STATUETTE OF FRANKLIN
White metal. French, nineteenth century. Metropolitan Museum of Art
FRANKLIN MONUMENT IN NEW ORLEANS
Many Englishmen found their way to the American Colonies and made reputations there. Franklin was one of the few Americans that became renowned in England. For years he stood for the thought that Englishmen in Great Britain and the Colonies were alike citizens of a common Anglo-Saxon empire, which might look forward to a glorious future. He even ventured to assert that “the foundations of the future grandeur and stability of the British empire lie in America.”
The English government bestowed upon him the important post of deputy-postmaster-general for the Colonies. He so impressed the men of learning that he received doctorates of law from the universities of St. Andrews, Oxford, and Edinburgh. Yet his public functions were the lesser part of his influence; he found friends everywhere, and by his personal relations with ministers and private persons affected the minds of the British. The colonies of Georgia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts also designated him as their agent, and his various public offices brought him in the large income for that time of fifteen hundred pounds a year.
When the question of the Stamp Act arose in 1766, Franklin appeared before the House of Commons to protest, and in his examination occurred the famous passage:
“Question—‘Can anything less than a military force carry the Stamp Act into execution?’
“Answer—‘I do not see how a military force could be applied to that purpose.’