The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-24
1he ADVERTISERS
 Y HOME STUDY CIRCLE

| angry remonstrances that the Governor | and then his successor resigned. 1t 1 became necessary to send some one to | England to lay the matter before the authorities, and, if possible, to secure relief for the colonists.
 Who so fit for this mission as Frank lin? The assembly commissioned him for the service and in due time he reached London. At first his business was with the Penns. the proprietaries. as successors to the famous William Penn. to whom the original grant had been given. But the wealthy Quakers
 were not disposed just then voluntarily to contribute to the purposes of war. It suited their interests better to re-
 main men of peace and let others de- fend their estates. So they received the provincial messenger very haughtily and jelly and gave him quickly to un- derstand that the factious colonists
 could expect no favors from them. But they little knew the temper of the man with whom they had to deal. With a perseverance and serenity that would be creditable to modern book agent, Franklin when defeated in his first at- tempt, resorted to another device. Un- dismayed by his failure, he turned from the supercilious proprietaries and oouSHl tic iotuS or trdQe who had control in England of colonial | affairs.
 ] But with the lords of trade likewise
 he found the task difficult This board
 was composed mainly of men whose | sympa thies were with the aristocracy. | They were not disposed very strongly | to favor distant colonists who labored | with their hands as against white | fingered gentlemen who were present to plead their own cause. Yet Franklin
 presented his case so skillfully. he
 managed it so adroitly that they found
 1t difficult to give at once an adverse
 decision. They were dilatory and in-
 clined to shy. and it was three years
 before they finally gave their answer | When that answer was announced it
 was found to be against the Pennsy1- vanians. Crowned With Success.
 But not even yet was the sturdy agent disheartened He had not come to England to be defeated. He ap-
 pealed to the privy council, composed of
 the dignitaries of the realm. With this august body he was successful, and
 it was decided that the proprietary
 estates should bear their proportion of the public burden. After five years of absence he returned home to be crown
 ed with honors. Though the question
 at issue was financial, it involved prin-
 cipleS that were really political. So he
 had served his apprenticeship in dip-
 lomacy and had shown himself able successfully to cope single-handed with
 the shrewdest and most experienced
 politicians of England. During this five
 years he had won a place also in the
 highest and most exclusive circles of English social and intellestua life and
 was known and admired everywhere as a charming conversationalist and a learned man of science.
 When he returned to Philadelphia the war was over, but political peace had not conc. Soon the English Govern ment announced its intention of pass ing the stamp act. This was in 1764 Tn this same year Franklin was again sent to England by Pennsylvania to represent that province in regard to the troubles that were gathering. The emissary was discourteously treated and even brutally insulted in the pres- ence of the privy council and failed to
 induce the ministers not to pass the proposed obnoxious measure. But the tax was receieVcd with a storm of op- position in America. Franklin worked so aSsiduously and skillfully that he obtained a hearing before the House of Commons, where he was examined minutely upon the condition of Ameri- can aftairs. In this famous examina- ton he showed such kno wledge of his subject and such tact in presenting the interests of America that he soon made 1t evident that the act could not be enforced. oS wise, shrewd and skill fui was he also in his intercourse with members of Parliament and the makers of public sentiment that within a year of it's passage Franklin had the srati- fication of seeing the fatal law re- pealed.
 Incurs English Displeasure.
 But this was not tie end of the con troversy. The King was determined on some form of taxation and as a consequence the irritation continued. In ITO Franklin was made agent for Georgia, New Jersey and Massdchu- setts, so that in sense he was zen 'eral colonial representative. About this time Franklin got hold of some letters, sent by the Tory Governor of Massachusetts to the English Colonial Office. and through no faufc> of his they were printed in an Ameri gan paper. Their publication stirred up hornets nest-yes, two of them; enc in Massachusetts against the Coy a.nor the other in England against Frank lin. He was abused, threatened, bul- lied, called openly a thief. The situation was such that if he had de- tended himself he would have injured his cause. Therefore in the face of the Viest vituperation he maintaineJ q studied silence. There was no evil dence that Franklin obtained the Gccu- ments improperly, but the assumption ! of the English Government toward hIm was thenceforth hostile. Yet ha was not without his defenders, even Tn England. The great Lord Chatham. when Franklin was one day present in the House of Commons and was tit- terly assailed, thus splendidly pcai1ed him: If l were Prime Minister and had the care of settling this moment- out bushes 1 should not be ashamed to call to my assistance a person so we'll acquainted with American affairs-one whom all Europe ranks with our Boyles and Newtons, as an honor, not to the English nation only. but to human nature itself"
 Struggle of Independence.
 Seeing that he could no longer hone | to secure justice for the colonies in | England and that the two parties were | fast drifting into war, Franklin. in | l775. returned home, after an absence of | ten years. He was now 69 years of | age, almost an old hlan. But his most | important work Was still before him. Made at once a member of the Con- ina al hn l