countrymen, were more observed in England, as presenting there a social anomaly, while here they are in perfect accordance with the republican theory. Thirty years before, Franklin the youth had visited London, friendless and almost helpless, finding himself in a strange land, the victim of the hollow and almost incomprehensible duplicity of Governor Keith. He had struggled with difficulties of no ordinary kind, and successfully; drawing improvement from experience, and treasuring up practical knowledge, until he had not only secured public confidence and trust amid his immediate friends and constituents at home, but had obtained a name with the learned and ingenious abroad, which was the warrant for his welcome. His philosophical correspondents, and the readers of his published essays and discoveries, vied with each other in their congratulatory offices and addresses; and the friends of those who had enjoyed direct communication with the illustrious American were eager to avail themselves of the opportunity of an introduction, and to embrace the privilege of tendering him civility. Eminently social and benevolent in his manners, much of his attention was given to the gratification of those who appreciated his pursuits. In a letter written by the proprietor, Thomas Penn, near the close of the mission of Franklin, in 1761, occurs this passage: "I do not find that he has done me any injury with any party, having had conversations with all, in which 1 have studied to talk of these affairs; and I believe he has spent most of his time in philosophical, and

especially in electrical matters, having generally company in a morning to see those experiments, and musical performances on glasses, where any one that knows him carries his friends."

In such society Franklin, who, it will be remembered, in his autobiography, acknowledges the possession of a reasonable share of vanity, found much gratification. But that his vanity was not of a disagreeable character is evident from the permanence of his friendships. He was now in his fifty-second year, and age had commenced to render what in others might seem assumption, in him a natural and pleasing authority. He never indulged in positive assertions, or permitted himself to give direct contradictions, but advanced his opinions rather as suggestions, and differed from his companions as one intimating doubts which they were supposed to be ready to remove. A mind less evenly balanced than his could not have withstood the extravagant laudation to which, at this, and even more at a later period in his life, he was exposed; but he humorously offset it against the violent abuse which he received from other quarters, and rejoiced that he had some enemies to remind him of his faults.

Among the friendships which he cherished-and we note it the more particularly that it was not one which could minister to his ambition-was that of Mrs. Stevenson. To the daughter of that lady, Miss Mary Stevenson, he was a most considerate friend, directing her studies, and improving her mind by valuable advice, which appears among the most

interesting passages of his correspondence. Some of his best papers on philosophical and learned subJects were in the form of letters, prepared for this young lady's perusal. The circumstance that she was for most of the time absent from her mother's house during his residence in England, caused the correspondence. It was not all, however, of a philosophical character, and the reader will be gratified with the introduction here of a specimen of the manner in which the philosopher and statesman could gracefully trifle:

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"My dear Polly's good mamma bids me write two or three lines, by way of apology for her having omitted so long to write. She acknowledges the receiving of two agreeable letters from her beloved daughter, inclosing one for Sally Franklin, which was much approved (excepting one word only), and sent as directed.

"The reasons of her not writing are, that her time all day is fully taken up, during the daylight, with the care of her family, and-lying abed in the morning; and her eyes are so bad that she can not see to write in the evening-for playing at cards; so she hopes that one who is all goodness will cer-. tainly forgive her, when her excuses are so substantial. As for the secretary, he has not a word to say in his own behalf, though full as great an offender, but throws himself upon mercy; pleading only that he is, with the greatest esteem and sincerest regard, his dear Polly's ever affectionate friend, "B. FRANKLIN."

In another letter to the same young lady, we find the following advice upon the subject of reading:

“I would advise you to read with a pen in your hand, and enter in a little book short hints of what you find that is curious, or may be useful; for this will be the best method of imprinting such facts on your memory, where they will be ready, either for practice on some future occasion, if they are matters of utility, or, at least, to adorn and improve your conversation, if they are rather points of curiosity. And as many of the terms of science are such as you can not have met with in your common reading, and may therefore be unacquainted with, I think it would be well for you to have a good dictionary at hand, to consult immediately when you meet with a word you do not comprehend the precise meaning of. This may at first seem troublesome and interrupting; but it is a trouble that will daily diminish, as you will daily find less and less occasion for your dictionary, as you become more and more acquainted with the terms; and, in the mean time, you will read with more satisfaction, because more understanding."

The reader will feel a natural desire to know something of the after life of a person in whom Dr. Franklin was so much interested. She was married in 1770 to William Hewson, a distinguished anatomist, whose works those familiar with medical literature will readily recall. He died in 1774, leaving his widow with three infant children; and the advantage of her solid education was evinced in the

manner in which they were trained for usefulness and distinction. Mrs. Stevenson, the mother, died in 1783; Mrs. Hewson removed with her children to America in 1786, and died at Bristol, Pa., in 1795. The list of eminent physicians for which the city of Philadelphia is remarkable, includes the son of Mrs. Mary Hewson.

The proverbial dilatoriness of public bodies, and the influence of the proprietaries, whose purpose was served by delay, prevented any progress being made in the business with which Franklin was intrusted during the first year that he remained in England. He found the public mind and the attention of the government too much engrossed with the war on the Continent, and with European politics, to be diverted from these pressing and immediately important subjects to the concerns of a colony. The business upon which he was dispatched, however deeply important to the colonists themselves, presented no national bearing which required instant notice. The proprietors artfully improved the state of the public mind by producing, either directly through their agents, or through the influence of their friends upon the press, an impression unfavorable to the colonists. As a specimen of these acts, we quote a paragraph which appeared in "The Citizen, or General Advertiser," of September 9, 1757:

"The last letters from Philadelphia bring accounts of the scalping of the inhabitants of the back provinces by the Indians; at the same time, the disputes between the governor and the Assembly are carried