ward, in times of peril, acted together, and as their friendship does not appear to have been broken by these temporary political jarrings, we may imagine them making quite merry over these terrible vaticinations and "chimeras dire." But his opponents did not stop at speeches. They prepared a protest against the appointment; but the House refused to receive it, pronouncing it unparliamentary. Among the charges in this document was one relative to the application of certain moneys, which we have already spoken of in another connection. Franklin answered the protest as he was on the point of sailing; and the publication of his enemies gave him an opportunity thus to write an able vindication of himself, to make a graceful farewell to his friends, to give the proprietary party another severe review, and to allude again in strong terms to the proceedings of the rioters, to whom he seemed disposed to give no quarter.

Whatever opposition to Franklin patriots were led into by the doubtful circumstances of the times, all was removed by the events of his sojourn in England. Dr. William Smith, the provost of the Philadelphia College, some years after wrote: "Under whatever circumstances this second mission was undertaken, it appears to have been a measure preordained of Heaven; and it will be forever remembered to the honor of Pennsylvania, that the agent selected to assert and defend the rights of a single province at the court of Great Britain, became the bold assertor of the rights of America in general, and,

beholding the fetters that were forging for her, conceived the magnanimous thought of rending them asunder before they could be riveted."

On the 7th of November, in less than a fortnight after his appointment, Franklin embarked at Chester

for England. A cavalcade of three hundred of his friends attended him to that place, where a most affectionate leave was taken of him. The expenses of his agency the merchants of Philadelphia subscribed, as a loan, to be reimbursed by the next Assembly; and all the efforts which had been made to oppose and to injure, served but to give his departure the air of a triumph, and to assure him of the unabated confidence of those who knew him best, and of all people except those in the interest of the proprietaries, or in sympathy from mistaken views with the malcontents.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE attachment of Benjamin Franklin to his family and friends, and the efforts he continually made to serve them, by imparting advice, the result of his experience, often appears in his correspondence. A letter, written to his daughter on the eve of his departure for England, though often quoted, and, perhaps, already familiar to our readers, deserves a place here, not only on account of its intrinsic value as advice, applicable now as then, but as displaying the apprehensions which he felt lest the misrepresentations of his enemies should wound the feelings of his family. In his letters to his wife we observe similar evidences of the extreme sensitiveness of Franklin in this respect. In a letter to Mrs. Franklin, he says:

I am concerned that so much trouble should be given you by idle reports concerning me. Be satisfied, my dear, that while I retain my senses, and God vouchsafes me his protection, I shall do nothing unworthy the character of an honest man, and one who loves his family." In another letter, sealed with a device representing a dove standing on a coiled serpent, with the motto Innocence surmont tout, he says: "Let no one make you uneasy with their idle or malicious scribblings, but enjoy yourself and friends, and the comforts of life that God has bestowed on

you, with a cheerful heart. I am glad these pamphlets give you so little concern. I make no other answer to them at present than what appears on the seal of this letter." These extracts offer a much better key to the real sensitiveness of Franklin than the tone taken in letters to his associates, out of his own household, on the same subject. He writes to an old member of the "Junto:" "I find that expressions of steady, continued friendship, such as are contained in your letter, though but from one or a few honest and sensible men, who have long known us, afford a satisfaction that far outweighs the clamorous abuse of a thousand knaves and fools. While I enjoy the share that I have so long had in the esteem of my old friends, the bird-and-beast people you mention may peck, and snarl, and bark at me as much as they think proper. There is only some danger that I should grow too vain on their disapprobation." In this extract there is an evidently assumed tone of bravado, which does not conceal the soreness which every upright man must feel at abuse, however much he may affect to disregard it, and however near he may come to persuading even himself that he is indifferent to what is said of him. The letter to his daughter above referred to is as follows:

"My dear child, the natural prudence and goodness of heart God has blessed you with make it less necessary for me to be particular in giving you advice. I shall, therefore, only say, that the more attentively dutiful and tender you are toward your

good mamma, the more you will recommend yourself to me. But why should I mention me, when you have so much higher a promise in the commandments, that such conduct will recommend you to the favor of God? You know I have many enemies, all, indeed, on the public account (for I can not recollect that I have in a private capacity given just cause of offense to any one whatever), yet they are enemies, and very bitter ones; and you must expect their enmity will extend in some degree to you, so that your slightest indiscretions will be magnified into crimes, in order the more sensibly to wound and afflict me. It is, therefore, the more necessary for you to be extremely circumspect in all your behavior, that no advantage may be given to their malevolence.

"Go constantly to church, whoever preaches. The act of devotion in the Common Prayer Book is your principal business there, and, if properly attended to, will do more toward amending your heart than sermons generally can do; for they were composed by men of much greater piety and wisdom than our common composers of sermons can pretend to be; and, therefore, I wish you would never miss the prayer days; yet I do not mean you should despise sermons, even of the preachers you dislike, for the discourse is often much better than the man, as sweet and clear waters come through very dirty earth. I am the more particular on this head, as you seemed to express, a little before I came away, some inclination to leave our Church, which I would not have you do.