations, than his celebrated parable against perfecution. And as the latter led many perfons to fearch the fcriptures with a view to find it, fo the former caufed many perfons to fearch the book-ftores and libraries, for the work from which it was faid to be extracted *. In the beginning of April following, he was attacked with a fever and complaint of his breast, which terminated his existence. The following account of his laft illness was written by his friend and Physician, Dr. Jones. "The ftone, with which he had been afflicted for feveral years, had for the last twelve months confined him chiefly to his bed; and during the extreme painful paroxyfms, he was obliged to take large dofes of laudanum to mitigate his tortures-fill, in the intervals of pain, he not only amufed himself with reading and converfing cheerfully with his family, and a few friends who vifited him, but was often employed in doing bu finefs of a public as well as private nature, with various perfons who waited on him for that purpofe; and in every inftance difplayed, not only that readiness and difpofition of doing good, which was the distinguishing characteristic of his life, but the fulleft and cleareft poffeffion of his uncommon mental abilities; and not unfrequently indulged himself in thofe jeux d'efprit and entertaining anecdotes, which were the delight of all who heard him. "About fixteen days before his death, he was feized with a feverifh indifpofition, without any particular fymptoms attending it, till the third or fourth day, when he complained of a pain in the left breaft, which increased till it became extreme This fpeech will be found among the Elays. ly acute, attended with a cough and laborious breathing. During this ftate, when the severity of his pains fometimes drew forth a groan of complaint, he would obferve-that he was afraid he did not bear them as he ought-acknowledged his grateful fenfe of the many bleffings he had received from that Supreme Being, who had raised him from fmall and low beginnings to fuch high rank and confideration among men and made no doubt but his prefent afflictions were kindly intended to wean him from a world, in which he was no longer fit to act the part affigned 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 impofthumation, which had formed itself in his lungs, fuddenly burft, and discharged a great quantity of matter, which he continued to throw up while he had fufficient ftrength to do it, but, as that failed, the organs of refpiration became gradually oppreffed-a calm lethargic ftate fucceeded--and, on the 17th of April 1790, about eleven o'clock at night, he quietly expired, clofing a long and ufeful life of eighty-four years and three months. "It may not be amifs to add to the above ac count, that Dr. Franklin, in the year 1735, had a fevere pleurify, which terminated in an abfcefs of the left lobe of his lungs, and he was then almoft fuffocated with the quantity and fuddennefs of the difcharge. A fecond attack of a fimilar nature happened fome years after this, from which he foon recovered, and did not appear to fuffer any inconvenience in his refpiration from thefe diseases." The The following epitaph on himself, was written by him many years previous to his death: THE BODY BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Printer, And ftript af its lettering and gilding) Yet the work itself shall not be loft, In a new And more beautiful edition, by EXTRACTS from the loft Will and Teftament of Dr. FRANKLIN. WITH regard to my books, thofe I had in France, and those I left in Philadelphia, being now affembled together here, and a catalogue made of them, it is my intention to difpofe of the fame as follows: My hiftory of the Academy of Sciences, in fixty or feventy volumes quarto, I give to the philofophical fociety of Philadelphia, of which I have the honour to be prefident. My collection in folio of Les Arts & les Metiers, I give to the American philofophical fociety, established in New England, of which I am a member. My quarto edition of the fame Arts & Metiers, I give to the library company of Philadelphia. Such and fo many of my books as I fhall mark, in the faid catalogue, with the name of my grandfon Benjamin Franklin Bache, I do hereby give to him: and fuch and fo many of my books, as I fhall mark mark in the faid catalogue with the name of my grandfon William Bache, I do hereby give to him and fuch as fhall be marked with the name of Jonathan Williams, I hereby give to my coufin of that name. The refidue and remainder of all my books, manufcripts and papers, I do give to my grandfon William Temple Franklin. My fhare in the library company of Philadelphia I give to my grandfon Benjamin Franklin Bache, confiding that he will permit his brothers and fifters to fhare in the ufe of it. I was born in Bofton, New England, and owe my firft inftructions in literature to the free grammar-schools eftablished there. I therefore give one hundred pounds fterling to my executors, to be by them, the furvivors or furyivor of them, paid over to the managers of the free schools in my native town of Boston, to be by them, or the perfon or perfons who fhall have the fuperintendence and management of the faid schools, put out to intereft, and fo continued at intereft for ever; which intereft annually fhall be laid out in filver medals, and given as honorary rewards annually by the directors of the faid free fchools, for the encouragement of fcholarship in the faid fchools, belonging to the faid town, in fuch manner as to the difcretion of the felect men of the faid town fhall feem meet. Out of the falary that may remain due to me, as prefident of the ftate, I give the fum of two thousand pounds to my executors, to be by them, the furvivors or furvivor of them, paid over to fuch perfon or perfons as the legislature of this ftate, by an act of affembly, fhall appoint to receive the fame, in truft, to be employed for making the Schuylkil navigable. During the number of years I was in business as a ftationer, printer, and poft-mafter, a great many |