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whom we, in our great clemency, do not think fit here to hang, shall be emptied out of our jails into the said Island of Great Britain, for the better peopling of that country.

"We flatter ourselves that these our royal regulations and commands will be thought just and reasonable by our much-favored colonists in England, the said regulations being copied from their statutes of 10th and 11th William III., c. 10; 5th George II., c. 22; 23d George II., c. 29; 4th George I., c. 11, and from other equitable laws made by their Parliaments, or from instructions given by their princes, or from resolutions of both Houses, entered into for the good government of their own colonies in Ireland and America.

"And all persons in the said island are hereby cautioned not to oppose in any wise the execution of this our Edict, or any part thereof, such opposition being high treason, of which all who are suspected shall be transported in fetters from Britain to Prussia, there to be tried and executed according to the Prussian law.

"Such is our pleasure. "Given at Potsdam, this twenty-fifth day of the month of August, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-three, and in the thirty-third year of

our reign.

"By the king, in his council.

"RECHTMAESSIG, Sec.'

"Some take this Edict to be merely one of the

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king's jeux d'esprit ; others suppose it serious, and that he means a quarrel with England; but all here think the assertion it concludes with, that these regulations are copied from acts of the English Parliament respecting their colonies,' a very injurious one, it being impossible to believe that a people distinguished for their love of liberty, a nation so wise, so liberal in its sentiments, so just and equitable toward its neighbors, should, from mean and injudicious views of petty immediate profit, treat its own children in a manner so arbitrary and tyrannical !"

CHAPTER XXIV.

IN February, 1774, Dr. Franklin was dismissed from his office of postmaster-general for the colonies. This measure, designed by the ministry to effect the ruin of his influence and character, was so timed that its occurrence was not merely the mark of political disapproval: it was aimed at his personal integrity; for it followed upon a report of the privy council, in such a way that it would appear that the result of a hearing by that board was the establishment of the fact that Benjamin Franklin, by abuse of confidence and other knavish proceedings, had shown himself unworthy of trust. The event, however, was, even in England, the reverse of what his enemies counted upon. Detraction might, by more silent and quiet measures, have injured his fame; but this open and summary persecution caused the public to investigate circumstances to which it might otherwise have been indifferent, and the character of Franklin stood higher than before. America his dismissal from his office proved the most fortunate event for him that his friends could have desired. It relieved him at once from his anomalous position as the holder of office under the British government, and removed the suspicion that his enemies entertained and encouraged, that he was

In

playing a double part. Upon the reception of the news, Dr. Rush wrote thus to Arthur Lee: “Dr. Franklin is a very popular character in every part of America. He will be received and carried in triumph to his house when he arrives among us. It is to be hoped that he will not consent to hold any more offices under government. No step but this can prevent his being handed down to posterity among the first and greatest characters in the world."

The circumstances which preceded the removal of Dr. Franklin from the post-office were as follows: In the latter part of the year 1772, while in conversation with a gentleman in London who was versed in state affairs, the doctor was informed that all the measures of which he and other Americans complained were not originated in England, but were "projected, proposed to the administration, solicited, and obtained by some of the most respectable among the Americans themselves, as necessary measures for the welfare of that country." In proof of this, the gentleman placed in Franklin's hands a large bundle of original letters from Governor Hutchinson, Lieutenant-governor Oliver, and others, in which the sending of troops and other obnoxious measures were strongly advised. The direction of these letters was erased, but it subsequently appeared that the person to whom they were written was Mr. Thomas Whately, then deceased. Mr. Whately had been a member of Parliament, and at one time secretary under one of the ministers. It is stated that three persons in England only were privy tc

this transaction, one of whom was Mr. John Temple. Another is supposed to be Mr. Hartley, a member of Parliament.

Franklin could not, of course, feel it otherwise than his duty to give information of this fact to his constituents; but the gentleman in whose hands the letters were, would not permit copies to be taken. Permission was, however, obtained to transmit the originals to America, under the conditions that they should not be printed, that copies should not be taken, and that they should be carefully returned. Dr. Franklin sent them to Mr. Thomas Cushing, speaker of the House of Representatives, and chairman of the Committee of Correspondence. Mr. Cushing was desirous not to be known publicly in the transaction, and therefore concealed the manner in which they came into his hands, as to mention Dr. Franklin, who was, as agent for the colony, in constant correspondence with himself, would at once have identified him with the matter. One of the first persons in whose hands Mr. Cushing placed the letters was Mr. John Adams, who carried them round with him upon a judicial circuit. Dr. Franklin had authorized him to show them to several gentlemen whom he designated. He afterward wrote to Mr. Cushing that he might even show them to some of the governor's party, and finally took off all restraint except as to copying.

These documents, having been freely circulatea, and thus become the topic of universal conversation, came before the Massachusetts House of Represent

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