Captain Basil Hall, in his _Travels in North America_, just
published, says, "On the 12th of December, we made a pilgrimage to the
tomb of Franklin--dear old Franklin! It consists of a large marble slab,
laid flat on the ground, with nothing carved upon it but these words:--
BENJAMIN AND DEBORAH
FRANKLIN.
1790.
Franklin, it will be recollected, wrote a humorous epitaph for himself;
but his good taste and good sense showed him how unsuitable to his
living character it would have been to jest in such a place. After all,
his literary works, scientific fame, and his undoubted patriotism,
form his best epitaph. Still, it may be thought, he might have been
distinguished in his own land by a more honourable resting-place than
the obscure corner of an obscure burying-ground, where his bones lie
indiscriminately along with those of ordinary mortals; and his tomb,
already wellnigh hid in the rubbish, may soon be altogether lost. One
little circumstance, however, about this spot is very striking. No
regular path has been made to the grave, which lies considerably out of
the road; but the frequent tread of visiters having pressed down the
rank grass which grows in such places, the way to the tombstone is
readily found without any guide."
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