New-York tribune., 1911-11-05

0OuDle tdhtil az a idACl s'hc tiicll ETdnk-
Inns during his London residence.
The Lansdowne portrait reveals a gray
haired sage. with benevolent face,
dressed in a light brown coat, a waist
coat of fowered yellow silk and white
cravat. The face has more character than
the wooden Franklin by Baricolo in the
National Portrait Gallery. but the cos
tune is less staid. simple and patrl-
archal. Washington and Franklin share
the distinction of being the only Ameri-
cans of the Revolutionary period who
are admitted to that historical whisper
ing gallery. OF Washington there is the
traditional Gilbert Stuart, and there is
also a crayOn drawing by Mrs. Sharples.
The Franklin is in another room, sur
rounded by theologians and preachers,
with Paley of the Analogy and the first
Colonial Bishop of Nova Scotia on right
and left and John Wesley. George
Whitefield and other eminent divines in
bright array. With so many guardians
of orthodoxy and morality close at hand
the free thinking Franklin ought to have
n more tolerant smile on his face than
an inferior painter has portrayed with
heavy hand. Gainsborough's fighting
surgeon would be more at ease in this
company Of earnest divines, and perhaps
he would bc a more convincing Franklin
for American visitors.
Franklin's old haunts in London, with
a single exception. have not survived the
vicissitudes of time During his first
visit he lived i'm Little Britain at three
and slx a week, and worked at Palmers,
in Bartholomew Close; and aftcrward he
WAS a printer at Watts's, near Lincoln's
Inn Fields and a lodger I'm Duke and
Carey streets. When he returned after
forty years he found not only the lodg-
inCs and offices. but also the hand press
at which he had worked, and he sent for
a gallon Of porter before making
speech to the printers. The press went
to America long ago as precious
Franklin relic, but a companion piece, at
which he also worked, is still preserved
at South Kensington. The New Law
Courts, the Kingsway and other I'M
have completely transformed
the quarter where the young journey
man printer lived and toiled, swimming
from Chelsea to Blackfriars as holiday
recreation. The lodging houses have
disappeared; the slums have been
cleared; the printing houses have been
demolished and the ancient tower of st.
Rartholomew's is almost the only land
mark that remains from FranklIn's early
days in the metropolis.
The single Franklin home which has
withstood the ravages Of time Is the
lodging house in Craven street where
the sage lived at first for five and sub
seauently for ten years. The palaces
near by in the Northumberland quarter
have been replaced with hotels and club
houses; the Embankment has changed
the water line and railway station mas
become a crowded centre Of trafnc
around the corner, and yet the Franklin
house. partly reconstructed and orna-
mented with a balcony in 'front.' still
stands in the narrow lane leading out OF
Charing Cross. This was the house
where Burke. Chatham and other
famous Engllshmen visited him, ana
where he issued for the recreation Of his
fellow dodgers a whimsical journal IN
which the landlady was described as
cher majesty" From this modest resi-
dence. where apartments are now ad-
vertised at the door, came the suggestion
that England, instead of wasting her re-
sources on the Continent, should take
Canada from the French. for the Frank
lin of that day was a great imperialist.
He was also a practical reformer' for
casual glimpse Of woman scavenger III
Craven street gave him the idea OF nav
ing city roadways systematically cleaned
before business hours.
While Franklin himself returning TO
earth might find his old lodgings IN
Craven street without help from po-
liceman, he would not know his way
about Westminster and Whitehall. Inc
Abbey and ST. Margaret's would be
there. but everything around Old Palace
Yard except Westminster Hall would be
strange to him, although 1t was there
that he gave testimony about stamp ana
tea duties when, as Burke said, mem
hers of Parliament were like a parcel OF
bows interrogating the master; and it
was there also that he listened to debate
over his final effort for reconciling the
colonies to the mother country. The
banuueting hall Of lnigo Jones, the Ola
Admiralty and the Horse Guards would
he the only familiar structures in White
hall. with its Renaissance public Offices
and Downing street with the exception
of the old houses at the bottom, WOuiu
be transformed from end to end. lie
would recognize the First Lords house.
on tbe north side. where Lord North an1
other Prime Ministers had lived after
Sir Robert Walpole's time; but he Would
need to be told that the long FACADE op-
Dosite was the Colonial Office. and he
would be a lucky ghost If he could lden-
tify the entrance room Of the govern
ment whips Office, adjoining the resi-
dence of the Chancellor of the EX-
cheouer, as the site of the w-iting room
where Lord Dartmouth and other super
cilious officials left him to. cool his heels.
AS for the rectangular room in the
Privy Council offices, where Franklin
stood for three hours while Wedderburn
was denouncing him and all the King $
men were mocking him. it would be an
idle quest to look for it in the Treasury
building designed by Soane, on the site
Of the Cockpit. and enlarged and recon-
structed ly Barry. After the great fire
in Whitehall the Tudor Cockpit and
other outbuildings were converted into