now spent in London is told by Bancroft in a hundred pages. Bancroft is
very good, and! have no desire to rival him, so suffice it to say that
Franklin did all that any man could have done to avert the coming War of
the Revolution. Burke has said that when he appeared before Parliament to
be examined as to the condition of things in America, it was like a lot of
schoolboys interrogating the master.

With the voice and tongue of a prophet, Franklin foretold the English
people what the outcome of their treatment of America would be. Pitt and a
few others knew the greatness of Franklin, and saw that he was right, but
the rest smiled in derision.

He sailed for home in Seventeen Hundred Seventy-five, and urged the
Continental Congress to the Declaration of Independence, of which he
became a signer. Then the war came, and had not Franklin gone to Paris and
made an ally of France, and borrowed money, the Continental Army could not
have been maintained in the field.

He remained in France for nine years, and was the pride and pet of the
people. His sound sense, his good humor, his distinguished personality,
gave him the freedom of society everywhere. He had the ability to adapt
himself to conditions, and was everywhere at home.

Once, he attended a memorable banquet in Paris shortly after the close of
the Revolutionary War. Among the speakers was the English Ambassador, who
responded to the toast, "Great Britain." The Ambassador dwelt at length on
England's greatness, and likened her to the sun that sheds its beneficent
rays on all. The next toast was "America," and Franklin was called on to
respond. He began very modestly by saying: "The Republic is too young to
be spoken of in terms of praise; her career is yet to come, and so,