English liberty depended now on the perse- to that town, equal to what was suffered there verance and virtue of America. by the India company; it follows that such During the whole, my time was otherwise exceeding damage is an injury done by this much taken up, by friends calling continually government, for which reparation ought to be to inquire news from America: members of made. And whereas reparation of injuries both houses of parliament, to inform me what ought always (agreeably to the custom of all passed in the houses, and discourse with me nations savage as well as civilized) to be first on the debates, and on motions made or to be required before satisfaction is taken by a remade; merchants of London and of the manu- turn of damage to the aggressors; which was facturing and port towns on their petitions, the not done by Great Britain in the instance Quakers upon theirs, &c. &c., so that I had abovementioned; I the underwritten, do thereno time to take notes of almost any thing. fore, as their agent, in the behalf of my counThis account is therefore chiefly from recol- try and the town of Boston, protest against lection, in which doubtless much must have the continuance of the said blockade: and I been omitted, from deficiency of memory; but do hereby solemnly demand satisfaction for what there is I believe to be pretty exact; ex- the accumulated injury done them, beyond cept that discoursing with so many different the value of the India company's tea destroypersons about the same time, on the same sub-ed. And whereas the conquest of the Gulph ject, I may possibly have put down some of St. Lawrence, the coast of Labrador and things as said by or to one person, which passed in conversation with another. A little before I left London, being at the house of lords, when a debate in which lord Camden was to speak, and who indeed spoke admirably on American affairs, I was much disgusted, from the ministerial side, by many base reflections on American courage, religion, understanding, &c. in which we were treated with the utmost contempt, as the lowest of mankind, and almost of a different species from the English of Britain; but particularly the American honesty was abused by some of the lords, who asserted that we were all knaves, and wanted only by this dispute to avoid paying our debts; that if we had any sense of equity or justice, we should offer payment of the tea, &c. I went home somewhat irritated and heated; and partly to retort upon this nation, on the article of equity, drew up a memorial to present to lord Dartmouth, before my departure; but consulting my friend, Mr. Thomas Walpole upon it, who is a member of the house of commons, he looked at it and at me several times alternately, as if he apprehended me a little out of my senses. As I was in the hurry of packing up, I requested him to take the trouble of showing it to his neighbour lord Camden, and ask his advice upon it, which he kindly undertook to do; and returned it me with a note, which here follows the proposed memorial. "To the Right Honourable the Earl of Dartmouth, one of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State. Nova Scotia, and the fisheries possessed by 66 "To Dr. Franklin. DEAR SIR,-I return you the memorial, which it is thought might be attended with contribute to exasperate the nation. dangerous consequences to your person, and "I heartily wish you a prosperous voyage, a long health, and am, with the sincerest re"A Memorial of Benjamin Franklin, Agent of the gard, your most faithful and obedient serTHOMAS WALPOLE "Lincoln's Inn Fields, Province of Massachusetts Bay. "Whereas an injury done, can only give the party injured a right to full reparation; or, in case that be refused, a right to return an equal injury; and whereas the blockade of Boston, now continued nine months, hath every week of its continuance done damage vant, 16th March, 1775." Mr. Walpole called at my house the next day, and hearing I was gone to the house of lords, came there to me, and repeated more fully what was in his note; adding, that it was thought my having no instructions direct-place-his philosophical works; but the foling me to deliver such a protest, would make lowing general reflections connected thereit appear still more unjustifiable, and be deem-with, by this friend of the human race, may, ed a national affront: I had no desire to make with propriety, be here introduced. matters worse, and, being grown cooler, took "Navigation, when employed in supplying the advice so kindly given me. necessary provisions to a country in want, The evening before I left London, I receiv- and thereby preventing famines, which were ed a note from Dr. Fothergill, with some let-more frequent and destructive before the inters to his friends in Philadelphia. In that note he desires me to get those friends, "and two or three more together, and inform them, that whatever specious pretences are offered, they are all hollow; and that to get a larger field on which to fatten a herd of worthless parasites, is all that is regarded. Perhaps it may be proper to acquaint them with David Barclay's and our united endeavours, and the effects. They will stun at least, if not convince, the most worthy, that nothing very favourable is intended, if more unfavourable articles cannot be obtained." The doctor in the course of his daily visits among the great, in the practice of his profession, had full opportunity of being acquainted with their sentiments, the conversation every where turning upon the subject of America. Here Dr. Franklin's own narrative closes, and the editor resumes the continuation of the subject. vention of that art, is undoubtedly a blessing During the passage to America, Dr. Frank-slaves, the numbers necessarily slain in those In not only occupied himself in writing the wars, the many prisoners who perish at sea preceding narrative of his noble efforts to pre- by sickness, bad provisions, foul air, &c. in vent a war, which the rapacity and infatua- the transportation, and how many afterwards tion of the British ministry utterly defeated, die from the hardships of slavery, he cannot but he likewise employed himself in making look on a piece of sugar without conceiving experiments and observations on the waters it stained with spots of human blood! had of the ocean, by means of the thermometer, in he added the consideration of the wars we order to ascertain the exact course of the make to take and retake the sugar islands gulph stream; by the knowledge of which, from one another, and the fleets and armies mariners might hereafter avoid or avail them-that perish in those expeditions, he might selves of its current, according to their various destinations. These experiments and observations will be found in their appropriate have seen his sugar not merely spotted, but thoroughly dyed scarlet in grain! It is these wars that made the maritime powers of Europe, the inhabitants of London and Paris, pay dearer for sugar than those of Vienna, a thousand miles from the sea; because their sugar costs not only the price they pay for it by the pound, but all they pay in taxes to maintain the fleets and armies that fight for it." MEMOIRS OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. PART IV. AFTER a very pleasant passage of about six weeks, Dr. Franklin arrived within the Capes of Delaware, was landed at Chester, and proceeded by land to Philadelphia, where every mark of respect, attachment, and veneration was shown him by his fellow-citizens; the very day after his arrival he was elected by the legislature of Pennsylvania, a delegate to congress. Shortly after, he thus notices the then state of the colonies, in a letter of May 16, 1775: "To Dr. Joseph Priestley. "PHILADELPHIA, May 16, 1775. "DEAR FRIEND,-You will have heard before this reaches you, of a march stolen by the regulars into the country by night, and of their expedition back again. They retreated twenty miles in six hours. "The governor had called the assembly to propose lord North's pacific plan, but before the time of their meeting, began cutting of throats. You know it was said he carried the sword in one hand, and the olive branch in the other; and it seems he chose to give them a taste of the sword first. "He is doubling his fortifications at Boston, and hopes to secure his troops till succour arrives. The place indeed is naturally so defensible, that I think them in no danger. "All America is exasperated by his conduct, and more firmly united than ever. The breach between the two countries is grown wider, and in danger of becoming irreparable. "I had a passage of six weeks, the weather constantly so moderate that a London wherry might have accompanied us all the way. I got home in the evening, and the next morning was unanimously chosen by the assembly, a delegate to the congress now sitting. 66 "The congress met at a time when all minds were so exasperated by the perfidy of general Gage, and his attack on the country people, that propositions for attempting an accommodation were not much relished; and it has been with difficulty that we have carried in that assembly, another humble petition to the crown, to give Britain one more chance, one opportunity more of recovering the friendship of the colonies; which however I think she has not sense enough to embrace, so I conclude she has lost them for ever."* * Never was a prediction more completely verified. The following is a copy of the petition referred to by Dr. Franklin, and to which an answer was refused to be given. TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY Most Gracious Sovereign, We your majesty's faithful subjects of the colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, in behalf of our selves and the inhabitants of these colonies who have deputed us to represent them in general congress, entreat your majesty's gracious attention to this our humble petition. The union between our mother country and these colonies, and the energy of mild and just government produced benefits so remarkably important, and afforded such an assurance of their permanency and increase, that the wonder and envy of other nations were ex cited, while they beheld Great Britain rising to a power the most extraordinary the world had ever known. Her rivals, observing that there was no probability of this happy connexion being broken by civil dissen sions, and apprehending its future effects, if left any longer undisturbed, resolved to prevent her receiving such continual and formidable accessions of wealth and strength, by checking the growth of those settlements from which they were to be derived. In the prosecution of this attempt, events so unfavourable to the design took place, that every friend to the interest of Great Britain and these colonies, entertained pleasing and reasonable expectations of seeing an additional force and exertion immediately given to the operations of the union hitherto expe crown, and the removal of ancient and warlike ene mies to a greater distance. In coming over I made a valuable philoso-rienced, by an enlargement of the dominions of the phical discovery, which I shall communicate to you when I can get a little time. At present am extremely hurried. B. FRANKLIN." And to the same friend he wrote some weeks after most glorious and advantageous that ever had been At the conclusion, therefore, of the late war, the carried on by British arms, your loyal colonists, having contributed to its success, by such repeated and strenuous exertions, as frequently procured them the distinguished approbation of your majesty, of the late king, 134 In the same letter he adds, "My time was never more fully employed. In the morning at six, I am at the committee of safety, appointed by the assembly to put the province and of parliament, doubted not but that they should be permitted, with the rest of the empire, to share in the blessings of peace, and the emoluments of victory and conquest. While these recent and honourable acknowledg. ments of their merits remained on record, in the journals and acts of that august legislature, the parliament, undefaced by the imputation or even the suspicion of any offence, they were alarmed by a new system of statutes and regulations, adopted for the administration of the colonies, that filled their minds with the most painful fears and jealousies; and, to their inexpressible astonishment, perceived the danger of a foreign quarrel quickly succeeded by domestic danger, in their judgment, of a more dreadful kind. Nor were these anxieties alleviated by any tendency in this system to promote the welfare of their mother country; for though its effects were more immediately felt by them, yet its influence appeared to be injurious to the commerce and prosperity of Great Britain. in a state of defence; which committee holds till near nine, when I am at the congress, and that sits till after four in the afternoon. Both these bodies proceed with the greatest unanotwithstanding the sufferings of your loyal colonists, during the course of this present controversy, our breasts retain too tender a regard for the kingdom from which we derive our origin, to request such a reconciliation as might in any manner be inconsistent with her dignity or her welfare. These, related as we are to her, honour and duty, as well as inclination, induce us to support and advance; and the apprehensions that now oppress our hearts with unspeakable grief, being once removed, your majesty will find your faithful sub jects on this continent ready and willing at all times, as they have ever been, with their lives and fortunes, to assert and maintain the rights and interests of your majesty, and of our mother country. We therefore beseech your majesty, that your royal authority and influence may be graciously interposed to procure us relief from our afflicting fears and jea lousies, occasioned by the system beforementioned, and to settle peace through every part of your do minions; with all humility submitting to your maWe shall decline the ungrateful task of describing jesty's wise consideration, whether it may not be exthe irksome variety of artifices, practised by many of pedient for facilitating those important purposes, that your majesty's ministers, the delusive pretences, fruit-your majesty be pleased to direct some mode, by which less terrors, and unavailing severities, that have from the united applications of your faithful colonists to the time to time been dealt out by them, in their attempts throne, in pursuance of their common councils, may to execute this impolitic plan, or of tracing through a be improved into a happy and permanent reconciliaseries of years past, the progress of the unhappy differ- tion; and that in the mean time, measures may be ences between Great Britain and these colonies, that taken for preventing the further destruction of the have flowed from this fatal source. lives of your majesty's subjects; and that such statutes as more immediately distress any of your majesty's colonies may be repealed. Your majesty's ministers, persevering in their measures, and proceeding to open hostilities for enforcing them, have compelled us to arm in our own defence, and have engaged us in a controversy so peculiarly abhorrent to the affections of your still faithful colonists, that when we consider whom we must oppose in this contest, and, if it continues, what may be the consequences, our own particular misfortunes are accounted by us only as parts of our distress. Knowing to what violent resentments, and incura ble animosities, civil discords are apt to exasperate and inflame the contending parties, we think ourselves required by indispensable obligations to Almighty God, to your majesty, to our fellow-subjects, and to ourselves, immediately to use all the means in our power, not incompatible with our safety, for stopping the further effusion of blood, and for averting the impend ing calamities that threaten the British empire. Thus called upon to address your majesty, on affairs of such moment to America, and probably to all your dominions, we are earnestly desirous of performing this office, with the utmost deference for your majesty: and we therefore pray, that your majesty's royal mag. nanimity and benevolence may make the most favour. able construction of our expressions on so uncommon an occasion. Could we represent in their full force, the sentiments that agitate the minds of us your dutiful subjects, we are persuaded your majesty would ascribe any seeming deviation from reverence in our lan guage, and even in our conduct, not to any reprehensible intention, but to the impossibility of reconciling the usual appearances of respect with a just attention to our own preservation, against those artful and cruel enemies, who abuse your royal confidence and au thority, for the purpose of effecting our destruction. Attached to your majesty's person, family, and go. vernment, with all the devotion that principle and affection can inspire, connected with Great Britain by the strongest ties that can unite societies, and de ploring every event that tends in any degree to weaken them, we solemnly assure your majesty that we not only most ardently desire the former harmony be tween her and these colonies may be restored, but that a concord may be established between them, upon so firm a basis as to perpetuate its blessings, uninterrupted by any future dissensions, to succeeding genera tions in both countries, and to transmit your majesty's name to posterity, adorned with that signal and last. ing glory, that has attended the memory of those illus trious personages, whose virtues and abilities have extricated states from dangerous convulsions, and, by securing happiness to others, have erected the most noble and durable monuments to their own fame. We beg leave further to assure your majesty, that For by such arrangements as your majesty's wisdom can form for collecting the united sense of your Ame rican people, we are convinced your majesty would receive such satisfactory proofs of the disposition of the colonists towards their sovereign and parent state, that the wished-for opportunity would soon be restored to them, of evincing the sincerity of their professions, by every testimony of devotion becoming the most dutiful subjects and the most affectionate colonists. That your majesty may enjoy a long and prosperous reign, and that your descendants may govern your dominions with honour to themselves and happiness to their subjects, is our sincere prayer. nimity, and their meetings are well attended. | The following proposed Introduction to a resolution of congress, (not passed) drawn up by Dr. Franklin, is also fully expressive of his warm feelings and sentiments at that period. Whereas the British nation, through great corruption of manners and extreme dissipation and profusion, both private and public, have found all honest resour ces insufficient to supply their excessive luxury and prodigality, and thereby have been driven to the prac tice of every injustice, which avarice could dictate or rapacity execute: and whereas, not satisfied with the immense plunder of the East, obtained by sacrificing millions of the human species, they have lately turned their eyes to the West, and grudging us the peaceable enjoyment of the fruits of our hard labour, and virtuous industry, have for years past been endeavouring to extort the same from us, under colour of laws regulat ing trade; and have thereby actually succeeded in draining us of large sums, to our great loss and detriment: and whereas, impatient to seize the whole, they have at length proceeded to open robbery, declaring by a solemn act of parliament, that all our estates are theirs, and all our property found upon the sea divisible among such of their armed plunderers as shall take the same; and have even dared in the same act to declare, that all the spoilings, thefts, burnings of houses and towns, and murders of innocent people, perpetrated by their wicked and inhuman corsairs on our coasts, previous to any war declared against us, were just actions, and shall be so deemed, contrary to several of the commandments of God, (which by this act, they presume to repeal) and to all the principles of right, and all the ideas of justice, entertained heretofore by every other nation, savage as well as civilized; thereby manifesting themselves to be hostes humani generis. And whereas it is not possible for the people of America to subsist under such continual ravages without making some reprisals, Therefore resolved, * Affairs having now assumed a most serious aspect, it was necessary for the Americans to adopt proper and efficacious means of resistance. They possessed little or no coin, and even arms and ammunition were wanting. In this situation, the adoption of paper money became indispensably necessary, and Dr. Franklin was one of the first to point out the necessity and propriety of that measure. Without this succedaneum, it would have been impossible to have made any other than a feeble and a short resistance against Great Britain. The first emission, to the amount of three millions of dollars, accordingly took place on the 25th of July, 1775, under a promise of exchanging the notes against gold or silver in the space of three years; and towards the end of 1776, more than twenty-one millions additional were put in circulation. The con gress at length began to be uneasy, not knowing how it would be possible to redeem so large a sum; and some of its members having waited upon Dr. Franklin in order to consult him upon this occasion, he spoke to them as follows: "Do not make yourselves unhappy; continue to issue your paper money as long as it will pay for the paper, ink, and printing, and we shall be enabled by its means to liquidate all the expenses of the war." In October, 1775, Dr. Franklin was appointed by congress, jointly with his colleagues colonel Harrison and Mr. Lynch, a committee to visit the American camp at Cambridge, and in conjunction with the commander in chief, (general Washington,) to endeavour to convince the troops, whose term of enlistment was about to expire, of the necessity of their continuing in the field, and persevering in the cause of their country. He was afterwards sent on a mission to Canada, to endeavour to unite that country to the common cause of liberty. But the Canadians could not be prevailed upon to oppose the measures of the British government.* The ill success of this negotiation was sup posed to be occasioned in a great degree by religious animosities, which subsisted between the Canadians and their neighbours; some of whom had at different times burnt their places of worship. under the direction of congress, wrote to M. On his return from Canada, Dr. Franklin, Dumas, the American agent in Holland, urging him to sound the several governments of Europe, by means of their ambassadors at the Hague, as to any assistance they might be disposed to afford America, in case of her eventually breaking off all connexion with Britain, and declaring herself an independent nation. This decisive measure was now generally agitated throughout the colonies; though it is certain that at the beginning of the dif ferences, the bulk of the people acted from no fixed and determined principle whatever, and had not even an'idea of independence; for all the addresses from the different colonies were filled with professions of loyalty towards their sovereign, and breathed the most ardent wishes for an immediate reconciliation. the general opinion on so important a point, hands competent to print in French and English should |