SERVICES IN THE STATES
From the solitude of the ocean to the seething turmoil which Franklin
found in the colonies must have been a startling transition. He had come
home an old man, lacking but little of the allotted threescore years and
ten. He had earned and desired repose, but never before had he
encountered such exacting, important, and unremitting labor as
immediately fell to his lot. Lexington and Concord fights had taken
place a fortnight before he landed, and the news preceded him in
Philadelphia by a few days only. Many feelings may be discerned in the
brief note which he wrote on May 16 to Dr. Priestley:--
"DEAR FRIEND,--You will have heard, before this reaches you, of a
march stolen by the regulars into the country by night, and of
their _expedition_ back again. They retreated twenty miles in six
hours. The governor had called the Assembly to propose Lord North's
pacific plan, but before the time of their meeting began the
cutting of throats. You know it was said he carried the sword in
one hand and the olive branch in the other, and it seems he chose
to give them a taste of the sword first."
To another correspondent he said that "the feeble Americans, who pelted
them all the way, could scarcely keep up with" the rapidly retreating
redcoats. But the occurrence of bloodshed had an immense meaning for
Franklin; it opened to his vision all the future: an irreconcilable
struggle, and finally independence, with a bitter animosity long
surviving. He could not address all those who had once been near and
dear to him in England as he did the good Dr. Priestley. The letter to
Strahan of July 5, 1775, is famous:--
"MR STRAHAN,--You are a member of Parliament, and one of that
majority which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun
to burn our towns and murder our people. Look upon your hands; they
are stained with the blood of your relations! You and I were long
friends; you are now my enemy, and I am,
"Yours, B. FRANKLIN."
But strained as his relations with Strahan were for a while, it is
agreeable to know that the estrangement between such old and close
friends was not everlasting.
To write at length concerning Franklin's services during his brief stay
at home would involve giving a history of the whole affairs of the
colonies at this time. But space presses, and this ground is familiar
and has been traversed in other volumes in this series. It seems
sufficient, therefore, rather to enumerate than to narrate his various
engagements, and thus to reserve more room for less well-known matters.
On the very day after his return, when he had scarce caught the breath
of land, he was unanimously elected by the Assembly a delegate to the
Provincial Congress. It was an emergency when the utmost must be made of
time, brains, and men. By subsequent reëlections he continued to sit in
that body until his departure for France. There was business enough
before it: the organization of a government, of the army, of the
finances; most difficult of all, the arrangement of a national policy,
and the harmonizing of conflicting opinions among men of influence at
home. In all that came before the Congress Franklin was obliged to take
his full share. He seems to have been upon all the busy and important
committees. There were more ardent spirits, greater propelling forces,
than he was; but his wisdom was transcendent. Dickinson and his
followers were bent upon sending one more petition to the king, a scheme
which was ridiculed almost with anger by the more advanced and resolute
party. But Franklin's counsel was to give way to their wishes, as being
the best policy for bringing them later into full accord with the party
which was for war. He had no hopes of any other good result from the
proceeding; but it also chimed with his desire to put the English as
much as possible in the wrong. In the like direction was a clause in his
draft of a declaration, intended to be issued by Washington in the
summer of 1775. To counteract the charge that the colonies refused to
contribute to the cost of their own protection, he proposed that, if
Great Britain would abolish her monopoly of the colonial trade, allowing
free commerce between the colonies and all the rest of the world, they
would pay into the English sinking fund £100,000 annually for one
hundred years; which would be more than sufficient, if "faithfully and
inviolably applied for that purpose, ... to extinguish all her present
national debt."
At the close of this document he administered a telling fillip in his
humorous style to that numerous class who seek to control practical
affairs by sentiment, and who now would have had their prattle about the
"mother country" outweigh the whole accumulation of her very unmaternal
oppression and injustice. Concerning the allegation of an unfilial
ingratitude, he said: "There is much more reason for retorting that
charge on Britain, who not only never contributes any aid, nor affords,
by an exclusive commerce, any advantages to Saxony, _her_ mother
country; but, no longer since than the last war, without the least
provocation, subsidized the king of Prussia while he ravaged that
_mother country_, and carried fire and sword into its capital.... An
example we hope no provocation will induce us to imitate." Had this
declaration ever been used, which it was not, the dignity of the grave
general who commanded the American forces would have compelled him to
cut off this closing snapper from the lash, amusing as it was. The
witty notion had found a more appropriate place in the newspaper article
which had dumfounded the guests at the English country house. Commenting
upon this, Mr. Parton well says: "Here perhaps we have one of the
reasons why Dr. Franklin, who was universally confessed to be the ablest
pen in America, was not always asked to write the great documents of the
Revolution. He would have put a joke into the Declaration of
Independence, if it had fallen to him to write it.... His jokes, the
circulating medium of Congress, were as helpful to the cause as Jay's
conscience or Adams's fire; ... but they were out of place in formal,
exact, and authoritative papers."[37]
[Note 37: _Life of Franklin_, ii, 85.]
A document which cost Dr. Franklin much more labor than this declaration
was a plan for a union of the colonies, which he brought forward July
21, 1775. It was the "first sketch of a plan of confederation which is
known to have been presented to Congress." No final action was ever
taken upon it. It contained a provision that Ireland, the West India
Islands, the Canadian possessions, and Florida might, upon application,
be received into the confederation.
Franklin's duties in Congress were ample to consume his time and
strength; but they were far from being all that he had to do. Almost
immediately after his return he was made chairman of a committee for
organizing the postal service of the country. In execution of this duty
he established in substance that system which has ever since prevailed;
and he was then at once appointed postmaster-general, with a salary of
£1000 per annum. When franking letters he amused himself by changing the
formula, "Free: B. Franklin" into "B. Free, Franklin."
He was next made chairman of the provincial committee of safety, a body
which began its sittings at the comfortable, old-fashioned hour of six
o'clock in the morning. Its duty was to call out and organize all the
military resources of Pennsylvania, and generally to provide for the
defenses of the province. It worked with much efficiency in its novel
and difficult department. Among other things, Franklin devised and
constructed some ingenious "marine _chevaux de frise_" for closing the
river approaches to Philadelphia.
In October, 1775, he was elected a member of the Assembly of the
Province. But this did not add to his labors; for the oath of allegiance
had not yet been dispensed with; he would not take it, and resigned his
seat.
In September, 1775, Franklin, Lynch of South Carolina, and Harrison of
Virginia, as a committee of Congress, were dispatched to Cambridge,
Massachusetts, to confer with Washington concerning military affairs.
They rode from Philadelphia to the leaguer around Boston in thirteen
days. Their business was achieved with no great difficulty; but they
lingered a few days more in that interesting camp, and were absent six
weeks. General Greene has recorded how he gazed upon Franklin, "that
very great man, with silent admiration;" and Abigail Adams tells with
what interest she met him whom "from infancy she had been taught to
venerate," and how she read in his grave countenance "patriotism in its
full lustre" and with it "blended every virtue of a Christian." The
phrase was not well chosen to fall from the pen of Mrs. Adams, yet was
literally true; Franklin had the virtues, though dissevered from the
tenets which that worthy Puritan dame conceived essential to the make-up
of a genuine Christian. The time came when her husband would not have
let her speak thus in praise of Benjamin Franklin.
In the spring of 1776 Congress was inconsiderate enough to impose upon
Franklin a journey to Montreal, there to confer with General Arnold
concerning affairs in Canada. It was a severe, even a cruel task to put
upon a man of his age; but with his usual tranquil courage he accepted
the mission. He met the ice in the rivers, and suffered much from
fatigue and exposure; indeed, the carelessness of Congress was near
depriving the country of a life which could not have been spared. On
April 15 he wrote from Saratoga: "I begin to apprehend that I have
undertaken a fatigue that at my time of life may prove too much for me;
so I sit down to write to a few friends by way of farewell;" and still
the real wilderness with all its hardships lay before him. After he had
traversed it he had the poor reward of finding himself on a bootless
errand. The Canadian enterprise had no possible future save failure and
retreat. There was absolutely nothing which he could do in Canada; he
was being wasted there, and resolved to get away as soon as he could.
Accordingly he made his painful way homeward; but worn out as he was, he
was given scant opportunity to recuperate from this perilous and
mistaken journey. The times called upon every patriot to spend all he
had of vigor, intellect, money, life itself, for the common cause, and
Franklin was no niggard in the stress.
In the spring of 1776 the convention charged to prepare a constitution
for the independent State of Pennsylvania was elected. Franklin was a
member, and when the convention came together he was chosen to preside
over its deliberations. It sat from July 16 to September 28. The
constitution which it presented to the people established a legislature
of only one house, a feature which Franklin approved and defended. At
the close of the deliberations thanks were unanimously voted to him for
his services as presiding officer, and for his "able and disinterested
advice."
Yet in spite of abundant acts, like this, of real independence taking
place upon all sides, profession of it inspired alarm in a large
proportion of the people. Congress even declared formally that
independence was not aimed at. Sam Adams, disgusted, talked of forming a
New England confederacy, and Franklin approved the scheme and said that
in such an event he would cast in his lot with the New Englanders. But
the stream ran on in spite of some snags in the current. It was not much
later that Franklin found himself one of the committee of five elected
by ballot to frame a declaration of independence. Had he been called
upon to write the document he would certainly have given something more
terse and simple than that rotund and magniloquent instrument which
Jefferson bequeathed to the unbounded admiration of American posterity.
As it was, Franklin's recorded connection with the preparation of that
famous paper is confined to the amusing tale about John Thompson,
Hatter, wherewith he mitigated the miseries of Jefferson during the
debate; and to his familiar bonmot in reply to Harrison's appeal for
unanimity: "Yes, we must indeed all hang together, or assuredly we shall
all hang separately." With this rather grim jest upon his lip, he set
his signature to one of the greatest documents in the world's history.
When it came to shaping the machinery of the confederation, the great
difficulty, as is well known, lay in establishing a just proportion
between the larger and the smaller States. Should they have equal weight
in voting, or not? It was a question so vital and so hard to settle that
the confederacy narrowly survived the strain. Franklin was decidedly in
favor of making the voting value proportionate to the size, measured by
population, of the several States. He said: Let the smaller colonies
give equal money and men, and then let them have an equal vote. If they
have an equal vote without bearing equal burdens, a confederation based
on such iniquitous principles will not last long. To set out with an
unequal representation is unreasonable. There is no danger that the
larger States will absorb the smaller. The same apprehension was
expressed when Scotland was united to England. It was then said that the
whale had swallowed Jonah; but Lord Bute's administration came in, and
then it was seen that Jonah had swallowed the whale. That Scotch
favorite was the provocation for many witty sayings, but for none better
than this.
In July, 1776, Lord Howe arrived, in command of the English fleet. He
immediately sought to open a friendly correspondence with Franklin. He
had played a prominent part in those efforts at conciliation which had
come to naught just before Franklin's departure from England; and he now
renewed his generous attempt to act as a mediator. There is no doubt
that this nobleman, as kindly as brave, would far rather have reconciled
the Americans than have fought them. By permission of Congress Franklin
replied by a long letter, not deficient in courtesy of language, but
full of argument upon the American side, and in a tone which there was
no misconceiving. Its closing paragraph was:--
"I consider this war against us, therefore, as both unjust and
unwise; and I am persuaded that cool, dispassionate posterity will
condemn to infamy those who advised it, and that even success will
not save from some degree of dishonor those who voluntarily engaged
to conduct it. I know your great motive in coming hither was the
hope of being instrumental in a reconciliation; and I believe, when
you find _that_ impossible on any terms given you to propose, you
will relinquish so odious a command, and return to a more honorable
private station."
If the Englishman had been hot-tempered, this would probably have ended
the correspondence; as it was, he only delayed for a while before
writing civilly again. The battle of Long Island next occurred, and Lord
Howe fancied that that disaster might bring the Americans to their
senses. He paroled General Sullivan, and by him sent a message to
Congress: That he and his brother had full powers to arrange an
accommodation; that they could not at present treat with Congress as
such, but would like to confer with some of its members as private
gentlemen. After a long debate it was resolved to send a committee of
Congress to meet the admiral and the general, and Franklin, John Adams,
and Edward Rutledge were deputed. Lord Howe received them with much
courtesy, and gave them a lunch before proceeding to business. But when
luncheon was over and the substance of the errand was reached, it was
very shortly disposed of. His lordship opened with a speech of elaborate
civility, and concluded by saying that he felt for America as for a
brother, and if America should fall he should feel and lament it like
the loss of a brother. Franklin replied: "My lord, we will use our
utmost endeavors to save your lordship that mortification." But Lord
Howe did not relish this Yankee wit. He continued by a long,
explanatory, conciliatory address. At its close there was necessarily
brought up the question of the character in which the envoys came. His
lordship thought that the idea of Congress might "easily be thrown out
at present." Franklin adroitly settled it: "Your lordship may consider
us in any view you think proper. We on our part are at liberty to
consider ourselves in our real character. But there is really no
necessity on this occasion to distinguish between members of Congress
and individuals. The conversation may be held as among friends." Mr.
Adams made one of those blunt and pugnacious remarks which, whenever
addressed to Englishmen, are sure to endear the speaker to the American
nation. Mr. Rutledge laid over it the courtesy of a gentleman; and then
the conference came to the point.
Lord Howe expressed his majesty's earnest desire for a permanent peace
and for the happiness of his American subjects, his willingness for a
reform and for a redress of grievances. But he admitted that the
Declaration of Independence was an awkward obstacle. He asked: "Is
there no way of treating _back_ of this step of independency?" Franklin
replied at some length, closing with the words: "Forces have been sent
out, and towns have been burnt. We cannot now expect happiness under the
domination of Great Britain. All former attachments are obliterated.
America cannot return to the domination of Great Britain, and I imagine
that Great Britain means to rest it upon force." Adams said: "It is not
in our power to treat otherwise than as independent States; and for my
own part, I avow my determination never to depart from the idea of
independency." Rutledge said: "With regard to the people consenting to
come again under the English government, it is impossible. I can answer
for South Carolina." Lord Howe replied: "If such are your sentiments, I
can only regret that it is not in my power to bring about the
accommodation I wish." Thus the fruitlessness of such efforts was made
manifest; of all concerned, it is probable that the most amiable of
Englishmen was the only one who was disappointed at the result. The
Americans were by no means displeased at having another and conclusive
proof to convince the doubting ones that reconciliation was an
impossibility.
Franklin's language was expressive of the way in which his mind had
worked. Until it came to the "cutting of throats," he had never
altogether and avowedly given up hopes that, from the reservoir of
unknown things in the future, something might in time come forth that
would bring about a reasonable accommodation. But the first bloodshed
effected a change in his feelings as irrevocable as that which Hawthorne
so subtly represents as having been worked in the nature of Donatello by
a violent taking of life. "Bunker's Hill" excited him; the sack of
Falmouth affected him with terrible intensity. When the foolish petition
of the Dickinson party was sent to England, he wrote to Dr. Priestley
that the colonies had given Britain one more chance of recovering their
friendship, "which, however, I think she has not sense enough to
embrace; and so I conclude she has lost them forever. She has begun to
burn our seaport towns, secure, I suppose, that we shall never be able
to return the outrage in kind.... If she wishes to have us subjects ...
she is now giving us such miserable specimens of her government that we
shall ever detest and avoid it, as a combination of robbery, murder,
famine, fire, and pestilence." His humor could not be altogether
repressed, but there were sternness and bitterness underlying it: "Tell
our dear, good friend, Dr. Price, who sometimes has his doubts and
despondencies about our firmness, that America is determined and
unanimous; a very few Tories and placemen excepted, who will probably
soon export themselves. Britain, at the expense of three millions, has
killed one hundred and fifty Yankees, this campaign, which is twenty
thousand pounds a head; and at Bunker's Hill she gained a mile of
ground, half of which she lost again by our taking post at Ploughed
Hill. During the same time 60,000 children have been born in America.
From these data his mathematical head will easily calculate the time and
expense necessary to kill us all, and conquer our whole territory." It
was a comical way of expressing the real truth that Britain neither
would nor could give enough either of men, or money, or time to
accomplish the task she had undertaken. To another he wrote: "We hear
that more ships and troops are coming out. We know that you may do us a
great deal of mischief, and are determined to bear it patiently as long
as we can. But if you flatter yourselves with beating us into
submission, you know neither the people nor the country." Other men
wrote ardent words and indulged in the rhetorical extravagance of
intense excitement in those days; Franklin sometimes cloaked the
intensity of his feeling in humor, at other times spoke with a grave and
self-contained moderation which was within rather than without the facts
and the truth. Everything which he said was true with precision to the
letter. But his careful statement and measured profession indicate
rather than belie the earnestness of his feeling, the strength of his
conviction, and the fixedness of his resolution.
Thus briefly must be dismissed the extensive and important toil of
eighteen months, probably the busiest of Franklin's long and busy life.
In September, 1776, he was elected envoy to France, and scant space is
left for narrating the events of that interesting embassage.