whole revenue of the nation; I mean not only the public revenue, but also the revenue or clear income of all private estates, or a sum equivalent to the whole," which is one of Adam Smith's most striking positions, the corner-stone, in fact, of his system. We have, also, this explicit assertion of Mr. Watson, the author of the Annals of Philadelphia: "Dr. Franklin once told Dr. Logan, that the celebrated Adam Smith, when writing his Wealth of Nations, was in the habit of bringing chapter after chapter as he composed it, to himself, Dr. Price, and others of the literati; then patiently hear their observations, and profit by their discussions and criticisms; sometimes submitting to write whole chapters anew, and even to reverse some of his propositions." Hume, writing to Adam Smith in 1776, says: "Your work is probably much improved by your last abode in London." The papers of Franklin which belong to this period contain sets of problems and queries, as though jotted down at some meeting of philosophers for particular consideration at home. A glance at the index of the Wealth of Nations will suffice to show that its author possessed just that kind of knowledge of the American colonies which Franklin was, of all men, the best fitted to impart. The allusions to the colonies may be counted by hundreds ; illustrations drawn from their condition and growth occur in nearly every chapter. We may go further, and say, that the American colonies constitute the experimental evidence of the essential truth of the book; without which many of its leading posi tions had been little more than theory.

In contributing his quota of thought and knowledge to a work which the author of the History of Civilization in England considers "the most important book ever written," and "the most valuable contribution ever made by a single man towards establishing the principles on which government should be based,"* Dr. Franklin conferred a particular, and, perhaps, not unforeseen benefit upon his own country. Among the causes which poured such a tide of emigration into the United States during the early years of their independent existence, may be reckoned the information given in the Wealth of Nations of the superior advantages which a poor, young, free, and growing nation necessarily offers to the industrial members of states that are rich, restricted, and stationary.

* Buckle's "History of Civilization in England," i., 154.

CHAPTER VII.

FRANKLIN'S ENGLISH FRIENDS.

DR. FRANKLIN, at this time, appears to have much frequented "the great world," as it was called; not only the circles of the Opposition, but of the King's party also. He was often at Lord Shelburne's, who led one wing of the Opposition, and knew the Marquis of Rockingham, the head of the other. Lord Le Despencer and Lord Bathurst entertained him often, and, until about the year 1773, he was acquainted even with Lord North, the witty, goodnatured minister who laughed and joked, and bought the House of Commons into dismembering the British empire. Once when his son had asked him to procure a small appointment for a relation, he replied that he was not upon favor-asking terms with Lord North: "Displeased with something he said relating to America, I have never been at his levees since the first. Perhaps he has taken that amiss. For the last week we met occasionally at Lord Le Despencer's, in our return from Oxford, where I had been to attend the solemnity of his installation, and he seemed studiously to avoid speaking to me. I ought to be ashamed to say that on such occasions I feel myself to be as proud as anybody. His lady indeed was more gracious. She came and sat down by me on the same sofa, and condescended to enter into a conversation with me agreeably enough, as if to make some amends."

He had not long to wait for an explanation of the premier's coolness; for this meeting took place in July, 1773. The event seems to have opened his eyes a little at the time; for we see him, in the very same month, intimating to his son, with strict charge of secrecy, a suspicion, never before expressed by him, that the king was at the bottom of the American mischief.

On one occasion in London, Dr. Franklin dined with a royal personage, Christian VII., King of Denmark, a brother-in-law of George III. Horace Walpole speaks of this young king as "an insipid boy," who "took notice of nothing, took pleasure in nothing, and hurried post through most parts of England, without attention, dining and supping at seats on the road, without giving himself time enough to remark so much of their beauties as would flatter

the great lords who treated him." The same cynic assures his readers that "George III. treated his guest not too hospitably. 'No one,' he says, 'went to meet him, or escort him. He came to St. James's palace in a hired carriage, when neither king nor queen were there to receive him.'"

In strains far different the newspapers of the time discourse of the young king's entertainment and demeanor. They expended daily, columns in chronicling his movements, and expatiating upon the King of England's splendid and bountiful hospitality; how he maintained the table of his guest at an expense of seventy pounds a day, and assigned to his use the ancient plate which was used only at coronation banquets, and gave great feasts in his honor. If the insipid boy, being extremely short-sighted, did not linger long amid the beauties which he could not see, he showed an appreciation of what was really excellent in England by inviting to dinner the man in the island who was best worth dining with. He accompanied the invitation to Dr. Franklin with particular expressions of esteem. A few days after entertaining with great magnificence three hundred of the English nobility, he arranged a snug and enjoyable dinner party of sixteen; the company consisting of foreign embassadors, military and naval officers, two or three eminent professional men, and Dr. Franklin. Thus, Franklin would jocularly say, the favorite proverb of his father (that diligent men should stand before Kings) was more than fulfilled; since, after having stood before George II., George III., and Louis XV., he had at last the honor to sit at table with Christian VII.

It was not, however, with kings and nobles that he chiefly associated. His friends were men of science, clergymen, navigators, musicians, authors, and liberal members of parliament. We see him strolling into the House of Commons with Strahan, a member of the House, who had, like Franklin, begun life as a journeyman printer. He attended the literary assemblies of Mrs. Montague, and dined with Garrick. He comforted the exile of Benjamin West. Horatio Gates and the erratic General Charles Lee were among his acquaintances. Hawksworth of the Adventurer, and Stanley the composer, were his valued friends. Burke, Hume,

Lord Kames, the lawyers John Lee and John Dunning, Sir John Pringle, Dr. Fothergill, and Dr. Cannon, remained on terms of intimacy with him. Jeremy Bentham, whom we should have ex

pected him to know, had not yet become famous; he was but twenty-five in 1773. Dr. Bowring tells us that there was a striking personal resemblance between Franklin and Bentham. There were other points of similarity between them, which would have made intercourse pleasant and beneficial to both. They never conversed together, Bentham records, though on one memorable occasion they stood together in the same apartment. Bentham said once to his biographer: A friend "took a quarto copy of my Essay on Morals, which he gave to Franklin; but he never expended any observations upon it, which was then a matter of considerable regret and disappointment to me." Elsewhere Bentham says: "Poore used to boast to me that he had made Franklin a Platonist; and he boasted loudly of the feat. I told him he had turned a wise man away from useful pursuits, to pursuits that were of no use at all. I dare say Franklin heard him very quietly, and was not moved in the least."*

For dinner parties Franklin was in such demand, that, during the London season, he sometimes dined out six days in the week for several weeks together. He also confesses that, occasionally at these entertainments, he drank more wine than became a philosopher. It would, indeed, have been extremely difficult to avoid it, in that soaking age, when a man's force was reckoned by the number of bottles he could empty, as that of steam-engines has since been estimated by the number of horses they could supply the place of.

It was the palmy day of clubs. Every tavern and coffee-house had its club. The slightest peculiarity of opinion, pursuit, fortune, or even of personal appearance, gave rise to clubs of persons professing the peculiarity. There was the Lying Club, the Yorkshire, the Bird Fanciers, the Physicians, the Bankrupts, the Club of Ugly Faces, the Cellar Club, the Beaux Club, the Florists, the Atheists, the Hell Fire, the Thieves, the Dancing, the Kit-Kat, the Beef Steak, and as many others as there were taverns and coffeehouses for clubs to meet in. The leading club of the day, perhaps, was the Royal Society Club, of which Franklin was a very frequent visitor, if he was not a member. His own club, which was composed of liberal clergymen and men of science, met every Thursday evening, first at a coffee-house in St. Paul's Churchyard,

*Bowring's Bentham, xi., 78; x., 41, 88.

and, afterwards, at the London Coffee-House in Ludgate Hill. Dr. Richard Price, Dr. Priestley, Dr. Fothergill, Peter Collinson, Dr. Hawksworth, Stanley the composer, were all members or frequenters of this body; the weekly meetings of which Franklin keenly enjoyed, and remembered with fondness to the close of his life. Nor did he ever forget his Philadelphia Junto, but sent frequent messages of affection to the few venerable members of the ori ginal band who still survived. To Hugh Roberts he once wrote: "I wish you I would continue to meet the Junto. * * It is now perhaps one of the oldest clubs, as I think it was formerly one of the best, in the King's dominions. It wants but about two years of forty since it was established. We loved and still love one another; we are grown gray together, and yet it is too early to part. Let us sit till the evening of life is spent. The last hours are always the most joyous. When we can stay no longer, it is time enough. then to bid each other good night, separate, and go quietly to bed."

He might well value the Junto above the more modern clubs. Heavy eating and drinking seem to have been the chief part of the entertainment at the clubs in London. The philosophers of the Royal Society Club consumed the most stupendous repasts. We have the description of one of their grand dinners, given about the middle of the last century in honor of the election to the society of the Elector Palatine:

"We sat down at five o'clock. The dinner was truly English, for there were no napkins. Grace was said by the Astronomer Maskelyne, after which we set to. The dishes consisted of huge joints of beef and mutton, roasted and boiled, and abundant supplies of potatoes and other vegetables, which each person seasoned as he pleased with the different sauces on the table. The viands were liberally watered with great potations of a kind of strong beer, called porter, drank out of pewter pots, which are preferred to glasses because they hold a pint. This prelude over, the cloth was removed, and the table covered, as if by magic, by numerous crystal decanters filled with excellent port, Madeira, and claret. Several wine-glasses were placed before each guest, and drinking was prosecuted vigorously; the desire to drink being encouraged by various descriptions of cheese which were rolled from one end of the table to the other in mahogany boxes mounted on wheels.