His last public act was to petition Congress to abolish
slavery in the United States. If one were asked to name the three men
who did most to secure the independence of their country, they would be
George Washington, who fought her battles, Robert Morris, who financed
them, and Benjamin Franklin, who secured the aid of France. When Thomas
Jefferson, who had been selected as minister to France, appeared at the
court of Louis XVI, he presented his papers to the Comte de Vergennes.
"You replace Mr. Franklin?" inquired the nobleman, glancing at the
papers.
"No, monsieur," Jefferson replied, "I succeed him. No one could replace
him."
And that answer had more truth than wit.
Honors came to Franklin such as no other American has ever received, but
he remained from first to last the same quiet, deep-hearted, and
unselfish man, whose chief motive was the promotion of human welfare. He
had his faults and made his mistakes; but time has sloughed them all
away, and there are few sources of inspiration which can compare with
the study of his life.
* * * * *
No family has loomed larger in American affairs than the Adams family of
Massachusetts. John Adams, President himself and living to see his own
son President--an experience which, probably no other man will ever
enjoy--had a second cousin who played a much more important part than he
did in securing the independence of the United States.
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